bemoreeco

Make sure the only crunch you feel is the bite of your home-grown vegetables next year with our retailer’s large range of grow your own seeds, tools and accompaniments. You could save money, get fit, do your bit for the environment and be super-trendy all at once.

Check out Ecotopia’s Raised Seed Bed at £29.95.This is an easy and adaptable system for growing fresh produce in the smallest of gardens or large vegetable plots. Constructed from FSC certified cedar, the raised bed is naturally durable and resistant to rot and insect damage. The stackable design offers a multitude of layouts and deeper raised bed options to suit any area and desired produce. The varied height options also accommodate those who would prefer higher beds for greater ease. It features the unique “coppastoppa”, real copper strip which deters slugs and snails from damaging valuable growing produce.

Pack includes comprehensive colour HDRA Organic Vegetable growing and plant guide. There’s nothing like growing your own vegetables - as well as the satisfaction it gives, you have the peace of mind that they’re maximum quality, nutrient-packed, and chemical-free, with that “fresh-from-the-garden taste” at a fraction of the cost of the supermarket. Ecotopia’s carefully selected range of vegetable seeds at £1.85 will provide a bounty of tasty fresh produce all the year round. Choose from a whole range of vegetables including peppers, spinach, tomatoes, radish, rocket and carrots.

By composting your organic waste you are returning nutrients back into the soil in order for the cycle of life to continue and you can save money. Visit Ethical Superstore for a good range of composters. Try the Compost Machine at £44.95 which has been designed to optimise the composting process, providing a well-insulated environment with good ventilation. This ensures the rapid composting of domestic kitchen and garden waste.

The potting shed collection [FSC] at £19.95 from Nigel’s Eco Store contains a Paper Potter for making pots, a Dibblet for pricking out seedlings, an Oak Pot Tamper for firming the soil, a Dibber for creating the perfect space for your seedlings and garden lines to get the professional row!

Be well prepared for a gardening session with this useful plastic-backed jute waist-tying pocket at £8.00 from Simplyfair. With one flap compartment containing twine and five others, there’s plenty of room to have all your equipment within easy reach. 
Handmade by Bangladeshi women getting a fair deal.

Finally water the garden with this funky fair trade Recycled Tin Watering Can at £9.99 from Natural Collection. It’s made from misprinted tin cans, which have been ingeniously shaped to produce this collection of quirky homewares. Because each one is handmade, yours will be unique.

The first eco-friendly billboard is coming to Times Square, entirely powered by the sun and the wind — but there is one small catch.

“We think if that happens, it’s just fine,” said Ron Potesky, a senior marketing vice president for Ricoh Americas Corporation, the office equipment and document-storage supplier that owns the sign.

The billboard — traditionally called a “spectacular” on the Great White Way — weighs in at 35,000 pounds. It will be 55 feet off the ground at 3 Times Square, wrapping around the northwest corner of Seventh Avenue and 42nd Street.

Fitted with 16 wind turbines and 64 solar panels, the sign will be “a first for Times Square,” said Barry E. Winston, a Times Square billboard consultant not involved in the Ricoh project, who has been a sign expert for more than 50 years.

Wind turbines for the vast sign, which is 126 feet wide and 47 feet high, have arrived in a warehouse in Deer Park, N.Y., where preliminary testing is being done. Construction will begin this month, for a lighting ceremony on Dec. 4.

Full Article & Source:  New York Times Online

Photos: Marilynn K. Yee/The New York Times & Gigante Vaz Partners NYC

Last month we listed the nominations for Best Eco Gadget in The Vodafone Pocket-lint Gadget Awards. 

The awards, decided by the UK’s top technology and gadget journalists from online and print, let you the consumer know what the best camera, satnav, music gadget, laptop, software, video game, home cinema device, mobile phone, email device, and eco gadgets are. 

This year it was tougher than ever with the nominations drawn from over 600 products released in the last year with the usual suspects not even getting a look in on some of the categories. 

So who was the winner of the Best Eco Gadget catagory. We can confirm it was Pure for its move to more friendly green practices and packaging. The runner up was Roberts solarDAB radio. Both of these products were spotted by the Eco Trend Spotter team, well done.

Shops which Eco Gadgets can be found by <clicking here>

This is part 3 of my BemoreEco Winterproof guide so take comfort though in my credit crunching tips to help you winterise your home - protecting you and your investment. 

6. Think curtains

Open windows on the sunny side of the house when the sun is up so that the sun can warm the rooms. Close all curtains when it gets dark. Do not have furniture close to or in front of radiators. If you have deep windowsills, curtains should sit neatly on top of them and not cover the radiator. Use lined curtains to keep the cold out and warm in.

7. Heat reflective foil behind radiators

Fit heat reflective foil behind radiators on outside walls to keep the heat inside your home, with the shiny side facing into the room.

Many of us this Christmas will give and receive new gadgets. Some of these with be eco and some not. The question we discussed in the BeMoreEco office was what is the best process of buying gadgets this year. What should our green eco gadget shopping tips be.

Well after some searching we found these Green Gadget tips posted by Plant Green.

Artists are lighting up London’s South Bank with 1200 wind-powered lights as part of a digital arts festival.

The Aeolian tower - which means moved by the wind - is a 15m steel structure located next to Waterloo Bridge. The tower is covered with hundreds of tiny wind-powered LEDs. Each one made of a plastic turbine, controlling circuits and three red LEDs.The designers aim to show how renewable energy can be used to power sustainable art and design. As wind blows over the tower, swirling patterns of light reveal the strength and direction of the breeze.

“We want to visualize the invisible, making people realize that there’s a lot of energy out there that we’re not using,” said Zena Bruges from Jason Bruges Studio, which designed the tower.

The designers chose the location next to Waterloo Bridge because of the complex wind patterns that come off the River Thames and the bridge, said Gabby Shawcross, one of the tower’s creators.The lights need a gentle wind of about 3mph (4.8kph) to reach full brightness.

A 2.5m square panel of lights is also on show inside the BFI delegate centre. Since the panel is indoors, the lights are powered with two industrial fans. These lights are connected to a laptop, which controls the lights so that they can display patterns and messages.

“The result of this could be a low-resolution, wind-powered billboard,” said Ms Bruges.

The team is working with architecture students from the University of Westminster to develop a wireless version of the technology that will allow the lights to be controlled remotely. These lights wouldn’t need power or data cables, so designers could apply them to any surface in any location, said Mr Shawcross.

The Aeolian Tower will be in place from 14 -16 November as part of the One Dot Zero - Adventure In Motion festival at the BFI Southbank in London. 

Source: BBC News

It looks like a cross between an orange and a black pudding, but this genetically modified purple ’super tomato’ could be the latest weapon in the fight against cancer.The fruit, which tastes and smells like a normal red tomato, has been given two genes from a snapdragon flower that produce the dark colour. 

The distinctive hue is created by antioxidant pigments that protect against diseases including cancer, heart problems and diabetes. These plum-like tomatoes have been genetically engineered to fight cancer

British scientists behind the crop believe their purple tomato is the respectable face of genetic modification and could help convince the public of the benefits of GM food. But critics say the potential health benefits are a distraction from the harmful environmental side effects of GM farming. 

The tomato  -  developed by the John Innes Centre in Norwich  -  contains high concentrations of anthocyanins, pigments found in blackberries and cranberries. Anthocyanins are chemicals called flavonoids which mop up potentially harmful oxygen molecules in the body. Although they are produced naturally by tomato plants, they are normally found only in the leaves.

The scientists transferred the genes from the snapdragons using specially adapted bacteria.

Food for thought: The tomatoes could be on sale within three years - but not in Britain. Professor Cathie Martin, who led the John Innes research  -  the results of which are published today in the journal Nature Biotechnology  -  said one tomato contained the same anthocyanins as a spoonful of cranberries.

‘Most people do not eat five portions of fruit and vegetables a day,’ she said. ’But they can get more benefit from those they do eat if common fruit and vegetables can be developed that are higher in nutrients.’

The scientists found that mice bred to be vulnerable to cancer lived longer when fed the GM tomatoes. They now hope to test the effects on men at risk of prostate cancer.Dr Lara Bennett, of Cancer Research UK, said: ‘It’s exciting to see new techniques that could make healthy foods even better for us.’

But critics warn that genetic modification is tied in with factory farming methods that harm communities  -  and that any seeds from a GM tomato could produce unexpected effects on the environment.

Friends of the Earth said: ‘GM crops cannot be deemed a “healthy” option.’

Article source -  Mail Online

The teams at BeMoreEco and MoreEco would like to congratulate the following Green Awards 2008 winners.

Best Green Audiovisual (under 50K) - WINNER: BDH and the Soil Association: One Planet Food

Best Green Audiovisual (over 50K) - WINNER: DEFRA: ACT ON CO2 - Save Money, Save Energy Campaign

Best Green Digital - WINNER: Green Thing: Walk the Walk

Best Green Direct Mail - WINNER: International Fund for Animal Welfare: MP Humpback Adoption Campaign

Best Green Internal Communications (under 50K) - WINNER: Punch Tavern: How big is your Carbon Footprint?

Best Green Internal Communications (over 50K) - WINNER: Nokia: The Power of We

Best Green Integrated Campaign (under 50K) -WINNER: We Want Tap: Tap

Best Green Integrated Campaign (over 50K) - WINNER: DEFRA: ACT ON CO2 - Save Money, Save Energy Campaign

Best Green International Campaign - WINNER: UNEP & UITP: The Voice of Reason (Age 6)

Best Green Outdoor (under 50K) - WINNER: International Fund for Animal Welfare: IFAW on the Underground

Best Green Outdoor (over 50K) - WINNER: Coca-Cola GB: Talent From Trash

Best Green Press - WINNER: CLG and COI: COI Energy Efficiency check up

Best Green PR Campaign (under 50K) - WINNER: United Utilities Plc.: Tap Into Water

Best Green Packaging (under 50K) - WINNER: Lush Ltd: Squeaky Green - There’s no greener packaging than no packaging

Best Green Packaging (over 50K) - WINNER: Cadbury: Cadbury Eco-Eggs

Best Green Radio - Highly Commended: Gcap Media: Green Month on the One Network

Best Green Website (under 50K) - WINNER: Friends of the Earth: The Big Ask

Best Green Website (over 50K) - WINNER: largeblue: green.tv

Best Green Campaigner -WINNER: Batteryrecycling-uk.co.uk: batteryrecycling-uk.co.uk