To me, Charles Darwin was always one of the good guys. Growing up, the knowledge of evolution offered all the creative wonder I needed, thank you very much, and in conversation with pals I’d play Clarence Darrow to anyone’s William Jennings Bryan. In my little heathen mind, I naturally most often won the day. (Some kids liked cowboys and Indians. I liked Inherit the Wind. Go figure.)

As I got older, however, I was dismayed to discover how robber barons, past and present, had used the “survival of the fittest” argument to justify all kinds of vile behavior. From turn-of-the-century monopolists to today’s slum-lording real estate magnates, the Great Man’s concepts have been co-opted for evil purposes. (And I use the word “evil” advisedly. We are, in fact, talking Evil here.) Would Darwin see these thieves, oligarchs and social criminals as part of a natural order? Is it simply an evolutionary principle that the weak are taken advantage of and are, as they say, weeded out?

Then one day, someone added a phrase to my lexicon: “It’s just as much “˜survival of the luckiest.'” This explains how “acts of god” (so to speak) could wipe out otherwise “fit” populations. An asteroid? A political or economic system gone awry? Take your pick. Yes, the fittest survive – sometimes. And yes, the not-necessarily-more-fit-than-anyone-else take advantage of situations. Often.

Now, a new study offers another angle (or perhaps layer) to Darwin’s original theory. It not only helps put the Rockefellers in their evolutionary place, but should also give us all pause to think again about how we view our world, and how we use it.

Here’s the headline (from the BBC this past Monday): “Space is the final frontier for evolution, study claims – Charles Darwin may have been wrong when he argued that competition was the major driving force of evolution.”

Aw, those Brits and their headlines. Indeed, “wrong” is the wrong word here, but this certainly is interesting news. Here’s the rub: Recent research from the University of Bristol shows “the availability of “˜living space,'” along with competition, as centrally important to evolution.

Studying patterns and fossil records covering more than 400 million years of land-animal biological history, the scientists, says the story, “showed that the amount of biodiversity closely matched the availability of “˜living space’ through time.”

Living space – that’s the area where an animal and its species survive in a fairly comfortable way. What this study shows, say the researchers, is that important evolutionary advancements occur when a group gets more elbow room that’s free from predators and competitors.

Two examples they provide are birds and mammals. The former, once they took to the unoccupied air, made explosive strides. The latter waited for the Dinosaurs to get out of the way before making their evolutionary move. “This concept,” notes the story, “challenges the idea that intense competition for resources in overcrowded habitats is the major driving force of evolution.”

Now whether or not the study’s more radical conclusions hold up over time remains to be seen. (Co-author Professor Mike Benton goes so far as to say that “competition did not play a big role in the overall pattern of evolution.”)

Of course, there are already those who question those conclusions, including Yale Professor and evolutionary biologist Stephen Stearns who says he “found the patterns interesting, but the interpretation problematic,” and asks, “What is the impetus to occupy new portions of ecological space if not to avoid competition with the species in the space already occupied?”

But the point is made that living space rocks a species’ world and the lack thereof can keep (or bring) it down.

I’m left with two thoughts from this bit of news. First, it offers a rebuttal to the Trump-esque, entitled egos of the world who gloat over their gets and glories. Consider their “living space” – an environment cleared of true competition, where skids are greased, incumbents bought, arenas cleared of threat or responsibility. Maybe that’s a stretch, but what the hell, there is surely more at play in these folks’ “landscapes” than pure smarts and fitness.

The second takeaway, I think, is something to consider as we gobble up habitats and witness subsequent extinctions. We ought to note that we’re not immune from gobbling up our own living space, whether we poison it with chemicals, rip open its arteries of oil or simply pave it over at every opportunity in the name of “development.” This might be a study to remember if we truly want to make sure our ultra-fit species will ultimately have a place to live.

Says Darwin: “It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change.” Try adapting to having no place to go.

Images: Simon Welsh and shehal

The post Giving Darwin Some Elbow Room appeared first on EcoSalon.

Designers tend to have a variety of visions when it comes to their lines, but the most important part should be to simply design well thought-out lines. Nixxi does just that and juggles fit, high quality sustainable fabrics and production methods like a seasoned pro.

According to the Fashion Takes Action’s website – where Nixxi was recently a nominee for a Canadian Design Forward award – “Nixxi recently presented their designs as an “˜Eco & Ethical Ready-To-Wear Label’ at the EcoChic Fashion Show and Exhibition in Geneva in January. By presenting at EcoChic Geneva, Nixxi has partnered with Green2Greener, and aligned their designs with the United Nations International Year of Biodiversity.”

We love how they employ not just organic cotton and bamboo as so many designers do, but also knits and wovens made from hemp, bamboo, soy, lyocell, organic wool, silk, and linen.

On their production facilities Nixxi says: “We choose to work with a local production house that employs fair wages and a comfortable working environment for their employees, thus sustaining a positive working relationship which also results in a more quality finished, longer-lasting garment.”

We were more than thrilled when Nixxi offered the Empire Dress to us for this week’s giveaway. Though the image above shows the dress in white, you’ll also have the choice of a beautiful Italian linen in either a faded blue or a misty gray if you win.

Drooling yet? I sure am. Leave a comment below to try your hand at snatching up this pretty frock.

(For complete giveaway guidelines click here. All offers are FTC compliant.)

Good Luck!

The post Ooh La La: Nixxi’s Empire Dress Giveaway appeared first on EcoSalon.

In Storybook England, medieval cottages with thatched roofs snuggle into rolling green hills criss-crossed with stone walls and hedgerows.

In 21st century England, all this still exists – just. But it could do with some support and your tourist dollars can help.

Much has been written about saving the hedgerows. Probably more than anything else, the hedgerows symbolise the heritage of the English countryside. It’s not just nostalgia, though – hedgerows actually house a substantial portion of England’s biodiversity, too.

Did you know that the same applies to thatched roofs? Thatched cottages have heritage value but they are also expensive to maintain. They might be quaint but since modern materials are cheaper and easier, thatches have been slowly disappearing over the last century. Not only that, but now it seems they are under threat from climate change too, as warmer, wetter weather encourages moss and algae to grow in the thatch while also creating a shortage of straw.

The great shame for environmentalists is that thatched roofs have been around so long they are now an essential part of the ecosystem in England, and indeed in the rest of the United Kingdom and in Ireland, as well. The thatch comes from natural, sustainable materials – the most common type in the UK and Ireland is wheat straw, while some parts of the country use water reed. Once on the house, the thatch itself provides habitat and food for wildlife, especially birds and insects.

If you stay in a thatched cottage, your tourist dollars are automatically helping preserve the tradition. But your money could be even better targeted.

Under the Thatch offers a wonderful and eclectic collection of historic places to stay, mostly in west Wales. (The Ecologist magazine has a nice write-up). Strictly speaking, not all of them are thatched – the site also includes a few unusual options such as a yurt and a Romany (gypsy) caravan. The buildings are wonderful but what makes the company unique are the ethical trading policies.

Profits are used to rescue or conserve heritage buildings at risk, using environmentally-friendly materials, and the site has a policy that all properties must be let year round to help sustain local communities even if they have to resort to bargain-basement prices to do it.

Another good option is to rent a cottage via the RSPB (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds). They have access to cottages mostly in England, Wales and Scotland but also Ireland and continental Europe and brokering the holiday lettings help raises money for the charity’s environmental work.

Image: John Picken (not affiliated with Under the Thatch)

The post Support Biodiversity: Stay in a Storybook Thatched Cottage appeared first on EcoSalon.

Anyone who grew up on Westerns and novels such as Little House on the Prairie and My Antonia would be hard-pressed to recognise the Great Plains today. The woods and grasslands known to the native Americans and the early pioneers have largely made way for suburban sub-divisions and industrial agriculture, with a co-dependent duo of grain crops and cattle destined for feedlots.

There is a movement afoot to restore the American West to its former glory and two animal species are taking centre stage.

The first is the American buffalo, a species that is once again roaming the plains and also gracing American dinner tables.

The second, rather more controversially, is the grey wolf.

Alongside this comes the return of a diverse array of native grasses – the “miles of copper-red grass” immortalised by Willa Cather. This is not just about a return to the past – in fact, according to the Buffalo Commons, a biodiverse native prairie is also an excellent carbon sequester.

There once were over 400 million acres of wild prairie grasslands in the central part of North America. The backbone of the Buffalo Commons movement is the work – over a period of decades – to re-establish and re-connect prairie wildland reserves and ecological corridors large enough for bison and all other native prairie wildlife to survive and roam freely, over great, connected distances, while simultaneously restoring the health and sustainability of our communities wherever possible so that both land and people may prosper for a very long time.

The eco-system will not truly return to its original state without the reintroduction of the original predators, namely the grey wolf.

The Big Bad Wolf is not a popular figure in the American psyche, and even less so for the nation’s farmers. But in some parts of the country, reintroducing the wolf is exactly what is being done. Park rangers have slowly been releasing breeding pairs of wolves into Yellowstone National Park since the 90s, for example.

It’s all very well restoring the native prairie on public land, but what about private land? And how will communities support themselves without farming?

It’s hoped that eco-tourism can partly replace farming in some areas. Yet farmers are very much part of the picture, not only through personal involvement in the Buffalo Commons on the perimeter of their properties, but also by rearing buffalo for meat.

True restoration of the Great Plains relies on ranchers coming on board and ranchers rely on Americans choosing to eat buffalo rather than beef. This means that even private farmland can be planted with native grasses and form part of a healthy, functioning eco-system. Buffalo are ideal to raise from a farmer’s perspective – their preferred food grows naturally in this part of the world and they are perfectly suited to the climate.

If you are vegetarian and your dietary protein comes from organic tofu or lentils rather than any sort of meat, that’s great. If it doesn’t, there are very good arguments for at least cutting down on the meat you eat, but you might also want to consider buffalo.

It doesn’t sound like eating buffalo is any great hardship for a meat eater. Eating Well magazine, which offers several enticing recipes, describes the meat as lean and healthy, possessing a “more intense, deep flavour than beef”. Yet the true satisfaction surely comes from knowing that, by consciously choosing buffalo instead of beef, you are directly playing a role in the restoration of the Great Plains.

Image: Nicolas T

The post Recreating the American West appeared first on EcoSalon.