tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21869948319108137332024-02-19T15:19:26.776+00:00I Heart Planet EarthKatie Andertonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01129805442602950717noreply@blogger.comBlogger30125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2186994831910813733.post-70300458019384960462012-02-08T12:39:00.000+00:002012-02-08T12:39:15.318+00:00Valentines Day!<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">A day for love and romance, but is it always about this? Do we get lost in the moment and forget what impact this is actually having on our environment? The shops are full of gifts, cards, balloons, flowers, champagne and chocolates all of which usually last about a week before they are just thrown in the bin. Now don’t get me wrong I’m a woman and I love these kinds of things but surely there is a better way?</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Last year I did an article which had some sustainable gift ideas, so this year I though I would follow with a similar theme.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are so many websites out there offering sustainable and eco friendly gifts ideas that I just had to share them with you all. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">The first of my finds was at </span><a href="http://www.greenandpresent.co.uk/"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Green and Present</span></a><span style="font-size: x-small;"> which have a wide range of recycled, reused and reclaimed gifts. These cufflinks are made from antique coastal maps and such a unique gift idea. They are quirky enough to still be fashionable whilst at the same time have an environmental touch. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;">Refound Objects Cufflinks </span></b></span> </div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLB_vtN738OT6Bp4UQOll3HlrkHA17e2qG7v6RfNVpt23ouUPZOuN9DWJVaubdM59QJz5Au_FXxF_SEe0MLxofA7Z2aqr9OJeT6kcaWDYm3RxsqCOwmxNzoYR_ds-Ew-wNmRx5tKI_Hkc/s1600/Green+and+Present.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" sda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLB_vtN738OT6Bp4UQOll3HlrkHA17e2qG7v6RfNVpt23ouUPZOuN9DWJVaubdM59QJz5Au_FXxF_SEe0MLxofA7Z2aqr9OJeT6kcaWDYm3RxsqCOwmxNzoYR_ds-Ew-wNmRx5tKI_Hkc/s200/Green+and+Present.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">© </span></em><a href="http://www.greenandpresent.co.uk/"><em><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">http://www.greenandpresent.co.uk/</span></em></a><em><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"> </span></em></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;">£28.00</span></b></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">The second of my finds were these lovely reclaimed fabric off cuts hearts. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">String of Hearts</span></span></b></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZMGRwnkydg6eeIE9HkfKFXMNjzqE30asg666ZU3yqVRgxmFTruZEW7cG1A5VsE7_vaU_-lcb0o4wrRxEgZHO2iUfVyuUPI4rt_eJIvTtZCUISXygiN-9tMcomarHbbNp12jpmxfe8Qms/s1600/Green+and+Present+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" sda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZMGRwnkydg6eeIE9HkfKFXMNjzqE30asg666ZU3yqVRgxmFTruZEW7cG1A5VsE7_vaU_-lcb0o4wrRxEgZHO2iUfVyuUPI4rt_eJIvTtZCUISXygiN-9tMcomarHbbNp12jpmxfe8Qms/s200/Green+and+Present+2.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: xx-small;">© </span></em><a href="http://www.greenandpresent.co.uk/"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: xx-small;"><em>http://www.greenandpresent.co.uk/</em></span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: xx-small;"><em> </em></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;"></span></b><span style="font-size: x-small;"> <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;">£4.00 </span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://www.nigelsecostore.com/"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Nigel’s Eco Store</span></a><span style="font-size: x-small;"> sell products which mean you can choose to live in a more sustainable way and make a positive contribution to a better and brighter future. On the look for some gifts I found the following, an Antique Style Tea Light which is made from recycled glass and from a fair-trade co-operative in India and secondly an Eco iPad Sleeve which is made from FSC-certified fabric-backed cork which is completely biodegradable and recyclable. If I had an iPad I would definitely want one of these! </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Antique Style Silvered Tea Light Holder</span></span></b></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibqiJemqc5VTH8aMUU0vyXuXQPYq2FTbJmO1ySICzwx0ukk5KDLNPVYfCoAfsLkbNKOPaozOSuxLawpjKkffnLjdnYP-pEPWhrIWx836UqGvddp3bNlg3gsMV3Dqfsqn-K9UKtUryzRR0/s1600/nigels+eco+store.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><strong><img border="0" height="200" sda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibqiJemqc5VTH8aMUU0vyXuXQPYq2FTbJmO1ySICzwx0ukk5KDLNPVYfCoAfsLkbNKOPaozOSuxLawpjKkffnLjdnYP-pEPWhrIWx836UqGvddp3bNlg3gsMV3Dqfsqn-K9UKtUryzRR0/s200/nigels+eco+store.jpg" width="160" /></strong></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">© </span></em><a href="http://www.nigelsecostore.com/"><em><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">http://www.nigelsecostore.com/</span></em></a></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">£5.99 + VAT</span></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Eco iPad Sleeve</span></span></b></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjzW1Q7BpBKjbRSbHUTuXWLkNsFPm5U_CazJCZ3QujCKBeDRFNF_ZqLlbb5OIL3QnP42-ZqOMDsIvdmucYRY_n1L0mGoeAoB4qW_i0fxVf4A4J0EvgfW92e8sUnynbzSG7Gv9upl5Jp7Y/s1600/nigels+eco+store+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" sda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjzW1Q7BpBKjbRSbHUTuXWLkNsFPm5U_CazJCZ3QujCKBeDRFNF_ZqLlbb5OIL3QnP42-ZqOMDsIvdmucYRY_n1L0mGoeAoB4qW_i0fxVf4A4J0EvgfW92e8sUnynbzSG7Gv9upl5Jp7Y/s200/nigels+eco+store+2.jpg" width="160" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: xx-small;">© </span></em><a href="http://www.nigelsecostore.com/"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: xx-small;"><em>http://www.nigelsecostore.com/</em></span></a></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;">£18.37 + VAT</span></b><span lang="EN" style="color: #3a402d; display: none; font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-hide: all;"><span style="color: #959595; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;"></span></span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Another website I just love is </span><a href="http://www.love-eco.co.uk/"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Love Eco</span></a><span style="font-size: x-small;">. Their website simply says it’s a place where people can shop for products that reduce the impact we make on the world. Whilst searching the website for unusual but eco friendly presents I can across a couple of gifts which I thought were perfect for this time of year. Ok so you like to receive flowers and balloons but didn’t realise until now what impact they may be having on the environment, ok well here you go take a look at these unique ideas:</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fair-Trade Felt Flowers </span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCQhxpJp12faEZj5nSUXZck_pxIJVDB0iJ2zY3bNifey-G31VsS25AGX26wn0BkUG6xmvXpYi6UnjO0DcrjxlehoGFFdKRb128YQGDm8v8iAPzhF8qRy-7qw4Opi4H141Ow4wWggZ6z0w/s1600/love+eco.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" sda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCQhxpJp12faEZj5nSUXZck_pxIJVDB0iJ2zY3bNifey-G31VsS25AGX26wn0BkUG6xmvXpYi6UnjO0DcrjxlehoGFFdKRb128YQGDm8v8iAPzhF8qRy-7qw4Opi4H141Ow4wWggZ6z0w/s200/love+eco.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">© </span></em><a href="http://www.love-eco.co.uk/"><em><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">http://www.love-eco.co.uk/</span></em></a></td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;">£3.00 each </span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;">Biodegradable Red Heart Balloons</span></b></span> </div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgePgfWwXvqawHnMcvux9fOMIfFwClLxLIHYspGo4KRhut97dQHhDkw7p9d4Zo5cWnOAMg3FH2DA70MO55mnpOMyf8eKTkPgbIvb2aY3QsIocJDznSy9sp_iwTzkbw8bh3qW7DUt92Z9LY/s1600/Picture1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="134" sda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgePgfWwXvqawHnMcvux9fOMIfFwClLxLIHYspGo4KRhut97dQHhDkw7p9d4Zo5cWnOAMg3FH2DA70MO55mnpOMyf8eKTkPgbIvb2aY3QsIocJDznSy9sp_iwTzkbw8bh3qW7DUt92Z9LY/s200/Picture1.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: xx-small;">© </span></em><a href="http://www.love-eco.co.uk/"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: xx-small;"><em>http://www.love-eco.co.uk/</em></span></a></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;">£4.50 per pack </span></b></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Alternatively you could ask for gifts that don’t involve buying anything. For example, time together, a back rub, donation to charity, music or movie downloads or even offering to teach something you know how to do. How romantic is this and what’s more it won’t cost the earth! </span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">And at the end of the day if you do want all the impulse gifts that you might not want for more than a week just remember to dispose of them correctly. All those teddy bears could be sent to local children homes and make a real difference in someone else’s lives. If you do want flowers just make sure you tell your loved one you want fair-trade ones and if you do want champagne be sure to look around for local made bubbly! </span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><strong>Happy Valentines Day!</strong></span> </span></div></div>Katie Andertonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01129805442602950717noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2186994831910813733.post-27707882135652033072012-01-20T13:23:00.000+00:002012-01-20T13:23:20.315+00:00Recycling Woodlands<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It’s the age old question of what to do with your Christmas cards now the holiday season is over. After all the money and time it has taken over the last month to make sure they arrive to you in time for Christmas makes it such a shame to just recycle them now its January. It’s not like you can reuse them, or is it?</span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Maybe next year you could make your own cards by collecting the fronts of the cards and bits of ribbon you may have been given over the holiday season. You could create a whole range of individually, handmade Christmas cards to give to your loved ones next year without having a huge impact on the environment and costing you a fortune. They are also a fun activity to do with your family and really shows people you have made an effort with your cards. Take a look at the </span><a href="http://www.channel4.com/4homes/how-to/craft/how-to-make-wrapping-and-cards"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Channel 4</span></a><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> website for a step by step guide to making your own cards. </span></span></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6KO5tiOgJtQD6isQFT8uDSXA0UNfIbfEW94eSHOGnjRYCtx2UDw4uF4ALNi5IATl4E7EIMZG-kaAWavPGuJ0AITrW0BTFFVE8Vduraei63jRyOBhsZMwBfQfQ6BHIVs0wsIkmhoS1RqQ/s1600/Channel+4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="130" nfa="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6KO5tiOgJtQD6isQFT8uDSXA0UNfIbfEW94eSHOGnjRYCtx2UDw4uF4ALNi5IATl4E7EIMZG-kaAWavPGuJ0AITrW0BTFFVE8Vduraei63jRyOBhsZMwBfQfQ6BHIVs0wsIkmhoS1RqQ/s200/Channel+4.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em><span style="font-family: Verdana;">© Channel 4</span></em></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If you want to take this further you could also have a go at making your <a href="http://iheartplanetearth.blogspot.com/2011_07_01_archive.html">wrapping paper</a>. </span></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM6eUns0xec3cFi1Q9RgzerrQ10HmSsBnjb_wY7egmL1sHM_td-DCRGaqKVQyFh4Hc4VKlmyqSGBF4Bk-KdOU6pJ3yODNzL9gsxS4IRaP3Fht8MZkNcSGHFzuAt4ISw8HTkeqeCiFZWQs/s1600/xmas+%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" nfa="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM6eUns0xec3cFi1Q9RgzerrQ10HmSsBnjb_wY7egmL1sHM_td-DCRGaqKVQyFh4Hc4VKlmyqSGBF4Bk-KdOU6pJ3yODNzL9gsxS4IRaP3Fht8MZkNcSGHFzuAt4ISw8HTkeqeCiFZWQs/s200/xmas+%25282%2529.JPG" width="200" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Alternatively, if you’re like me and not hugely creative then don’t worry because </span><a href="http://plana.marksandspencer.com/you-can-do/waste/28/"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Marks & Spencer’s</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"> have recently launched a campaign for all their customers to go into their stores and help the </span><a href="http://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/en/Pages/default.aspx"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Woodland Trust</span></a><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> turn the festive waste into woodland by recycling old cards. From the 2<sup>nd</sup> to the 31<sup>st</sup> January, specially marked Christmas card recycling bins will be placed in stores. The company has also confirmed it is committed to planting 1 tree for every 1,000 cards returned into the store with the aim of saving over 10 million cards from the bins. </span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It gets even better than this, you can even vote to determine the location of the trees that are to be planted. This is a really innovative way to get everyone involved in this process. Sue Holden, Chief Executive of the Woodland Trust, said “we are delighted that Marks and Spencer’s are continuing the highly successful Christmas card recycling scheme this year. By recycling festive cards, customers are helping the Woodland Trust to continue vital work in creating new woodland, as well as preserving the habitat of thousands of UK species”. </span></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1isA-rPRdhBe92HNokAeDjO9SY_zkyf60jbYdDO4_OLjzJcTwb7sMB_xL13UPMo2L0VHcf2oMnXQCsqB2WO8N8x-Lxa2wkQD2t_pMcDFVQch1y7Mg6UHXl4xvCX3N8JB1kSwEytXYmjU/s1600/xmas+%25287%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" nfa="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1isA-rPRdhBe92HNokAeDjO9SY_zkyf60jbYdDO4_OLjzJcTwb7sMB_xL13UPMo2L0VHcf2oMnXQCsqB2WO8N8x-Lxa2wkQD2t_pMcDFVQch1y7Mg6UHXl4xvCX3N8JB1kSwEytXYmjU/s200/xmas+%25287%2529.JPG" width="200" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Hopefully this has brightened up an otherwise dull January and gives you hope that January isn’t just about all the wastage from Christmas but can be a way to protect future generations from a life without woodlands.</span> </span></div>Katie Andertonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01129805442602950717noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2186994831910813733.post-85044109724502221542012-01-14T14:57:00.000+00:002012-01-14T14:57:00.331+00:00Eco Heroes<div style="font: 10.0px Verdana; line-height: 18.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 10.0px 0.0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">A year ago I started my blog not really knowing what environmental issues I would be covering throughout the year but hoping to raise awareness as to why we need to protect the environment we live in. 2011 saw a number of <a href="http://iheartplanetearth.blogspot.com/2011/01/2011-year-of-flood.html">floods</a>, petitions, a <a href="http://www.environmentalgraffiti.com/energy/news-its-all-nuclear-1">nuclear disaster</a>, innovative gadgets and the world reaching <a href="http://iheartplanetearth.blogspot.com/2011/11/1-in-7-billion.html">7 billion</a> people. An eventful year, which really emphasises why we need to act now and do what we can to make a real difference to the planet, not only for ourselves, but for future generations too. </span></div><div style="font: 10.0px Verdana; line-height: 18.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 10.0px 0.0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">I thought I would start the year by sharing with you some of my eco heroes throughout history and people who have inspired me to raise awareness on environmental issues.</span></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKxt0aiWQazqdXk2PLcSHlQ8AD0kUbj6j9Jw9FYqaM7QQrarFyV7RDiG9p4YzA_is4mFm8LzldcHJm-qaQB1sC3e130Mx3NS_sn_PugmNJ3NQFmmL27GK2D91NhwwXXFgjOA9bpBTr4hA/s1600/BBC.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="129" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKxt0aiWQazqdXk2PLcSHlQ8AD0kUbj6j9Jw9FYqaM7QQrarFyV7RDiG9p4YzA_is4mFm8LzldcHJm-qaQB1sC3e130Mx3NS_sn_PugmNJ3NQFmmL27GK2D91NhwwXXFgjOA9bpBTr4hA/s200/BBC.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><b>© </b>BBC</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="font: 10.0px Verdana; line-height: 18.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 10.0px 0.0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">I am sure it is no surprise that my first ‘hero’ would be <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0041003/">Sir David Attenborough</a>. For as long as I can remember I have enjoyed his TV programmes since I was a little girl and he is not only a hero of mine but also the reason behind my passion for the environment.</span></div><div style="font: 10.0px Verdana; line-height: 18.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 10.0px 0.0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">These programmes, of which my favourites are Planet Earth and The Blue Planet, have often included references to how our own existence is having an impact on the natural world. Attenborough has also recently spoken out about the rising population numbers and how this is going to have a huge impact on the potential effects of climate change and be the root cause of many environmental problems. In 2009, he then became a patron of <a href="http://populationmatters.org/">Population Matters</a> a UK charity advocating sustainable human populations. If you read my earlier post on the ever rising population then you will know what impact this is having on not only our natural resources but also our food supply and available space. </span></div><div style="font: 10.0px Verdana; line-height: 18.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 10.0px 0.0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">I think his closing statement from the programme ‘State of the Planet’ has to be his most poignant and really reflects my own personal beliefs as to why we need to protect our planet:</span></div><div style="font: 10.0px Verdana; line-height: 23.0px; margin: 5.0px 0.0px 5.0px 0.0px; text-align: justify;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">“The future of life on earth depends on our ability to take action. Many individuals are doing what they can, but real success can only come if there's a change in our societies and our economics and in our politics. I've been lucky in my lifetime to see some of the greatest spectacles that the natural world has to offer. Surely we have a responsibility to leave for future generations a planet that is healthy, inhabitable by all species”.</span></i></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-uwaOLSi3Y3iXXfmEr07DgxR1dQLbAJwgYy6pdI5mufOy376mMuvepQ7qpfiKXOs9QqMSRjcsoGVfF4ovz1WvbrLbZvndaMLtasWd6RqsU3urOEU80MBfSpoY_E1JoMZUrGVGPbm29Wc/s1600/sciencephotolibrary.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-uwaOLSi3Y3iXXfmEr07DgxR1dQLbAJwgYy6pdI5mufOy376mMuvepQ7qpfiKXOs9QqMSRjcsoGVfF4ovz1WvbrLbZvndaMLtasWd6RqsU3urOEU80MBfSpoY_E1JoMZUrGVGPbm29Wc/s200/sciencephotolibrary.jpg" width="156" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://www.sciencephoto.com/">© SciencePhotoLibrary</a></span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="font: 10.0px Verdana; line-height: 18.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 10.0px 0.0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Another hero of mine, <a href="http://www.rachelcarson.org/">Rachel Carson</a>, was an American marine biologist and conservationist and author, she is also credited with advancing the global environmental movement back in the 1950s.</span></div><div style="font: 10.0px Verdana; line-height: 18.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 10.0px 0.0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">She raised controversy about the impact of industrial scale pesticides on the environment in a book titled ‘Silent Spring’ an issue today which we are fully aware of. She also predicted the increased consequences as pests developed resistance to the pesticides in the future. </span></div><div style="font: 10.0px Verdana; line-height: 18.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 10.0px 0.0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">It is thanks to her that there was a nationwide ban on pesticides and her book was eventually responsible for the creation of the <a href="http://www.epa.gov/">Environmental Protection Agency</a> which works to protect human health and the environment. </span></div><div style="font: 10.0px Verdana; line-height: 18.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 10.0px 0.0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Finally, <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/darwin_charles.shtml">Charles Darwin</a>, an English naturalist and possibly one of the most influential figures in human history whose ideas of evolutionary became a movement know as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darwinism">Darwinism</a>, and whose works are still celebrated today. </span></div><div style="font: 10.0px Verdana; line-height: 18.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 10.0px 0.0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">His works established that all species have descended over time from a common ancestry, and proposed the scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection. </span></div><div style="font: 10.0px Verdana; line-height: 18.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 10.0px 0.0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">He published his theory in 1859 in a book titled On the Origin of Species which was an abstract of his theory of evolution and because of this he was regarded as a great scientist thinker. If you haven’t read this book already then you should really give it a try it will make you fall in love with science all over again. </span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibnhM9rm0ZOU-jmx-BDYgOomP0wTfoaKM9Cr3S6n98OqizVrU8rzm3yp8LZUwUD-0sbo7lt8b71yqVPqDWnjX0rtYleoKAya-X_CLIgxvRwA3BwtD6fnnJML2a1s5x6uHMOOTdI62YFr4/s1600/Feedbooks.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibnhM9rm0ZOU-jmx-BDYgOomP0wTfoaKM9Cr3S6n98OqizVrU8rzm3yp8LZUwUD-0sbo7lt8b71yqVPqDWnjX0rtYleoKAya-X_CLIgxvRwA3BwtD6fnnJML2a1s5x6uHMOOTdI62YFr4/s200/Feedbooks.jpg" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://www.feedbooks.com/search?query=origin+of+species">© FeedBooks</a></span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="font: 10.0px Verdana; line-height: 18.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 10.0px 0.0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">There is always a reason behind what your passionate about, the work you do or what you like to read about, for me, David Attenborough, Charles Darwin and Rachel Carson are the reason I want to raise awareness of environmental issues and protect the world we live in. <b>Who do you look up to?</b></span></div>Katie Andertonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01129805442602950717noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2186994831910813733.post-58471009594149508532011-11-09T12:22:00.000+00:002011-11-09T12:22:21.260+00:001 in 7 Billion <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMUROrG_-NvP2HDciCg-EUKC6O6ehiXjRuW2hnj7KmhBfBlSCe5YrJzM4dxzFCkN_2RqrJl8ez2aIB44nHqYz-yANofXcf_6rld7Vl-pKbaNkwAbo8tEo5z2rGwXNjE40dH7DW_SZV19g/s1600/mzl.cpjoeirm.480x480-75.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" ida="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMUROrG_-NvP2HDciCg-EUKC6O6ehiXjRuW2hnj7KmhBfBlSCe5YrJzM4dxzFCkN_2RqrJl8ez2aIB44nHqYz-yANofXcf_6rld7Vl-pKbaNkwAbo8tEo5z2rGwXNjE40dH7DW_SZV19g/s200/mzl.cpjoeirm.480x480-75.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span id="goog_657340225"></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/7-billion/id473524096?mt=8">© National Geographic Magazine</a></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table> <div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">If you’re one in a million you’re considered very special so imagine being 1 in 7 billion. This is no longer a dream, this is reality. There are now officially 7 billion humans on the planet. </span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Last week, October 31<sup>st</sup> 2011, saw the human population reach 7 billion according to the <a href="http://www.un.org/esa/population/">United Nations Population Division</a>. This has been due to a combination of people living longer, people living healthier and better medical support. This should be an achievement and people all over the world are celebrating the birth of the 7 billionth human but what strain is this having on our planet? Can we survive with so many people?</span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">According to the Huffington Post there is only half an acre of productive cropland on the planet for every person on earth. Its common knowledge that we are running out of fresh water and with climate change increasing areas susceptible to floods and droughts, the area available to grow crops will become even more sparse. </span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Efforts are being made to try and inform the uneducated and developing countries. This has been ongoing for many years and will take many more to complete, but the developed world, you and me, also have a role to play. We know what the impacts are and we know how we can help reduce the ever growing population. We need to take action and try to work together to ensure we can all survive on earth and most of all create a sustainable living environment. </span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">If planet Earth stands a chance of surviving <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">we</i> as a population need to become more environmentally conscious and be aware of the products we purchase and the type of foods we eat. This should no longer be seen as being green and rather a way of life which is just as ordinary as going to sleep. </span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Finally the President of the United Nations Foundation, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Wirth">Timothy E. Wirth</a>, addressed the current situation in a recent speech which I think reflects perfectly what needs to be done to combat our ever increasing population. </span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">“In a world of 7 billion, it is more important than ever that we address fundamental issues of poverty and inequality. We know that investing in women’s reproductive health and voluntary family planning is one of the most cost effective means to tackling our most pressing global development challenges.”</span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">To hear the complete speech click <a href="http://www.unfoundation.org/news-and-media/press-releases/2011/7-billion-reasons-to-invest.html">here</a></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">. </span></span></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYDPEZgd9gm_UXk0RTHdOml53yvOFsC7pawAiWCAE1mKeY6V77_OBnbEZZooyx5VJ7Ic0gLZMa7rBjS58Q7isxtmEO3gznjKmeoxsgfSGXJGv5NXO4yX3XvWtD5BNgASBc8yn0yPALAiQ/s1600/-India%252520Crowded-Streets.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><img border="0" height="213" ida="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYDPEZgd9gm_UXk0RTHdOml53yvOFsC7pawAiWCAE1mKeY6V77_OBnbEZZooyx5VJ7Ic0gLZMa7rBjS58Q7isxtmEO3gznjKmeoxsgfSGXJGv5NXO4yX3XvWtD5BNgASBc8yn0yPALAiQ/s320/-India%252520Crowded-Streets.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/"><span id="goog_657340225"></span>© Randy Olson @ National Geographic</a> <span id="goog_657340226"></span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span></b> <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;">How are you going to help?</span></span></span></b></div>Katie Andertonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01129805442602950717noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2186994831910813733.post-78946715055480653662011-10-27T12:39:00.004+01:002011-10-27T12:43:52.936+01:00Horse Carriage Romance?<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"></span></b><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; line-height: 115%;">Depending on where in the world you live, you may or may not have heard about the campaign to ban the horse drawn carriages in New York City’s central park. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">I first came across the issue earlier in the year when organising my own trip to New York. Whilst researching what activities I could do in the city I came across information I was really not expecting to find and wanted to help the best way I know how by spreading the word.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">For hundreds of years horse drawn carriages have been a symbol of this city and are captured in many of the movies and images we see on our screens. However, in recent years this ‘symbol’ has been on the screens for all the wrong reasons. </span> </span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOUYiI6dN39q2bz8_C3pqVBDXT3keF3UwAPj0_d8XsALdp4A6uMOdAXdKDKrgNgqDiCzUr2WTR_50V6tGvPfXcic65oxwwnZPorKzkmKf9kaX4Zuu61kiq7JMyCRZI-3CD66PUwpBDUGk/s1600/www.hbo.com.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><img border="0" height="180" ida="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOUYiI6dN39q2bz8_C3pqVBDXT3keF3UwAPj0_d8XsALdp4A6uMOdAXdKDKrgNgqDiCzUr2WTR_50V6tGvPfXcic65oxwwnZPorKzkmKf9kaX4Zuu61kiq7JMyCRZI-3CD66PUwpBDUGk/s320/www.hbo.com.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN" style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;"><em><a href="http://www.hbo.com/sex-and-the-city/episodes/6/92-splat/slideshow.html">©HBO</a></em></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">According to the New York Times, a nonprofits group known as </span><a href="http://www.ny-class.org/"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">NY-Class</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">, which stands for ‘New Yorkers for Clean, Liveable and Safe Streets’ have been campaigning since 2008 for the removal of the carriage horses. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; line-height: 115%;">This is because many people believe, including myself, that horses do not belong in congested urban settings constantly forced to breathe in toxic exhaust fumes as they stand in traffic behind cars and taxis and are often denied the 15 minute breaks they are required to be given every two hours. It has also been reported that during time off they are kept in stables and denied access to the open space an animal of this size requires to maintain a certain level of health and wellbeing. Given the choice I doubt any of us would choose to work in these conditions. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; line-height: 115%;">It was also reported in the New York Times that since 2008 NY-Class has been promoting “replacing” the city’s carriage horses with 68 electric cars, one of several proposals by animal right advocates over the years to get rid of the carriage horse industry, which they say is inhumane. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; line-height: 115%;">Last week the New York Daily News reported that a carriage horse died on the streets of New York City last week on its way to Central Park. Surely this just highlights that these animals should not be made to work under these conditions. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; line-height: 115%;">I posted an article earlier in the year about the mis-treatment of circus animals and, for me personally, I can not see any difference between the two activities. These animals are made to perform to us – yes it may not be to crowds of people but it is certainly in front of ‘crowds’ of cars and worse in conditions that we wouldn’t even want to work in. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Lea Michele, Glee actress, has been campaigning and actively involved with </span><a href="http://www.peta.org/b/thepetafiles/archive/2011/10/25/another-dead-horse-in-nyc.aspx?c=ptwit"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">PETA</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"> for promoting the horse drawn carriage ban over the last few months and following the recent news of the death of another horse in the streets of New York City, has re-launched her campaign to make more people aware. She has also launched a video to urge people to take note of what is happening and hopefully force a ban on horse drawn carriages not just in New York City but all over the world. </span></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; line-height: 115%;">Now if you’re still not sure where your support lies and you still need convincing this ban is the right thing then you should watch Lea Michele’s video below:</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/rkJPetfniTc?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN" style="color: #333333; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Furthermore get involved yourself and sign the </span><a href="http://www.ny-class.org/action/petition"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">petition</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN" style="color: #333333; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Finally, there are alternatives and many organisations have been involved in showcasing some possibilities. Earlier this month the </span><a href="http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10/07/meet-the-contraption-that-wants-to-replace-central-park-horses/?scp=1&sq=horse%20drawn%20carriage%20proposals&st=cse"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">New York Times</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"> reported that a faux-vintage electric car had been proposed as an option to replace horse drawn carriages.</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis-leMJ7CKinCNpXO9T8PblUmfXZknMlvKmAeruNsu92x_uF1O5z_-NBZavsb2qatcUSVKZsGsy9GQ3fLfD-ZQM4k4bGp82ifxhhIYMa7t6ZKcW4Po6fdxPEt9dtMgTdroRmkSfkHtn6E/s1600/07caryee-cityroom-blog480.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><img border="0" height="197" ida="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis-leMJ7CKinCNpXO9T8PblUmfXZknMlvKmAeruNsu92x_uF1O5z_-NBZavsb2qatcUSVKZsGsy9GQ3fLfD-ZQM4k4bGp82ifxhhIYMa7t6ZKcW4Po6fdxPEt9dtMgTdroRmkSfkHtn6E/s320/07caryee-cityroom-blog480.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN" style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;"><em><a href="http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10/07/meet-the-contraption-that-wants-to-replace-central-park-horses/?scp=1&sq=horse%20drawn%20carriage%20proposals&st=cse">© New York Times</a></em></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN" style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Supported by Lea Michele herself </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">“these eco-friendly ‘horseless carriages’ would attract tourists with old New York glamour, protect carriage drivers’ jobs and allow approximately 220 horses currently working in this industry to be retired to sanctuaries”.</span> </i></span><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;"></span></div>Katie Andertonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01129805442602950717noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2186994831910813733.post-73684986271828778282011-09-16T12:20:00.000+01:002011-09-16T12:20:56.998+01:00Have you planned your Stay-cation?<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">For many of us this year’s holiday season is already over. I have, for many years, travelled around my own country experiencing the vast variety of places which are on our doorstep. This got me thinking how many people really, truly, can say that they spend quality time in the country they live and explore every aspect of it? With travelling to foreign countries so popular I’m starting to think not many. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">My interest in nature started early and I can’t really pin point the time I realised I wanted to make a difference. After camping with my parents for practically my whole life I can only assume it was down to them. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Back in September 2006 I decided to take the opportunity and volunteer whilst I was out of work. I enrolled on a </span><a href="https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-trust/w-volunteering/w-workingholidays.htm"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">National Trust Working Holiday</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> and it was fantastic, not only did I make some new friends I knew I was in someway making a difference to the environment I loved. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">The National Trust runs about 400 Working Holidays a year throughout the UK. Each have their own set of activities and therefore you can pick the one that suits you the most. My tasks involved beach clearing, scrub clearance and wood coppicing. The holidays demand varying degrees of hard graft but are definitely worth doing and thoroughly enjoyable. Most holidays can be selected according to volunteer’s skills sets, age and level of fitness. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">I tend to spend my annual holiday camping in the south of Cornwall and absolutely love it there. Even if I choose to travel abroad I would still want to go back there each year. Not only for the friends and family I have down there but to enjoy how wonderful our own country is. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">There are many beautiful countries to go and visit, which don’t get me wrong I would love to go and visit one day, but what about the country you live in? Are there not places in your own communities you would like to explore first? I was surprised to find out that a lot of my friends have never really explored their own country. And why not? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s on our doorstep after all. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Each country has its unique qualities and often attracts vast numbers during the summer months. If tourists are prepared to visit our country to see what it has to offer then shouldn’t we be doing the same? Do we ever truly get to fully explore our own country? We need to rethink the way we travel and the places we travel to as travelling is one of the greatest contributors to climate change. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Unlike other environmental issues green travel is entirely down to us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As travellers and tourists we make the decision ourselves regarding how we should travel. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Well lucky for us, green travel is considered quite trendy at the moment with a lot of new people taking up camping. There are several books in shops at the moment with tips on how to be green, but favourite has to be </span><a href="http://www.ecoescape.org/"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Eco Escapes</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> by Laura Burgess. Not only are there tips on how to be green whilst on your holidays but it provides you with a list of beautiful and eco friendly places you may wish to visit during your holiday. The book suggests that it will ‘help you see with new eyes and help you see home as a great place to start wherever this may be’. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Some campsites are known to have solar powered showers and recycling is strongly recommended. According to Jonathan Knight, author of </span><a href="http://www.coolcamping.co.uk/"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Cool Camping</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">, some campsites also have their own comfortable, fragrance free composting toilets.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">There is a good website you should all visit if you want to explore the advantages of green travel. </span><a href="http://www.responsibletravel.com/"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Responsible Travel</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> thinks that holidays should care about the local communities and different cultures as well as wildlife and the environment. Tourism does help communities grow by providing an income source through travel related spending. We should want to explore all the cultures available to us we just need to make sure we are accountable for our actions. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Stay-cation is the new catch phrase and many people don’t know what it means or the intended purpose of the word. But many of you I’m sure, similar to me, have being doing it for years and now it’s our turn to show them how it is done and how they can positively effect the environment we live in.</span> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH8d666QjUhDjc5VNt1ClsRg2O7K-jvYSQpN-8zoS1QZ4dcIX-aCTyfdIBEunRPRjjQFAQDMnPKLFxQWrKxASD-NLzXs5ntu6xCbZBY_mxYj5Efal4eO4zYvKoKfNJH3oOsDcua4yPtos/s1600/photo.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" rba="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH8d666QjUhDjc5VNt1ClsRg2O7K-jvYSQpN-8zoS1QZ4dcIX-aCTyfdIBEunRPRjjQFAQDMnPKLFxQWrKxASD-NLzXs5ntu6xCbZBY_mxYj5Efal4eO4zYvKoKfNJH3oOsDcua4yPtos/s320/photo.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div>Katie Andertonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01129805442602950717noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2186994831910813733.post-74684539238756866552011-07-05T17:16:00.000+01:002011-07-05T17:16:09.542+01:00Eco Wrapping<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Last week was my birthday and I was lucky enough to receive lots of presents. Now I have tons of wrapping paper and cards and I was trying to think of ways I could put them to good use. It seems like such a waste to spend loads of money on wrapping paper and gift bags for them to just end up in the recycling. If they are recycled at all that is!</span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Of course the exciting part about unwrapping a present is ripping the paper apart and throwing it across the room but what difference would it make is we simply tried to keep the paper? This paper could then be reused for someone else to enjoy and save you some money too. </span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">In fact, if you are a ripper like me, instead of buying wrapping paper in the first place you could come up with innovative ideas from around the home to reduce your waste. Wrapping gifts in old newspapers and magazines is an inexpensive and individual way of wrapping your present. You could always try and find funny stories to amuse your friends too. I have also heard of wrapping in Chinese or Arabic newspaper which can have a really nice effect given they look more like shapes than words. Also if a friend is perhaps learning a language wrapping a present in that countries newspaper can be really individual!</span></span></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin6kh5jvURkOI4WRqFOPnGPlSdHhLkbGJxi9mze2uXjvZtxbn6WAx6BidOL37KZXA0cFZ7LbTDmd3pYQULUG4p8L-XP3tK2jrwCPXIJHxyn9bM5kHD5pGftXVftOjqUE4W70o9gtN7NVk/s1600/copyright+the+patchwork+dress.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><img border="0" height="150" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin6kh5jvURkOI4WRqFOPnGPlSdHhLkbGJxi9mze2uXjvZtxbn6WAx6BidOL37KZXA0cFZ7LbTDmd3pYQULUG4p8L-XP3tK2jrwCPXIJHxyn9bM5kHD5pGftXVftOjqUE4W70o9gtN7NVk/s200/copyright+the+patchwork+dress.jpg" width="200" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><a href="http://www.thepatchworkdress.typepad.com/"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><em>© The Patchwork Dress</em></span></a></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDWkFgNE81-wq_tyh7PbT0Yai1tR4KPuXkBi9CEevL6yFyjye0hQ-2RaDQ9CAXdIbnFmZ_MQo81iTo9Zex13tq6qizHO_sEZuht-1vewyN3gg2Paq5UnUXHlECPgI-emXAnl0XggwsnFI/s1600/copyright+the+kind+life.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><em><img border="0" height="149" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDWkFgNE81-wq_tyh7PbT0Yai1tR4KPuXkBi9CEevL6yFyjye0hQ-2RaDQ9CAXdIbnFmZ_MQo81iTo9Zex13tq6qizHO_sEZuht-1vewyN3gg2Paq5UnUXHlECPgI-emXAnl0XggwsnFI/s200/copyright+the+kind+life.jpg" width="200" /></em></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><a href="http://www.thekindlife.com/"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><em>© The Kind Life</em></span></a></span></td></tr>
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Using brown paper packing is another idea you could use teamed up with a nice piece of ribbon can make a present look really special and a technique my boyfriend has been using for years. </span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Now I am not proposing everyone will like this idea and may think its looks a bit lazy like you haven’t really made an effort so maybe you need to target your audience appropriately. All I know is, if I received something like this I would love it and I know a couple of my friends who would feel the same! And on the plus side you will be reducing how much dye and ink you are using as well as the amount of paper.</span> </span></div>Katie Andertonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01129805442602950717noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2186994831910813733.post-71171209763116586362011-06-26T22:41:00.001+01:002011-06-26T22:51:52.136+01:00Is it possible to have a green festival?<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih-t8aD6KTQtdzH_6kPDp5l7ywuGJDbQ-ErEEaO9FNXqZ1p_S1pgBESFieDcoxCzcQOQUBW7E2adfB4BGwqkLKkFcwrCRkiDPIvLefMWK0U4QI4CWu7GcQyTdEvejkyPo10_R0-rUwJj8/s1600/Matt+Cardy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><em><img border="0" height="130px" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih-t8aD6KTQtdzH_6kPDp5l7ywuGJDbQ-ErEEaO9FNXqZ1p_S1pgBESFieDcoxCzcQOQUBW7E2adfB4BGwqkLKkFcwrCRkiDPIvLefMWK0U4QI4CWu7GcQyTdEvejkyPo10_R0-rUwJj8/s200/Matt+Cardy.jpg" width="200px" /></em></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><em>© Matt Cardy</em></span></span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><city w:st="on"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><a href="http://www.glastonburyfestivals.co.uk/">Glastonbury</a></span></city><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">, the largest music festivals in the <country-region w:st="on"><place w:st="on">UK</place></country-region>, was this weekend and while everyone was enjoying the sunshine and music and possibly a beer or too most people forgot about the environment. Tens of thousands of people travelled from all over the country to take part in this event adding unnecessary CO2 emissions into the atmosphere. According to organisers around 50% of <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Glastonbury</place></city>’s CO2 emissions arise from travelling to and from the event. </span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">So this year <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Glastonbury</place></city> has come up with a green initiative whereby anyone arriving by public transport gets exclusive use of solar showers, discounted main meals and access to compost toilets. This sounds fantastic and a great way to encourage people to think about their travel arrangements especially as it is for no additional cost. I know if that was me I would definitely arrive by train or coach for the possibility of a solar powered shower! It will be interesting to find out how many people took up this opportunity and whether it was a success in reducing travel related pollution. </span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">According to the Little Hampton Gazette this year <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Glastonbury</place></city> organisers have launched the ‘Love the Farm – Leave no Trace’ campaign, which aims to tackle many of the environmentally negative aspects of the festival. The campaign covers many of the initiatives already mentioned as well as handing out biodegradable tent pegs and using bio-fuels to power the generators. </span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">There will also be 100 ‘green police’ wearing comic costumes reminding people of their responsibilities whilst at the festival. This is because the mountain of rubbish created by these week long events takes days to clean up. </span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">What could you do as a festival-goer to go green at <place w:st="on"><city w:st="on">Glastonbury</city></place> or any another festival this summer:</span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><ul style="margin-top: 0cm;" type="disc"><li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Travel to the event by public transport;</span></span></span></div></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Use biodegradable tent pegs;</span></span></span></div></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Use the toilets provided and not the ground; </span></span></span></div></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Use the recycle bins provided;</span></span></span></div></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Use the cigarette ‘BUTT’ bins;</span></span></span></div></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Limit what you bring and take everything home again;</span></span></span></div></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Clean up behind you; and </span></span></span></div></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Pack up your tent and take it home;</span></span></span></div></li>
</ul><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">So while your out their having fun remember everything we do has some kind of impact on the planet.</span> </span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVBoUPJPUy7STJp0USnU3XqSihhjRozUqxbVCSoCozPDDBeG8JpuNZi7QAFJu6vYJzJvb8lZMdtDSFb6H1nmkydWalP2IzyjFKhyphenhyphenOSowIPLHTUMPojmTNsjuWhlwY0tEmtJ0ExyZDzz5s/s1600/Telegraph.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="128px" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVBoUPJPUy7STJp0USnU3XqSihhjRozUqxbVCSoCozPDDBeG8JpuNZi7QAFJu6vYJzJvb8lZMdtDSFb6H1nmkydWalP2IzyjFKhyphenhyphenOSowIPLHTUMPojmTNsjuWhlwY0tEmtJ0ExyZDzz5s/s200/Telegraph.jpg" width="200px" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><em>© The Telegraph</em></span></span></td></tr>
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</div>Katie Andertonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01129805442602950717noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2186994831910813733.post-60823812232504205972011-06-22T18:01:00.001+01:002011-06-22T21:38:14.143+01:00Can Environmental Differences Break Up a Relationship?<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihH3QafvZIsexLQpXsvgnUwj1mVakFwGB4XefgAiEFjIoJKVHBd7_j4a4SlAzXbjEgYmIEPRFk3dRt_kMmD7q-sRIfYjXffBu4wDv1Z_AhOsUfWE-pN2w2k6lEJesfNz56gAM39NYu7T0/s1600/Barbie%25C2%25AE.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200px" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihH3QafvZIsexLQpXsvgnUwj1mVakFwGB4XefgAiEFjIoJKVHBd7_j4a4SlAzXbjEgYmIEPRFk3dRt_kMmD7q-sRIfYjXffBu4wDv1Z_AhOsUfWE-pN2w2k6lEJesfNz56gAM39NYu7T0/s200/Barbie%25C2%25AE.jpg" width="127px" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><em>Barbie®</em></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Verdana; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Most of us have different views from our partners especially something as controversial as global warming or deforestation but can said differences lead to the break down of a relationship?</span></span></span> <div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Verdana; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">If you’re not really a follower of </span><a href="http://www.greenpeace.org.uk/"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Greenpeace</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> you may not know what I’m talking about and I must confess I am not an avid follower myself but their latest campaign really caught my eye. The campaign is likely to attract a large amount of new activists and raise huge awareness because, as reported in the Londonist, this particular campaign is a winning combination of a serious message memorably delivered. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Verdana; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">The headlines read: <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #ff3399;">Ken dumps Barbie!</span></b> Now even to the none believers this headline alone is intriguing enough to make you want to read the whole story. According to Business Green environmental campaigners Greenpeace are targeting the manufactures of Barbie, Mattel, after revealing that their packaging is made from pulp from the Indonesian rainforest's. The pulp is produced by </span><a href="http://www.asiapulppaper.com/"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Asia Pulp and Paper</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> (APP) who have apparently been dropped by a number of major retailers in recent years over concerns that its policies were contributing to the estimated one million hectares of Indonesian rainforest cleared each year. </span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Verdana; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Whether we are buying these toys as a gift or receiving them from someone else we are contributing and responsible for clearing areas of priceless rainforest's and threatening the endangered species which live in these habitats. Do we really want that on our conscience? </span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Verdana; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">The campaign has lead to banners and posters being displayed on tubes and bus stops around <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">London</place></city> to highlight the importance of this campaign in a fun way to include everyone and not just us eco warriors out there. Barbie has been an iconic symbol for the last 50 years and almost everyone will know who she is. Hopefully, these tactics will open the facts up to everyone and make people realise that actions need to be taken. It doesn’t just stop with posters, Greenpeace have also co-ordinated a Barbie hunt whereby hundreds of dolls are hidden around the UK with chainsaws strapped to their arms and Greenpeace want you to track them down. Check out their website to see if there are any in your </span><a href="http://www.greenpeace.org.uk/barbiehunt/map"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">area</span></a></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Verdana; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">. </span></span></span><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Verdana; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">If you want to help protect the Indonesian rainforest you can write to Mattel’s CEO </span><a href="http://www.greenpeace.org.uk/barbiehunt/map"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">here</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">. </span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBWWGn9kdcMrxJCVkmJQnnxC5uN5TO6vYUyF65Zn4u-Icoe3tOt2THpr8kY7I_L16MHEmu7xOvZwBxw-O6GRuyLfpWBMu_vCumOHdVTFbfakCezFaJquQi6viCZzdE5w8EAZALAZfwPTE/s1600/iPhone+006.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><em><img border="0" height="150px" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBWWGn9kdcMrxJCVkmJQnnxC5uN5TO6vYUyF65Zn4u-Icoe3tOt2THpr8kY7I_L16MHEmu7xOvZwBxw-O6GRuyLfpWBMu_vCumOHdVTFbfakCezFaJquQi6viCZzdE5w8EAZALAZfwPTE/s200/iPhone+006.jpg" width="200px" /></em></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><em>© Greenpeace</em></span></span></td></tr>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Verdana; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Greenpeace also argue that it isn’t just Mattel who are associated with AAP, other companies such as Disney are also thought to be involved. I mean what’s next – will Prince Charming really divorce Cinderella? </span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Verdana; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">It is encouraging though that in less than a week of the campaign starting, the Los Angeles Times reported that Mattel had received between 80,000 and 200,000 emails (depending on which source you trust) from people around the world and because of this, announced last week, that it would develop a new policy to make its packaging suppliers “commit to sustainable forestry management practices”. So it just goes to show that our actions really do count and that together we can all make a difference to the world. </span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Verdana; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">I still have one question though can environmental differences really end a relationship? I’d like to think not as everyone is allowed to have their own opinion but it is nice to think that these issues are being discussed and that people do feel strongly enough about them to tell their partners and families and encourage environmental awareness around the home and in our everyday lives.</span> </span></div>Katie Andertonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01129805442602950717noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2186994831910813733.post-57786226727263120512011-06-10T12:09:00.001+01:002011-06-10T12:10:45.481+01:00A Spout of Drought?<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%;">Reservoirs around the UK are drying out following, what the Guardian has coined ‘the driest March in 50 years’. Some parts of Cambridgeshire had less than 2mm of rainfall during this month which is less than normally recorded in the Sahara desert for this time of year according to the <a href="http://www.ceh.ac.uk/">Centre for Hydrology and Ecology</a></span><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%;">. A representative from the Centre for Hydrology and Ecology was reported as saying back in April that “a </span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;">dry April could lead to a significant deterioration in the resources outlook, so we need to keep a careful eye on things over the next few weeks.</span><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%;">” As many of you can probably remember April was pretty dry too!</span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfKVYWoDBMVAtCxMjqWGCl44hzRNkcEAZCE1ekde-ylD46NluyZZUYovz7i2wT3kgAuWn616o5w5UAi03c6BrDPHj6XaLUbXIXpIyQZrp7hIXQ_jvh2VMZDXeL9oiJpHdhfwR4RpHwKio/s1600/copyright+www.express.co.uk.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfKVYWoDBMVAtCxMjqWGCl44hzRNkcEAZCE1ekde-ylD46NluyZZUYovz7i2wT3kgAuWn616o5w5UAi03c6BrDPHj6XaLUbXIXpIyQZrp7hIXQ_jvh2VMZDXeL9oiJpHdhfwR4RpHwKio/s200/copyright+www.express.co.uk.jpg" t8="true" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><em>© </em></span></span><a href="http://www.express.co.uk/"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><em>www.express.co.uk</em></span></a></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%;">The drought also has the potentially to affect our food supply. Without enough water to harvest crops flood prices are expected to rise. The Guardian has reported that Ministers will meet with farmers, supermarkets and utility companies this week to assess the threat of this drought becoming an environmental and agricultural disaster. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%;">Ecological damage is also likely with low river levels across the country which of course is impacting upon fish levels and plant species. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%;">Therefore the next few weeks will be critical for water companies, farmers and wildlife and unless we get prolonged rainfall soon, water companies may have to restrict the amount of water we use in the form of a hosepipe ban. In some regions water companies are already on alert. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%;">If a hosepipe ban is put in place you could try and reduce your water consumption in the following way:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%;">Don’t let the water in whilst washing the dishes;</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%;">Collect used water for watering houseplants;</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%;">Water your lawn either n the morning or evening when temperatures are cooler;</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%;">Take timed showers;</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%;">Use the washing machine and dishwasher only when full;</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%;">For cold drinks keep jugs of water in the fridge instead of running the tap;</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%;">Wash fresh fruit and vegetables in a bowl of water instead of running the tap;</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%;">When running a bath, plug the tub before turning the water on;</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%;">Collect water from your roof to water the garden;</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%;">Teach your children about water conservation;</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%;">Avoid recreational water toys;</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%;">Turn water off whilst brushing your teeth; and</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%;">Wash your car and pets on the grass to water the lawn at the same time.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%;">Whilst this may seem like a negative to most people maybe this is what the countries needs to make the public realise how much water we waste as a nation. During previous droughts people have thought of innovative ways to reduce consumption and we now need to teach younger generations the importance and value of reducing water. The tips above are really useful and can be used in everyday life without much effort. If we are forced to take these measures then once the hosepipe ban if lifted then we may as well continue these measures to conserve water in the future and help fight climate change. </span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy7mxZMNDtfAqZZ25T_2OIpDdd_buEb5YfMZW2RXJUMbw8BjdStjO8itYMQpVdSk_tyZL6xXcuihAjzLN5WcsB02lnBDQdYGQP04_lI4Hm-RBj0RQ6uZxZmtDNgUK6GK0UhjehWoU578Q/s1600/www.hosepipeban.org.uk.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy7mxZMNDtfAqZZ25T_2OIpDdd_buEb5YfMZW2RXJUMbw8BjdStjO8itYMQpVdSk_tyZL6xXcuihAjzLN5WcsB02lnBDQdYGQP04_lI4Hm-RBj0RQ6uZxZmtDNgUK6GK0UhjehWoU578Q/s200/www.hosepipeban.org.uk.jpg" t8="true" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><em><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">© </span></em></span><a href="http://www.hosepipeban.org.uk/"><em><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">www.hosepipeban.org.uk</span></em></a></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%;">I know I say it all the time but seriously, is this Mother Natures way of fighting back? This year we seem to have had so many environmental issues all over the world, floods, forest fires, tornado's, earthquakes, tsunami’s, volcanic ash clouds and now a potential drought! <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Should we not be listening and trying to make a difference? </span></div>Katie Andertonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01129805442602950717noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2186994831910813733.post-35958481649685015262011-06-07T18:52:00.002+01:002011-06-08T12:18:12.378+01:00A Prickly Situation!<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"></span></span></span></b><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><em>© Guardian</em></span></span></td></tr>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">The beloved British hedgehog, adored by wildlife lovers around the country is said to be declining in numbers according to the BBC. The Mail Online has reported that in the 1950s hedgehog populations were around 30 million whereas now they are said to be potentially less than 1 million. A survey was undertaken by volunteers funded by Mammals Trust UK and the Joint Nature Conservation Committee to determine wild hedgehog numbers in the UK. </span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Gardening has become a popular past time over recent years and has resulted in walled gardens and increased paved areas, destroying the natural habitats for hedgehogs. The decline in hedgehogs has also been associated with more road deaths, modern farming practises and the loss of hedgerows that has left the hedgehog vulnerable to badger attacks. </span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Conservation charities have warned that unless urgent action is taken to protect this species the mammals could vanish from some parts of the UK by 2050. </span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Therefore, in an attempt to increase numbers, gardeners are being urged to take a few simple measures to help. These include:</span></span></span></div><div class="ListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%;">Removing a single brick from the bottom of a wall;</span></span></span></div><div class="ListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%;">Cutting a hole in a fence;</span></span></span></div><div class="ListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%;">Leaving patches of long grass;</span></span></span></div><div class="ListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%;">Putting out food and water (usually cat or dog food but never bread and milk); and</span></span></span></div><div class="ListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%;">Providing a hedgehog home.</span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">In response to the latest figures, the <a href="http://www.britishhedgehogs.org.uk/">British Hedgehog Preservation Society</a> </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">has got together with the People’s Trust for Endangered Species to launch a three year campaign to encourage people to get involved. It will include both funded research projects and a public participation campaign which is aimed at promoting hedgehog friendly gardening practices. </span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">If you want to find out more information on how you can help take a look at the <a href="http://www.hedgehogstreet.org/">Hedgehog Street Campaign</a></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">. </span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Several commercial organisations have also been getting involved in protecting this animal in recent years with fast food chain McDonald's agreeing to alter the deign of its ice cream containers which, according to the BBC, wildlife campaigners claimed were death-traps to hungry hedgehogs. </span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">If they can do it so can you. How are you going to help protect the much-loved hedgehog? I think I might start leaving out food and water.</span> </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgspbO_gzRNTMxnza3QsvNdn4mxW2inXchARGkCaV1JLuOiGKNulpIsCSgoY99ur9f6ik8gypuScSLQ3W54uBkha1gidt98ec76ngimIcawZJFhvtb-KdHZDbRprPiJW04NLxDZ-cwFiqA/s1600/copyright+pugh+graphic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgspbO_gzRNTMxnza3QsvNdn4mxW2inXchARGkCaV1JLuOiGKNulpIsCSgoY99ur9f6ik8gypuScSLQ3W54uBkha1gidt98ec76ngimIcawZJFhvtb-KdHZDbRprPiJW04NLxDZ-cwFiqA/s200/copyright+pugh+graphic.jpg" t8="true" width="149" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><em><span style="font-family: "Univers", "sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">©</span> P</span>ugh Graphic</em></span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table></div>Katie Andertonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01129805442602950717noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2186994831910813733.post-15817341151154233532011-05-25T13:54:00.009+01:002011-05-26T12:43:09.500+01:00Another Eyjafjallajökull?<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBN-iDoQVaox3LnQwu-M3Z8pER5IEgolDGonVbtZA8QaQWF47S_sVHKAo6KB1RCmh5Shpk2JgFwnizDJ-ocfkPkQmMiLh24TyZFen98PdSAj6Ee6gfUjvhggoVhb_IqmNjUFXpmvNU8eg/s1600/BBC.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="161" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBN-iDoQVaox3LnQwu-M3Z8pER5IEgolDGonVbtZA8QaQWF47S_sVHKAo6KB1RCmh5Shpk2JgFwnizDJ-ocfkPkQmMiLh24TyZFen98PdSAj6Ee6gfUjvhggoVhb_IqmNjUFXpmvNU8eg/s200/BBC.gif" t8="true" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><em>© BBC</em></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Just a little over a year ago Iceland's Eyjafjallajökull Volcano famously erupted and although was considered relatively small in comparison to previous in the area, caused significant travel disruption to thousands of people around the world. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">According to the BBC the eruption of Eyjafjallajökull last caused the worst disruption and lead to the largest Eurpoean air travel closure since World War II. About 20 countries closed their airspace and 10 million travellers were affected. The was down to large quantities of volcanic ash lying on the ground coupled with strone surface winds which ultimately lead to poor visibility. Due to the volcano's location being directly under the jet stream this meant ash was blown for huge distances at upper levels affecting international airspace. </span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;">Flights across Europe were cancelled for six days and, according to The Independent, were estimated to have cost airlines £130 million a day. However, in terms of pollution, and all you eco warriors out there will love this, it was reported that European flights alone avioded approximately 344,109 tonnes of CO2 emissions a day whilst the volcano only emitted about 150,000 tonnes of CO2 per day. </span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;">Well that was a year ago and believe it or not it's happening again just in time for the holiday season! According to The Independent the Grímsvötn Volcano, in Vatnajokull National Park, began erupting on Saturday 21sy May 2011 which caused flights at Iceland's main airport to be cancelled due to a large plume of ash, smoke and steam 12 miles high entering the atmosphere. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvavhN-iYUka7Q3wGLxtuwvexXdXOkIc_0YWyjWd3MfzNdOYVpwhgLN5xvjcgMosDExjZcgEd4cyQ318v3enWUggL5m3AKakZgmnEWDBXyL7EcwrBfUcAVFsISjJNLzq0kyaNFXAeeL-o/s1600/iceland_volcano_2011_5_22.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><em><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvavhN-iYUka7Q3wGLxtuwvexXdXOkIc_0YWyjWd3MfzNdOYVpwhgLN5xvjcgMosDExjZcgEd4cyQ318v3enWUggL5m3AKakZgmnEWDBXyL7EcwrBfUcAVFsISjJNLzq0kyaNFXAeeL-o/s200/iceland_volcano_2011_5_22.jpg" t8="true" width="200" /></span></em></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">© Getty Images</span></em></td></tr>
</tbody></table></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN" style="line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">A </span><a href="http://www.caa.co.uk/"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Civil Aviation Authority</span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"> (CAA) spokesperson has confirmed that they are in a much better position than last time. He said safety will still be paramount but the level of disruption will be dramatically reduced from last year, provided there is not a huge amount of high density ash cloud. The spokesperson also said a similar level of ash to last year would not result in the same level of disruption. So fingers crossed it should cause too much disruption.</span></span><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"></span></span></span></div><span lang="EN" style="line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">This time round the ash is a lot coarser and falling to the ground quicker therefore, in order to have the same impact as the Eyjafjallajökull eruption last year a more explosive eruption would be needed to propel the ash as far as last year. If you want to take a look at the scientific data a little bit more take a look at the </span><a href="http://www.bgs.ac.uk/research/highlights/icelandGrimsvotn.html?src=sfb#"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">British Geological Survey’s</span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"> </span></span><span lang="EN" style="line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">website its really interesting! </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN" style="line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Flights over the UK were suspended briefly yesterday and thousands of passengers were affected by the ash cloud. However, most flights in the UK have now resumed because the concentrations of ash are thought to have dispersed. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN" style="line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Although the volcano has officially stopped erupting the ash cloud still continues to travel and as such, according to the BBC, ash may return to the UK airspace on Friday so further flights may be disrupted. A CAA spokesperson stated that we are expected to be at risk of a high concentration of ash covering most of the UK. This obviously is not good news for anyone wishing to travel in the immediate future. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN" style="line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I just can’t help but think is this Mother Nature’s way of telling us to stop using airplanes and reduce our carbon footprint? After the year we have had already I can only assume that Mother Nature is fighting back!</span> </span></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify; text-indent: -1108.8pt;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Click to pl</span></span></div>Katie Andertonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01129805442602950717noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2186994831910813733.post-26980760414775292642011-05-19T13:33:00.003+01:002011-05-19T13:36:10.283+01:00Circus of Horrors <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipv-uoDWkgsXK3CluwAVZNuhgQj-ChPZIz8SJds7dwBcKW6wh6q1Gby3f_3IkzJ7g1JPNcRB0xBaSFlb2zyoWivHVrgsSKrNOyki0GIhtvcZDJAGNKJnAF81cx-iomZqiRmqxj_skifzE/s1600/Picture1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><img border="0" height="162px" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipv-uoDWkgsXK3CluwAVZNuhgQj-ChPZIz8SJds7dwBcKW6wh6q1Gby3f_3IkzJ7g1JPNcRB0xBaSFlb2zyoWivHVrgsSKrNOyki0GIhtvcZDJAGNKJnAF81cx-iomZqiRmqxj_skifzE/s200/Picture1.jpg" width="200px" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">© </span><a href="http://www.zazzle.co.uk/"><em><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">www.zazzle.co.uk</span></em></a></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Living in confined spaces, constant travel and performances in front of loud crowds is no life for anyone, especially not for the animals that are made to perform in circuses but this is the life many of them are forced to live.</span> </span></span></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">This issue has been the focus in the media recently when The Independent reports that “elephants may have shackles on their legs for most of their lives and other animals are tied or kept in small cages. Closely confined circus animals may also be unresponsive to events around them which in humans are usually an indicator of depression and other disorders associated with inability to have control of environmental impacts.” Surely everyone can see that this is a significant indicator of poor welfare. Even if you haven’t witnessed this for yourself, just from reading these reports it is glaringly obvious that this treatment, this lifestyle and this much neglect is just wrong! If I haven’t left the house for a day I start to feel trapped let alone a whole life time spent in a cage with chains around my ankles. This isn’t a lifestyle they chose. It was forced upon them by our very own species. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">These poor animals are made to do ‘tricks’ under extreme conditions just to satisfy us, the public. I mean do we really want to have this on our conscience. Is a 30 minute performance really worth it when you consider the abuse these animals are subject to? After reading these reports I definitely would not attend a circus (with an animal act). </span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGW4JMexAfhi9qdcJOQuhK-5yI7X0SNdJ0Lcjk-Adi8Z7596sXamTcz1T3dg2wgl8K4Pe_6ockuliXO9AwXO21WQ44V2g6YUUzlPVVrYakeQSylxiHfNnh0H7MpxQdMx6Mkg7TMcFfd2U/s1600/getty+images.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><img border="0" height="136px" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGW4JMexAfhi9qdcJOQuhK-5yI7X0SNdJ0Lcjk-Adi8Z7596sXamTcz1T3dg2wgl8K4Pe_6ockuliXO9AwXO21WQ44V2g6YUUzlPVVrYakeQSylxiHfNnh0H7MpxQdMx6Mkg7TMcFfd2U/s200/getty+images.jpg" width="200px" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">© </span>Getty Images</span></span></em></td></tr>
</tbody></table></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">All animals are subject to training by circus staff and some trainers have been known in the past to use harsh methods, physical violence in order for them to perform tricks. Such punishments lead to pain and fear. This is because animals which are not domesticated are usually much worse at adapting to conditions imposed by humans. This just highlights the fact that these animals should not be made to perform such activities. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">As Tree Hugger suggests people have the assumption that circuses are all about up-close glimpses of rare creatures and the captive breeding programs that can bring endangered species back from the brink but not all animal owners are so ethical, qualified or even kind to their animals, but this is not the case as many animals all over the world are being abused in some way. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPuXdxVZrVe5Ti8y16UZF0Zijvy16mdQcE0edMQMhXAS4l0KczUEVOwtmvFTspljUyJhBZoI_no5DDEfMnutAusA_ggeVFzqI-OIRX2XKGokgZ6RYLHFODdAOxPCOMbOXGNfSUoLyMutI/s1600/Copyright+angela+n+-+creative+commons.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><img border="0" height="150px" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPuXdxVZrVe5Ti8y16UZF0Zijvy16mdQcE0edMQMhXAS4l0KczUEVOwtmvFTspljUyJhBZoI_no5DDEfMnutAusA_ggeVFzqI-OIRX2XKGokgZ6RYLHFODdAOxPCOMbOXGNfSUoLyMutI/s200/Copyright+angela+n+-+creative+commons.jpg" width="200px" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><em><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">© Creative Commons</span></em></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><shape id="_x0000_s1027" style="height: 104.25pt; left: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 578.25pt; mso-position-horizontal-relative: margin; mso-position-vertical-relative: margin; position: absolute; text-align: left; width: 138.75pt; z-index: 251658240;" type="#_x0000_t75"><imagedata o:title="Copyright angela n - creative commons" src="file:///C:\DOCUME~1\KATIE~1.AND\LOCALS~1\Temp\msohtmlclip1\01\clip_image005.jpg"></imagedata><wrap anchorx="margin" anchory="margin" type="square"></wrap></shape><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">If you thought that these activities only happened in foreign countries as no one here in the UK would let this still go on today then you would be wrong. Here in the UK a 59 year old elephant named </span><a href="http://www.annetheelephant.co.uk/tag/anne-the-elephant/"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Anne</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"> was beaten by her owners and chained up for hours at a time. A video leaked earlier this year has lead to the Country’s Environment Secretary to ban all wild animals from circuses and so far has lead to Anne the elephant being removed from the circus. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">There is also the story of </span><a href="http://www.knut.net/"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Knut</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">, a Polar Bear bred in captivity in Berlin’s Zoological Garden back in 2006. Rejected by his mother at birth he was raised by zookeepers. He became the centre of a mass media incident when children started protesting outside the zoo for the release of Knut. Sadly his story ended in March this year when he died at the age of four which has since been related to brain problems. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Since these stories have unfolded Government Ministers have been put under pressure in Parliament this week over their failure to bring forward plans to ban wild animals performing in circuses which has lead to people campaigning and petitioning to put a stop to this issue. If you would like to help encourage the banning of wild animals in circuses join The Independent’s campaign by signing their </span><a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/circusanimals"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">online petition</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"> for the Government to set out a timetable for banning wild animals.</span> </span></div>Katie Andertonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01129805442602950717noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2186994831910813733.post-54297386441132973332011-05-14T20:47:00.000+01:002011-05-14T20:47:23.920+01:00FEED the World<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiolR1qaHyDOBhyphenhyphen0PvfMc6It-1VkByfCvvNjU4dX0w3pHxxgk3a8bM6ArjPSKvzmxv1MmxGnpbZw2wl-YEDWDOHXjVh6aevS9HiYrBcE5idcQGNZ5jgYYEifMCmnafH6UydQ40SQlbGqZU/s1600/Bag.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiolR1qaHyDOBhyphenhyphen0PvfMc6It-1VkByfCvvNjU4dX0w3pHxxgk3a8bM6ArjPSKvzmxv1MmxGnpbZw2wl-YEDWDOHXjVh6aevS9HiYrBcE5idcQGNZ5jgYYEifMCmnafH6UydQ40SQlbGqZU/s200/Bag.jpg" width="105" /></a></div><div style="font: normal normal normal 10px/normal Arial; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Here in the UK it is getting extremely difficult to get a plastic bag from your local shop. The look of disgust from the sales assistant and the additional cost of buying a bag (which you are usually made aware of after you have made your purchase) makes you really question whether your really need a bag and it seems to be working by the amount of reusable bags I see people carrying around. </span></span></div><div style="font: 10.0px Arial; line-height: 17.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 10.0px 0.0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I think and hope that it is only a matter of time before plastic bags are wiped out completely. Especially when you consider that most plastic bags are sent to landfill and are not biodegradable. Yes they are useful for taking your sandwiches to work or picking up dog mess but are there not other alternatives? Surely an alternative should be developed? People tend not to go shopping unexpectedly, it is usually a planned event and therefore it can’t be too hard to remember to take a reusable bag with you. </span></span></div><div style="font: 10.0px Arial; line-height: 17.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 10.0px 0.0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Most of them are a fashion statement anyway. Many high street shops have designed beautiful; and trendy bags over recent years to really encourage people to use an alternative to the plastic bag and obviously make some money too. </span></span></div><div style="font: 10.0px Arial; line-height: 17.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 10.0px 0.0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Whilst searching on the Internet for a new reusable bag I found a really interesting project which is selling artisan bags to raise money to feed the poor. Now you only have to read my blog to know I love a god cause, and this is no different. What a brilliant concept – you get a great bag and feel good about giving to charity. It is a really easy way to get involved. </span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_iJNzmV-jRaCP_mxqb7iNKVmWN9g2A2o-GPlEhZR3B9oV4FAVu0gRwjN63g-EBM1PBmUHvZxNmE79xHNyYFNV9ec-a9uPAwSTc3CfN7ti_iizLB3QhY6UAy4uVEjD97zQAdwPo65V9YI/s1600/feed_logo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="90" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_iJNzmV-jRaCP_mxqb7iNKVmWN9g2A2o-GPlEhZR3B9oV4FAVu0gRwjN63g-EBM1PBmUHvZxNmE79xHNyYFNV9ec-a9uPAwSTc3CfN7ti_iizLB3QhY6UAy4uVEjD97zQAdwPo65V9YI/s200/feed_logo.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div style="font: 10.0px Arial; line-height: 17.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 10.0px 0.0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.feedprojects.com/">FEED Projects</a> was set up in 2006 with the mission of creating a good product to help FEED the world. This is achieved with the sale of FEED bags and other accessories and then offsetting a donation to feeding the poor. </span></span></div><div style="font: 10.0px Arial; line-height: 17.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 10.0px 0.0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Their website states that their “personal commitment to working against hunger is matched with a commitment to the environment and to safe and healthy working conditions for all we work with”. FEED bags are made with sustainable materials, along with fair labour production. Each bag sale is helping to 'FEED the world, one bag at a time'. </span></span></div><div style="font: 10.0px Arial; line-height: 17.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 10.0px 0.0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If you want to find our more information you should follow them on Twitter </span></span><a href="http://twitter.com/#!/FEEDProjects"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">@FEEDProjects</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> or watch the video below:</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/T9KxawG5t0s?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><div style="font: 10.0px Arial; line-height: 17.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 10.0px 0.0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><b><br />
</b></span></span></div>Katie Andertonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01129805442602950717noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2186994831910813733.post-12171478015985086692011-05-07T19:06:00.003+01:002011-05-07T19:25:46.423+01:00Twister<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlkxLyiMJnGur8thPenGqN3iNAIeptsFFtZINy13wFXxceRxK0tErwbKDDXJ52gYg3Nnm_YRlLywfpjtw1HfP-zqk095gVdvzlZ-RUg1vcPl6WGq83bKboiSEyxq69RgurKWykQukYlEA/s1600/twister-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200px" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlkxLyiMJnGur8thPenGqN3iNAIeptsFFtZINy13wFXxceRxK0tErwbKDDXJ52gYg3Nnm_YRlLywfpjtw1HfP-zqk095gVdvzlZ-RUg1vcPl6WGq83bKboiSEyxq69RgurKWykQukYlEA/s200/twister-2.jpg" width="146px" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Twister, quite arguably my favourite natural disaster movie, is currently on the television. It's the movie that first made me interested in Geography and it is the movie which made me realise just how powerful our planet earth really is. Its quite ironic that as I sit here watching a movie in which no one is seriously injured, hundreds of people across the ocean have recently felt the real affects of a tornado. Well not even just one...Hundreds!</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Newspapers have reported April has been a devastating month for tornadoes. According to the Storm Prediction Centre there has been approximately 875 tornadoes reported throughout the United States which looks set to be the new record for April tornadoes records. The previous record was apparently set back in 1974 with a total of 267. Even I can tell that this recent activity is a huge increase to what this region usually has to deal with. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">On 27th April a total of 226 of tornadoes were recorded by the Storm Prediction Centre causing significant damage in Alabama and several other states. Reporters in Birmingham, Alabama were filming one of the tornadoes and reported that "even from miles away the funnel was so wide that they could not zoom their cameras out far enough to get an entire image of the tornado". </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLAx17APYUSncybgMvtlCHGewlWzekObwZv0b_D-lgfzL4KtbOsxwtgIocUuHBPM-uy_I0ifGMI-PyOk46S7vqH-0UYcdocAIVq938rVjexX-0V50cr9MKZutCrA-GtWY9VnJdjTzcR6k/s1600/Story.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200px" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLAx17APYUSncybgMvtlCHGewlWzekObwZv0b_D-lgfzL4KtbOsxwtgIocUuHBPM-uy_I0ifGMI-PyOk46S7vqH-0UYcdocAIVq938rVjexX-0V50cr9MKZutCrA-GtWY9VnJdjTzcR6k/s200/Story.jpg" width="200px" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px;"><i><span style="line-height: 13px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">© Storm Prediction Centre</span></span></span></span></span></i></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;">Over 300 people were killed in this particular event where a twister is thought to have been a mile wide and recorded as a EF5 tornado with wind speeds exceeding 200mph. A local resident was reported as saying that all of the hospitals were full and people were being told not to go to them for non-life threatening injuries. As many as a million homes and businesses across Alabama are still without power and at this stage the total damage is still unknown as assessments may take weeks to complete due to the large amount of land and scale of the tornadoes. </span></div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;">After these tragic events President Barack Obama approved emergency assistance and search and rescue support where a state of emergency has been declared. He has also since visited communities in Alabama and said that Washington would do everything possible to help rebuild these communities. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;">Over the past few months alone there has been so many devastating natural disasters which really highlight how vulnerable the human species are to planet earth and although technology is increasing so we are better at predicting tornadoes, floods and hurricanes there is no way of eradicating them completely. We all need to act now to help prevent climate change. </span></div>Katie Andertonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01129805442602950717noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2186994831910813733.post-75709060054112901912011-04-28T23:53:00.003+01:002011-10-27T12:43:14.708+01:00A Royal Treat<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvshtLMWY-eQ41do5XrCVGaRY09CKPC9W6rN5P7AFAx1A4zfmgFZimLqiYkZ7JbSEolMq9A0B1VPkwL6tDBSoMxVey_m2zbiJ2f8PBZdCxH6Lw6PmuVcSNA73K3AvQlKQhXZ9LLENV1c4/s1600/Penhurst+Place.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvshtLMWY-eQ41do5XrCVGaRY09CKPC9W6rN5P7AFAx1A4zfmgFZimLqiYkZ7JbSEolMq9A0B1VPkwL6tDBSoMxVey_m2zbiJ2f8PBZdCxH6Lw6PmuVcSNA73K3AvQlKQhXZ9LLENV1c4/s320/Penhurst+Place.jpg" width="320" /></span></span></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px;"><i><span style="line-height: 13px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">©Katie Anderton</span></span></span></span></i></span></td></tr>
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<div style="font: 12px Helvetica; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">Tomorrow is the Royal Wedding of Prince William and Kate, a celebration which the majority of England have been planning for several months now. Picnics, street parties, party food and cakes have dominated conversation over the last few weeks. As people keep telling me "it is a once in a life time celebration for our generation'. </span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12px Helvetica; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"><br />
</span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12px Helvetica; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">It is all very exciting but i just cant help but think how much is this costing. Not to the economy (although that is an equally worrying subject) but how much is this costing the environment. Millions of people have travelled from all over the world to watch the wedding first hand, thousands of novelty items, many of which are plastic, have been manufactured, limited edition bottles of alcohol have been made and on top of all that many will leave the televisions on all day whilst watching the event. And remember footage starts at 6 am in the morning! </span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12px Helvetica; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"><br />
</span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12px Helvetica; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">Now don't get me wrong, I'm looking forward to it just as much as the next person. I have planned my picnic, purchased some novelty bunting and spent the evening making some cakes. Have we all forgotten what this will mean for the environment? And out of everyone who partakes in tomorrow's event, how many will recycle? It was recently reported, in Time Magazine, that experts from Landcare Research predict that the occasion will generate more than 12 times as much greenhouse than Buckingham Palace in a whole year, for the scientists out their, totaling 6,765 tons of carbon dioxide. Royal officials insist that a series of measures to reduce the environmental impact of the service are being undertaken. Flowers will be seasonal, the food will be sourced locally and guests have apparently been asked to either plant a tree or make a donation to <a href="http://www.earthwatch.org/">Earth Watch</a> which is a charity which supports research into rainforest ecology, wildlife conservation and marine science. </span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12px Helvetica; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"><br />
</span></span></span></div><div style="font: 12px Helvetica; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">Obviously everyone has a right to celebrate this joyous occasion just like i am doing but I think it is very important to illustrate the potential damage this event is having on the planet and ask that everyone accounts for their own carbon footprint and consumes sensibly remembering tomorrow is another day. I think the Royal Wedding can be successful without impacting upon the environment too much. </span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2AetxBCAEngmDHghcq3LxQr6MfZ4osGfNLqr1_JZG0OnrmxD2aKsvEMMhHxPX34PyzV__XPBNtqLpfn6R22o4jFfTpoWBwgUNc5vXp9gJjei8OjeSNO75ODHXsvbk0rxwAM3ZsLl2rSI/s1600/wedding+kiss.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2AetxBCAEngmDHghcq3LxQr6MfZ4osGfNLqr1_JZG0OnrmxD2aKsvEMMhHxPX34PyzV__XPBNtqLpfn6R22o4jFfTpoWBwgUNc5vXp9gJjei8OjeSNO75ODHXsvbk0rxwAM3ZsLl2rSI/s320/wedding+kiss.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times; line-height: 16px;"><i><span style="line-height: 13px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">©Newsweek</span></span></span></span></i></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"><br />
</span></span></span></div>Katie Andertonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01129805442602950717noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2186994831910813733.post-86983765063043877282011-04-22T20:38:00.000+01:002011-04-22T20:38:12.831+01:00Another Day Another Cause!<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Verdana; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">This year so far we have had <a href="http://iheartplanetearth.blogspot.com/2011/03/earth-hour-2011.html">Earth Hour</a>, <a href="http://iheartplanetearth.blogspot.com/2011/03/world-water-day-2011.html">World Water Day</a> and now it appears its time for Earth Day! Today, 22<sup>nd</sup> April 2011, is the 41<sup>st</sup> Earth Day event which according to its organisers has inspired and mobilised individuals and organisations worldwide to demonstrate their commitment to environmental protection and sustainability. </span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Verdana; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://www.earthday.org/">Earth Day</a> is intended to raise awareness and appreciation for the Earth’s natural environment which is what I am trying to achieve with this blog.</span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Verdana; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">The Earth Day Network works with over 22,000 partners in 192 countries to broaden, diversify and mobilise the environmental movements. It was founded in the <country-region w:st="on"><place w:st="on">United States</place></country-region> by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaylord_Nelson">Senator Gaylord Nelson</a> in 1970 with the aim of teaching people about issues affecting the environment. Since it began, it has seen several environmental laws including the Clean Air Act, the Water Act and the Endangered Species Act come into force which is a huge achievement and has obviously fulfilled its aim of informing people on environmental issues. </span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Verdana; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">As with most things each Earth Day has a theme and this year’s theme is “A Billion Acts of Green: Our People Powered”. They are asking people to demonstrate their commitment to environmental protection and sustainability with the hope that with all of these small pledges acting together will go a long way to conserving the planet. </span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Verdana; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRnLyCaDzntCBHul04xnGTynzB3PMBJds29_sTZTIZ63RlxFh1EGyDr7uwYxiZJttdz0qCR9_GdCknryijhNZu5wV-kymhBpYxtitIIuHBsR2TgZhEu4ZqJ4yIRmi_DwXJ8_oFN4bJhww/s1600/untitled.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133px" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRnLyCaDzntCBHul04xnGTynzB3PMBJds29_sTZTIZ63RlxFh1EGyDr7uwYxiZJttdz0qCR9_GdCknryijhNZu5wV-kymhBpYxtitIIuHBsR2TgZhEu4ZqJ4yIRmi_DwXJ8_oFN4bJhww/s320/untitled.bmp" width="320px" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Verdana; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">So how are you celebrating Earth Day? I am enjoying the lonely anticipated British sunshine and taking a trip to the park. What a perfect way to celebrate nature.</span> </span><sup><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></sup><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Verdana; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"></span></div>Katie Andertonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01129805442602950717noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2186994831910813733.post-20459851246273573792011-04-13T14:01:00.001+01:002011-04-13T16:15:11.147+01:00Summer’s Here…<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">The weather over the last couple of weeks has been beautiful for this time of year but it always brings up the question of climate change and although the sunshine is a welcomed surprise what does this really mean for our health? </span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I have suffered with asthma and hay fever for as long as I can remember which always makes summer a little uncomfortable. The constant supply of tissues and allergy tablets is not very attractive when you’re on a beach or in a park. But is this early spout of sunshine making the allergy season longer? </span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">According to the Sunday Times “spring begins an average of 15 days earlier than some 30 years ago which means that plants such as grass and birch trees, known to trigger hay fever attacks, will have a much longer pollen-producing season than in previous years”. The Mail Online have also reported that experts have warned that in the not to distant future, because of climate change, allergy seasons may be a thing of the past and instead symptoms will be experienced all year round! </span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This is not good news for sufferers, especially ones with asthma as hay fever is a main contributor to asthma attacks during summer months. </span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And its not just hay fever suffers which are affected, The Sunday Times reported some time ago that early springs, increased pollen production and the spread of pollen-producing species could be causing allergic reactions in people who have never suffered from hay fever before and are now all of a sudden suffering from the symptoms. As temperatures rise the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (<a href="http://www.ipcc.ch/">IPCC</a>) is now warning that allergies could increase, especially in northern Europe (including Britain) which is likely to be worst hit. </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;">The BBC have reported recently that the rise in CO2 levels have also been contributing to the increasing number of allergies, and research has shown that pollen counts have risen in cities compared to rural areas. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Looks like I should stock up on tissues and allergy tablets…</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"> <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH29Qr1iBRh_GtH_tNzCmBhzDgHELTy5N6jXJFtK-m_biy9YStAOr6ucQtRp6yu92OYbr8kwjPUzuCVyfIanG4Qrmb76fq2Fl84rvCTcW1Bzv0umcpgPFoMkf-RVyf0cH88LbGq29AjOM/s1600/Instagram+%252874%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><img border="0" height="320" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH29Qr1iBRh_GtH_tNzCmBhzDgHELTy5N6jXJFtK-m_biy9YStAOr6ucQtRp6yu92OYbr8kwjPUzuCVyfIanG4Qrmb76fq2Fl84rvCTcW1Bzv0umcpgPFoMkf-RVyf0cH88LbGq29AjOM/s320/Instagram+%252874%2529.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">©Katie Anderton</span></span></span></i></div></td></tr>
</tbody></table></div>Katie Andertonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01129805442602950717noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2186994831910813733.post-51174837328860926992011-04-05T12:24:00.007+01:002011-04-06T16:32:16.704+01:00My Earth Hour Goal<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So <a href="http://iheartplanetearth.blogspot.com/2011/03/earth-hour-2011.html">Earth Hour</a> was a little over a week ago and my goal this year to go beyond the hour was to cut down the amount of plastic I consume. Although I don’t like to admit it, due to my lifestyle, I drink a lot of bottled water each week and although I recycle, this is still a huge amount of wastage on my part. Now while I’m at work the idea of giving up bottled water is easy, there is access to plenty of tap water. The problem starts when I am out and about. </span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">After doing some research on the internet I found there were several solutions to getting fresh, clean water without having to spend money or consume more plastic. </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">The first of the ideas is called </span><span style="color: purple; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://www.waterbobble.com/">Water Bobble</a></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">; I have been aware of this product for a while but was pleased to find out last week that they have now started shipping to the UK. </span></span></span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFwxo_oEqbgz2QaJKLE0RGyRA1pr15KXE0aM9M9bDZe1CZ_QtKJ4u_wz8n3voI2SPio2KoQrjN-VfvZMrbJPneqR4WuA-fb2etmltmfq3ZsfAkiBVzB_xHQ4LwC2MpdB8OdrjyicjdPFE/s1600/231184610.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFwxo_oEqbgz2QaJKLE0RGyRA1pr15KXE0aM9M9bDZe1CZ_QtKJ4u_wz8n3voI2SPio2KoQrjN-VfvZMrbJPneqR4WuA-fb2etmltmfq3ZsfAkiBVzB_xHQ4LwC2MpdB8OdrjyicjdPFE/s200/231184610.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">According to the website Water Bobble is a revolutionary product that takes care of the planet, keeps your body hydrated your wallet fat and your taste buds satisfied. </span></span></span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Where I live tap water doesn’t particular taste very good – which I think is why I got hooked on bottled water in the first place! Therefore this product is perfect for me as it has a built in filter which apparently is carbon based in order to remove organic contaminants from regular municipal water. I don’t really know much about that but what I can tell you is that when I used it last week it tasted a lot better than regular tap water. </span></span></span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This product is made from plastic so you might be thinking how is this really helping me reduce my plastic consumption and conserve the environment? Well for starters it is made from 100% recycled materials and the filter alone gets approximately 300 uses. You can then buy replacements filters so the bottle lasts even longer than that! So really your plastic consumption would have reduced significantly. And not only that, it is also saving your wallet 300 bottles of water. Which considering how much bottled water is nowadays is a massive saving!</span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I think this is a great innovation for people who, like me, don’t like tap water but don’t want to expenditure of constantly buying bottled water and most importantly want to help protect the planet. </span></span></span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><shape alt="reusable aluminium water bottle with benefits" id="Picture_x0020_4" o:spid="_x0000_s1026" style="height: 129.75pt; left: 0px; margin-left: -6.75pt; margin-top: 486pt; mso-position-horizontal-relative: margin; mso-position-vertical-relative: margin; mso-wrap-style: square; position: absolute; text-align: left; visibility: visible; width: 87pt; z-index: 251660288;" type="#_x0000_t75"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><imagedata o:title="reusable aluminium water bottle with benefits" src="file:///C:\DOCUME~1\KATIE~1.AND\LOCALS~1\Temp\msohtmlclip1\01\clip_image003.png"></imagedata><wrap anchorx="margin" anchory="margin" type="square"></wrap></span></span></shape><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">The second solution I have come across is </span><span style="color: purple; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://www.givemetap.co.uk/">GiveMeTap</a></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">. This is a Manchester based company who have managed to get many of the bars and restaurants in the area to provide free tap water to anyone using a GiveMeTap water bottle. </span></span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixFUorftZv3lWcA9JU_LClFqrzIdfJhOfvcsuRH5fWmvHrcOG5_CFjMOi2d3ZlhjqGOCaA7tTCWsEo2uIQh6nOT9Ef7mWdAnxtNq6QAX7GOYGcvkVnsdh5dPDNXDkbDWllyHo-wUdv8sg/s1600/gmt_bottle.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixFUorftZv3lWcA9JU_LClFqrzIdfJhOfvcsuRH5fWmvHrcOG5_CFjMOi2d3ZlhjqGOCaA7tTCWsEo2uIQh6nOT9Ef7mWdAnxtNq6QAX7GOYGcvkVnsdh5dPDNXDkbDWllyHo-wUdv8sg/s200/gmt_bottle.png" width="133" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-no-proof: yes;">By purchasing the reusable bottle it will als</span><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-no-proof: yes;">o help fund independent water projects around the world. This is because 70% of GivemMeTap’s profits are donated so everyone can enjoy fresh clean water. </span></span></span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-no-proof: yes;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Now here comes the best part when carrying this water bottle around, you are able to fill up as many times as you like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">FREE</b> from approximately 51 locations around Manchester. </span></span></span></div></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW68Al2doKOX0DPDqE181VK6NtS-aXovw9-VnoXLOd0rWOb2i8MJgUC-Nt072Y0SLp1oAHHxt_q5usAwujEidQK19a5GuuV-bKxp_oAROQcRG_ZtR51TTuiLHcobO9Z-96azbMCuX-jgs/s1600/saving_ex.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="318" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW68Al2doKOX0DPDqE181VK6NtS-aXovw9-VnoXLOd0rWOb2i8MJgUC-Nt072Y0SLp1oAHHxt_q5usAwujEidQK19a5GuuV-bKxp_oAROQcRG_ZtR51TTuiLHcobO9Z-96azbMCuX-jgs/s320/saving_ex.png" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Apparently, a typical person spends on average £300 a year on bottled water which to anyone is a considerable amount of money – especially when it is freely available from the tap! Find out how much you could save <a href="http://www.givemetap.co.uk/savings">here</a></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">.</span></span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-no-proof: yes;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Now unfortunately, I don’t live in Manchester but I can’t see why this idea cant be rolled out across the country. Not only does this save you money, it reduces plastic and benefits water projects around the world. Fingers crossed this product catches on and everyone wants to be a part of it.</span></span></span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
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</div></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;">If you’re still not convinced you need to reduce your bottled water consumption take a look at this very powerful video and the reason I thought I should cut down my bottled water consumption.</span><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/Se12y9hSOM0?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;"></span><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">By using these products I am one step closer to achieving my Earth Hour goal!!</span></span></span></div></div>Katie Andertonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01129805442602950717noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2186994831910813733.post-59693164679093556782011-03-22T09:24:00.001+00:002011-03-25T12:05:27.089+00:00World Water Day 2011<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihSyb4OafgH3N_XVvAdM8vWrWn1yLew1HSFyb0spiQ-QDgqyIjxIBsMHRwVl9wVLKsehElEHo71vpVCasHBE7pGk6EweoWFDdytB0GC_Sd-6R4lNY5ARsWo9No5AtxY8G2WDN4cOJqf9g/s1600/World+Water+Day+2011+logo.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="193" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihSyb4OafgH3N_XVvAdM8vWrWn1yLew1HSFyb0spiQ-QDgqyIjxIBsMHRwVl9wVLKsehElEHo71vpVCasHBE7pGk6EweoWFDdytB0GC_Sd-6R4lNY5ARsWo9No5AtxY8G2WDN4cOJqf9g/s200/World+Water+Day+2011+logo.gif" width="200" /></a></div><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span></b><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">So today, 22<sup>nd</sup> March, is </span><a href="http://www.worldwaterday.org/"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">World Water Day</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">. This is an international initiative which grew out of the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (</span><a href="http://www.un.org/geninfo/bp/enviro.html"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">UNCED</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">) in Rio de Janerio with the aim of promoting the sustainable use of water and recognising that many people around the world are still without a clean supply of water. This day represents a crucial moment in the fight against the global sanitation and water crisis and a lot of people are getting involved in any way they can to support this day. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Each year the day has a different focus on water in 2010 the campaign was aimed at raising awareness about sustaining healthy ecosystems and human well-being by addressing the increasing water quality challenges. The intention was to encourage Governments, organisations and individuals around the globe to actively engage in addressing water quality through clean up operations and pollution prevention techniques and to continue using these methods in everyday life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">In 2011, the focus is on improving <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">international attention</b> on the issues affecting the impact of rapid urban population growth and the uncertainties this brings in terms of climate change, conflicts and natural disasters. The events of the past week highlight more than ever why this is needed. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">According to the UN, half of humanity now live in cities with urban growth in the developing world rapidly growing at an unprecedented rate. Coping with the growing needs of water and sanitation services within cities is one of the most pressing issues of this century. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Many organisations like </span><a href="http://www.wateraid.org/uk/"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">WaterAid</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"> will be getting behind World Water Day and running their own initiatives like </span><a href="http://www.worldwalksforwater.org/eng/"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">The World Walks for Water</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>campaign to not only raise money but also raise awareness of World Water Day. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">WaterAid speak on their event: “Millions of people walk 6 kilometres everyday just to collect water for their basic needs. On World Water Day 2011, thousands of people across the globe will walk together for 6 kilometers to demand an end to this crisis“. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">If you want to get involved there campaign materials such as posters, t-shirts and banners on the website which you can use to advertise your activates during the 2011 world water day. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0RdPxErXA1fHN1nkRxEO1KlO53PKHWhmL7IIhjfJGMXGhQFoDmDQg64Z5sVV6Z73pSBCf9PKoQDd-ZaJ99JJDEEb59OKnITq-FNPsD7pOdtnqaLb0O0PgbLILf5Hn0JT1cPUDTJ010hk/s1600/tshirt_en.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="184" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0RdPxErXA1fHN1nkRxEO1KlO53PKHWhmL7IIhjfJGMXGhQFoDmDQg64Z5sVV6Z73pSBCf9PKoQDd-ZaJ99JJDEEb59OKnITq-FNPsD7pOdtnqaLb0O0PgbLILf5Hn0JT1cPUDTJ010hk/s200/tshirt_en.gif" width="200" /></a></div>Katie Andertonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01129805442602950717noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2186994831910813733.post-63648688915059989562011-03-15T12:29:00.002+00:002011-03-16T13:15:03.122+00:00Our Prayers Are With Japan…<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif";"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">I don’t really know how to start this post. I think the events in Japan over the last week have left everyone a little bit shell shocked. To see such devastation to communities is terrible and I’m sure everyone would agree. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO4aLfXBCSlbTIgbJFb0XbeTDeOHkju1ffElrNs8kHSi1m1hSUmoZXUl00mlhd8Gr0KKHiGg5D5fEW3bg4biiPbnh8p2u0ZqW4ep9JURN7k4yIcMKVxO22lGUTlV4doa_yt7hZhQLpAOA/s1600/USGS.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><img border="0" height="177" q6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO4aLfXBCSlbTIgbJFb0XbeTDeOHkju1ffElrNs8kHSi1m1hSUmoZXUl00mlhd8Gr0KKHiGg5D5fEW3bg4biiPbnh8p2u0ZqW4ep9JURN7k4yIcMKVxO22lGUTlV4doa_yt7hZhQLpAOA/s200/USGS.gif" width="200" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><em>© USGS</em></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif";"></span><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif";"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">To explain myself a little bit more on the 11<sup>th</sup> March a 9.0 magnitude earthquake, one of the largest earthquakes ever recorded and now referred to as the Great Tohoku Earthquake (</span><a href="ftp://hazards.cr.usgs.gov/maps/sigeqs/20110311/20110311.pdf"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">USGS</span></a><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">), hit Japan’s eastern coast. The earthquake was felt by many villages and cities along a 1,300 mile stretch of coastline and violent tremors reached as far away as Tokyo and led to many areas on fire. </span></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">The force of the earthquake triggered a seven meter tsunami killing thousands of people within coastal communities in and around the port city of Sendai. Images from this awful disaster show boats, cars and even homes being swept away. A tsunami warning was later put in place for the north and south pacific. Since then the Japanese National Police Agency has officially confirmed approximately 1900 deaths, 1880 injuries and around 3000 people are missing and it is expected that this will continue to rise. </span></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif";">And if this wasn’t enough, the somewhat 50 aftershocks which were all large enough in themselves to cause devastation, many more than magnitude 6.0, damaged a nuclear power station leading to mass evacuation for fear of possible radiation contamination. The Huffington Post reported that “the Government ordered thousands of residents near a nuclear power plant in </span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Onahama city to move back at least two miles from the plant. The reactor was not leaking radiation but its core remained hot even after a shutdown</span><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif";">”. This zone has since been extended to a 12 mile evacuation zone around the facility and approximately 140,000 people living between 12 miles and 19 miles of the facility were told not to leave their homes. </span></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">The country is now in short supply of food, water and fuel in some parts of Japan and large areas of the country are still without power and they need our collective help to get through this ordeal. </span></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">The Prime Minister of Japan, Naoto Kan, has recently called on his country to unite and rebuild as it struggles to cope with the devastation caused by the quake and tsunami. He says Japan is now facing its worst crisis since World War II. </span></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">According to the BBC’s Chris Hogg in Toyko “the disaster could yet turn out to be one of the most costly in human history, second only to Hurricane Katrina six years ago”. </span></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif";">I concur with the Huffington Post who suggest that “even for a country used to earthquakes, this one was of horrific proportions because of the tsunami that crashed ashore, swallowing everything in its path. </span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN;">The apocalyptic images of surging water and uncontrolled conflagrations broadcast by Japanese TV networks resembled scenes from a Hollywood disaster movie.</span><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif";">”</span></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif";"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">The UK Government have sent a UK International Search and Rescue (ISAR) team into the disaster zone to join the search for survivors along with American search and rescue teams. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJkucO-V67duZI0fEHP80IB53TDPingcgPVoLtZBy-1Y2K9uSjUhvjhfRgfM0viOkg7qhSNjJUnxfh01VmR07bRQ8tuaUdW-d78tFfOQskuaimCpjH1-2mWTXyaJOZzfz4C-opIEkMZ8w/s1600/BEFORE+AND+AFTER+BBC.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><img border="0" height="225" q6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJkucO-V67duZI0fEHP80IB53TDPingcgPVoLtZBy-1Y2K9uSjUhvjhfRgfM0viOkg7qhSNjJUnxfh01VmR07bRQ8tuaUdW-d78tFfOQskuaimCpjH1-2mWTXyaJOZzfz4C-opIEkMZ8w/s400/BEFORE+AND+AFTER+BBC.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">© BBC</span></em></td></tr>
</tbody></table></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif";">If you want to help the people affected by this disaster a number of charities including Save the Children and The British Red Cross have launched UK appeals. </span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #333333; font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Save the Children has launched an appeal for £1m to help support and protect the children of Japan in the wake of the disaster and The British Red Cross has also has launched a UK appeal on behalf of the Japanese Red Cross which has been on the ground since the disaster began.</span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #333333; font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Both of these are brilliant causes: </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #333333; font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://www.savethechildren.org.uk/en/japan-earthquake-and-tsunami-appeal.htm?sourcecode=A11038054"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Save the Children</span></a><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;"> have reported that up to 100,000 children have been displaced because of the earthquake and tsunami. There is the risk that some of these children have become separated from their parents and family members and it is important that support is received. If you choose to donate to this cause your money will be used to provide toys and games in safe havens for children to play and socialize with other young children in a similar situation. </span></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif";"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">The Japanese Red Cross has been working on the ground since the disaster providing first aid and healthcare and assessing the damage and needs of the communities affected. The Japanese Red Cross have agreed to accept donations from the </span><a href="http://www.redcross.org.uk/Donate-Now/Make-a-single-donation/Japan-Tsunami-Appeal"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">British Red Cross</span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"> and as such money will be used to distribute things like blankets to the affected areas. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">For a country such as Japan, who are well trained and prepared in earthquake resilience and preparedness measures, a huge majority of the damage was at the result of the tsunami. Very few buildings were badly damaged by the ground shaking because of their engineering resilient structures. A lot of the footage which has been shown over the past few days shows people immediately putting hard hats on and moving away from buildings to areas of open space, however, it was the unprecedented force and severity of the tsunami which has left this country in devastation. This is why they need our help more than ever!</span></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif";"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Check out their websites and find out what you can do and most importantly spread the word…</span></span></div></div>Katie Andertonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01129805442602950717noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2186994831910813733.post-24264242928470718722011-03-09T12:23:00.003+00:002011-03-12T19:54:28.937+00:00Earth Hour 2011<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5hca61fbHE-a1OVRHvQbEsZuMF_n9-zglUXMmELw0XjI7-L_EcA4VE80TA1pnGfIbJsATSOIKGAtZsSf2mDlcvOziFo13iIbkNCsSyQ-jh7Do2fZ7i5VYIz_Cs8RS-tLreyopNJnx_FQ/s1600/logo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><img border="0" height="136" q6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5hca61fbHE-a1OVRHvQbEsZuMF_n9-zglUXMmELw0XjI7-L_EcA4VE80TA1pnGfIbJsATSOIKGAtZsSf2mDlcvOziFo13iIbkNCsSyQ-jh7Do2fZ7i5VYIz_Cs8RS-tLreyopNJnx_FQ/s200/logo.jpg" width="200" /></span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">The 5</span><sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"> annual </span><a href="http://www.earthhour.org/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Earth Hour</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"> event will take place at </span><strong><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">8.30 – 9.30 pm</span></strong><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"> (local time) on </span><strong><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Saturday 26</span><sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"> March 2011</span></strong><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Earth Hour is organised by </span><a href="http://www.wwf.org/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">WWF</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"> and has almost 5 million supporters and a global networks in over 100 countries. WWF’s mission is to stop the degradation of the Earth’s natural environment and build a future where people live in harmony with nature. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">This event began in a single city in Sydney, Australia in 2007 and has since grown into a global symbol of hope and action to protect the one thing that unites us all – </span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">the planet</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">. It is now one of the largest environmental awareness events in the world where people from across the world, from all walks of life, turn off their lights and come together in celebration and contemplation. It is important to note that this is an educational campaign based on hope not fear, and the idea that everyone can take personal responsibility for the future of the planet we live on. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">This year the message from Earth Hour is to think beyond the hour and what you can change in your daily life that will benefit the planet too. This year </span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Miranda Kerr</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"> is the global ambassador for Earth Hour and she has recommended a few things you may want to do in your homes. These include:</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
</span></div><ul style="margin-top: 0cm;" type="disc"><li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Reduce food miles by buying food locally;</span></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Walking or riding a bike reducing car usage;</span></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Use fuel with Ethanol;</span></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Turn off lights and use organic or beeswax candles instead;</span></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Unplug appliances when they are not in use;</span></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Wash in mostly cold water;</span></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Recycle, recycle, recycle;</span></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Purchase clothes which are ethically made;</span></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Compost scraps;</span></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Avoid food wastage;</span></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Grow your own food;</span></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Use less water;</span></span></li>
</ul><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">As you can see there are a lot of ideas here and I don’t think it would be impossible to pick one or two of these and start reducing our impact on the environment. More from </span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Miranda Kerr</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"> can be read </span><a href="http://earthhournews.blogspot.com/2011/03/message-from-our-global-ambassador.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">here</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">The 2011 commercial is very powerful and will hopefully encourage more people to take action not only during this hour but within their daily lives. The emphasis of the video is to encourage everybody to take action in the hope of making the world a better place. The 2011 commercial can be viewed below and previous commercials can be found don YouTube. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><object class="BLOGGER-youtube-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="http://0.gvt0.com/vi/RiBJC9x_ChQ/0.jpg" height="266" width="320"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/RiBJC9x_ChQ&fs=1&source=uds" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><embed width="320" height="266" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/RiBJC9x_ChQ&fs=1&source=uds" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"></embed></object></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Please check out their </span><a href="http://www.earthhour.org/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">website</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"> there are some amazing photos of famous landmarks and individuals getting involved in previous years. A couple of my favourite (mainly because they are of London) are below:</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"> </span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5QHHi1jvR6NreYwKApFJRz47dVFdz56gK6H4wvFvy1vtnD5ij2wbmWS63-dwDaUdUzctseBfy8B6Py8ztCKMmdh5AwGyIJuOr7Fkd0L75yhSznUgg-DhKzDqeZzsS9-T4otWFaoW7WBI/s1600/london+bridge+%25C2%25A9+WWF+-+Jon+Freeman.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><img border="0" height="213" q6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5QHHi1jvR6NreYwKApFJRz47dVFdz56gK6H4wvFvy1vtnD5ij2wbmWS63-dwDaUdUzctseBfy8B6Py8ztCKMmdh5AwGyIJuOr7Fkd0L75yhSznUgg-DhKzDqeZzsS9-T4otWFaoW7WBI/s320/london+bridge+%25C2%25A9+WWF+-+Jon+Freeman.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">London Bridge<br />
© WWF / Jon Freeman</span></span></em></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"> </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcgqbC1VkesWyFGFY2TFlUiRcukbEdND_tYhWllrhccUE3Cd6hyphenhyphen4RSqNX_RmyRwz4NjPJ5rN2QfDqn83yTBZhmlt5Irh0RwAoetu0LRRzq2FMT9SBYAQmoiCwAsbsdlkJD6sShxjDyccg/s1600/big+ben+%25C2%25A9+geoffwilson2010.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><img border="0" height="320" q6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcgqbC1VkesWyFGFY2TFlUiRcukbEdND_tYhWllrhccUE3Cd6hyphenhyphen4RSqNX_RmyRwz4NjPJ5rN2QfDqn83yTBZhmlt5Irh0RwAoetu0LRRzq2FMT9SBYAQmoiCwAsbsdlkJD6sShxjDyccg/s320/big+ben+%25C2%25A9+geoffwilson2010.jpg" width="211" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"> Big Ben, London<br />
© geoffwilson20</span></span></em></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Many of you may ask, </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">whether just an hour will actually make a difference?</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"> Well I definitely think so. In my view Earth Hour is about telling people that you are taking action against climate change and willing to change your lifestyle to do so. This is just the first step in many which lets the world know you are trying to make a difference. Think about what you can change to limit your environmental footprint and if you need help recap over some of Miranda Kerr’s suggestions above. Personally, I am going to try and cut out plastic bottled water. Not only will this reduce my waste it also has the added bonus of saving me money. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">So switch off your lights and celebrate your love for our planet too! Together our action adds up!</span></span></div>Katie Andertonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01129805442602950717noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2186994831910813733.post-6970409536254161722011-03-03T12:26:00.006+00:002011-03-04T12:09:06.020+00:00Fine and Mercator Heart Planet Earth Too!<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">I found these amazing ancient maps on the internet today which I feel sums up my blog title perfectly. What do you think?</span></span></span></span> <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYqqUXXZYD9ZMnAAHL6faaTDex3fOFNKpllIDakWlEZmlIHu8HVFz9gx7FccoFhgjrmHLFhOTcueiPf23GfV-clBVNVy2ASt70D6502Hkkhg1UPOFxT8V2o1gy5bu5CUnCl7aq0Yk7lek/s1600/%2527Mappemonde+Cordiforme+d%2527Oronce+Fine%2527+%257Babout+1534%257D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><img border="0" height="273" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYqqUXXZYD9ZMnAAHL6faaTDex3fOFNKpllIDakWlEZmlIHu8HVFz9gx7FccoFhgjrmHLFhOTcueiPf23GfV-clBVNVy2ASt70D6502Hkkhg1UPOFxT8V2o1gy5bu5CUnCl7aq0Yk7lek/s320/%2527Mappemonde+Cordiforme+d%2527Oronce+Fine%2527+%257Babout+1534%257D.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><em>'Mappemonde Cordiforme d'Oronce Fine'</em> </span></span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">As a bit of background <strong>'Mappemonde Cordiforme d'Oronce Fine'</strong> was produced in about 1534 however, this map is not in Fine’s astronomy manuscript. Fine was noted for his cordiform or heart-shaped maps of the world (<a href="http://bibliodyssey.blogspot.com/2010/11/celestial-mechanics.html">source</a>). </span></span></span></span></div><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; line-height: 115%;">Oronce Fine (1491–1555) was one of the rare French geographers in the Renaissance to prepare maps of the world. As a geographer myself, I find this interpretation of Earth incredible and therefore thought I would share these maps with you all. </span><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Fine's heart-shaped map projection may be his most famous illustration, and was frequently employed by other notable cartographers.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Another impressive historical map is below <strong>'Mercator's Double Cordiform'</strong> was produced in 1538 by Gerard Mercator, a Flemish geographer and map publisher (<a href="http://www.press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago/534316.html">source</a></span></span><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">). </span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Mercator's original map, which is now very rare, was similar to Oronce Fine's world maps published around this time.</span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"> </span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Mercator also published numerous maps and several globes and atlases. It was his book of world maps, first published in 1595 one year after his death, that introduced the term "atlas" to the world.</span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu8IJ_EZTOSYF5zky0t5yHm1Si94OEua_x_FjIIi6Myo1cXfSVCVG9EHznkOa5pHaCGiKT-m_Ff_kN1wzgrOT-WtDq-AGSNEOIG33L7uhHs9UFKhl_vVb4PTj9OPWKWVbnllE1KMcJP4U/s1600/Mercators+cordiform.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><img border="0" height="210" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu8IJ_EZTOSYF5zky0t5yHm1Si94OEua_x_FjIIi6Myo1cXfSVCVG9EHznkOa5pHaCGiKT-m_Ff_kN1wzgrOT-WtDq-AGSNEOIG33L7uhHs9UFKhl_vVb4PTj9OPWKWVbnllE1KMcJP4U/s320/Mercators+cordiform.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><em>'Mercator's Double Cordiform'</em></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Hopefully you find these maps as fascinating as I do…</span></span></div>Katie Andertonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01129805442602950717noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2186994831910813733.post-37350921337659919662011-02-21T14:11:00.002+00:002011-02-21T14:25:55.186+00:00Age of Stupid<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTnMq_XgqjbTf9v5TgWqdVTi55yLLC8E0_xKOH4-Qxo3QpQKLKOECQLHxusq2TbMuTi-cT9XXQ6cN61frMOt2MDMtpriuxh_Z76Wo5k2bJGMQ7FsIeRz7UDtI2-Nhtdy_wOF-HI4CkuZk/s1600/Age-of-Stupid3.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" j6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTnMq_XgqjbTf9v5TgWqdVTi55yLLC8E0_xKOH4-Qxo3QpQKLKOECQLHxusq2TbMuTi-cT9XXQ6cN61frMOt2MDMtpriuxh_Z76Wo5k2bJGMQ7FsIeRz7UDtI2-Nhtdy_wOF-HI4CkuZk/s200/Age-of-Stupid3.png" width="200" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: x-small; line-height: 115%;">I attended a climate change seminar last year by Mark Lynas which talked about the green film ‘Age of Stupid’. I eventually got round to watching this film and it is so powerful and a sharp reflection of what the future could hold for us. I challenge anyone to watch this film not feel compelled to immediately change their lifestyle or at least attempt to. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: x-small; line-height: 115%;">Not only does this film focus on an issue which is really important to me – climate change – it also tells a story of how it can impact everyone’s lives from all over the world and why it is so important to do something about it now before its too late. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: x-small; line-height: 115%;">The film was first released on March 15<sup>th</sup> 2009 after 3 years of filming. The London premiere for this green film was held in a cinema tent powered by solar energy. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: x-small; line-height: 115%;">The film is based in mainstream scientific projections and everything shown from the present day and past is real news and documentary footage. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: x-small; line-height: 115%;">To set the scene for the film, it begins in 2055 and shows a devastated future planet; where London is flooded, the Alps are snowless, Vegas is a desert, Sydney is on fire and India has been devastated by war. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: x-small; line-height: 115%;">The documentary style film focuses its attention on a character who is an archivist and safe keeper of the planets surviving art and knowledge. There are 7 main storylines which form the basis of the film, which are a series of documentary style recordings from the present time. These comprise the start up of a cheap airline company, a ski resort tourist guide, Hurricane Katrina, a wind farm developer, oil exploration and war derived from the need for oil. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: x-small; line-height: 115%;">Although each story tells a different story about how climate change is affecting them, much of the devastation relates back to oil exploration. It is fascinating to see how oil is related to everything we do, from the clothes we wear to the food we buy – for me this really was a reality check. Families have and will be destroyed by the need for oil. This resource is becoming scare and the film highlights the fact that war is an inevitable result. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: x-small; line-height: 115%;">Oil is <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">THE</b> resource worth fighting for around the world and surely this can only lead to bad things. Should we not use what’s left of the oil to think of new energy sources and to figure out how we can live without this resource? </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: x-small; line-height: 115%;">In a time of record climates; i.e. hottest summers, worst floods, heaviest rainfalls, driest seasons and expanding ice melt – why aren’t we taking more actions to secure a future for ourselves and our loved ones?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: x-small; line-height: 115%;">The underlying messages throughout this film include: <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Why didn’t we save ourselves when we had the chance? </b>Why did humankind fail to address climate change? Was it not our responsibility to leave earth in a better place than we found it?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: x-small; line-height: 115%;">Did our generation really cause these problems?</span></b><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: x-small; line-height: 115%;">If you haven’t already seen the film, take a look at the clip below from YouTube.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/9dTyTTFgluk?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>Katie Andertonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01129805442602950717noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2186994831910813733.post-45194341920973017702011-02-12T11:34:00.002+00:002011-02-12T20:35:02.472+00:00Green Love?<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Verdana; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Tree Hugger published an article earlier this week considering whether love can make you greener. I have recently found myself in a long distance relationship and I hate the fact that most weekends I get in my petrol car and embark on a journey to the other side of the country. I try to lead a green life but at this present moment I can’t change the long distance state of my relationship. </span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Verdana; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Tree Hugger argue that the impact of a long distance relationship can multiple ones carbon footprint in a very short time. </span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Verdana; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">PlanetGreen.com also report that dating someone who lives far away is bad for the environment. But thankfully does go on to say that long distance relationships are a reality of the modern world. At least I know I’m not alone!</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Verdana; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Now I’m always up for a solution to reducing my impact on the planet and both Tree Hugger and PlanetGreen.com suggest the following options for people in a similar situation to myself:</span></span></span></div><ul style="margin-top: 0cm;" type="disc"><li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-align: justify;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Verdana; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Avoid using the plane;</span></span></span></div></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-align: justify;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Verdana; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Use sustainable travel methods;</span></span></span></div></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-align: justify;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Verdana; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Plan longer visits; and</span></span></span></div></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-align: justify;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Verdana; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Change careers to shorten the distance between you. </span></span></span></div></li>
</ul><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Verdana; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Not all of these are practical but are a useful starting point. Check out the links below to read the full articles. </span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Verdana; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><a href="http://planetgreen.discovery.com/work-connect/green-long-distance-relationship.html#"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">http://planetgreen.discovery.com/work-connect/green-long-distance-relationship.html#</span></a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Verdana; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><a href="http://www.treehugger.com/files/2011/02/does-love-make-you-greener-pros-and-cons.php#"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">http://www.treehugger.com/files/2011/02/does-love-make-you-greener-pros-and-cons.php#</span></a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Verdana; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">So an idea…can you do Valentines Day when your in a long distance relationship and still be environmentally friendly? </span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Verdana; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">This Valentines Day, G BY GUESS have designed Valentines E cards for you to send to your loved ones. Not only is this the environmentally friendly way to tell someone you love them, but for every card sent, G BY GUESS will donate $5 toward Love is Louder, benefiting the Jed Foundation and its programs helping young people cope with emotional distress. So it’s a win – win situation really!</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Verdana; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Their designs are fantastic too. Check out the one below which also carriers and environmental message…</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibJINx2Zkdo-DSYQJiLhbMFcAHSnVYRrXQy7h2IPTI36RnBwwngHGaEtIG3_nxCpxyatBc6t8abbpPq22uzEBKfmv_feC4Lm0iIxwv0cLmW0uMv2bRqZCEL4i-tm96KBXcJridPToRxvs/s1600/LoveisLouder+E+Card.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><em><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibJINx2Zkdo-DSYQJiLhbMFcAHSnVYRrXQy7h2IPTI36RnBwwngHGaEtIG3_nxCpxyatBc6t8abbpPq22uzEBKfmv_feC4Lm0iIxwv0cLmW0uMv2bRqZCEL4i-tm96KBXcJridPToRxvs/s200/LoveisLouder+E+Card.jpg" width="198" /></span></em></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.gbyguess.com/eCards/"><em><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">http://www.gbyguess.com/eCards/</span></em></a></td></tr>
</tbody></table></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Verdana; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">So you have sorted the environmental card, now what about a gift...</span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Verdana; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Searching through the Internet I came across a range of virtual valentines gifts and found these on the National Trusts website:</span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoUPM43WkNT9mMPBPmxSZvc3vgojcmnZGoQAtZHcPrp4Cxsc7UbBo6I6tUBKBwYiSlZJRzHolZFVd094KNJAHSC4f3QH8qDdYW-SJTRM1QbH1RFxFkGniI4_fPxGdQUt6DHkVzgJU8D5k/s1600/3pics%25281%2529%255B1%255D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoUPM43WkNT9mMPBPmxSZvc3vgojcmnZGoQAtZHcPrp4Cxsc7UbBo6I6tUBKBwYiSlZJRzHolZFVd094KNJAHSC4f3QH8qDdYW-SJTRM1QbH1RFxFkGniI4_fPxGdQUt6DHkVzgJU8D5k/s400/3pics%25281%2529%255B1%255D.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"> <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu447IK1RbIWbxE2nAG7C5KJW8E_j9Eq8pjOtpNbSN-KFyjuSeKrsH8oUazoUH7oqSC10Qz0BZwmP2XsHcCvryMJ4auknHZ4riStpnz4b6sbcqouRxmtVE7Utat0hlntUamnAfJ-vxad4/s1600/3pics-%25282%2529%255B1%255D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="231" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu447IK1RbIWbxE2nAG7C5KJW8E_j9Eq8pjOtpNbSN-KFyjuSeKrsH8oUazoUH7oqSC10Qz0BZwmP2XsHcCvryMJ4auknHZ4riStpnz4b6sbcqouRxmtVE7Utat0hlntUamnAfJ-vxad4/s400/3pics-%25282%2529%255B1%255D.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><a href="http://shop.nationaltrust.org.uk/category/virtual-gifts-for-valentines/88/0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0/1"><span style="color: purple; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><em>National Trust </em></span></a></div></td></tr>
</tbody></table> <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Verdana; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">These gifts show your caring side too with 100% of the proceeds going to the special places or wildlife chosen. </span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Verdana; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">These gifts are brilliant! All I need to do now is subtly drop a hint….</span></span></div>Katie Andertonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01129805442602950717noreply@blogger.com0