Going Green Friendly

Here are some ideas for green gifts, from books to solar panels!

The Gartree Wind Power Co-operative is being developed by Energy4All, a Cumbrian based organisation.

With all of our hopes and plans to reduce our carbon footprint, the planning application for a new wind farm should be well received. The new wind farm which has been proposed for Leicestershire is  near the beautiful town of Market Harborough. This will boost the local economy and create new jobs. The country’s leading social enterprise promoting community ownership of renewable energy, Energy4All, are proposing to develop the wind energy project in partnership with the local community and landowner.

If you have a Facebook account then please join the ‘Yes To Gartree Wind Farm’ group to show your support or find out more information.

I am sorry to say that there is a group on Facebook called ‘Say No To Gartree Wind Farm’! It seems that some people are against this eco friendly project! They say ‘We dont want or need a wind farm near lubenham’ and ‘My biggest issue is what do they do when the wind doesn’t blow?? You end up having to have some backup source just in case!’. I can understand why some people dont love wind turbines as much as me and other wind junkies. But maybe they could change their perspective on wind turbines and see them as the beautiful structures that represent our love for our planet.

Unfortunately, the resistance to change has caused the Stop Gartree Action Group to try and show people what sort of impact the height of the turbines would have on the landscape. The villagers expressed shock at the height of the blimp balloon that was supposedly flown to the proposed heights of the wind turbines.

This photograph was taken on the 13th Sept 2009 showing the Blimp (balloon) flown by the Lubenham Parish Committee/ Stop Gartree Action Group. The actual indicated position and height of the wind turbines (No1. turbine) is marked. We think someone is telling porkies?

The yes or no to Gartree Wind Farm being built is a global concern. The decision Harborough council makes with regard to Energy4all’s application for a wind farm at Gartree will have an impact on the rest of the World. Leicestershire at present has no wind farms, and there is only one wind farm in the whole of the UK midlands. Everyone in this World has the right to their say. Please feel free to put your comments below!

Don’t Be Polite. It’s Your Right.

I was at a nice little tea room the other day, enjoying a brie and cranberry sauce jacket potato when I noticed a leaflet beside me about the ‘Simply Ask’ campaign.

To my amazement, this leaflet showed me a shocking statistic on how our resturants are using a whopping 80% of eggs that are not free range! 80%! still coming from battery hens! It should be zero!

National Trust have been using free range for 6 years, more than half a million free range eggs in its baking and cooking in this time. This is the kind of result that I am sure all of us would like to see in all of our resturants. So this is where you come in, the campaign is urging people to ‘Simply Ask’ any restaurant, cafe or pub if the eggs that they use are cage-free. Simple.

For more infomation on the ’simply ask’ campaign just click here!

Or for more details on the RSPCA freedom food, click here!

Lynda Brewer is the Catering Development Manager for the National Trust, this is what she had to say;

‘By taking simple steps, such as finding a national supplier of free range eggs, or even better, a supplier local to your business, all catering companies can easily follow our example and use only free range eggs in their cooking. There really is no excuse to use eggs laid by hens kept in appalling conditions.’

Backed by top chefs including Raymond Blanc, Antony Worrall Thompson, and Paul Merrett, the campaign urges people to ‘Simply Ask’ about where their food comes from when eating out.

Please comment below if you have anything you can add to this post.