EcoStreet at Lifescape

Lifescape Mag subscription offer

Lifescape Magazine has a great offer for blog readers who want their own copy of the magazine.   You can buy a 12 month subscription to Lifescape for just £14.95 (just half the normal price of £29.95 for 12 months or £2.95 per copy).  The offer runs until the 28th March 2007 and includes a free gift worth over £10.

To claim your discounted subscription, please send a cheque to Blog subs offer, Lifescape magazine, 301 Canalot Studios, 222 Kensal Road, London. W10 5BN. If there's any problem, or you don't have cheque book just email claudia--[at]--lifescapemag---[dot]---com with 'blogs sub offer' as the subject line and she'll be happy to help.

A week of action

It's been a week of action at EcoStreet this past week. 

The first, and most urgent action I need to let you know about is to get an email off to your MP pronto (today's the last date) about tomorrow's vote in Parliament about the replacement of the old Trident nuclear missiles.  So get cracking on this if you don’t want the British government to start building a new generation of nuclear power stations, or replace the aging Trident nuclear missiles with newer weapons of mass destruction.  At EcoStreet, we've got a letter that you could copy and as it's the thirteenth hour, I suggest using WriteToThem.com to get an email to your MP today.

And here's an interesting petition to sign.  As you probably know, Number 10 have set up an online system to allow people to petition parliamentary bills, and the Road Lobby have been using the system to oppose proposed vehicle tracking and road pricing.  Tim Lewis has concerns about the extent of car use in the UK, and has therefore set up a petition to oppose the Road Lobby's one, and to support vehicle tracking and road pricing.  You can find out more here.

Staying political for just another paragraph, Ben Nickell of GreenSteps has written an article for EcoStreet this week, asking whether Tony Blair is gambling with our future by setting a 3'C temperature rise as acceptable.  Read more here.

On a lighter note, if you'd like to put yourself in the running to win £150's worth of green books from the Friends of the Earth new online bookshop, find out more here.  Play De Smog Blogs new Stars and Stinkers game and find out who's a climate activist or climate terrorist.  And if you're in the London area, take advantage of 50% off the entire organic winelist (with a meal) at the Duke of Cambridge organic pub in Islington.

Till next week!

Playing catch up

I've been on holiday for a few weeks, hence the neglect of my weekly post at Lifescape.  So I'm playing catch up, and have lots of eco-news to share.

This week began with the start of Fairtrade Fortnight 2007.  It runs from 26 February until 11 March and there are lots of retailers offering money off on fairtrade goods, events running, and even the opportunity to get your recipes featuring fairtrade products published.

EcoStreet forum member Solomon has given us some handy tips on how to save energy while using a PC.  And there's a great new product on the market who makes it even easier, the Intelliplug.  It looks like a mild-mannered 3-way adaptor, but in reality it's an energy saving superhero.  Just plug your PC and peripherals in to the plug, and when you turn off your computer it automatically powers down the peripherals.  What a good idea.

Builders and DIY enthusiasts alike now have the opportunity to green up their act with the new What Do I Do With This website.  Can we fix it?  Yes we can!

Feeling creative?  Get out those knitting needles and knit your own eco-friendly shopping bag.

My holiday is over, but for those of you who are heading off soon for some sun or snow, consider getting a quote from Climate Sure for your travel insurance.  They’re very competitive and do good things with the money that you pay them.

Scotland the brave, and other stories

What has struck me most about stories in the news in the past few weeks is that green really has gone mainstream.  Being concerned about the environment is leaking into every facet of daily life for more than just a few.  And that brings me to the story last week that all Scottish highschool pupils will have the opportunity to see "An Inconvenient Truth" at their school.  The final decision about whether the film will be shown is down to the decision of each school individually, but ScottishPower will donate two copies of the DVD to each Scottish secondary school, as approved by Scottish environment minister Ross Finnie.  I sincerely hope that England will follow suit and make sure that we give our children the opportunity to have the facts at hand when they make decisions about their lifestyles.  "An Inconvenient Truth" has also been nominated for an Oscar, making it a good week for getting the message across, don't you think?

And on the subject of getting the message across...  Did you see Climate Change - Britain Under Threat on BBC1 this past Monday?  If you missed it, you can find out the results of the BBC's massive climate change experiment at their website.

Other green news worth a mention this week is that Marks & Spencer are to invest £250m in going "carbon neutral" over the next five years, The Women in Ethical Business Awards are calling for nominations, and the Ecobuild conference and exhibition is due to take place in London next month.

And before I sign off for this week, take a look at The Breathing Earth to get a feeling of how fast we are damaging the planet.  It's time for change, but if you're reading this, you probably already know that.

A week in green fashion

We've covered so much eco-fashion news this week at EcoStreet that it deserves its own post. 

For the littlest eco-warriors, there's a new collection from The Cat's Tail at By Nature.  There's a distinct Asian influence to the collection, not surprising when you learn that the creators of the collection have spent a fair amount of time travelling in Asia.  I love the colour theme of the collection, green tea and raspberry, and the unusual animal characters that make the clothes so unique.

Still on the theme of children's clothes, here is something very, very special.  The Nixie clothing collection combines vintage fabrics and recycled wool for a really Bohemian feel.  These aren't everyday clothes for kids, but something utterly gorgeous for special occasions.

The January sales continue, and Tonic T-shirts has some great offers on their ethically sourced and organic t-shirts, as well as on their T-shirt gift vouchers, which make a great gift.  They offer FREE DELIVERY to any address WORLDWIDE.

And when your favourite jeans have seen better days, they can have Denim Therapy in New York.  Therapy involves reconstruction of the denim by replacing undesirable holes with new cotton fibres woven into the fabric at an estimated cost of $7 per inch.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year and welcome to the first EcoStreet weekly review at Lifescape.

We start off this week with the good news that there is to be free car recycling in the EU.  The End of Life Vehicles Directive that now applies in the EU means that car manufacturers are responsible for covering the costs of recycling for cars of any age that have reached the end of the road.  And more good news is that over 80% of each car can be recycled or reused.

We looked at Maru dining tables from greentea designs, that are made from centuries-old reclaimed timber and add a touch of Eastern style to any dining room.  The advantages of using salvaged timber are that the wood is already seasoned and that no trees need to be felled to build new furniture. The old wood also develops a lovely patina over years of use, giving it a unique character.

And finally, there's a great sale on at People Tree.  Up to 75% off some lovely organic and fairtrade gear, and some tempting goody bags at £20 a pop.

See you next week!

The Eco Week

Hello Lifescape readers.  My name is Tracy Stokes and I'm delighted to have been asked to blog at Lifescape.  This blog will feature a weekly summary of what's been happening at the Eco Street blog,  my daily blog on environmental news and eco-product reviews, as well as general eco-friendly advice and tips.  The first weekly summary will be published on Monday, 8th January 2007.