Christmas waste (Jan08)
One of the most striking things about Christmas is the amount of waste we all produce. Waste heat, waste light, waste food and most of all waste packaging. Actually, quite a lot of presents are wasteful too. I wonder what percentage of gifts are actually appreciated and how many of those are useful. I have […]
Woman’s Hour 2007 – 2008 (Jan08)
At the end of 2007 and beginning of 2008 Woman’s Hour ran a series of interviews with me about greening your home. Links below are no longer working but we’re trying to resolve this! /// •Recycling • Green Fashion • Water • Lighting • Laundry • Electricity
Battling for recycling (Oct07)
When I agreed to oppose the motion that ‘Recycling is a waste of time’ it didn’t occur to me that most of the audience would be actively hostile to my position. Set up by the Institute of Ideas, the Battle of Ideas was a whole weekend of debates covering topics as diverse as ‘What’s the […]
How green is the London Eye? (Oct07)
Much as I love having my children at home, a two week half term at this time of year can be quite difficult because work is in full flow. However, I had a brilliant day in London with my youngest son, Monty, who’s eight. Monty enjoying the view We went to Trafalgar square on the […]
Pen Hadow’s Arctic adventure (Dec07)
We missed seeing Pen Hadow and his team mates plunge into the chilly depths of the Serpentine on a rainy day in London. Apart from a few damp spots on Pen’s trousers, they didn’t look any worse for wear. This is hardly surprising because, by all accounts they were wearing the full garb for immersing […]
Eco developments on the map (Oct07)
The market town of Langport on the Somerset Levels has been getting some good green press in the last few months. A new development – Great Bow Yard has won a Gold Award from the Buildings for Life Scheme set up by the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment or CABE for short. Ecos […]
Whole foods (Oct07)
A few years ago I went to a Whole Foods store in New York. This week I visited the London Whole Foods Market, situated on the old Barkers site in Kensington High Street. Rather like a trip to French street markets, the first thing that comes to mind is ‘Why don’t more shops make food […]
Steamy experience in Istanbul (Oct07)
One of the most fascinating experiences I had in Istanbul was having a Turkish Bath. When I entered the large steamy room and saw the mass of nude bodies on the marble plinth it was like a scene from a painting. And it made me laugh. Naked bodies abound in Istanbul’s baths I joined the […]
Food Advice (Oct07)
In 2007 I was asked by M&S to help them in developing their food strategy, thinking creatively about what innovations they might consider. Clearly, sustainability issues relating to food are becoming increasingly important. And, as M&S says, they may need to think the unthinkable. Topics covered included climate change and food crops, vegetarianism, local sourcing, wild […]
The fabric of Istanbul (Sep07)
As my plane turned towards Istanbul I saw the dry landscape below. It was ploughed into fields but there seemed to be no dividing hedges. The only visible green was trees edging the numerous creeks. Apart from that, every inch seemed to have been tilled by man. I don’t know what they were growing, but […]
