Info, news & debate
Year: 2013
Why narrowboaters should be allowed red diesel
Red diesel is a lower-taxed fuel, that the EU want to revoke from use by boaters in the UK. On my boat I’m living an incredibly low-impact, environmentally-friendly life
Review of ‘Why Marx Was Right’ by Terry Eagleton
Review of Why Marx Was Right, by Terry Eagleton. Yes, we’re all looking for alternatives to capitalism – it destroys democracy, it eats nature and it’s vacuous – but you don’t have to have read any philosophy or economics
Two more community-owned renewables schemes that you can get involved with
If you would like to see more community-owned co-operative renewable energy projects in the UK, there are practical ways that you can help. Over to Jon for some schemes you can invest in
FoWO (Federation of WWOOF Organisations) is born
There have been exciting developments in the world of WWOOF (World Wide Opportunities On Organic Farms) this month. The movement, which began in 1971, and links people who want to volunteer on organic farms
Incredible opportunity to join a co-operative, low-impact smallholding project in Devon
Here’s some background to the Ecological Land Co-op’s project in Devon, and here’s a post celebrating the fact that they were successful in their planning application. Now they’re looking for people. Over to Shaun.
Low-impact living opportunities in Argyll & Bute
We’ve had a bit of a heads-up from a Lowimpact.org partner (who wants to remain anonymous) and family who have been looking for land to start a smallholding for years, and are finally buying a bit of Scotland on the Cowal peninsula in Argyllshire.
Monstanto 1, Vernon 0 – choose your side and get involved!
Monsanto, one of three companies that control 53% of the world’s commercial seed market, has sued hundreds of small farmers in the United States in recent years to protect its patents on genetically-engineered seeds.
The first two-storey, load-bearing straw-bale house in the UK
Almost twenty years ago I left the life I knew to live on an acre of terraced woodland in Pembrokeshire. A friend helped me to build an 8x12ft shed and I had the beginnings of my own home. In all naivety, I thought I could live on my own land
The story of money, and how it built an empire
Here’s a story. Some of you may know it, but I’m guessing that most people don’t, which is surprising because it has enormous importance for the way we live today, and how our children might live in the future.
Everything is one: a blackbird told me
I’m writing this listening to a blackbird singing. Short bursts of song, a different tune every time. The blackbird occasionally drops down to the lawn, pecks around, pulls out a worm and flies off to eat it.
The European Commission wants to stop us saving seeds
Dear friends, How many times have we asked you to write to your MP, European or otherwise? Never, that’s how many. So this is a first. It’s a plea to take 5 minutes out of your bank holiday weekend
Craft skills are too important to lose
How many people do you know these days whose work involves traditional craft skills? For every craftsperson in the UK, there must be a couple of thousand working in telesales.
Mrs Thatcher was not ‘evil’ – she did what was necessary for Britain to succeed in a game that is utterly wrong
On the day of Mrs Thatcher’s funeral she will receive many plaudits and much abuse. I don’t think that there is any merit in rejoicing in the death of a woman who believed that she was doing the right thing
Ecological Land Co-op successful in their application for homes on eco-smallholdings in Devon
Remember this blog post about the Ecological Land Co-op’s attempt to start three eco-smallholdings in Devon? A local councillor said: “Nobody would subject themselves to that way of life. You might as well be in prison“
La Via Campesina ‘peasants’ movement inaugurated in the UK
La Via Campesina is an international organisation claiming around 250 million members! It defends small-scale sustainable agriculture as a way to promote social justice and dignity.
Pembrokeshire says this home is “harmful to the rural character of the locality” and must be demolished
Charlie, who built this beautiful straw bale roundhouse, is a young man with a young family and like many finds it impossible to afford a home. In Charlie’s case he had three things going for him.
What chemicals are used in fracking, and where do they go?
(Image: the wonderful Marty Two Bulls). Article in the Guardian today pleading the case for fracking by someone purporting to be ‘green’. He says that: ‘the toxic sludges brought back to the surface can cause pollution’
Review of Roger Scruton’s Green Philosophy
Roger Scruton is probably the nation’s most famous right-wing philosopher. So you might find it surprising that as a director of an environmental organisation, I found a lot to agree with in this book.
Build your own solar phone charger
Norman Phipps has developed a weekend course on which you can build your own small solar electric panel from the scrap from the photovoltaics industry, with a USB port for a phone charger or an LED light.
Recognising wild food plants and getting in touch with your inner ape
A few summers ago I visited Monkey World, a picturesque Dorset home to mistreated apes and monkeys from across the globe. To my amazement I saw Capuchin monkeys picking blackberries and an Orang-Utan