Diesel and Dust

Today WHO made a statement that diesel exhaust is a cause of lung cancer and maybe also bladder cancer. Diesel is now considered to be as dangerous as asbestos, arsenic and mustard gas and has been upgraded to the highest risk category, Group 1, which means there is sufficient evidence that it causes cancer.

Diesel exhaust is an important factor to the rising amount of particles in the air, particularly in cities. The scientists behind this decision advises governments to lower the limit value of exhausts to protect people from the danger of those particles. Even though there have been more filters and better cleaning methods of diesel recently this is not enough. According to WHO,even cleaner diesel is still considered a health hazard.

Diesel submits less carbon dioxid than petrol (about 20 percent less) but diesel-cars submits more nitrogen oxide that acidifies soil and water and other particles that are dangerous for your lungs.

This puts a lot of pressure on the car-industry. In Sweden there are more and more regular cars that runs on diesel sold every year, and since 2010 more diesel fuel is sold than petrol. The car industry has been working hard to get diesel downgraded from Group 2A, so this is a big blow for them.

It's going to be interesting to see how the petrol- and car industry rises to this challenge.

Read more here http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/721892

Ecobags

Ecobags is an American brand based in Ossining. They make cute, cool organic bags to carry you groceries in, to use to the beach or to pack your lunch in. There are a lot of different shapes, sizes and colours and the prices are good to. Since they ship to the U.S, Canada and Europe it's easy to get a hold of them. Check it out and order you own at Ecobags

Solvatten - how to get fresh water from the sun

Solvatten (Sun Water) is such an amazing invention!

Petra Wadström came up with this idea when travelling with her family in Indonesia in 1997, and it took her ten years of research and testing before production could begin.

Solvatten is a container of 10 liters that, when put in the sun, cleans water from bacteria, viruses and parasites. Apparently UV-light kills microorganisms as well as boiling does, and combined with heat and a built-in filter this really works. And without any chemicals being used! The container can be used in any country as long as there is sun. Doesn't matter if it's cold as long as the sun is out. Solvatten can produce up to 30 liters (8 gallons) of safe drinking water in a day.

It's so easy. You fill it up with water and leave it in the sun for two-six hours and voilà, when the indicator tells you the water is safe, you've got water ready to drink. It almost sounds to good to be true, but the water from Solvatten is approved by both WHO and FDA.

In many countries wood or charcoal is being used to heat up water to make it safe. In Africa 70% of household income is spent on that kind of fuel. Solvatten can help reduce that cost as well as help preventing deforestation.

Such a great and simple way to use free solar-energy and completely organic too!

You can find a long list of the organizations Solvatten cooperates with on their homepage.

I'm so proud of this Swedish innovator!

Bulldog - for men

Bulldog is an organic skincare brand produced especially for men. I got it for my dad as a
Christmas-gift last year and he really likes it.

It includes the whole range of products you may need; shaving-cream, eye roll-on, shower gel, scrub, face wash and different kinds of moisturizers. There's even a specific Fair-trade range.
Bulldog don't test on animals and they use as much natural contents as possible, which means no synthetic dyes or perfumes and no parabens.

In the spring of 2012 they've won awards for best skincare products in both U.K and the U.S, so it's well worth to try out. The prices are good too.

In Sweden their products can be found at for example NK and Åhléns. In Denmark at the newly opened Sephora (the first Sephora in Scandinavia). In U.K they can be found in several stores as well as in their own web-shop.

Diamonds are forever

If you want to make sure that your gold and diamonds come from a sustainable source there are a few things to consider.

The Kimberley Process is a social initiative that started in May 2000 to stop diamonds from conflict areas, so called Blood Diamonds. Many countries and companies in the diamond trade participate in this important task and they have reached great results in just over ten years. You can read a lot of interesting information about the process in the webpage. Since the KP certification is not legally binding for the participants every consumer plays an important role. The Kimberly Process really emphasis the importance we all play as consumers and what we need to ask for when shopping jewellery.

You can also look at Fair Trade Gems for more information and finding retailers.

Coalition for Green Gold is an interesting initiative on sustainable mining. Working against rainforest deforestation and mercury, cyanide and arsenic contamination this is extremely important. For example; mercury is used when extracting gold, and it's poisoning the water, the animals and the people living close to the mines. You can also find information about this work on Fairtrade and on Alliance for Responsible Mining.

If you want to shop some gorgeous jewellery, check out these websites;

Noën is a german company making beautiful jewellery in organic gold and diamonds. They don't want to compromise between beauty and social responsibility, and they really manage to mix those two together. The gold is extracted without chemicals and their diamonds are certified through the Kimberley Process. On their homepage you can even watch a video from one of the sites where they extract gold.

Ekoguld is Sweden's first Fairtrade certified goldsmith. Their gold are Fairmined certified and their gems are from sustainable and fairtrade sources. They even offer their customers to use recycled gold if they want to.

Meat Free Monday

Today we had pancakes à la LCHF with fresh strawberries.

4 pcs/2 persons

4 eggs
2dl cream
2dl almond powder or shredded coconut
2 pinches of salt
1 tablespoon of baking soda

Whisk eggs and cream together och add the rest of the ingredients. Fry in i pan with a generous amount of butter. Serve with whipped cream and fresh berries.

They are really good but you don't eat as many of them since they are quite filling.

Dandelion is spelled with three E:s

Dandelion Sportswear is a Swedish company based in Stockholm. The three E:s stands for Ecologic, Ethic and Esthetic and is the foundation of the entire company.

Dandelion encourage their customers to consume less and recycle more and they adjust their collections according to this principle. The clothes are beautiful and functional and once they are worn out you can return it to them for recycling.

All clothes are 100% organic and they make sure that everybody in the supply chain gets a decent pay for their work and that no producers use child labour. No toxic dyes are being used which not only is beneficial to the environment but for the employees as well. The design and function is not compromised with and comfort is the main goal.

Nicole, the designer and founder, has a genuine design background from some of the most prestigous schools in the industry. She is also the founder of Strömmingsloppet (The Herring race). It's carried out each year in the city of Vaxholm in the archipelago outside Stocholm. The race has recieved the eco-label Håll Sverige Rent (Keep Sweden Clean)and 100SEK of each participants fee is donated to WaterAid.