Say nuts to soap?
LONDON - Have you heard of soap nuts? The natural alternative to detergents? We decided to put them to the test.
Honestly, the last thing that comes to mind when you see the little brown pellets is soap. They grow on the branches of the tropical sapindus shrub. But, you’d be forgiven for thinking that they’ve been squeezed direct from the buttocks of jungle beasts.
Photo by: Asten
London underground inspiring fashionistas
LONDON - We’ve all seen the signs in buses and trains: don’t put your feet on the seats. If we told you that Londoner Rob Taylor encourages people to do exactly that, you’d be forgiven for thinking he was a public transport pest. In fact, he’s turning the seats into something fashion-conscious urbanites are willing to pay to put their feet on.
Photo by Alicia Nijdam
Get to know your supplier
Sign up for a dating site and you’ll have access to all sorts of personal details submitted by members. Sign up for clean energy from Windunie, a collective of Dutch wind turbine owners, and you’ll be presented with very similar information.
Photo by Urs Wachter
Say “boo” to cow gas
Ecological danger: burping (and farting) cows! Cows are responsible for 75% of methane emissions. In other words: three cows emit as much greenhouse gas as the average car.
Stephen Moore, professor at the University of Alberta (Canada), has investigated the genetics behind the production of gas in a cow’s four(!) stomachs. By selective cross breeding professor Moore has managed to develop a special kind of cow, which produces less methane than the average cow.
Photo by Ruth Ruwe
Dutch island is salty food paradise
AMSTERDAM - In one of those twists of agricultural history, barrels of cranberries washed up on the Dutch Wadden Island of Terschelling sometime around 1840. Legend has it that a beachcomber opened the barrels thinking he had found alcohol. Upset to find only soggy berries, he emptied the barrels in the dunes and moved on. The berries, native to North America, found their new environment to their liking and proceeded to flourish.
It took the islanders another 60 years or so to figure out what to do with the fruit, but since the early 20th century, they’ve gone cranberry crazy! Cranberry jam, tea, juices and – rather ironically – alcohol, have become big business.
Nazi courgette
LONDEN - Als er een duif in je tuin landt, raakt ie dan bekneld? Of zou een rietje dienst kunnen doen als tuinslang voor je balkongewassen? Als je je eigen groenten wil kweken, maar niet veel ruimte hebt, lees dan door. Ik stel voor om een soort hulpgroepje op te richten, gewoon, om de zaken openbaar te maken. We noemen het De Kleine Tuin Club. Ik begin wel: “Mijn naam is Paul en ik heb een kleine tuin. Ik zei TUIN”.
Design by James Reynolds
Supermarkets more eco-logical
AMSTERDAM - Large retail companies are increasingly taking sustainability into account next to making profit. For example, the world’s largest public corporation and US retail giant, Wal-Mart, has just decided to label all of its products with an ecological footprint index. That’s quite a feat considering that Wal-Mart has over a hundred thousand suppliers. Each one will be required to hand over information about water usage, air pollution, packaging, and other relevant factors in the production chain. Wal-Mart sells lots of very un eco-friendly products, but this step gives the consumer more eco knowledge about the products they buy. And you know what they say about knowledge being power…
Photo by JDMiller
Follow Strawberry Earth’s Swiss adventures on Twitter!
AMSTERDAM - Strawberry Earth is now on Twitter. Just click this link and follow our updates, including Strawberry Earth’s adventures in Switzerland. For one week from Thursday, 13 August we’ll be touring through the country famed for its mountains, chocolate and timeliness(!) bringing you updates on how eco friendly the Swiss are.
Photo by EastAsia
Superaardbeien
AMSTERDAM - Als een volleerd Roodkapje ga ik nooit van huis zonder een mandje bessen en wijn naar mijn grootmoeder te brengen. Maar nu weet ik dat geen bessen moet meebrengen, maar aardbeien! Verheugend nieuws komt deze week vanuit universitaire hoek. Ouderen die minimaal één keer per maand aardbeien eten, gaan cognitief minder snel achteruit dan leeftijdgenoten die dat niet doen. Strawberry Earth verbaast dit niets, maar geeft de voorkeur aan een biologisch bakje aardbeien. Minder waterig en zonder landbouwgif!
