Wet & Windy

Well  the weather has changed to wet and windy, the rain is very welcome as it means the whole ground will gat a good drink not just the areas we choose to water.

All the veggie seedlings are doing well despite the lack of water.

Dave had a work trip to holland last week but is now home safe and sound; and Tom starts his GCSEs today properly.

Both boys decided to measure their heights at the weekend, Tom is now 171cm so 1cm short of 6ft and David is 163cm so 5ft 5 inches.
They are both still eating for England and I can never seem to keep them full.

Dinners this week will be taken from summer menu 4 with possibly a couple of changes due to the boys activities.

I hate to say it and wish the time away but I can't wait for things to be ready in the garden, there is so much enjoyment from picking and eating something you have nurtured from a seed which then provides food for the table.

Hopefully things will continue to grow as they have and we will see the benfits soon.

Europes Largest Wind Farm

Here is a link to an article I read on Green Pepper about Europes Largest Wind Farm.

Question - where do you think this could be?

http://green-pepper.org.uk/energy/europes-largest-onshore-wind-farm/


Bet you didn't think Scotland.

Palm Oil and DeForestation

I have read an article in the Independant online today which really made me think again about which foods I'm going to buy.

I wholeheartedly support the Orangutan conservation and would love to go out to Indonesia to see the work there.

The article lists some of the everyday foods which use Palm Oil but is listed in the ingredients as Vegetable Oil.

It is the DeForestation of the Rain Forests to enable Palm growing which is killing out the Orangutan and other species and affecting the Eco-systems in South East Asia.

Here is the link to the article
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/green-living/how-britons-fuel-destruction-of-the-rainforest-1677096.html


Here is a snippet which lists the main household brands which use this crop:

Household names: Big brands and palm oil

Kellogg's (US) Uses palm oil in 50 products, mostly cereal bars but also cereals such as Special K and Crunchy Nut, where it binds together clusters. Does not buy sustainable palm oil.

Cadbury (UK) Pours palm oil into chocolate bars, including Cadbury Dairy Milk, where it is listed as vegetable oil. Uses 40,000 tonnes a year, none certified as sustainable.

Mars (US/UK) Uses palm oil in Mars Bars, Galaxy and Maltesers, where it is labelled "vegetable fat". Does not buy sustainable palm oil. Says it wants to.

Procter & Gamble (US) Makes Ariel, Daz and Fairy Liquid, where use of palm oil is suspected but unproven. Says it will have a sustainable supply by 2015.

Unilever (UK) World's biggest user of palm oil, which is found in Flora margarine, Pot Noodle, Comfort and Persil. Buys 1.6m tonnes a year – 4.2 per cent of global production. Acknowledging the damage to its reputation and the environment, Unilever set up the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil.

Kraft (US) Says it does not use palm oil in Dairylea cheese but does in other products. Buys half a per cent of global supply. Says it will move to sustainable palm oil by 2015.

Heinz (US) Uses palm oil to fry potatoes for Aunt Bessie's Potatoes, which it makes under licence.

United Biscuits (UK) Uses palm oil across its range including McVitie's Digestives and McCoy's crisps. Says it is reducing quantities.

Nestle (Swiss) Palm oil in KitKat, Quality Street, Aero and other brands.

Premier Food (UK) Uses in Hovis, Mr Kipling Cakes, Bisto Gravy and Cadbury cakes (made under licence). Hopes to move to a certified sustainable supply by 2011.

Pepsico (US) Makes Walker's crisps. Has one of the best corporate policies, only using palm oil in Quaker Oat Granola and Nobby's Nuts. Intends to phase out use on those two products.

Eco Shopping

I have today found another company who sells things online which on the face of it look good on the eco credentials.

The company is http://www.wikaniko.com/index.php.

I haven't purchased from them as yet but will be looking in the future as they have a few things I would be interested in.

Clothes Pegs

Yesterday I bought some clothes pegs from Tesco, they are made by acompany called Ecoforce .

They are
100% recycled pre and post consumer waste plastic.
100% recyclable
100% metal free

The only blip I can see at the moment is the packaging is type 5 (PP) which we all know is not very easily recyclable.

I emailed them asking if they would consider a more eco-friendly style of packaging.

Their response to my email was:

"The pegs are also PP. Unfortunatly there is no cost effective alternative to PP film at this time that suits oiur process."

So although these pegs tick a few of the boxes they are still not completely eco-friendly. But in the bigger scheme of things they are definitely a step in th right direction.