TESCO TESCO TESCO

The Green Issue of TESCO MAGAZINE is now in the stores and in it is the feature I did with Midge Ure and a group of other Greenies. Please pick up a copy the next time you shop.

Yes, that's me up the ladder!

THE DAILY GLOWB

So I'm walking through Trafalgar Square the other day 'cos I'm on my way to a screenplay reading at the ICA there is this huge great display of lights suspended in front of The National Gallery in some sort of fabulous installation by Tom Dixon and of course I'm plugged into all the design and art events going on and I remember that London is in the middle of Design Week (went to a London Fashion Week runway show last Saturday with my friend Kay and 100% Design and Decorex are coming up - already got me tickets) and THEN Eco Warrioress says to herself "Waydahminnit!!! How much blimmin' electricity are all those lights using? And they are on in the middle of the day!!"
I draw closer to get a better gander - it's cool to look at after all - and there is a long line of people waiting for something. Well, I'm back in the UK, so nothing new there! However, it turns out they are actually waiting to be given one of the lights from the installation. They were giving away the fixtures FREE - yes, free, gratis and for NOTHING - to the first 1,000 punters in the line, complete with a low energy GLOWB.
Eco Warrioress screeches to a halt and makes for the end of the queue!! After about 20 minutes I got my light fixture and one of the coolest things is that the container the new bulb comes in is addressed to Glowb so you can return your old 'naughty' incandescent bulbs and they will recycle it for you. They are also very keen to emphasise that the Glowb bulbs are made with the lowest possible impact on the environment.
Lots of green boxes being ticked!!
I got chatting with Caspar Thykier, one of the very cute, young founders of Glowb. He says that after seeing The Inconvenient Truth , his 'light bulb moment' came in the pub over a pint. He and his partners decided to become part of the solution to climate change and started their company.

Chaps after my own heart and another New Best Eco Friend for Alexandra's Little Green Book!

If everyone in the UK changed to Glowb, we would cut carbon emissions by 3 million tonnes a year and save £1 billion on our electricity bills.
Get yourself a Glowb.
The bulbs will be available from Dec 1st at their website and in selected retailers across the UK.

GORGEOUS GREEN THINGS

Following through with the light fixture thingy theme....you might need a shade for you new Glowb and you could get this one made from sustainable-plantation-grown hoop pine untreated plywood. You can find this shade and many others at Design Within Reach who sustainably strike again with this lovely range of shades designed by New Zealander, David Trubridge. He was honored with the Natural World Museum's 2007 Green Leaf Award for artistic excellence. I met David at his stand at 100% Design at Earls Court last Saturday and we got to chat briefly. He told me the shades are even shipped unassembled to reduce packing materials. Can you stand how green that is?

GOOOORGEOUSNESS!!

AND FINALLY A WORD ABOUT MARKS AND SPENCERS HANGERS....AND UNDERWIRE BRAS!!!!???

This comment came to me from Kate after she read my blog about Marks and Spencer's coat hanger amnesty on Ethical Junction. This is great!!



This letter is not just for your amusement, it is a very serious ethical issue! Just a quick note from me concerning the Eco Warrioress item and Marks and Spencers coat hangers. My concern is yes not just for the coat hangers, but..... (wait for it fellers!) the amount of metal underwire that are in bras that must also end up in landfill! If you go into any M&S store or lingerie department in any shop the bras nearly always have metal under wire in them, you can get perfectly well made, equally supportive and sexy bras without the under wire (if you are not familiar with that part of the bra I suggest you take a closer look). Some ladies with really big breasts say that they need the underwire for the support, but in this day and age we have the technology to make aero dynamic support for any size surely!

Any way I think this is a much ignored item on the landfill and recycling agenda. Any ideas how we should start a campaign against the under wire industry? And I do know this is not a guy thing! It is a long time since the 70’s when women burnt their bras for women’s lib, I don’t know that there has been any kind of revolt on that front since, and the underwire has gone on being an environmental disaster from the 90’s onwards, (might have been earlier than that, but I don’t know or remember!).
Cheers Kate