Good Morning everyone, issue 4 of the Green Gazette as we seek out some eco entertainment and inspiration. I’ve found some good stories that I wanted to share today.

I consider myself a city person and as such have a huge aversion to camping, tents, outdoor plumbing and the like. Of course I realise camping is a huge pursuit for many and it’s great to see tent design becoming green. This article features a number of interesting designs that include solar powered lighting, in fact one model even stores solar juice that you can apply to wireless internet! Perhaps I could go camping in 2009? Is there a hotel room nearby for a hot shower? Indeed there is also a model that collects rain and dew for handy h2o to be used for cooking water later on. Outdoor enthusiasts were pioneers in earth awareness and it’s great to see tent design following that path too. Pictured to the right is a tent running entirely on solar energy after a day in the sunshine. You can even program what colour you’d like your tent to glow, I’m serious!

Emma Watson is another high profile actor lending her energy to a green cause. Apart from being a rising film star (Harry Potter series) she is now known in the UK as being an advocate of environmental causes. I remove cynicism when celebrities lend their ‘draw’ to green awareness as it most definitely creates the interest intended and that can never be a bad thing. Emma has acted as a creative consultant for a new line of eco-fashion with an emphasis on childen to develop People Tree. Not only does the collection use 100% organic and Fairtrade certified cotton, it is also made entirely by Fair Trade groups by hand, using hand weaving, hand knitting and hand embroidery to create livelihoods for some of the most disadvantaged people in India, Bangladesh and Nepal.

“I think young people like me are becoming increasingly aware of the humanitarian issues surrounding fast fashion and want to make good choices but there aren’t many options out there.” Emma Watson

I encourage you to read this story and watch the video that accompanies it on The Los Angeles Times website today. It’s fascinating insight into a issue we tend to ignore unless we live in a city such as Commerce, California. Commerce is a Los Angeles inner city suburb that is at the heart of rail and road networks that bring in over 40% of all imports to the United States. As a result the freeways and rail tracks that criss-cross the neighbourhood create a huge impact on the community. 50,000 trucks per day and hundreds of trains every 24 hours are damaging the air quality significantly in this quiet suburb. The heart of the story is not just the gloomy health statistics but the community activism that is now gaining momentum to improve the situation. As with most green issues we have to be active in small ways or large to create the improvements we seek. We may not live in Commerce (what an appropriate town name) but we are better informed if we understand the hurdles those who live there face daily.

Til next time….Tim