Vegans in the UK have a lot to celebrate as the popular Co-op market is bringing a huge focus to vegan wine. 

That’s right — a lot of wine isn’t vegan because of the use of filtering and fining agents that can come from eggs, gelatin, milk, or a substance called isinglass, which comes from fish bladders. They’re used to remove unwanted bacteria and yeast, and some are used to improve flavor and clarity. But they’re used not because they’re most efficient, but because they’re most common — historied practices that haven’t been updated.

According to the Guardian, the Co-op has been working with “winemakers across the world to develop a wider range of vegan-friendly ‘fining’ agents used to filter wines.”

For vegans, determining if a wine has been filtered with animal products is a near-impossible task. A few websites exist that catalog vegan wines, but producers aren’t required to disclose the ingredients used in the fining process, and most winemakers don’t.

The Co-op says it will have eight vegan wines next month, and expects 100 by the end of the year.

“Now a new generation of animal-free agents made from peas and even potatoes are finding popularity, and favoured by the Co-op along with other vegan-friendly options including carbon and clay-based agents,” notes the Guardian.

While pints won’t likely ever go out of style, it seems the Brits are beginning to develop a taste for grapes, too. “We are anticipating vegan wines to pick up momentum throughout 2018,” Simon Cairns, category trading manager for Co-op wines, said, “so our range will be expanding throughout the year and we will continue to challenge suppliers to make wines vegan where they can without affecting the attributes of the liquid.”

Find Jill on Twitter and Instagram

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Billionaire Richard Branson’s energy drink ‘Pussy Natural Energy’ has received hundreds of complaints in the UK. I wonder why.

According to FoodNavigator.com, the UK’s Advertising Standards Agency has sided with consumers in four of six issues filed against Branson’s Pussy Natural Energy including complaints about posters and marketing on the website of the product.

Marketers—particularly in the energy, soft drink and alcohol categories—have always used sex to sell products. Some efforts have been way more blatant than others, but the use of the word “pussy” in a product name takes things to a whole new…bubble.

Complaints have alleged that the ads are offensive because of the overt sexual implications. According to Food Navigator, the complaints against Pussy Natural Energy also include: derogatory, sexist and degrading to women; offending religious beliefs (poster near a church); unsuitable to be viewed by children.

“P-U-S-S-Y” is spelled out in large bold text in advertisements all across the UK with subtext reading: “The drink’s pure, it’s your mind that’s the problem.”  In some cases, the ads claim to be seeking distribution, stating: “Our goal is global pussyfication, and we aim to bring Pussy within everyone’s reach.”

The brand claims it’s done nothing offensive because the Oxford English Dictionary defines “pussy” as a feline animal. So, apparently, they’re not just huge jerks, they’re sarcastic pricks, too.

There’s no question, the gimmick is both an achievement and a huge failure, much like energy drinks themselves. The truth is, we all know it’s easy to find ways to boost your energy safely and naturally. Yet we allow ourselves to be seduced by sleek cans and clever marketing campaigns, despite the deaths and illnesses connected with caffeinated energy products. We’re even willing to suspend our disbelief for a moment and imagine a world of “global pussyfication.”

I suppose there’s nothing wrong with a little bit of fantasy, or carbonation, for that matter. Maybe the real question is whether or not we’re being preyed upon by products like Pussy Natural Energy or we’re invoking them into being in the first place. As consumers, do we really even know what we want? Does it come in a can?

What’s difficult about situations like this is on one hand, there are a few things to applaud: an idea like this, no matter how heinous, is still pretty darn creative. Our world needs as much genuine creativity as we can produce. And, it’s bold; knowing there would be a huge backlash, the company was willing to do it anyway. We need more of that type of fearlessness towards life as well.

But on the other hand, where is the line, exactly?

Is it in being comfortable knowing that no matter how playful or sarcastic the gimmick intended to be, that it will inevitably offend a lot of people, and doing it anyway?

Is it knowing that women and men battle with their sexuality, their gender roles and just how difficult it is to reconcile those struggles, but adding to the objectification of women anyway?

Is it in knowing that yet another highly caffeinated, sugary energy drink on the market will inevitably wind up in the hands of reckless teenagers, potentially hurting or even killing them, and doing it anyway?

Or, perhaps, is it lacking the ability to treat people as more than just gullible dollar signs despite knowing (even if only deep down inside) that we’re capable of doing a whole lot of voting with those dollars, and attempting to take our money under ridiculous pretenses anyway?

Keep in touch with Jill on Twitter @jillettinger

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Most of the world’s elite design schools like Parsons School of Design and Central Saint Martins College, need no introduction. Year after year, they educate and support a huge number of students who go on to become pioneers of the fashion industry. Recently, a university in the United Kingdom has made its mark by announcing it will be offering a different kind of fashion degree, with a focus firmly on eco and ethical considerations.

With so much consumer attention on sustainable and ethical design, it is encouraging to see study programs supporting such an important shift in the industry and mentoring the next generation of the world’s top designers.

Buckinghamshire New University has announced an undergraduate BA (Hons) Fashion Degree, commencing in September this year, which will focus on helping students study the way garments and materials are produced for fashion purposes and gain a better understanding of the associated environmental impacts. It is understood that live briefs and lectures will also form part of the teaching, to offer a more ‘realistic’ view of the fashion industry.

Course leader, Sian-Kate Mooney, herself a talented designer, is quoted in the official media release: “As part of the course we will be looking at alternative ways of the production of materials and clothing. These do exist and are being adopted slowly by all sectors of the industry, so it is important that graduates understand these issues and know about the alternative methods.

“I hope to provide the opportunity for students to study in an experimental and creative environment whilst understanding the importance of ethics and sustainability within fashion.”

Isabel Browton of famed eco friendly and ethical label People Tree, said of the announcement that it was important to not only understand the political and ethical side of fashion, but to have direct, practical experience in working with sustainable materials.

As well as providing the hands on experience, the course itself will also focus on how trend and forecasting works, visual communication, pattern making and manufacturing. At the end of the degree, students will develop a small collection and portfolio to launch them firmly into the front row of eco fashion.

Although this announcement is particularly significant as it is the first undergraduate degree in the UK to focus on sustainable fashion practice, it is certainly not the first attempt at integrating sustainability principles into tertiary curriculums. Other examples include the University of Delaware, which offers a graduate certificate in Socially Responsible and Sustainable Apparel Business and the London College of Fashion which actually set up a Centre for Sustainable Fashion, which aims to lead the way in fashion education.

Although the first tranche of students will not wander the halls until later in the year, the eco and ethical fashion industry will undoubtedly be intrigued and excited by who and what the course produces. All eyes will also be on other industry and educational institutions, to see how they may respond to supporting the next generation of socially responsible design.

Images: Buckingham New University

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An outsider can learn a great deal about British culture by examining the readership of its leading newspapers. Unlike the US, which has few national papers, the UK has a bevy: there’s The Guardian’s progressive coverage, The Times which sits right of centre, and the traditional and conservative Telegraph, to name just a few.

However, when it comes to the UK’s most widely read paper, Rupert Murdoch’s The Sun, the most distinguishing feature has less to do with politics and more to do with objectifying women.

It seems almost incomprehensible that for more than forty years, a publication that brands itself as a mainstream, family newspaper has gotten away with content that is more suited to Playboy than a Pulitzer. However, with their recurring feature of Page 3—which features a topless “glamour model” photographed in every issue—The Sun has managed to do just that.

Since it was created, Page 3 has been a cultural mainstay, not a seedy pleasure that’s viewed only in private. Nearly every Brit—whether they read The Sun or not—knows what a “Page 3” girl is and it’s not uncommon to sit next to man on the Tube who is openly ogling the page.

When writer and campaigner Lucy Anne Holmes picked up a copy of The Sun during London 2012 to catch up on the achievements of Team GB superstars Jessica Ennis and Victoria Pendelton, she was relieved when she saw no image of a topless woman on Page 3. However, when she reached page 13, she was greeted by “a huge picture of a woman in her knickers—an image bigger than any of the other sports stars.”

Holmes’ outrage, coupled with a lifetime of feeling bad about her body and disempowered as a woman, drove her to start the No More Page 3 campaign via a simple petition on Change.org—the first one she’d ever started. She now has 8 volunteers, over 88,000 petition signatures, nearly 14,000 Twitter followers, a bevy of support from women’s organizations and a letter to editor Dominic Mohan signed by dozens of members of parliament.

EcoSalon spoke with Holmes about why the campaign is important and where she got the courage to take on media and publishing’s most ruthless mogul.

Rosie Spinks: ‘No More Page 3’ is your first campaigning effort. Before you took on this activist role, did you consider yourself a feminist?

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Objects of Use features beautifully-crafted vintage-style tools and furniture. Like grandma’s but more chic.

In this technicolor age where every conceivable item in your house and garden, from cleaning to tech gadgets to tools, comes in screamingly loud shades and busy patterns – and often (although, thankfully and increasingly less so) made of plastic – a bit of aesthetic simplicity and craftsmanship solidity come as a soothing tonic.

Whether it’s old-fashioned kitchen scales using weights, 20 different types of brushes (including one for cleaning the radiator and another for the computer), a Japanese planting trowel or a mid-century-style chair, Oxford-based website Objects of Use offers high-quality, highly desirable artisan products. Many are gorgeous and some downright unusual, like a vintage-style French soap dispenser and (below) stoneware berry bowls.

The retailer’s gardening section would impress any green-thumbed friend (yes, Christmas is still months away, but bookmark this site). We heart this exquisite set of five Dutch hand tools, but you might prefer the various shears, sickles, hoes, picks and pruners. Ever heard of a dibber? That’s a pointed stick for making a hole in the ground.

As the name suggests, these are not pointless, purely decorative knick-knacks; each has a specific purpose in mind. All are made using low-impact production methods and locally-sourced, natural materials like wood, bone and jute. You won’t find any plastic here. The useful objects of Objects of Use are built to last, not to throw away.

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Every day is better with a new track. 

Te-nderness by ruinseast

Every day we bring you one track for a little musical inspiration. Have a track you want to submit? Email us at contact@ecosalon.com.

Image: ruinseast

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London’s greenest hotel has fabulous river views and cutting-edge energy-saving features.

In 2012, much international attention will be focused on London with the Olympic Games and all its attendant activities and events, including the cultural programme. If you want an eco-bed to lay your head on, the Rafayel may not be not central, but it won’t dent your wallet as dramatically as the hottest tickets to the athletics finals will.

Right on the south bank of the River Thames, this hotel offers a ringside seat for the historic 1,000-boat flotilla, which will go past as part of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee (60th anniversary) celebrations in June – one of London’s other major events of 2012.

Among the hotel’s eco-features are a no-plastic policy, LED lighting, efficient air-conditioning and ventilation, and rainwater harvesting and recycling. It’s estimated that its carbon footprint is 20% less than other hotels of similar size; guests can check out their own consumption, thanks to the energy monitoring system (can you manage an A grade?). You are also offered digital versions of newspapers, thereby cutting down on waste paper.

Most of the 65 guest rooms have floor-to-ceiling windows looking over the river in this modern steel, glass and timber building. Design is space-age contemporary, with some rooms offering jetlag recovery light treatment – handy if you’re fresh off a transatlantic flight and suffering. Wood is synthetic and leather recycled, while mini-bars have only organic and fair-trade goodies.

While views are premium, the hotel’s location is not ideal, so it helpfully provides a shuttle service to the closest underground station, which is well-connected with central London; if you’re more of a water-baby, then river taxis can speed you eastwards towards the Olympic action in Stratford.

In addition to the Spa, which offers Asian treatments; brasserie,  champagne bar, and a riverside roof terrace restaurant on the 17th floor; sweet hankerings will be satisfied by the bakery from New York’s “Princess of Patisserie” Michelle Husseri, with her colorful, creative cupcakes. There’s even a florist – everything you need to put together an impromptu birthday celebration should the need arise.

Rates from $169 including tax, fabulous river views and pre-Olympic and Jubilee buzz..

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Rapanui and the U.K.’s Met have partnered to call attention to the weather.

It’s raining, it’s pouring and the old man is snoring, and oftentimes so are we when it comes to being inspired by weather forecasts that are random in accuracy. Enter the U.K.’s Met Office, the international authority on climate change research, as well as national weather service, and brothers Mart and Rob Drake-Knight, the founders of Rapanui.

“At Rapanui we think that it’s not that people don’t care about climate and the environment, it’s just that they don’t know where to start when it comes to organic, ethical or low carbon alternatives,” says Mart Drake-Knight, co-founder of Rapanui “Our brand is about making eco fashion cool and accessible. We were delighted when we were invited to design these Met Office t-shirts.  I think as well as being a nod to the Met Office’s heritage and expertise, we managed to add a bit of ‘Britishness’ and humour to capture the spirit of ‘the weather’ as a subject.”

The collaboration was designed to bring new audiences to the Met Office who might have an appreciation for not only daily weather, but why severe weather and climate change happen. Climate change is defined by The Met as “The term climate change usually refers to man-made changes that have occurred since the early 1900s.”

Luke Green from the Met Office says: “Weather fascinates everybody and these t-shirts provide a fun way of reaching new audiences about the work the Met Office does. The collaboration with Rapanui to design and produce these t-shirts is hopefully the first step in developing new partnerships to promote our brand.”

The organic cotton t-shirts are £24.95.

Brands like Rapanui represent an ethical and sustainable shift from mainstream fashion and are not only made from natural organic fabrics, but in a  factory that depends upon the wind to power it.

You couldn’t ask for a more perfect collaboration.

The post Rapanui and The Met: A Fashionable Extended Weather Forecast appeared first on EcoSalon.

A major piece of the puzzle that has to happen in order for sustainable living to become mainstream is consumer awareness. And blogs like this are doing a fantastic job at raising our level of awareness and knowledge to make smarter purchasing and behavioral choices. However, another important component to this going mainstream, is government involvement – whether that be guidelines, legislation or the willingness to collaborate with corporations and non-profits.

When the government steps in and creates guidelines and standards for an industry – ones that are built with the help of the corporations who are leaders in that very industry – then that is where real change begins to happen. And it is important that we as consumers recognize this.

At the Ethical Sourcing Forum in NYC this past spring, I had the opportunity to witness such collaborative discussions taking place between government, corporations and NGOs. It was exciting to be a part of those conversations and to recognize that this really is the future of business. We can all learn a great deal from each other.

But when it comes to government involvement, there are only a few countries leading the way. The United Kingdom is by far the global leader in this regard. (A little side fact: according to Harold Tillman, Chair of the British Fashion Council, the U.K. fashion industry is the country’s second largest employer).

Most of us are familiar with the success stories of household U.K. brands Stella McCartney, Vivienne Westwood and Marks & Spencer. Lesser known however, is the U.K. government’s commitment to sustainable fashion, and to the creation of guidelines and standards that the rest of the world can learn from.

One example is the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) that produced the Green Claims in 2003. Widely used by U.K. apparel brands, retailers and manufacturers, it was created to help businesses make clear and accurate environmental claims, so as to not confuse or misinform consumers.

But more impressive is DEFRA’s Sustainable Clothing Action Plan, last updated in February 2010. The Plan is a collaborative effort between several organizations such as The British Fashion Council, MADE-BY, Oxfam, Ethical Fashion Forum, WRAP and Forum for the Future, just to name a few. Together this group identified five key areas for improvement within sustainable fashion that address consumer trends and behavior, media and education, market drivers and traceability along the supply chain.

And it doesn’t end there…

In case you are wondering, no I’m not English. But I am a huge fan of what they are doing. They seem to have it all figured out. Or at least more figured out than most.

The U.K. was also the first country to offer a Masters in Sustainable Fashion through the London College of Fashion. Many important industry events come out of the UK such as Fashion Fusion Expo, Esthetica and the RE: Fashion Awards to name a few. And most recently, the British Fashion Council is spearheading a campaign that will create tax incentives for fashion businesses to work in a more sustainable way, and striving to make eco fashion more affordable and accessible to consumers.

Other countries are much slower to adapt policies and standards, and some might even say that despite years of lobbying, their efforts fall on deaf ears. Canadian Jon Cloud of The Organic Cotton Company, has dedicated his life to organic production. He is fed up that the government refuses to deal with organic standards and that certification organizations, whose standards he feels are weak, are picking up the ball and running with it.

Cloud belonged to the now defunct organic cotton activist group COATS (Canadian Organic Apparel & Textile Standards) who together formed a set of organic standards a few years ago, which were then presented to the federal government. “More than 125,000 people have lost their job in the last five to six years in textiles” states Cloud. “Everything has moved offshore and we really need to pay attention to this. We need standards in Canada that lend integrity to the product in order to make it viable for regional trade”.

Despite Canada’s reluctance to take action on the organic standard, they, along with the U.S. and Japan have chosen to address the labeling of clothing that is being marketed as sustainable.

Canada’s Competition Bureau first announced its legislation of the mislabeling of rayon as bamboo in March 2009, and then later enforced it in August. Considering the large number of bamboo textile suppliers and retailers in Canada, the government worked in partnership with the Retail Council of Canada and the Canadian Apparel Federation to facilitate the compliance process.

On the heels of Canada’s legislation, the United States stepped up enforcement when the Federal Trade Commission laid charges on four bamboo clothing businesses in 2009 who were making false marketing claims that their product was environmentally friendly. And earlier this year the FTC sent warning letters to Wal-Mart, Target and Kmart on the same topic.

Over to Asia, the Japanese government has recently issued a series of guidelines for the labeling of organic cotton products, out of a response to the growing concern over inconsistencies that lead to misunderstandings and confusion over the production, distribution and consumption of organic cotton products. Labels must now comply with the Household Goods Quality Labeling Act and should indicate the percentage of organic cotton content of the product as a whole if the product is labeled as organic cotton.

As consumers, we rely on our government to help us distinguish right from wrong. The good from the bad. And now more than ever, we lack trust in corporations. We are increasingly becoming skeptical of loosely backed environmental claims. And while many fashion businesses are not being held accountable for their actions, or how they market their product to us, through continued awareness, government standards, and collaboration, this will change. And we can look to the U.K. as a benchmark for this change.

Image: UK in Italy

The post Is Your Government Doing Enough? appeared first on EcoSalon.

Ah, the teeth-gnashing angst of being single when it seems as if everyone around you is coupled up on Valentine’s Day. Considering how hard it can be to meet people with similar interests, it’s tempting to make a date with the couch, the remote and a pint of soy ice cream.

But singles in one British town will have a reason to get out and gab with their fellow bachelors and bachelorettes on Valentine’s Day – in nature, no less, planting trees in an underprivileged community.

A program called Trees for Cities is holding a tree-planting speed-dating charity event at Sunnybrow Park in Manchester, recruiting single volunteers to spend a Sunday wielding shovels and gardening as they plant 3,000 new trees and maybe even meet someone special in the process.

Not only will the speed-dating singles be providing a haven for wildlife and increasing biodiversity in the park, they’ll be adding to the health and vitality of city residents by providing a beautiful, relaxing green space.

Even if they don’t make a match, the day won’t be a total wash. Participants will be helping out the environment and a community in need. Isn’t that a greater gift than sweets and jewelry? Tree therapy for singles on V-Day – perhaps it will catch on.

Image: Alex Indigo

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