We went to the much publicised Ideal Home Show today in Earl's Court. It was touted as having a eco and sustainable living theme. But it was actually a massive jumbo mall of home wares. There were the slice and dice men whizzing through carrots with ginso style knives, fake leather bean bags chairs, log cabins booths, TV sales tents and...a lonely recycling exhibit sponsored by Recycle Now.
Where were the solar panels and wind turbines and Huf Haus booths? Where was the info on happy composting and energy efficient boilers? Not by the pub on a trolley...
So we left with our lone Ecover jute bag that we found at the Ecover stand buried in tat and with despodent staff who were bummed by the complete lack of green theme. The organisers did have a huge, Vegas style waterfall with some shrubs stuck to it in the middle of the circus...maybe that was the green offering?
We did have a fun Sesame Street style wander through the Recycle Now exhibit which was in the style of a recreated tin can and had pretty cool info on what happens in the recycling process.
If anyone is interested, here goes:
Plastic bottles are crushed and chopped into plastic flakes which is then spun and mainly used for poly-based materials which goes into things like fleece clothing or that polyester leisure suit you wish you had
Glass is crushed and 80% of it (in the UK anyway) becomes new bottles and glassware
Paper gets pulped and reused mainly as newspaper, recycled paper goods and other useful things such as loft insulation and even road surface material
Young designers contributed some cool ideas which were on display such as a solar-powered compost bin, a unit to deal with cloth diapers (nappies), coffee tables made of recycled goods and a bio-degradable garbage can.
I was mesmerised by the rotating video on life inside of a recycling plant. I must arrange a visit into one soon for some proper reporting. Undercover of course!
Thank you to everyone who has written in with encouragement and great ideas. I'm going to collate them all for my next entry. Please keep the ideas coming on in!
Randomly found some great green sites including one by City Hippy who has compiled miles and miles of articles and diaries in his ventures in the green life.
And there is one called Green Diary which is very educational - Ecologist and National Geographic style blog coverage.
For those of you who'd like a copy of Leo Hickman's educational and entertaining book, it's called 'A Good Life: The Guide to Ethical Living'. It was published in 2005 by The Guardian and Eden Project Books and should be available on Amazon.
Speaking of the Eden Project, we have that on our list of trips for the year. Anyone who has been, what did you think?
Where were the solar panels and wind turbines and Huf Haus booths? Where was the info on happy composting and energy efficient boilers? Not by the pub on a trolley...
So we left with our lone Ecover jute bag that we found at the Ecover stand buried in tat and with despodent staff who were bummed by the complete lack of green theme. The organisers did have a huge, Vegas style waterfall with some shrubs stuck to it in the middle of the circus...maybe that was the green offering?
We did have a fun Sesame Street style wander through the Recycle Now exhibit which was in the style of a recreated tin can and had pretty cool info on what happens in the recycling process.
If anyone is interested, here goes:
Plastic bottles are crushed and chopped into plastic flakes which is then spun and mainly used for poly-based materials which goes into things like fleece clothing or that polyester leisure suit you wish you had
Glass is crushed and 80% of it (in the UK anyway) becomes new bottles and glassware
Paper gets pulped and reused mainly as newspaper, recycled paper goods and other useful things such as loft insulation and even road surface material
Young designers contributed some cool ideas which were on display such as a solar-powered compost bin, a unit to deal with cloth diapers (nappies), coffee tables made of recycled goods and a bio-degradable garbage can.
I was mesmerised by the rotating video on life inside of a recycling plant. I must arrange a visit into one soon for some proper reporting. Undercover of course!
Your ideas
Thank you to everyone who has written in with encouragement and great ideas. I'm going to collate them all for my next entry. Please keep the ideas coming on in!
Other green bloggers
Randomly found some great green sites including one by City Hippy who has compiled miles and miles of articles and diaries in his ventures in the green life.
And there is one called Green Diary which is very educational - Ecologist and National Geographic style blog coverage.
Guide to Ethical Living
For those of you who'd like a copy of Leo Hickman's educational and entertaining book, it's called 'A Good Life: The Guide to Ethical Living'. It was published in 2005 by The Guardian and Eden Project Books and should be available on Amazon.
Speaking of the Eden Project, we have that on our list of trips for the year. Anyone who has been, what did you think?
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