Info, news & debate
Low-impact tourism
Help the Ecological Land Co-operative to set up more smallholdings
You can join the Ecological Land Co-operative as an investor, by moving some money from your bank savings account (and receiving a better rate of interest). If you agree with the ELC’s principles, this would be extremely helpful.
Smallholding with heart: advice about getting and running a smallholding from Janet Jenkins of Cuckoo Farm
Embarking on a new life in the countryside, away from the trappings of urban existence, is a dream increasingly common to many. This week we interviewed Janet Jenkins about her and her family’s smallholding journey, putting the heart back into the land at Cuckoo Farm.
How to reduce the environmental impact of your wedding
Your wedding day is obviously one of the biggest days of your life — but it can also be huge for your carbon footprint. In the UK, the average cost of a wedding is over £20,000. Not only is this a huge amount of money to spend on a single day
Help our off-grid, timber, straw-bale and stone ‘eco-pod’ project happen, then come and stay in it!
Hi, my name is Cassie. My daughter is called Bea, she’s the bigger girls in the picture there. She absolutely loves horses! I also have a son called David, who is going to be an actor; my husband is called Nigel, and our eldest son is called Ted.
Looking for the xmas gift that could change someone’s life? Here’s why WWOOF membership could be what you’re looking for
It’s late autumn and I’m sitting alone, feeling empty, in a comfortable house in High Wycombe. It’s 5.30 and I’ve just returned from work; I’m a single moderately successful professional doing the 9-5 in a very ordinary existence.
New report: number of plastic bags on UK beaches falls by almost half – so charging 5p for plastic bags works?
The number of plastic carrier bags found on UK beaches in surveys carried out by the Marine Conservation Society (MCS) has dropped by almost half between 2015 and 2016. This is the lowest number reported in over a decade, and fantastic news for marine wildlife.
Rent first to see if a self-build home in a cohousing project at an eco-chateau in France is for you
An cohousing eco-hamlet around a chateau in the Dordogne region of France is being formed. You can rent a plot to see if the project is for you, before deciding whether to become a co-owner.
Promoting public transport – how to travel by train more cheaply (without breaking the law)
A way to reduce our impact on the environment is to increase the number of journeys made on public transport relative to the number made by car. So we’re doing this to encourage you to take the train rather than drive.
How to quit the rat race to go WWOOFing for 3 years (even with young children) as a gateway to a new life
This is an interview with Mariann and Gabor, a Hungarian couple with 2 young children, who left their jobs to go WWOOFing. We wanted to show that WWOOFing is a route out of the ‘rat race’
Volunteer at a crofting / educational centre in the Highlands and learn about the ‘shieling’
This is a farm-based education organisation. Our story is the ‘shieling’ – a tradition where folk went up to the hills with the livestock. The shieling is a traditional practice of moving up to the high ground or moorland with livestock, to live there for the summer.
New Lowimpact.org publication: a knitting and textiles tour of Scotland by folding bicycle
Lowimpact.org has a new publication, about a 57-year-old (sorry Janet) woman’s decision to leave her home in Ayrshire and take a grand tour of Scotland on a Brompton folding bicycle, visiting and giving workshops for textile groups along the way.
Is it a good idea to recruit (in N America and Europe) for sustainable living apprenticeships in Peru?
We’ve just been approached by someone running ‘sustainable living apprenticeships’ in Peru, asking if there’s anywhere to promote them on our site. This sort of thing happens all the time, by the way – yoga retreats in India, conferences in Malaysia, meditation on Greek islands etc.
Can you adopt a natural builder for 3 nights in exchange for a free VIP ticket to Ecobuild?
Ecobuild is a three-day natural building exhibition at the Excel Centre in London from the 8th to the 10th of March. Ecobuild is the leading UK exhibition and conference for the construction and energy market
Fly away: reflections on Westerners abroad
Fly away, plug in to your chosen third world metropolis with the arrogant urgency that accompanies our civilisation, departure lounge to lounge, no sense of progression or gradual change necessary within this flying tube.
Can I have a compost loo instead of a chemical toilet in a camper van or a narrowboat?
First of all, why would you want to do that in the first place? Well, it’s because of the toxic nature of the chemicals used in chemical toilets – but we’ll blog about that later. For now, let’s talk about whether there’s an alternative.
The price of the average wedding is now over £20k; how to do it for much less and give the finger to ‘Brides’ magazine
Flanked by an advert for the Ocean Club honeymoon resort in the Bahamas, with young bride and groom toasting a glass of champagne, Brides – “the UK’s number 1 bridal magazine” announces to its readers that “Planning your wedding starts here”
10 reasons our yurt holiday on a farm in Wales was the best ever
We got back from a holiday in a yurt at Old Chapel Farm in Powys last night. We were bowled over, and this article is a little advert for yurt holidays on farms and smallholdings in the UK, although several of the points below are specific to Old Chapel.
Some countries don’t get vegetarianism: how to cope as a veggie abroad
If you’re looking to make the change to a vegetarian or vegan lifestyle, there is no shortage of helpful advice out there to guide you as you take those difficult first steps: ‘take things slowly; make it easy on yourself; set realistic goals; provide the right environment for success, etc. etc.’
Holidays without flying: how to cycle around Scotland on a folding bike
Obviously this isn’t a ‘no-fly’ holiday if you live on the other side of the world to Scotland, but I’m sure you have somewhere beautiful closer to home for a holiday that doesn’t involve an environmentally-damaging flight.
Low-impact & the city 1: introduction – how possible is it to live in a sustainable, non-corporate way in a city?
I lived at Redfield Community for 13 years – it’s where Lowimpact.org was born – but now I live in London, and so I’m assessing my options for living as low-impact a life as I can.