Green Living Editor Ruth Styles answers your eco-lifestyle dilemmas. This week it’s the question of local versus organic produce under the spotlight
… it’s the question of local versus organic produce under the spotlight Dear Ruth, I’ve always tried to buy organic produce but it seems a bit odd buying tomatoes … I switch to conventionally grown, if it’s produced here. It’s all a bit confusing! …
The dreams of the early organic pioneers have been subsumed into a rush for global supply chains, strict regulations and fast-selling brands
… flavour and freshness of the foods we produced. We were perhaps more mindful than … that I purchased to graze these meadows would produce subtle, fine flavoured milk and meat … more choice of fresh and local organic produce: free range eggs, butter, pork, beef …
Making Ghana’s cocoa sector more sustainable isn’t the easiest of tasks but for the Louis Bolk Institute’s Christian Mensah that’s all part of the job. Ruth Styles caught up with him to find out how he’s doing it
… continuous improvement and I really wish all producers were in compliance. Our world would … them and work with them in the field to train producers, monitor progress and engage … of policy issues that do not incentivise producers to invest in sustainable farming. We …
Green Living Editor Ruth Styles answers your eco-lifestyle dilemmas. This week, we're talking textiles
… there’s a problem. Currently, it’s hard to produce a decent cloth from it. What’s more, … although the unappealing cloth it tends to produce is an issue. Organic cotton and bamboo come next with conventionally produced cotton lagging well behind the …
Want to know how and where your favourite meat is produced? Ruth Styles asked four industry experts to give their verdict on the realities of animal welfare in the UK today
… to know how and where your favourite meat is produced? Ruth Styles asked four industry … and retailers are providing more high welfare produce all the time. While most farmers are … supermarkets will stock them and the more producers will raise their standards. The vast …
High in fat and with a carbon footprint to match, cow’s milk is neither the greenest or healthiest milk available. So what are the alternatives? Here are 10 of the best
… treated with growth hormones either and they produce less methane than cows. Goat’s milk … unusable for agriculture, and, like goats, produce far less methane than cows. Their milk … and is needed to synthesise and repair DNA, produce healthy red blood cells and prevent …
Yes there have been scandals, and yes, there is more to do, but the fashion industry is working hard to become greener and more ethical. It’s time to start supporting these efforts, argues Green Living Editor Ruth Styles
… designer brands falling over themselves to produce capsule collections based on … traces of the poison NPE in clothes produced by Adidas, H&M and Converse among … as environmentally sound as possible, H&M – producers of an eco-range based on organic …
The mainstream fashion industry is trapped in a competitive spiral of ever shorter and faster sales and production cycles, writes Ruth Styles - and that inevitably stresses both textile workers and natural resources. But there is another way: the way of 'slow fashion' in which clothes are timeless, beautiful and made to last.
… on quality, which means dispensing with mass-produced petrochemical-derived textiles and … while lower prices meant screwing textile producers and workers further down the chain. … to keep track of every single garment produced for them? No, of course they can't. …
From food to fun, we've got the skinny on how to make this year's festivities the greenest ever
… landfill. 50,000 trees will be cut down to produce the 8,000 tonnes of wrapping paper … the average Christmas fairy light display produces enough CO2 to fill two double decker … as waste in landfill where it decomposes and produces methane gas, which is 25 times worse …
With the big day just around the corner, Ruth Styles says it’s time to give Valentine's Day a green-over
… or at the very least ones that are ethically produced.’ According to the Flowers and Plants … works closely with Tuareg artisans in Mali to produce Fairtrade silver jewellery while the … America and when allowed to grow normally, produces two harvests per year. The problem …
Industrial agriculture and industrial food processing have combined to produce something extraordinary, writes Julian Rose: 'KRISS the unrecognisable croissant'. Just don't make the mistake of confusing it with food. Devoid of nutrition, laced with hydrogenated oil and a long list of artificial ingredients, if you care about your own health and that of our planet - give KRISS a miss!
… industrial food processing have combined to produce something extraordinary, writes Julian … of the soil, or those who consume their produce, is not their priority. The reality of … and channelled into the food factories that produce the end products that line the shelves …
The harvest might be in full swing but, say Ruth Styles and Robert Phillips, if you want the bounty to continue into December, now is the time to start planning your winter vegetable garden
… supermarket stock. The flower garden too can produce a surprising number of blooms during … variety, the Sweet Box or Sarcococca confusa produces gorgeous, sweetly scented white … the Wintersweet ( Chimonanthus praecox ) produces delicate pale pink blooms with a …
Want to see a new city and get fit at the same time? Then try doing it by bike...
… a main course and a dessert) based on produce harvested the same day. Find out … such as Borough where you can find locally produced food or one of the thousands of pubs. … where the focus is very much on local produce. One of the nicest is the Federal Café …
Synthetics free and all the better for it; the latest crop of green fragrances are good enough to appeal to even the choosiest of fragrance fans. Ruth Styles spritzes on some of the best
… and I'm working with a farmer in Colombia who produces organic gardenia, lily and tuberose … communities based around Kuktabubba, produce Aveda’s and the partnership is run … Boadicea the Victorious, the fragrances are produced in the UK. Rajamusk is the top pick, …
With Fairtrade Fortnight in full swing, Ruth Styles caught up with People Tree founder, Safia Minney, and Swallows director, Santo Haque, to find out why hand weaving is set to be fashion's next big scandal
… Bangladesh. One of People Tree’s main producers, the Centre has proved a blessing … hand weavers in Bangladesh, and the work they produce is incredible. Haque shows me one of … is an investment in people who need it - the producers from rural areas,’ says Haque. 'With …
Whether you’re looking for seasonal veg or slaughter-free milk, Britain’s box schemes make avoiding the supermarket a cinch
… cent of households now regularly buy organic produce according to a 2011 report by the Soil … Guy Watson’s Devonshire farm, Riverford produce now comes from farmers’ collectives … of Box Scheme of the Year and Horticultural Producer of the Year gongs. Sadly, unless you …
In Food Justice, Robert Gottilieb and Anupama Josh make a compelling case for a more integrated approach to changing the way we eat, says Ruth Styles
… links between communities and nearby food producers. An interesting example is provided … nicer canteen but also for the use of locally produced food such as shrimp caught by local … Unfortunately injustices in the way food is produced and consumed won't go away over …
The queen of green yoga wear talks to Ruth Styles about the brilliance of bamboo textiles and explains why it’s time to give your iron a break
… so can help minimise the sweaty smell produced during exercise, and has great … mixtures (which take a lot of chemicals to produce), bamboo is environmentally and … and uses an ethical factory in Turkey to produce her pieces. And Asquith doesn't just …
Green Living Editor Ruth Styles answers your eco-lifestyle dilemmas. This week, we've put leather under the microscope
… to say the least. India is the other major producer, and again, the standards in Indian … possible, most of which will have been produced to high welfare and environmental …
Inspired by Croatia’s natural loveliness but made in the UK, Occo’s blend of Balkan beauty know-how and British practicality is one that will do wonders for your skin
… appelations aside, Occo’s products are all produced in England. The brand wasn’t even …
Whether it’s rugby, cricket or football you’re into, there are ways to make your sporting pursuits a little greener. Ruth Styles and Catuxa Argibay have more
… rethink. Just one hour spent glued to the box produces a whopping 54kg of CO2, while that … ), you’ll find British-made, traditionally produced wool scarves in the colours of just … Fairtrade, organic tea. That beats mass-produced half-time fare any day of the week. …
Sandy Black offers a fascinating account of the fashion industry’s attempts to balance the conflicting demands of style-hungry consumers and the impact it has on the planet, says Ruth Styles
… to the lumpen, sacking type cloth it usually produces. Happily, says Black, hemp fibres are … a comeback It’s recyclable, reusable and produced in Britain, so jettison thoughts of …
Since Poland's new government was elected last October it has moved to protect the country's 1.3 million small farmers, writes Julian Rose. First it freed those arrested for protesting corporate land grabs, now it is seeking to lighten oppressive hygiene regulations, and next it may support a new Food Act that would ban GMOs, and legislate for national food security and food sovereignty.
… 1.3 million small family farms the freedom to produce foods without needless, burdensome regulations, and to sell their produce locally. Now the government is …
From biodynamic farming methods to persuading people to give English wine another try, the Sedlescombe Organic Vineyard's Roy Cook is transforming the British wine industry
… says Roy. ‘I was really impressed by the producers from Return to Terroir [a biodynamic … of what convinced me was the calibre of the producers switching to biodynamic growing … more than good enough to give anything produced in France a run for its money. ‘Lots …