Natural Capital Issue FREE MAGAZINE You’re not Editor’s letter Contents In this special edition of Artefact magazine we are exploring ways to recali- 04 IN BRIEF brate contemporary life - learning from, mimicking and embracing nature; just sweetening reimagining London; up-cycling waste; celebrating craft and making; exploring 08 GREENING THE SCREEN the origins of festivals; investigating ways to shape the world by listening, Ria Sajit learning and taking action. This year we are exploring the theme of ʻNatural Capital’ - looking at how the natural world profoundly affects our lives, even 09 WHAT’S THE POINT OF PROTEST? your day… within the city. Josh Potter

The articles and images in the magazine demonstrate that connecting with nature Cover image 11 FILMING GREENPEACE and exploring the roots that sustain and explain our world, is an exciting op- Action against Whaling Brigitte Lardinois portunity to access an incredible source of information, inspiration and innova- Factory Ship. Greenpeace Your support activists protest at the tion. It reminds us too, that if we become strangers to our natural environment, 16 OF JACKS AND GREEN MEN we will be unprepared for the challenges of our future. stern of whaling fac- Simon Costin tory ship. (Greenpeace means our Nature like all creative organisations and individuals must continue to be Witness book page 48-49) 18 ETHICAL FASHION adaptive and disconcertingly ʻintelligentʼ. Becoming a ʻstudentʼ of the natural (Greenpeace Changing the Sophie Hadley world rather than a conqueror, or a coloniser, is an exciting (and essential) World page 11 similar communities professional and personal approach to adopt in city life. photo) © Greenpeace / 22 GREEN GIRL Rex Wyler. Thomas Hibbitts

24 OVERFISHING can invest Danielle Agtani

28 CAPE FAREWELL: HOW ART CAN in education BATTLE CLIMATE CHANGE David Buckland Contributors 32 ALTERNATIVES TO MEAT This special edition of Artefact was written, photographed, edited, Diana Tleuliyeva and produced by students, staff and friends of London College of Communication, University of the Arts London 34 WALKING AND THINKING Danielle Agtani, Chiara Astuti, David Buckland, Anna Cennamo, Simon Costin, Tony Max Houghton Credland, David Cross, Sophie Demay, Ana Escobar, Noel Douglas, Darryl Edwards, Neil Farrin/Corbis, Martina Giulianell, Sophie Hadley, Tara Hanrahan, Jake 38 CLIMATE ENGINEERING: CAN WE Haynes, Thomas Hibbitts, Simon Hinde, Max Houghton, Wanting Huang, Human After TECHNO-FIX OUR MISTAKES? All, Imthiar Khan, IMV/istock, Ken Kirton, Brigitte Lardinois, Erlend Linklater, Sebastian Moss Rachel Littlewood, Lisa Matzi, David McCandless, Sebastian Moss, Rachael Neale, Ed Oliver, Veronika Papadopoulou, L Pettet/istock, Josh Potter, Tzortzis Rallis, 42 THE LAST WHOLE EARTH CATALOG Ria Sajit, Max Schwerdtfeger, Sarah Temple, Oswin Tickler, Diana Tleuliyeva, Various Mirjam Warg, Sean Wyatt-Livesly, Evelyne Wyss. 43 UNDERGROUND FARMS Raul Keme, farmer and cane cutter for Design Danielle Agtani BSCFA sugar cane producers, Belize Oswin Tickler, Smallfury Designs 44 THE POWER OF REASON Publishing information Max Schwerdtfeger Published by the London College of Communication, London SE1 6SB 45 CHOOSING THE FUTURE David Cross Website: artefactmagazine.com Some sugar cane farming families in Belize struggle Facebook: artefactmagazine 46 REVIEWS to support their children’s education. The Belize Sugar Twitter: artefactlcc Cane Farmers Association co-operative used their Instagram: artefactmag 48 SEEN ON CAMPUS Fairtrade Premium* to fund student grants. Over the Feedback to: [email protected] 49 EVENTS last four years, 1,474 students have benefted. 50 LAST WORD Imthiar Khan choose products that change lives fairtrade.org.uk/fortnight

*The extra sum that farmers and workers receive to invest in business or community improvements Registered charity no. 1043886 Photographer: Simon Rawles

2 3 IN BRIEF

What has changed CLIMATE CHANGE? IT’S HAPPENING AND WE NEED YOU! since The Cove? Time is running out. Climate change is PARTICIPATION: All UAL students are You’ve probably heard about the 23,000 happening and without a serious glob- welcome and encouraged. dolphins killed in Taiji, Japan each al plan to shift away from our prof- year. You have probably heard this it-driven, fossil-fuelled economy, our DEADLINE: Friday 27 March 2015 through the media, and the likes of existence as a species is threatened Register and send your artwork to: change.org. In fact the number has this century. [email protected] drastically fallen, to around 835, since the 2009 release of The Cove, an The climate crisis is not just a undercover documentary that revealed threat, but also an opportunity to re- In conjunction with the Campaign the slaughter to the world. design the world’s approach to the is- Against Climate Change we also want sue - one that shifts the economy away you to bring your visuals and posters While it is important to celebrate from fossil fuel-based capitalism to to a demonstration in London on March that the number fell by around 21,000, one that is more democratic and resil- 7 2015. This is what the organisation the fact that dolphins are still being ient. One that we can all share. says to expect from the demo: killed is a disgrace. The Cove also revealed how dolphins, the epitome of 2015 is a crucial year for the cli- “Following on from the tremendous happiness and freedom, are are being mate. In December, governments will success of the People’s Climate March captured and placed in dolphinariums come together in Paris at the COP 21 in September 2014, the Time to Act on for the amusement of humans. UN Climate Summit, an international Climate Change march will bring peo- conference on climate. Its aim is to ple together again on the streets of Taiji is the largest supplier of dol- chart a new course for the climate and London on March 7 2015, to demand real phins to marine parks around the world climate change. We must make our voic- change. There is no mandate for cli- with each dolphin selling for up to es heard. We know that they will not mate-wrecking business as usual. This $150,000. The Cove, created by the act unless we make them, and we can no demonstration aims to raise the pro- Oceanic Preservation Society, follows longer accept the lack of any action file of climate change. It is also in- activists, filmmakers and divers as being taken. tended to energise and strengthen the they penetrate a cove in Taiji to re- climate movement – not an end-point veal its distressing and dark secret. CALLING ALL ART STUDENTS but a stepping stone, with planning We need your posters and memes relat- throughout 2015 towards the crucial The team used hidden microphones and ed to the climate change movement, to Paris COP21 summit.” cameras to uncover how Taiji commits bolster the campaign on the streets the largest slaughter of dolphins each and on the internet throughout the KEY DATES year. The Cove is not just a work of year. investigative journalism but an un- March 7th 2015 forgettable story which has inspired COP 21 is coming at a time where we See you in the streets in London with audiences worldwide to take action. are reaching a turning point in global your poster on the Time to Act on Cli- environmental politics. Many believe mate Change demonstration. Images of chaos and fear strike you that this is the last opportunity to (http://www.campaigncc.org/TimetoAct) within the first half an hour as you mobilise the climate movement and in- experience the capture of the dolphins spire a new environmental resistance September 2015 in this tiny cove in Taiji. You see across the world. Workshops at LCC to mass-produce the dolphins trapped in nets, trying to best posters. escape, and five humans restraining We want to make this debate bold, vis- a dolphin while it thrashes in fear. ible and expansive, within both our December 2015 You soon begin to realise that this is physical and digital spaces. Visual See you in the streets in Paris with only the tip of the iceberg. communication can be the first step your posters outside the Cop21 meeting to start this discussion, engage with (http://www.cop21paris.org) LONDON’S NATURAL BEAUTY The boats take the dolphins, which audiences, represent networks and sup- weren’t selected to be shipped abroad, port direct action for climate. Read more and receive updates at: Oc- Photographer Evelyne Wyss takes metic- by all the media and advertisements into a secret cove. They are slaugh- cupy Design UK - http://occupydesign. ulous close-ups of plants, flowers and that surround us” tered and sold for their meat. This is Occupy Design UK is launching the COP org.uk/ leaves to reveal, in her words, ʻsome- the footage the team wanted to get, to 21 Call for Graphics campaign, aiming thing inspiring, a surprise, something She argues that conventional ideas of prove what was being kept secret in to create and gather visuals in re- Words: Tony Credland I hadn’t realised, was there.’ natural beauty – a blood-orange sunset the whaling industry in Japan sponse to the issue of climate change ot a bouquet of roses – have lost much and support the climate movement. Evelyne is a first-year advertising of their impact through repetition. The Cove also explores whaling legis- Later in the year we will be inviting student at London College of Communi- Instead, she looks for beauty in the lation, the history of dolphin per- UAL students to join us in a workshop cation and her work questions conven- often neglected natural world of the formers as well as context to explain at LCC to mass develop and produce our tional ideas of beauty. city streets. how the issue in Taiji exists today. posters.

“If you think about beauty, like me, “We lose sight of what we truly think The struggle is still relevant in We intend to produce graphics that you’ll probably instantly think about is beautiful for ourselves. We miss 2015. While the film was a big step will be distributed to action groups, some fancy make-up, a bunch of mod- out on so much richness that our envi- towards stopping the killings, the activists, universities and workplac- els or maybe the famous saying 'beauty ronment could show us, if we only went slaughter still continues in Taiji. es. Join us in this initiative and comes from the inside'. Sometimes I through our day with a different lens develop ideas into a visual manifesta- forget at how much we get influenced on.” Words: Danielle Agtani tion for the environment.

4 5 IN BRIEF

“Junk Food” SMART GARDEN IN Berlin’s Zero-Waste YOUR KITCHEN Supermarket Eating or cooking food salvaged from And are any profits made in the pro- bins might not sound that appealing, cess? No profits are taken. All mon- If you live in a small flat, have you If you felt environmentally friendly but with an estimated 15 tonnes of ey that goes into the donation pot is ever dreamed of your own garden? using Whole Foods or Planet Organic as food thrown away in the UK each year, saved up to put back into the pro- your local supermarket, Berlin is tak- a network of cafes is aiming to change ject and to keep it alive. Ideas like Niwa, a food technology startup, makes ing the organic shopping business to opinion and put an end to food-waste this regularly start up with an ini- it possible – you can grow your own a new level. Aiming to open its doors in the process. Artefact spoke to the tial cash injection but burn out due produce through the use of an app from this summer, Original Unvertpackt, team behind Bristol’s Skipchen, in op- to their non-sustainable structure. the comfort of your home. translating to Original Unpacked, eration since October 2014. Skipchen is kept alive by the mutual won’t sell any pre-packaged products, respect of those who run it and those Co-founders Aga Nazaruk and Javier but instead customers will need to Tell us about the story behind Skip- who use it. Morillas have developed a high-tech bring their own bags, containers or chen. How did it come to exist, and plant container and software to help jars to package their food. what’s the ethos behind it? Bristol’s What’s the support been like from the people grow fresh and healthy food and Skipchen is part of The Real Junk Food local community? Positive. We’ve had make food production more sustainable. Original Unvertpackt was founded by Project, which is essentially a net- very few negative comments and aim to Sara Wolf and Milena Glimbovski, two work of food-waste cafés that operate maintain it this way. Aga says: “By transforming indoor German-based 'social impact innova- across the UK. Skipchen came to exist spaces, we could free up land used tors', who decided that drastic chang- in Bristol in late September when Sam Who’s your typical customer? Demo- for crops and cut down on food miles. es were needed straight away to the Joseph and Catie Jarman came down from graphically as diverse at it gets. There’s also the benefit of taking consumer world. Around 15 million the Leeds café and met Rob Weinstock We’ve had 16-year-olds helping out back control of what we put on our tonnes of packaging gets thrown away and Dylan Rakhra. Soon after open- during the day, people who have just forks, knowing what is being put into every year in Germany alone. InBrit- PALEO FITNESS ing, Rachel Haig joined. The ethos is come out of prison eating meals and our plants to make them grow.” ain, the figures are estimated at to reduce food waste, literally, and qualified maxillo-facial surgeons com- around 11 million tonnes. While the benefits of physical activi- 2. Think of fitness as the ability to by political campaigning and allowing ing in to chat and have something to Niwa uses hydroponic technology – a ty have long been recognised the mod- improve what you need to do day- people who may not be able to eat, to eat. Anybody can, and does, come into soil-less way to grow plants, where Gaining financial support from private ern environment tends to encourage us to-day as well as the ability to eat; the whole place runs on a ‘Pay- the restaurant and all are more than the plant is taking nutrients directly investors and crowd-funding proved to to pursue a lifestyle of inactivity. complete the extraordinary tasks As-You-Feel’ basis. welcome. from water. A microcontroller process- be a breeze. Wolf and Glimbovski were For many physical exertion is becoming that life sends our way. Are you es data from a collection of sensors able to reach their target fundinggoal increasingly optional, if not extinct. quick enough to sprint for a bus, So how does it work? Where do you Do you hope to see similar schemes and actuators to create the perfect of around $124,000 - around £83,000 - or would you just wait for the next source the food? All food is inter- around the country taking your ap- growing environment. in just three weeks. Half of the fi- Most exercise programmes focus on a one? Would you be able to climb to cepted before it goes to landfill, proach in the future? nances came solely from crowd-funding. few specialised areas, and are fairly a position of safety or just suc- either from skips, local shops, ware- Yep. There are already five cafés in The whole concept of Niwa is that it’s Original Unvertpackt wants to prove one-dimensional. For example, we may cumb to danger? houses etc. (even personal donations). the UK. Phoenix Café in Bristol is now easy to use: you plant the seed, tell that a waste-free future is possible, just focus on doing cardio, or resist- 3. Integrate movement into your day We assess its quality and serve it up serving food-waste under the Real Junk the app what you’re growing and the with the hope that the concept will ance work. These approaches have one even when not exercising by avoid- - lovingly cooked by our volunteers. Food Project. We have two cafes now, system loads a number of specific set- catch on internationally. fundamental flaw: they ignore our an- ing sedentary options. For exam- It’s important to remember, although and we hope to expand and eventually tings for this particular plant. It'll cestral heritage. We thrive on a broad ple, take the stairs rather than the cafe is a wonderful and vibrant put ourselves out of business by com- take everything into account - humidi- In the store, locally sourced food in- repertoire of activity and intensity the lift, carry the shopping back place, it’s a negative thing that it batting the issue of food waste. ty, temperature, light and watering. cluding a lot of fruit and vegetables, and are designed to be movement gen- home from the grocery store, take needs to be there. Food waste is too is beautifully displayed with no cling eralists, multi-skilled and multi-fac- regular breaks from the desk rather big an issue for people to ignore. Words: Ed Oliver From the app, you can track your wrap or unnecessary packaging, and eted rather than specialists in one than sitting down all day and walk plant's progress – status, living con- there are even beverage stations where or two areas and our training should as often as you can. ditions and time until harvest. customers can replenish their refilla- reflect this. This variety not only 4. Sleep more. Just a few nights of ble water bottles. increases our physical capability, but sleep deprivation can increase the As the plant grows, Niwa will ask you also reduces the likelihood of repet- levels of hormones that boost ap- questions about your plant in order The goals of Original Unvertpackt, are itive stress injury, provides inherent petite and reduces your ability to to adjust settings according to the not just to remodel the consumer world motivation and enjoyment. register the “full” signal. A lack plant’s needs. and the shopping experience, so that of sleep increases the stress hor- waste-free will become the norm. Our One solution is to get back to basics mone cortisol, increases the risk “You’ll be asked simple questions food and packaging waste are huge con- and reference the movement patterns of lifestyle diseases such as Type like, 'Can you see flowers?', if you tributors to landfill and greenhouse of our hunter-gatherer ancestors: they 2 diabetes, heart disease, high answer 'yes', Niwa will begin a new gases. Reducing, or even eliminat- were naturally lean and strong based blood pressure and promotes the growth setting, changing the water, ing packaging will in turn cut carbon on the activities they had to do dai- storage of fat - especially around light and ventilation cycles as well emissions. ly. Paleo Fitness is a model used to the middle. Aim for a minimum of as light conditions, ensuring your tune into how our bodies evolved and 8-9 hours quality sleep, daily. plants get the right conditions to Original Unvertpackt isn’t only wor- get us to move as nature intended. 5. Be mindful. How often have you grow at their very best,” says Aga. ried about packaging waste but also exercised aimlessly and mindless- organic waste - the food that we buy 5 TIPS TO GET PALEO FIT ly doing an exercise without pay- Niwa comes in three sizes, starting and throw away uneaten (12 million 1. Get Paleo Fit by exercising out- ing attention to what, how or why from $279 (£184). One tray fits up to tommes in Britain alone). The aim doors all year round. In the you are doing it? Instead focus six plants. is that customers will buy only the spring/summer, you will get your on the experi-ence of the moment, amount of food that they need, rather dosage of Vitamin D, which has a ensure a mind-body connection with Currently the Niwa team is working on than being forced to purcahse over- role in bone, heart, brain, immune everything you do. their second product that will use LED sized packages of food that end up system health and cancer preven- lights. going out of date before being eaten. tion. In the colder weather you Darryl Edwards is a movement therapist burn up to 12% more calories and up who specializes in fitness and diet Words: Diana Tleuliyeva Words: Danielle Agtani to 32% more fat! focused on the paleo lifestyle.

6 7 Words: Ria Sajit Words: Josh Potter

Image: Mr OH Image: Mr OH

Greening What’s the point the screen of protest?

How technology is helping Is political activism just a film makers to cut their waste of time? carbon footprint

When I was in secondary school, polystyrene” zone on set, addi- Around this time of year, uni- the universities and organiza- one thing I remember learning tionally opting for low energy versities all across the world tions that scatter throughout about in Geography was our car- lights and recyclable plastic will find creative ways to raise London. Are we too self-indulged bon footprint. We would sit down bottles. Wright also managed to awareness for the atrocities that that we don’t see that this isn’t together and tick off what daily cut down on the use of paper by are occurring to this planet be- working (if it, indeed, isn’t activities we practice on a day 75%, instead opting for scripts cause of our neglect. Businesses working)? Are we too lazy to par- to day basis. Although I don’t and call sheets to be sent via will take time to focus on ‘going take in self-reflection and ask remember my footprint from back email and accessed through phones green’; Organizations will cam- ourselves if what we are doing then, I decided to head over to and tablets. paign to press the governments even makes a difference? Perhaps the WWF website and find out my around the world to fight harder we simply enjoy it too much. new 2015 carbon footprint. And One thing was consistently reit- to stop global warming; More peo- I’ll tell you what… it’s not erated during the panel; film- ple will recycle. The Solidarity Movement in Po- good. If everyone lived their makers must take it upon them- land to free it from communist life the way I did, we would need selves to influence change. Last Then slowly we turn our gaze to- rule lasted approximately eight 2.35 planets. We only have one. year, the UK saw a 44.5% recy- wards other things; the raise we years. The freedom of South Afri- cling rate, aiming to reach 50% need at work if we want to take ca from apartheid took, depending I attended BAFTA’s Greening the by 2020. A member of the audience that trip to Madrid this sum- on who you ask, up to 50 years. Screen, an expert panel featuring asked why television shows like mer; the sales going on now at TK The women’s rights movement has film industry professionals who EastEnders don’t take the initi- Maxx; and Valentine’s Day, the beenfighting for equality for shared the ways in which they’ve ative to show characters recy- day we buy chocolates that were over one hundred years. In 1833, attempted to reduce their carbon cling, something that we try to picked by slaves and teddy bears slavery was made illegal in the footprint on-set. In collabora- do on a daily basis. Tim Scoones, that were created in sweatshops. British Empire. Yet slavery still tion with the British Film In- executive producer of Winterwatch Green week, it seems, has little exists in abundance through hu- stitute, the panel was led by pointed out that filmmakers must lasting impact on our lives. the wealth in countries such as is not exhaustive. There are many man-trafficking; it remains one BAFTA-winning actor, comic and be very subtle in their demon- Britain and the USA. According protest movements that occur in of the largest, most profitable impressionist Alistair McGowan, stration of ecological habits, ** to the World Bank, approximately London and around Britain. Occupy criminal industries in the world. also an ambassador for WWF. instead of scaring people away 17% of the USA and 8% of Britain London, being one of the larg- There is much work to do and with obvious messages that people So perhaps the question that re- lives in poverty. Though these est, campaigns for various issues there is no way of telling clear- ** tend to detract from. mains is this: does any of this numbers have dropped slightly in in various ways several times a ly how long that work will take. stuff actually make a difference? the last three decades, the Pov- week. Despite this, the statis- First on the podium was Paul ** erty Gap Index (PGI), which shows tics remain as they are. Rainfor- ** Williams, who worked on Spring- On February 15t 2003, over a the intensity of the gap between ests continue to be ripped up, watch and BBC 2’s Wonders of It’s a great start when big- million protesters crowded the the rich and poor, has risen. over-fishing destroys the ocean’s Retired Archbishop Desmond Tutu the Monsoon, a documentary that budget films like The Amazing streets of London. They also The USA is at a massive 38.3%, ecosystem, and the rubbish dumps of South Africa while writ- stretched from the Himalayas to Spider-Man 2 are hailed for their gathered in the hunderd of thou- 5th from the top of 142 countries get bigger and bigger. There are ing about Apartheid said that, down under in Australia. As one green initiative, being awarded sands in Glasgow, Belfast, and in surveyed, and Britain has land- many issues to choose from, these ‘Apartheid, firmly entrenched for can imagine, there is a fair bit the Green Seal by the Environmen- over 50 other cities around the ed at 35th from the top, with a are just a few. a long half century and carried of travelling required in filming tal Media Association. According world. The reason: they didn’t PGI of 24.78%. These figures were out with ruthless efficiency, was documentaries located in multi- to The Hollywood Reporter, the want to go to war with Iraq. The taken in 2010. The flipside of activism, of too strong [to simply go away]. ple locations across the globe. Spider-Man team made great ef- voice of the masses was loud, and course, is apathy but this is It was going to take a long time The film industry “is generally forts in sustainability by donat- it was powerful. It was a global ** not a viable option. William for the pernicious effects of the worst culprit when it comes around 10 litres of petrol a the rafflesia flower, using six ing 49.7 tonnes of materials for protest to stop the war from oc- Wilberforce, a man crucial to the [its] egregiousness to be eradi- to carbon emissions” Williams day. When Williams and his crew LED light panels that cost just future production use, nailed a curring. One month later, the UK, What does this imply? Well for abolition of slavery in Britain, cated.’ Many of the issues fac- explains, before admitting that were filming on Borneo’s Mount £50 each. 52% diversion rate from landfills the USA, Australia, and Poland one it means it is getting harder said ‘you may choose to look the ing humanity today are similarly they were producing 28 tonnes of Kinabalu, the highest peak in and saved a total of 193,000 dis- all invaded Iraq. and harder for the poor to escape other way, but you can never say entrenched. Our reliance on oil carbon in one day’s shoot. South-East Asia, they wanted to Head of production management posable recyclable bottles. Noah poverty in supposedly developed again that you did not know.’ Ap- and plastics is decades old. Our avoid exactly that – excessive at the National Film and Televi- starring Anthony Hopkins, Rus- You couldn’t deny the strength of countries. More generally, it athy never changes the path that culture of economic and financial A photograph on the slider pic- fuel usage. Cleverly, the crew sion School (NTFS), Bex Hopkins, sell Crowe and Emma Watson also the voice telling the governments means more and more people are humanity is on; it simply pre- hierarchy is far older. Sim- tures Williams with dozens of utilised grid power, which is a explained that more students are contributed to sustainable film around the world that the people becoming disenchanted with their tends that path does not exist. ply acknowledging the struggles bags containing camera equip- far more carbon-friendly alter- getting proactive in environmen- production by selling 450,000lb didn’t want war. And yet war hap- governments, and fewer and fewer Activism is definitely needed to of the poor will do nothing. An ment.He goes on to explain the native to petrol. With the help tally-friendly practice on set, of metal used in production. This pened anyway. people seem to trust these gov- change certain things. The task entire mindset needs to change. baggage heavily contributed to of local mountain guides who were coming up with new and creative was all possible with the help ernments, including their police now is to figure out what works, This will take time. the CO2 emissions. In efforts to located at a lodge at the base ways to keep carbon emissions to CEO and co-founder of Earth An- Occupy Wall-street started in force and law-governing agencies, and fix it when it doesn’t. reduce an astronomical amount of of the mountain, they were able the minimum. “More students are gel, Emellie O’Brien, who saved 2011. It grew out of a desire, to act with integrity and maturi- We definitely need activism and travelling during Wonders of the to recharge their v-lock batter- aware about the environment and both Noah and The Amazing Spi- among other things, to shrink the ty. So yeah, something needs do- Thomas Frank of The Baffler wrote we desperately need people to Monsoon, Williams’ crew instead ies every morning through human take it in stride.” der-Man 2 $45,000 and $47,000 wealth gap between the rich and ing to better this planet. Some- an article on the Occupy Wall- fight for change in this world. recruited local cameramen in In- relay. Not using the generators respectively. the poor. It quickly grew into a thing needs doing to try and fix Street movement; supporting it, This article is simply a matter dia who understood the locations saved the crew 100 litres of pet- ** global movement that still cam- things. But is what we’re doing but recognizing the dangers of of self-reflection. A question, well and the Monsoon team were rol over the shoot. Greening the Screen opened my paigns constantly for many gov- that something that will make the many of the protesters who had if you would. Does what we are able to review the footage via Sustainability on set doesn’t eyes to the world of eco-friend- ernmental and social changes. It difference? Is this fixing the fallen ‘deeply, hopelessly in doing even work? Have we fallen Skype. Not only did this reduce There are plenty of gadgets on limit itself to documentaries. ly filmmaking, something I wasn’t is, arguably, the biggest protest things that need fixing? love with [the] protest’. He re- too much in love with ourselves the amount of carbon emissions the market for efficient and sus- The “scripted” half of the pan- even aware of prior to the panel. movement that the world has seen cited the words of the Slovenian for it to work? And are we but also saved them a hell of a tainable filming, many of them el welcomed various producers It was educational in encourag- for a very long time. At first glance, it doesn’t seem philosopher, Slavoj Žižek, who willing to make the changes nec- lot of money on travel. readily available at the click of to discuss ways in which they’ve ing budding filmmakers and exist- so. In Britain, there are over told the protesters camped out essary if we find out it isn’t the button – and super cheap – on attempted to reduce their carbon ing filmmakers in being a little And yet despite this, the econom- 1,800 NGOs registered with the in Zuccotti Park, ‘Don’t fall in working? Apathy is not the an- Filming in remote locations often eBay. This is exactly what Wil- footprint. Line production man- more creative with their projects ic gap between the rich and the Database of Archives of Non-Gov- love with yourselves.’ Perhaps swer. But perhaps neither is requires traditional portable liams’ crew utilised for a five- ager, Wendy Wright for British – and of course, a little more poor is only rising and the rich ernmental Organizations (DANGO), this is what we are doing here, what we do now. Is there not a generators, which tend to drain day time-lapse of the opening of hospital drama Casualty has a “no sustainable, too. still hold the vast majority of though they warn that this list in this magazine and throughout third way?

8 9 Words: Brigitte Lardinois

Images: Greenpeace / Various

Crew of the Greenpeace - Voyage Documentation (Vancouver to Amchitka: 1971). The crew of the Phyllis Cormack (also called "Greenpeace") on-board the ship. Clockwise from top left: Hunter, Moore, Cummings,

Metcalfe, Birmingham, Cormack, Darnell, Simmons, Bohlen, Thurston, Fineberg. This is a photographic record by Robert Keziere of the very first Greenpeace voyage, which departed Vancouver on the 15th Sep-

tember 1971. The aim of the trip was to halt nuclear tests in Amchitka Island by sailing into the restricted area. Crew on-board the ship, are the pioneers of the green movement who formed the original

group that became Greenpeace. © Greenpeace / Robert Keziere. FILMING GREENPEACE Filmmaker Jerry Rothwell discusses his forthcoming documentary on the early days of the pioneering Plastic Ocean, Wanting Huang, 2014. environmental movement

10 11 How To Change The World is a feature docu- this 16mm film which is much more difficult to mentary directed by Jerry Rothwell, about the categorise into a digital system. But Green- founders of Greenpeace, an eclectic group of peace employed a film archivist, Lloyd Davies, mystics and mechanics who sailed a boat to stop to view and database that footage there was US nuclear tests in Alaska in 1971, and end- and that list became available just around the ed up defining the modern environmental move- time I first went there. The remainder of the ment. The film (a Sundance 2015 prozewinner) historical footage used in the film was found opens the World Documentary programme at Sun- via the conventional archive research route: dance Film Festival in Janauary and will be going to international archives and to the realeased in the UK in the summer. A screening personal collections of the different individ- with a Q&A with Jerry Rothwell is planned at uals involved. In the end the film shows foot- LCC to coincide with the release of the film. age from nearly 20 different archives, from the US Department of Energy archive showing Jerry, what made you want to make this film? the nuclear bomb tests, to news footage fea- I was doing some work that took me into the turing for instance Walter Cronkite, to John Greenpeace archives in Amsterdam and realised Craven’s Newsround! that there was a lot of film material shot by Greenpeace in the 1970s, some of which had What was the biggest challenge getting it all been used in campaigning films at the time, but together? In a project where 70% of the film which had been sitting unseen in these cans for is made up of archive, the toolkit for the over forty years. During the 70s Greenpeace storytelling is determined by the quality of had film crews with them on their anti whaling your search for material. Like other areas of and anti-seal cull campaigns and that was the filmmaking it comes down to dogged persistence starting point for me: what is in those cans? and attention to detail. Our biggest challenge “Images spread like wildfire and imprint themselves on people's minds changing the way they think about the world”

That got me to start reading Bob Hunter’s pub- was that we wanted to go back to rushes and lished books about the early years of Green- to first generation negative, so that we could peace. Bob was Greenpeace’s first president of make our own digital scans, rather than rely Greenpeace, one of the founders and really the on clipped video transfers or compressed en- person who defined the organisation’s direc- codes. We wanted to scan the material at 2k tion and character. resolution (so a bit higher than HD) which is about the equivalent of the grain resolution It was Hunter who recognised the power of the of the original 16mm. Doing that gives much media in campaigning: he really understood how more latitude in the edit (freedom to frame to use images at a time when mass media was differently, quality of image, not being con- emerging. He came up with the concept of the strained by the cutting styles of the period ‘mind bomb’ - seeking out these images that etc). But it is a massive technical challenge will spread like wildfire and imprint them- finding original sources, screening that ma- selves on people’s minds, changing the way terial, and retrieving negs. Much of it has they think about the world. His writing is never been digitized and a lot of it has been very funny and intimate and I was fascinated disposed of by archives. by him and his role as both commentator and participant. I was interested in his struggle As a generation of older archivists retire, to hold the group together, to answer the ques- archives lose their knowledge of analog film. tion ‘how do you deal with power’ as the group You rely on the collaboration of particular became successful. enthusiasts who are willing to go beyond the database and the video encodes to rifle through The early Greenpeace was a classic case of the pile of 16mm cans in the corner. Ultimate- a collectively organised group with all that ly, everything in the film except for 2 shots that entails: the arguments and interpersonal in the film has been scanned at 2k and as far conflicts that ensue from trying to find the as possible we have gone back to original neg- right structure for the organization. As I ative or reversal. have quite a bit of experience working with those sort of groups I was really interested The other challenge was working with such a big in that aspect too, against the backdrop of group of people (who don’t necessarily agree the images of these really daring actions of with each other about the history) and cover- people on tiny boats confronting huge Soviet ing such a long period of history. The film whaling ships. spans 8 years of their working together. So it needed to be more than just the story of the Where did you find the archive footage and what campaigns to hold the film together, these in- was the challenge editing it? 70% of the film terpersonal stories had to be part of the film. is made up of archive footage. Half of that is from the Greenpeace archive itself. In around The solution to that story problem was to use 2006 that archive was centralised in Amster- Hunter’s writing about Greenpeace as a narra- Bob Hunter in front of Phyllis Cormack. Greenpeace activist Bob (Robert) Hunter in front of Phyllis Cormack, North Pacific Ocean. First Greenpeace anti whaling campaign. dam. There was a lot of video material but also tive voice in the film: seeing these events (Greenpeace 30th Anniversary Images photo 4). © Greenpeace / Rex Weyler

12 13 Soviet Whaling Action in North Pacific. Greenpeace zodiac next to a caught whale, maneuvers itself between two Russian whaling ships. Rex Weyler in North Pacific. Rex Weyler on the Phyllis Cormack during

First Greenpeace anti whaling campaign. © Greenpeace / Rex Weyler. the 1975 whale campaign.

from his perspective, showing how he tried to Do you see yourself as an environmental activ- keep the group together, and his particular ist? No - in the sense that I’m not very active vision of the future of the organisation. One as a campaigner! But making the film did make thing everyone involved agreed on was how im- me think much more deeply about environmental portant Bob Hunter was, how they all loved issues. How To Chang the World is not a cam- him. He died in 2005 so though he is absent in paigning film but it deals with the issues ex- the film, it his voice is at the heart of it. ploring what happens when we come together in groups – and in a sense this is applicable to The film is not always totally positive about all groups. The dynamics of trying the effect Greenpeace, how have the people in Greenpeace change together with others are explored in reacted to the first screenings? Greenpeace the context of this specific, amazing, piece has a contested history and that is part of the of history. I was left with a strong sense of Jerry Rothwell is a documentary filmmaker. How To Change The World is his fifth feature; theme of the film; it is a richer film because their courage …they really were extraordinary past films include the award-winning Donor Unknown (donorunknown.com) about a sperm donor of dialogue about what its achievements dur- brave. and his many offspring, Town of Runners (townofrunners.com) about two girls from an Ethi- ing that period represent. We explore what the opian village who want to become athletes, Heavy Load (jerryrothwell.com/films/features/ founders did and what happened to them. What strikes me is how their idealism collides heavy_load), about a group of people with learning disabilities who form a punk band, and with the practicalities of running a big or- Deep Water (co-directed with Louise Osmond), about Donald Crowhurst’s ill-fated voyage in Greenpeace were very generous about their use ganisation – you already indicated that as you the 1968 round the world yacht race. of their archive. They allowed us to explore have experience with such groups that maybe the material without requiring editorial con- that was what attracted you to this story so ONLINE RESOURCES trol. They understood that if you make a film much… I guess, having spent quite a bit of time www.greenpeace.org.uk that has a certain scale and reach, it would working in collectively organized groups, I howtochangetheworldmovie.com be impossible to finance if they had editorial have antennae around this sort of thing. It is facebook.com/howtochangetheworldfilm control. I think in the end the film will in- what I picked up on and of course other people @howtochangefilm spire people about what the founders achieved. would have told the story in a different way. Greenpeace and you: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oN6H0118pNk)

14 15 Words: Simon Costin

Image: Neil Farrin / Robert harding World imagery / Corbis

The Green Man and Jack in the Green are often through London on May Day, wearing elaborate mentioned in the same breath and sometimes headdresses covered in flowers and piled with confused. Yet the differences are easily ex- silver plate, begging for money. As the years plained. The Green Man or ‘foliate head’ is a went on the headdresses became more elaborate static carving, usually in wood or stone and and guilds and trades began to join in, none often but not always, found in early church- more so than the chimney sweeps, who were in es and depicts a face surrounded by leaves need of money during the summer. They would or with foliage sprouting from the nose and try to outdo each other with their garlands, mouth. There are also several Green Women and which eventually covered the entire body. The Green Beasts. Jack in the Green was born. A. R. Bennett wrote of his childhood in south London in the Jack-in-the-Green on the other hand, is an 1860’s, describing the custom thus: embodiment of summer, a man clad in a coni- cal construction covered with foliage and a “A lusty sweep – for strength and endurance processional character in May Day festivals. were necessary for the due performance of the He is seen these days in a few towns but was part – covered himself down to the boots with a familiar figure in the 18th century. a circular frame of bee-hive contour, car- ried on the shoulders and terminating in a In March 1939, Lady Raglan had an article dome or pinnacle above his head. This frame published in the Folklore journal. She de- was entirely concealed by green boughs and scribed seeing a series of early church carv- flowers... A small window gave egress to his ings in St. Jerome’s Church in the village of gaze, but was not very obvious from without Llangwn in Monmouthshire, Wales. she said: and one seldom caught a glimpse of the per- “This figure I am convinced, is ... taken spiring countenance within. Women and girls, from real life, and the question is wheth- one to each corner, and two or three men and er there was any figure in real life from youths, sometimes with sooty faces, mouth-or- which it could have been taken. The answer, I gans and tambourines, formed his escort, the think, is that there is but one of sufficient females being in short dresses, white stock- importance, the figure variously known as the ings and gaudy shoes, like sorry May Queens. OF Green Man, Jack-in-the-Green, Robin Hood, the The verdure-clad (green) sweep pranced, King of May and the Garland King, who is the twirled, jumped and capered to the music central figure in the May Day celebrations while the others danced around.” throughout Northern and Central Europe.” This is unlikely, due to the fact that folklore Partly due to the increasingly rowdy nature figures such as Jack-in-the-Green, Robin Hood of the event, as the 1800s progressed, news- JACKS and the Garland King are much later than many paper reports become more and more disparag- of the 12th century Green Man carvings. Her ing and by 1888, the South Bucks Free Press article, however, was influential and the observed, ‘an occasional ‘Jack-in-the-Green’ name ‘Green Man’ was taken up generally and with his tawdry attendants, parades the AND used by Sir Nikolaus Pevsner in his Buildings streets of provincial towns and villages and of England series, and thus the name spread. strives to tap the vein of copper that lies deep in the pockets of the benevolent, but he The foliate head image appears not only in is a relic of old times stranded on a shore the UK but also throughout Europe and there where he attracts little attention and less are representations in Borneo, Nepal, Iraq, sympathy’. By the turn of the next century he GREEN India and in 11th century churches in Jeru- had all but disappeared from our streets. salem. Given that so many appear in early Christian churches, he must have been a fa- When he did start to reappear it was as a miliar symbol to the stone-carvers and cler- knowing recreation of a forgotten custom but gy of the times. Rabanus Maurus, an influ- as time has moved on, he has developed a ential 8th Century theologian, thought that new relevance for the communities who parade MEN vegetation and the Green Man represented the him on May Day. Currently there are reviv- The origins of a folk sins of the flesh. Others thought the leaves als in Oxford, Brentham, Guildford, Whitsta- tradition explained issuing from the face represented the breath ble, Deptford, Hastings, Rochester, Bristol, of the Holy Spirit. Contemporary research- Ilfracombe, Highworth and Tunbridge Wells, as ers have suggested that the symbol could have well as a handful of very recent sightings been brought to Europe from Asia Minor by elsewhere. It is a good example of a folk traveling stone-carvers. In their 1990 book, tradition that has undergone change and muta- Green Man. The Archetype of our Oneness with tion and become something relevant and vital the Earth, William Anderson and Clive Hicks for the local community. imagine the Green Man to be a reoccurring archetype, ‘the perennial symbol of our unity What is most curious to hear is the huge with the natural world’. They see him as a amount of misinformation spread about, as to heroic figure, rising from the collective un- the origins and meaning of the Jack. I’ve conscious, along with the Goddess Gaia, when been told that he represents an ancient pagan the world is threatened by ecological danger. Tree God, a nature spirit and that he comes It is this theme, which has been taken up from a strictly rural tradition, honoring the by so many people currently and has touched start of summer with dance and song. Jack in their imaginations. the Green was an urban custom, which de- veloped because people tried to surpass the In 1983, Keith Leech, a Hastings town lo- garlands of others and therefore hopefully cal, gathered reports of how the Jack in the solicit more money from onlookers. To add to Green had been celebrated in the town on May the confusion, he is now also linked to the Day back in the 1800s. A well-known photo- Green Man, with a Green Man face appearing graph shows the Jack in Hastings, surrounded on the Hastings Jack for instance. Both the by his attendants. Taking the outline of the carvings and Jack himself have been adopted Cost looks about procession records, he reinvented this almost by many Pagan and New Age groups, as rep- three hundred year old May Day festival. It resenting one and the same thing. They are is by no means the oldest revival: that badge obviously potent figures which people in £150 from Corbis probably goes to the Knutsford Jack which the 21st century seem eager to appropriate dates from 1890. By the mid 17th century, for whatever ‘green’ festival, or ecological reports begin to appear of milkmaids parading cause that may need a figurehead.

16 17 Words: Sophie Hadley

Images: Bottletop and Traid

“Stopping wearable clothes from being thrown away has extraordinary social and environmental benefits”

Roger Saul, founder of Mulberry) the unique How much was the notion of self-efficiency find. Together they realised the potential of and sustainability a contributing factor when creating a range of similar bags with a simi- you originally started Bottletop? Bottletop lar aesthetic to the Mulberry designs, and so began with a bag made from recycled tops in Bottletop was formed. The Bottletop handbags East Africa and it was the fact that the bag rapidly became immensely popular as one of was made from post-consumer waste that gave the best-selling accessories of the season. the design soul and real character. Sustaina- As a result Bottletop is able to provide em- bility was very much a core value and central ployment opportunities to local Africans and tenet of our mission from the start and has ETHICAL FASHION support for education projects for the young- then evolved as we have grown. The clothes industry has a reputation for selfishness, waste and er generation. cruelty. But some companies are working for a fairer future. Are they any examples of charitable ideas A couple of years down the road, Saul’s from other organisations that inspired your co-director Oliver Wayman also made a big approach to setting up Bottletop’s ethical discovery. His mum showed him a bag that she standing? We had to create our own model. found shopping which originated from Salva- When we started there were charities working dor, Brazil. Fascinated by the chained mail- to alleviate poverty and support education bag with its retro Paco-Rabanne look, Wayman programs and fashion brands making occasion- went on a search himself to find out more al gestures to support causes but no single about it, hopping on a plane to Salvador to brand bridging the two areas comprehensively learn the technique. and cohesively, using fashion as a vehicle to deliver change in this way. Since then, Bottletop Atelier, a workshop made up of local Brazilian artisans from the Where in Africa did you locate the bag that Itʼs still a challenge to see fashion as tion. They’re out to show the masses that Favelas, has been created. The workers re- inspired you to create Bottletop? How did green and ethical. Oxford Street, Europeʼs it’s not just about looking the part but car- ceive a fair wage and private health benefits this idea evolve in your head and what was capital for high-street fashion, is notorious ing about how the contents of your wardrobe while producing the sought after ‘Bellani’ it about the bag that struck you? The first as one of the highest hubs for carbon dioxide and jewellery box came to be. bag for Bottletop, amongst others. bag emerged in Uganda which my friend found pollution in the world. Companies like Nike, in Kampala. I immediately loved the raw de- GAP and Forever 21 have been found guilty One that stands out in terms of its dedica- Bottletop launched the The Bottletop Founda- sign, for its innovation and authenticity so of substandard working conditions in their tion to ethical fashion is Bottletop. Its tion in 2012, which raises awareness of drug we refined it with Mulberry and the journey factories. And important parts of the fashion founder Cameron Saul became inspired by a abuse, teen pregnancy and HIV/AIDs amongst began. We then began looking at Brazil as industry are still guilty of using fur and handcrafted handbag made from recycled bottle young people in developing countries and the my co-founder Oliver Wayman discovered a bag leather produced in conditions of cruelty. tops on a Restless Development project in Af- UK. I had a chat to Saul about Bottletop’s made from upcycled pull tabs and we loved the Despite all this, there are now more compa- rica. Saul took the handcrafted handbag back future designs, projects and the importance use of materials. We started a training pro- nies looking to clean up fashion’s reputa- to London to show his dad (who happens to be of eco-friendly fashion. gram in a favela community with Luciano Dos

18 19 Santos, a local entrepreneur who we met at Another company that deserves credit for its the time and subsequently joined our team. We contribution towards eco-friendly fashion have gone on to establish the Bottletop atel- and combating wastefulness is TRAID. Working ier there together. as charity TRAID uses clothing banks across London to stock their stores, produces publi- What is the next step for Bottletop de- cations, and is involved in sustainable edu- sign-wise? Do you plan to incorporate new re- cation and international development, with a cyclable elements into the production or want commitment to equal rights for factory work- to keep a sense of chic simplicity for the ers and education on the impact of clothing brands identity? We proudly continue our de- and our environment. I spoke to Leigh McAlea, sign partnerships with Narciso Rodriguez and Head of Communications, about their work and (RED) (a charity which aims to create an AIDS what they’ve got lined up for the future: free generation) and will be launching an new collaboration with DKNY for spring. Can you tell me about launching TRAID Educa- tion and the kinds of projects and activities The style and textures of the pieces are very you provide? TRAID Education launched in 2005 innovative on top of how the materials are as a volunteer led project run by the recy- sourced/created. Would you consider adding cling team. Initially, we worked with chil- clothing or alternative accessories to the dren and young people in schools to encourage brand? Yes, we have been experimenting with clothes reuse. some Bottletop couture knitwear for campaign shoots with Bertie Bertinez, which has been Today, we educate people to treat clothes extremely well received. We would consider more sustainably including making links be- moving in to ready-to-wear, interior design tween the clothes we buy and the impacts and jewellery in future. ton the people who make our clothes and the environment. TRAID Education delivers talks, What was the initial training like for the resources, lectures and workshops and to women now working in Bottletop Atelier? I date has run 1,500 activities reaching over understand a lot of them had previously been 110,000 children, young people and adults. poorly treated housemaids. Did many of them have prior experience in this kind of area TRAID’s photography collective has a really of practical work or were they purely just interesting selection of shots. Is this some- keen to learn? We were very impressed by the thing that you’re planning to continue for speed with which the team learned the skills the foreseeable future? We really loved this and added their own unique ideas. They quick- photography project, which saw fantastic pho- ly become extremely strong technically and tographers re-interpret second-hand clothes working in partnership with our design team in some really unexpected, strange and beau- in Paris, we devised a collaborative approach tiful ways. We constantly work with photogra- to design and production. phers and filmmakers to document our work, film projects and shoot TRAID second-hand and It must be a gratifying experience to know Traidremade. these workers have gone from being impover- ished to learning an entirely new trade with Have you been able to see the impact on the a fair wage. How has the space grown and local communities you’ve been involved with improved since its inception? Itʼs incredi- home and abroad when spreading the message bly exciting and rewarding to see the evolu- of sustainable fashion? In 2014, we complet- tion and progress. Our team there is now more ed a 6 month project with young people taking than thirty people strong and the quality of them on a journey behind the scenes of the craftsmanship is second to none. We have had fashion industry to find out how the clothes to take on more space, more equipment and it supply chain works, teaching practical skills has become a small factory. so they can design and make their own clothes ethically. The project culminated in an ex- You’ve said in the past that Bottletop is hibition in our Camden store. The impact was looking to make a difference in creative and incredible with all participants changing empowering ways. Is there anything you’re their behaviour to source more clothes sec- working on at the moment that continues to ond-hand, designing, making clothes and rais- break the mould? We are working on a new col- ing awareness of the social and environmental lection in partnership with the UN in Kenya, problems of garment manufacturing. which is extremely exciting and will add a contemporary touch to the collection. Stay Does having your hands in these various tuned! areas help fuel your passion for ethical, eco-friendly fashion? Yes. At TRAID, we see Candise Swanepoel is the face of the brand first-hand that stopping wearable clothes and has voiced how proud she has been to be from being thrown away has extraordinary en- involved in the process. Has she herself seen vironmental and social benefits. Our network how the bags are made? Candice has been a of clothes banks keeps clothes in circulation huge champion of our work and we are so proud for longer, our charity shops provide an al- of the progress we have made together. Spend- ternative to buying new reducing consumption, ing time showing her the atelier in Brazil and the money raised from this work funds and introducing her to the team was one of life changing projects to tackle exploitation our highlights from last year. and change working practices in the global textile supply chain. How far do you see ethical fashion evolving in years to come? Whether it be haute couture Are there any upcoming projects or ideas of or high-street. I think the evolution of con- the website that TRAID has in the works? We scious consumerism or the ʻSoulful Economyʼ are releasing lots of footage about TRAID’s (as our dear friend and supporter Donna Karan work via our website including an exciting and founder of Urban Zen calls it) will only collaborative film project with social jus- continue. We will continue to see more and tice campaigners and documentary makers the more brands embracing it in their own ways Rainbow Collective. It will empower people to across the spectrum - from the high street to explore their wardrobe, the reasons they buy the high end. We can no longer afford not to. clothes and how it makes them feel.

20 21 Words: Thomas Hibbits GREEN GIRL One woman explains how she changed her life to get rid of rubbish and waste

What are you about to do with that empty So how does she do it? Intrigued, and almost and bring your own containers/bags to carry packet of crisps? How about the bottle of overexcited, I asked her to talk me through your stuff in. water youʼve finished drinking? More than how I could become waste free, and ultimately likely youʼre about to just bin it without a lower my carbon footprint. When it comes to clothes, get them second second thought. This is just a normal reac- hand. You get them at a heavily discounted tion in current society with waste. She started by removing packaged products price, as well as getting some cool garments. from her life. She stopped shopping at stores Money save and looking good = WIN! As 2015 dawned, many of us made resolutions like Asda and Tesco and started using markets to recycle more, to take the wine bottles again. She would take her own bags their to As Emily passes me a jar of a coconut oil from the party they had at the weekend to the fill her shopping, rather than using plastic based citrus sugar scrub she made recently, bottle bank. How practical is it to walk into bags given at the checkout. This is a tran- she tells me that she eats better too. This Starbucks with your flask and ask them to put sition that is very easily done, and extreme- interests me, as Iʼm sure it does most people your morning coffee in it? We may have these ly adaptable. When it came to clothes she because we are constantly living in a socie- positive intentions but how good are we at stopped buying new and went to thrift, second ty that pressures us to eat well, yet so many sticking to them? Could we stick to them for hand or charity stores. of us are obese. Due to eating all unpack- say...three years? aged foods, she has become really limited to ** unhealthy options. Mostly organic, she claims Norfolk born and bred, self-proclaimed Green that markets do amazing unpackaged foods. Girl Emily Foldman, (“well my friends nick- This sounds pretty easy, don't you think? named me it because Iʼm always going on about Why donʼt more of us do this? Do you even Now, here is what it comes down too. If sav- how I want to change the world so much.”) think twice about taking a plastic bag for ing the planet one plastic package at a time claims that she hasnʼt produced waste in over one item? I know Iʼve been a victim to this doesnʼt interest you, and money saving bores three years. An active and proud supporter before...without feeling guilty. I solemnly you..then here is something for your soul... of Grenpeace, and an assistant manager for a swear, from this day on, to reuse bags I have local animal charity, Emily is clearly com- already... “Iʼm the happiest Iʼve ever been,” she tells mitted. And at 21 it seems she can teach her me with a smile on her face and I could feel elders a thing or two. The next step she told me was something my her sincerity. mother had introduced me to before so I was Not producing waste in over 1000 days seems quick to brag and let her know that I too I laugh when she tells me that before she impossible. How would you go shopping and not make my own beauty products. Itʼs easy to do, adopted this way of life, she wouldnʼt cook get food with packaging? Emily tells me that works out cheaper and I believe is genuinely properly, buy properly and would constantly it is possible, and quite easily done - and better. They work better, in my opinion (I order takeaway. Running to the local super- the benefits for yourself are amazing. say this as I stick two fingers to big corpo- market before it closed to grab something for rations who used to fill my skin with unneed- dinner at 11pm because she had forgotten to ** ed chemicals) eat. The reason I laugh is because it sounds so familiar, and Iʼm sure it does for a lot I was lucky enough to be invited to Emilyʼs Now what Emily told me next was something of young Londoners, and even old. countryside house and it was delightful. Her that I believe we all could learn from. Down- magnetic personality shone through, and you sizing. Selling old clothes or items that we ** could tell by the twinkle in her eye when her no longer use. Not only do we make a bit of two Collie dogs came bounding through she was money out of it for a couple of vodkas at the Her happiness has come through meeting simi- a women of nature. weekend, we are getting rid of useless junk lar, like-minded people and individuals, and that we have collected over the years and even a man in her life that shares her in- Working with charities has opened her eyes this happens. You would be amazed at what is terests. It isnʼt just taking our the trash to a side of the world a lot of us are blind at the back of your closet, and also occa- like you may think, itʼs a complete lifestyle too. She has been able to learn and adapt her sionally marginally freaked out. I thought I change that you must adapt to do. I feel like life to better the planet in what she calls looked the shit in those trousers... I will take many aspects of what Emily has ʻa few simple steps.ʼ told me to do. I already make a few of my own “Basically an effective way to not produce beauty products, so expanding on this would ʻHippy, treehugger, soap dodger, you name it waste is to just say NO! When you go to a be easy. Emily says a typical week in her Iʼve heard it.ʼ She told me when I asked her store and they offer you something like a re- life would be going to the market (or wher- if people understood her beliefs. ceipt, or when youʼre in a pub and they offer ever you desire) to get ingredients not only you a straw. Why do you need that?” She tells for food, but for cleaning and beauty. Looking around the shelves in the kitchen, I me and I somewhat agree with her (although a saw glass jar after jar of exciting delights. straw in my cocktail makes me look more of a After thanking Emily for the interview, and The kitchen oozed a feel of love and comfort badass, right?) allowing me to come to her home with her – and not a plastic bag in sight. I wondered beautiful dogs she passes me a small glass how it came about and she told me that one Now here is what really got me. She tells me jar and insists I take it. Itʼs the sugar day, after finishing working with the charity that she saves a hell of a lot of money by scrub I smelt earlier and I thank her again at the time, she walked into a local branch following some simple steps...and we all want for her time, words, advice and hospitality. of supermarket chain Tesco and it hit her. too save money. We live on this magnificent earth, and the Almost everything was packaged in plastic. Make a grocery list. This prepares you be- Earth provides us with everything we need, Easily accessible, but completely destructive fore you shop on what you need, and what you yet as a species it seems we are set on de- to the planet. She said she felt overwhelming should buy, and can prevent you from shopping stroying it. Emily knows she isnʼt going to guilt, and hypocrisy. None of this was sus- on that annoying little voice in our brain we change the world herself, but if more people tainable, and she decided from that day on to call impulse. Avoid packaging, and buy fresh. took the advice, we would be on to a greener get rid of plastic from her life. Go to markets for your meat, vegetables, oils world, a greener planet...a greener life. Stop Waste Make Love, 2013. Anna Cennamo, Chiara Astuti and Martina Giulianelli, for Food For Good

22 23 Words: Danielle Agtani

Image: Rachael Neale OVERFISHING Our limitless demand for fish and wasteful trawling methods are wreaking havoc on the maritime environment

We often hear of deplorable con- which will not be sold but used The main method of commercial The quota system works like this: swims were also a way of attract- As a way of preventing depletion ditions in the meat trade, how as bait (they are apparently an fishing is trawling, which is a trawler has a quota to catch, ing attention from governments in the population of these fish, animals are horrifically reared unpleasant delicacy). Dogfish dragging a net through the sea say, five tons of cod and five and global organisations: Rebecca recommends that we eat and killed and the importance of are seen as the pests of the sea to catch fish. Bottom trawl- tons of haddock. They’ve caught a variety of fish and not just buying organic meat. The fish and feed off anything it finds, ing is the most destructive form their five tons of cod but only “It’s a long-term project to per- stick to those which are popular: trade is one with just as many including the bait intended for of trawling. It involves drag- three tons of haddock. The trawl- suade governments to set aside if more people took this ap- issues, but little is printed in much larger species, such as cod ging a net along the seabed to er will not return port without large parts of our oceans as proach, demand would reduce. the press or sprawled over our and haddock. A retired trawler- capture the fish that live and reaching its full quota of had- Marine Protected Areas,” Lewis Facebook or Twitter feeds via the man from Brixham said that the feed there, such as cod, haddock dock and so keeps on fishing. explains. “I met a number of key Additionally, Rebecca believes likes of PETA or change.org. dogfish’s sandpaper-like skin and plaice. All forms of bot- They eventually catch the two policy makers en route, and will that using low-impact, sustain- was often used to scrub down the tom trawling cause damage to the tons of haddock they are entitled be having follow-up meetings with able fishing methods is vital- We have a seemingly limitless decks on the boats. seabed. to, but in the process also catch them in the weeks to come. But ly important for the health of demand for all kinds of fish and an extra ton of cod. All of this it was very pleasing to see that our seas and therefore the whole seafood. The worldwide commer- extra cod over the five-ton quota our message was shared on social planet, as the repercussions of cial fish industry is worth £63 will have to be thrown back into media by a wide range of organi- ocean food chains collapsing are billion, and the UK government the sea dead. sations from the World Economic unquantifiable. Over a billion recommends eating two portions of Forum to the United Nations and people rely on fish as their only fish every week. The term ‘discard’ therefore Greenpeace.” source of protein. refers to fish that commercial To put it into perspective, the “Bottom trawling has reduced fishing vessels have caught and Lewis says that the Seven Seas Rebecca also spoke about the sus- UK population is 64 million, thrown back over the side of the swims confirmed his view that we tainable food campaign at the SEA which equals 128 million portions boat dead because they cannot urgently need to set aside big LIFE aquarium and how it specifi- of fish being eaten each week, legally take it back to port to chunks of our oceans as Marine cally helps Londoners gain per- if we all meet government recom- seas and oceans to barren, sell. Protected Areas: “I see protect- spective on the natural marine mendations. With an approximate ing our environment as a human world, which is often overlooked 128 million fish being consumed Lewis Pugh is the UN’s Patron for rights issue. The right to have in the city: each week in the UK alone, fish the Oceans, a man who spearheads our environment protected for stocks across the world are un- lifeless wastelands” the UN’s campaign for more Marine the benefit of our generation and “SEA LIFE Aquariums offer peo- der massive pressure, leading to Protected Areas (MPAs) around the future generations is our most ple a window into a world that is over-fishing and the devastation world. MPAs are essentially Na- important human right.” normally out-of-sight and out- marine habitats. tional Parks in the oceans - less of-mind. Coming face to face with than 2% of the world’s oceans Lewis experienced his most pro- incredible, beautiful marine life Fish are not farmed in the same are protected, and Lewis Pugh is found moment during the Seven is for many people an inspiring way as livestock. With fish we Despite dogfish being caught in Sections of many seas and oceans actively trying to change that. Seas swims in the Red Sea, and experience and we want to harness rely on natural breeding pat- there thousands daily, their that have been bottom trawled Lewis says there are many advan- saw for himself how MPAs are a this opportunity to influence terns to replace the fish taken population is actually remain- repeatedly for years have ef- tages to creating more MPAs: necessity for our oceans: people to do what they can to from the sea, whereas livestock ing stable and even increasing fectively been transformed from protect the marine environment. is bred in captivity in intensive in some parts of the seas. This abundant sections of sea produc- “When we set aside MPAs we pro- “I swam through a Marine Protect- Choosing sustainable seafood is breeding programmes, meaning they species appears to be the excep- ing an abundant variety of seal- tect the marine habitat. When we ed Area, and experienced the sea an easy and effective step that are replaced in the same numbers tion to the rule, when it comes ife, to barren, lifeless waste- do that, fish stocks recover. as it was meant to be: rich and people can take to make a real that they are slaughtered. In the to bycatch. lands. Which supports food security. colourful, teaming with abundant difference.” last one hundred years, we con- When we create MPAs, we protect life,” he says. “It was sim- sumed fish faster than they can Many fisheries are non-selective, I was informed by a trawlerman the coral, which protects the ply breathtaking. But then, just Checking sustainability of sea- reproduce, meaning that stocks meaning they catch sealife that in Brixham that the surrounding shoreline and provides shelter two kilometres on, outside of where no humans have set foot. I spoke to Rebecca Carter, the food is unfortunately complex, have become seriously depleted. they did not intend to. Some of waters are lifeless and beds of for fish. MPAs are places peo- the protected area, there was no I’ve seen drastic changes in my Conservation and Education Man- however here are a few tips from this ʻbycatchʼ can be sold, but mud. In locations that have been ple want to visit for ecotourism, coral and there were no fish. It lifetime – changes that have come ager at the SEA LIFE Aquarium in Rebecca Carter on how to eat fish I made a 6am visit to the world much of it is unwanted and thrown subjected to intensive bottom so itʼs good for the economy. It looked like an underwater desert. about because of our actions.” London about how overfishing is sustainably and simply: famous Brixham Fish Market, the back into the sea, unlikely to trawling of any kind it is un- has, if youʼll pardon the pun, a If I had needed more proof that affecting our seas, and how we largest in England, and a market survive after being caught. The likely that fish stocks will ripple effect. Theyʼre good for Marine Protected Areas really Before becoming the UN’s Patron can make an active contribution “Look for Marine Stewardship that provides stock all over the Marine Conservation Society (MCS) ever recover, even if commercial the world economy, for the health work, that was it.” for the Oceans, Lewis worked as to ensuring we eat sustainably Council certified seafood, country, including the Harrods say that discarded bycatch is a fishing stopped altogether, as of the oceans, for every person a maritime lawyer in London for sourced fish: which is genuinely, sustainably fish stand and Michelin starred waste of a natural resource, a the environment and eco-systems living on this planet.” Lewis’ various swims in some of five years, but decided the ca- sourced. www.fishonline.org is a restaurants. The market was major threat to the health of that support marine life has been the most vulnerable parts of our reer was not for him and followed “Here in the UK five species make great guide by the Marine Conser- filled with hundreds of crates fish stocks, a threat to the fu- destroyed. As part of his endeavour to cre- oceans meant that he has seen his childhood dream of exploring up over 80% of the seafood con- vation Society. We also give out of fish, from cod and plaice, to ture of the fishing industry and ate more MPAs and raise aware- first hand the damage caused by the oceans. Although a career as sumed: cod, tuna, haddock, salmon free Pocket Good Fish Guides at tope and dogfish. a threat to the marine ecosystem. Focusing more on legislation, ness of the issues of overfishing not just overfishing, but a lack a Maritime lawyer was not for and prawns,” Rebecca explains. the London Aquarium which you can fishing vessels are set ‘fish and the importance of sustaina- of respect for our oceans: Pugh, he says that it provided “This is putting huge pressure on stick on your fridge or pop in The presence of the four tope at While my findings at the Brixham quotas’ which refers to the ble fishing, Lewis carried out a good grounding for the work he many populations of these species your wallet. the market were the most shock- Fish Market were slightly shock- amount of fish that a vessel can series of long distance swims in “I’ve seen enormous chunks of ice does now: in the wild; some populations ing, as they are members of the ing, the market is well known legally catch and bring back to the ‘Seven Seas’, referring to slide off Arctic glaciers. I’ve are now seriously threatened. But Finally, if there is not enough shark family. As it turns out, for sourcing decent quality and port. Quotas are set on a Eu- those that circled the ancient swum over bleached coral killed “It taught me how to argue pas- fishing for specific species not information on menus about the these tope were a product of sustainably sourced fish by the rope-wide basis by the Common world in Greek and Roman times; by rising sea temperatures, and sionately and rationally. That’s only depletes populations of the sourcing of seafood, make a point ‘bycatch’ (fish caught uninten- government’s standards. The issue Fisheries Policy and are based the Mediterranean, Adriatic, over the bones of whales hunted key to being a successful envi- desired catch, it also depletes of asking. As a consumer you can tionally), the first issue I came with overfishing and the damage on historic fishing rights and Aegean, Black, Red, Arabian and to the edge of extinction. I’ve ronmental campaigner. If you are those of unwanted species, due to have a huge impact through your across at the market. caused is not the fault of rogue scientific advice on sustainable North Seas. visited lakes high in the Hima- too emotional you run the risk of high levels of bycatch; anything purchase decisions, but also fishermen - it comes down to EU fish stocks. In theory this sys- layas where once there was only turning off policy makers. And if unwanted is thrown back into the by asking for things when they As well as tope, there were policies on fishing and fisher- tem should work, but the reality Other than just raising awareness ice. And Iʼve seen plastic pol- you can’t present your arguments ocean, which is incredibly waste- aren’t there – such as MSC certi- crates upon crates of dogfish, ies. is the total opposite. to the public, Lewis’s Seven Seas lution in the most remote areas rationally, no one will listen.” ful.” fied seafood.”

24 25 David McCandless, 2013. Research: Miriam Quick, Design: Derek Guo, Omid Kashan. informationisbeautiful.net. Source: Marine Conservation Society, Greenpeace, Seafood Watch. Data:bit.ly/whichfish

26 27 Words: David Buckland

Images: Cape farewell / Various CAPE FAREWELL: HOW ART CAN BATTLE CLIMATE CHANGE

Journey of the Private Moon in the Arctic, Leonid Tishkov. 2010

Launched in 2001, the Cape Farewell project using their sounds as a common link. Cape continues to evolve and work with our best Farewell has closely collaborated with the and most dynamic creative minds and practi- Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester tioners to address the global challenge of and the Manchester Science festival to real- climate change. Fundamental to this evolution ise this ambitious project. The exhibition is to champion the creative arts as an agent opened in October at MOSI, including three of change towards visioning and building the participatory events; a performance by Coates sustainable culture we can all aspire to. on the opening night, an ‘in conversation’ event with the artists, and two workshops. Up We launched our new website - www.capefare- to the beginning of November over 7000 people well.com - on the 1st of November 2014, cre- attended the show and Marcus was on BBC 4’s ated by Bullet Creative. The website artic- Inside Science with his sound piece. ulates the transition Cape Farewell has made from arctic expeditions to focus on our urban Cape Farewell’s next selected artist for the projects where creativity becomes an agent of Lovelock Art Commission us Tanya Kovats, who change, visioning the transition from a dirty will be collaborating with composer Jonathan carbon based economy towards a sustainable Dove. James Lovelock’s agency has approved of cleaner society. this new collaboration and Kovats and Dove are currently developing plans. Around the UK we have several projects aimed at changing the way people think about cli- RURAL ARTIST RESIDENCIES mate change. The Rural Artist Residency programme invites Red Ice 3. Chris Wainwright, 2009 Colour C Type print on Aluminium artists to work with farmers in Dorset, in- LOVELOCK ART COMMISSION terrogating our food systems, land use and The Lovelock Art Commission invites a con- (organic) farming practices. For the first temporary artist to interrogate, research residency artist Chris Drury, novelist Kay and re-interpret the work of scientist James Syrad and Dorset based artist Guy Martin have Lovelock. This years selected artist is Mar- worked on their artistic response. cus Coates. For his commission Coates pro- duced the sound installation ‘The Sounds Chris Drury worked with farmer Chris Legg, Since the start of the millenium the Cape Farewell project has been offering an of Others: A Biophonic Line’. Coates stud- who’s land inspired him to create multiple artistic response to the global challenge of climate change. David Buckland, its ied hundreds of animal sounds to discover artworks. For one artwork he has buried dif- founder, talks about its ethos and ideals and describes some of its key projects. the minute but discernible connections be- ferent types of paper in the organic soil of tween them. By stretching and compressing Chris Legg’s land, allowing different levels the sounds, using custom-built software, the of acidity in the soil to affect the paper. resemblances between them appeared. The big paper will turn into a book. Chris is collaborating with Kay Syrad, writing about He worked alongside renowned wildlife their experiences working with the farmers. sound-recordist Geoff Sample who helped him Furthermore Drury is working on portraits of discover what connects such varied animals as the farmers. We have confirmed an exhibition bats, whales, insects, amphibians and humans, at Durlston Galleries later this year.

28 29 Guy Martin has chosen to focus his project The Orkney Almanac of Loss has been com- on Huish Farm, an historic redundant small missioned by Sea Change in response to the farm and created Forcey’s Tower. The Tower is expedition’s visit to the island in 2013. The named after the Forcey family who once farmed artists’ book is edited by John Cumming and Bushes Bottom Farm and marks the centenary of includes contributions from artists and so- their leaving in 1914. It marks the transi- cial scientists on Orkney. tion of farming practice in the surrounding farms to a more sustainable way of working Artists currently under commission: Shona and living in order to preserve and protect Illingworth, Ruth Maclennan, Deirdre Nelson, the native flora and fauna of this area. The Andy Crabb, Jennifer Wilcox, John Cumming. tower was unveiled and blessed by the local We are currently developing Wrackline - a vicar in October. touring group show by female Sea Change art- ists including Shona Illingworth, Ruth Ma- We held an open call for the next Rural art- clennan, Xiaolu Guo and Annie Cattrell. ist and from the proposals selected Vanessa Reid, a young performance artist and artistic ENERGY RENAISSANCE director of This Is Rubbish. Energy Renaissance will bring in the world’s best expert informers and creatives to devel- POET IN RESIDENCE 2014/2015 ZIA AHMED op the blueprint of what a carbon neutral so- We selected Zia Ahmed as our young new poet ciety would look like. We have taken the Isle in residence for the year 2014/2015. Zia per- of Wight as a test case scenario; the data in formed at our Rhyme and Reason poetry slam terms of energy supply and consumption has event at the LSE in February 2014. His hu- been well researched, and because it’s an is- morous style gives a complete new and very land, can be seen as a closed energy system. personal approach to how climate plays a role in our own lives. Zia is a member of the Ele- Those involved include Unesco’s Internation- phant Collective. Elephant is a collective of al Social Science Council, the Royal College writers, poets, rappers, visual artists, pro- of Art, Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon, MaRS Clean ducers and storytellers. Zia won the Round- Tech Group, Julie’s Bicycle and Carbon War house Poetry Slam in 2011. Room, plus the local teams from the Isle of Wight including the Ellen McArthur Foundation Cape Farewell will organise four events to- and the local council. This carbon neutral gether with Zia Ahmed this coming year; the dream island CAN exist, and this creative first one to be staged during London Fashion and expert collaboration will identify what Week in February 2015. The event will include the decarbonised society will look like and work of Sabrina Mahfouz, Cape Farewell’s poet how it is technically and socially feasible. in residence for 2013/2014, which has not It will kick off with a trip to the island been showcased before. by sailing boat with all informers and crea- tives. Ryuichi Sakamoto and Jarvis Cocker during the 2008 Disko Bay Expedition. Photographer: Nathan Gallagher DEVELOPMENT WORK WITH SABRINA MAHFOUZ Mahfouz was our Poet in Residence for 2013- ARTCOP21 2014 and as this collaboration was so suc- COAL (Paris) and Cape Farewell, initiat- cessful we decided to work with her for ed ArtCop21, an exceptional citywide climate another year. Mahfouz will co-organise poetry festival with numerous of cultural satellite events with Ahmed and keep on creating cli- events to be staged in Paris during COP21. mate poetry to be showcased at our events. COAL and Cape Farewell will function as a For 2015 she will be working on the adaption coordinating body, stimulating and encour- of the myth of Prometheus for Cape Farewell, aging organisations and people from all over making it a modern day version, taking place the world to act on this exciting momentum in in the Antrophocene. Mahfouz’ adaptation aims their own artistic ways. to use the original ancient structure and characters to tell an epic modern tale about We are talking to C40 cities about a partner- climate change – how humans have misused the ship on this. C40 is a network of the world’s gifts given to them and yet how there is megacities committed to addressing climate still hope in their potential. change and reducing carbon emissions. We would potentially host an exhibition envi- YOUTH PROGRAMME: SWITCH AND THE sioning what a future sustainable city will POETRY SOCIETY look like as part of their City Climate Lead- After school workshops and an international ership Awards. In addition we will mount a poetry competition we worked with Hollywood public summit at the Sorbonne to articulate composer David Julyan on creating musical the power of inspiring a cultural shift, and scores to accompany the winning poems. Cape present a blueprint for a creative and sus- Farewell and the Poetry Society added film tainable future. to the spoken word and Soundscapes, with a final showcase at the Southbank. Since Au- TIDAL LAGOON SWANSEA BAY gust 2014 Cape Farewell has been working with The six winners for our international open the Poetry Society on the development of the call for ideas are identified and their pro- programme for next year, identifying new posals have been worked on in further de- schools, further funding streams, partners tails. Winners are artists Mariele Neudecker, Ice Text. Going to Hell on a Handcart. David Buckland, 2008 Photographic Print, Perspex Mounted and venues. We decided that the main focus Timo von Kriegstein, Michael Fairfax, Ingrid for the next year will be the film pieces, Hu & Andy Pink, Alex Finlay & Hana Tuulikki spending more time on the development of the and Peter Wall. film and showcasing event. The new school workshops will start in March 2015. For The Welsh open call closed in September and co-financing this programme we have applied we have identified four winners in this pro- at the Foyle Foundation. gramme who have been invited to work up their proposals. For both of these programmes we SEA CHANGE are keeping close contact with the finalists Hanna Tuulikki’s Air falbh leis na h-eòin and working with TLSB on planning permissions (Away with the Birds) was performed to crit- for the sculpture and further fundraising. ical acclaim on the Isle of Canna as part of Cape Farewell is acting a consultant and cul- Culture 2014 Commonwealth Games. tural partner.

30 31 Words: Diana Tleuliyeva

Image: IMV / istock ALTERNATIVES TO MEAT

Could caterpillars, grasshoppers and other bugs really replace the burger, bacon buttie and Sunday roast on our plates?

When it comes to a succulent steak or a conventional meat production. In his inter- Which brings us back to London. The founders hearty burger, you might feel that you’re not view with the Independent, Post acknowledged of Ento, a London-based start-up, have been ready to give up meat just yet. But as with this statistics: “synthetic meat would need working on making insects a more appealing many carnivores, you also might feel guilty 99 per cent less land than livestock, between sustainable source of protein in Western di- about it. For one thing, the welfare of ani- 82 and 96 per cent less water.” ets. Through creative branding and packaging, mals we eat is a concern. four Royal College of Art and Imperial Col- But is this going to be a viable alternative lege graduates are challenging the way some For another, consumption of meat is also en- to conventional meat? Westerners see insects - “dirty, gooey and vironmentally destructive. unsafe.” Currently it cost around £220,000 to produce According to the UN Food and Agriculture one burger although Professor Post believes Two years ago they launched their first pop- Organisation report, livestock sector con- the cost could be reduced to £15 per kilo up restaurant - priced at £75, Londoners tributes 14.5% of greenhouse gas emissions. when large-scale production is perfected. could enjoy caterpillar canapes, consomme of It’s almost the same amount produced by the grasshopper dumpling with locust jus, and world’s entire transport system! To make mat- And it seems it’s going to take 10 to 20 burnt bee larvae. According to The Telegraph ters worse, it’s also a major source of land years until lab-grown meat reaches our super- insects weren’t just edible but they were and water deprivation – it takes up to 13 market shelves as the scientists are current- “rather tasty”. pounds of grain and more than 2400 gallons of water to produce one pound of meat.

With an expected population growth by 2050, livestock will impose a bigger environmental “Eating insects is becoming a viable problem on our planet, as the demand for ani- mal-source food will increase by 73%.

Converting to vegetarianism seems like an alternative to consuming meat” impossible solution to this pressing issue. After all, in the words of Professor Richard Wrangham, “we are the species designed to eat meat.” So what can we do to help the envi- ly working on how to perfect the taste and Currently Ento is planning to launch its ronment? Are there any alternatives to our how to speed up the process - it takes about first product later this year. favourite burgers and bacon? seven to eight weeks to grow meat in the lab- oratory. Ento isn’t the only place offering insects in There’s a convincing case for lab-grown meat, London today. also known as cultured meat or in-vitro meat, Yet for some the idea of creating meat in a to be a more sustainable option. laboratory might not sound appealing. So if Just for £4 you can enjoy oven baked scorpion you’re still looking for eco-friendly alter- (obviously detoxified) dipped in Belgian dark Over a year ago Professor Mark Post, Head of native protein food, entomophagy might be the chocolate from Edible. the Cultured Beef Programme, presented the answer. world’s first hamburger from lab-grown meat Founded in 2000, Edible makes the most un- at an event in London after working on this Since 2003, the UN Food and Agricultural Or- expected delicacies from all over the world project since 2008. ganisation (FAO) have been working on pro- available in the heart of London. moting insects as an alternative food source. He used the following technique to create the According to their recent report, insects The £16 leafcutter ants, the world’s largest five-ounce burger: “A small sample of muscle aren’t just good for our health (they are ants, are rare delicacy of the Guane Indians cells removed from a living cow were cultured full of protein, vitamin and mineral content) and apparently taste like bacon, according to in a nutrient solution to create muscle tis- but they’re also good for the environment. Edible website. sue. Insects are very efficient in converting In her book Edible, Daniella Martin tries The tissue was grown by placing the cells feed into meat. For example, crickets need 12 to convince that insects don’t taste, well, in a doughnut-shaped ring, around a hub of times less feed than cattle, four times less ‘yuck’, on the contrary they tend to have a gel. Later, the muscle cells grew into small feed than sheep to produce the same amount of nutty savoury taste like the majority of pro- strands of meat – 20,000 of these small protein. This efficiency reduces the amount tein-rich food. Having tried over 35 differ- strands were combined to create one five- of water and land used for growing food for ent species, she refers to eating insects as ounce burger.” livestock. “the next big thing.”

As we’re currently exploiting 70 per cent of In addition, insect rearing emit significant- According to Ento, honey caterpillars taste all agricultural capacity to grow meat, this ly fewer greenhouse gases than most livestock like pistachio when roasted while Edible de- “proof of concept” potentially can be more - only cockroaches, termites and scarab bee- scribes BBQ worm crisps on their website to efficient than livestock farming: “from one tles produce methane. have a taste similar to popcorn. cell, theoretically, we can make 10,000 kilos of meat,” Professor Post said in his Tedx Insect-eating isn’t a new concept – it’s been It’s probably going to take a while until talk. around for millennia. From caterpillars in caramel cricket crunch will be available as sub-Saharan Africa to crispy fried beetles a takeaway option on hungryhouse.com. Like An independent 2011 study suggests that pro- in Thailand, it’s estimated that at least 2 lab-grown meat, the edible insect industry is duction of cultured meat can significantly billions people eat insects worldwide. Yet in its infancy. But a;ready it seems to have reduce energy, land and water use, as well in the West we can’t get over this so-called the potential to make a real contribution to as greenhouse gas emissions, in comparison to ‘yuck factor.’ sustainability.

32 33 Words: Max Houghton

Images: Erlend Linklater

WALKING AND THINKING Travelling through the countryside on foot can provide a very different perspective on time, landscape and tradition

34 35 The preeminent philosopher of nature, Henry David Thoreau, describes in these regions for centuries, in order to make way for a new, more the status of the walker as ‘a sort of fourth estate, outside of profitable, form of agriculture (sheep-farming). Though some left Church and State and People.’ The first use of the phrase in its more in peace, Canada-bound, violence was the hallmark of this period in familiar relation to the press was attributed to Edmund Burke some Scottish history. Some were burned out of their homes; clay walls and sixty years earlier in 1787, in a debate on permitting press reporting thatched roofs quickly returning to the earth from which they were in the House of Commons and thus defining free speech as a cornerstone hewn. of democracy.

The defining quality of Thoreau’s walker, is freedom of body and mind, to wander through the landscape at will, describing what is seen. He makes no claims to one of journalism’s central tenets, objectivity. On the contrary, he writes in his journal in 1851 that there is no such thing as pure objective observation: ‘Your observation, to be “Borders of all kinds are visible interesting, ie to be significant, must be subjective.’ It is only in nature, he writes elsewhere, that we can learn the ‘essential facts of life’, through ‘the perpetual instilling and drenching of the reality that surrounds us.’ in the landscape: walls, fences,

Solitary walking through a landscape can indeed bring about the kind of significant observation Thoreau desired, and has a very specific relation to the act of writing. Dickens’ night walks revealed to him rivers, forests, the sea” a shadowy, Stygian London that he conjured uniquely into prose. The writer W G Sebald used a walking tour of Suffolk, England, to revive forgotten and transgressive histories in his work The Rings of Saturn. John Clare’s pilgrimages around his native East Anglia brought him solace and us some of the finest poetry in the English language. Re- Further south, in Derbyshire, England, the mass trespass of 1932 was becca Solnit describes this ambulatory and literary synchronicity with an astonishing victory for the working classes, clawing back land typical acuity: ‘Language is like a road; it cannot be perceived all made private by landed gentry for shooting parties. The highest peak at once because it unfolds in time, whether heard or read. The narra- in the region, Kinder Scout, used to keep grouse, became the site of tive or temporal element has made writing and walking resemble each a gathering of hundreds of walkers, asserting their right to roam. other […]’. This is the way I see the world, says the walker, faithful Despite five arrests for ‘riotous assembly’ and the best efforts of to the moment of passing through, in time with time. the Duke of Devonshire’s gamekeepers to keep the unruly masses at bay, the walkers triumphed, assembling again weeks later as a group In his peregrinations along the border that divides Scotland and Eng- of 10,000 at Winnats Pass, Castleton. Their victory for the ‘right to land, Erlend Linklater experienced a kind of drenching in reality. roam’ sewed the seed for the creation of National Parks, of which the Using his vintage Rolleiflex camera, he was able to extend and record first was, aptly, the Peak District. Solnit describes walking as ‘the his own act of looking. Following the precise line of the border as antithesis of owning’, which focuses ‘not on the boundary lines of delineated by Ordnance Survey maps, he followed paths, streams, roads ownership that break the land into pieces but that functions as a kind and rivers, walking - and driving when an ankle injury insisted upon of circulatory system that connects the whole organism.’ it - from east to west, towards the setting sun. This opportunity to investigate the line in the landscape that had in some ways shaped his Looking at Linklater’s photographs, we can become witness to the way a identity, certainly his nationality, came at a critical time politi- hillside yields to a field to the south. The mysterious meandering of cally for these divided yet united nations. The 2014 referendum asked a river as it flows relentlessly towards the sea is made visible. We the people of Scotland if their nation should become an independent can notice how light falls on the brow of a hill, accentuating sub- country … to which the majority answer, as we now know, was ‘No’. So, tle contours as charted by cartographers. We can almost see the grass for now at least, no checkpoints, no passport required, but a division grow. Borders of all kinds are evident in the landscape: walls, fenc- remains nonetheless. es, rivers, forests, and, finally, the sea itself, the natural border that gives our tiny island its clearest identity in the world. The English/Scottish border is among the oldest extant borders in the world, created in 1237 at the Treaty of York, signed by Alexander II Knowledge arrives differently through looking, snapping synapses into and Henry III, and which has remained intact, save for the long-de- action, inviting us to see clearly, to become aware. The act of walk- sired annexation of Berwick by England in 1482. As with all borders, ing through the landscape can indeed bring forth answers to the jour- it is a point at which nature and culture meet and jostle for po- nalist’s hallowed sextet of who, what, where, when, why and how; and sition. Whether rocks or rivers can have a national identity is an these answers, though clarified in the present, are not limited by the interesting question; certainly the idea of specifically ‘English’ or rings of time. The identification of ‘who’ is likely to be a realisa- ‘Scottish’ soil is deeply embedded in the psyche of many; while the tion of the self, which, through prolonged immersion in nature, often question of whether land can truly belong to anyone has a long and seems to dissolve altogether. In this transcendental state, perhaps especially vivid history in both England and Scotland. The Clearanc- the conditions for an essential democracy can arise, offering ‘sancti- es that took place throughout Scotland, predominantly in the High- ty which shames our religions, and reality which discredits our he- lands, forced out people whose families had lived and worked the land roes.’

36 37 Words: Sebastian Moss

Image: L.Pettet/iStock

CLIMATE ENGINEERING CAN TECHNOLOGY SAVE US?

Scientists are battling to find a solution to ever-rising levels of greenhouse gases. But can they really hope to rescue the planet?

With levels of greenhouse gases soaring and Dioxide Removal (CDR)) and reflecting solar Climate engineering has been a source of the scientific consensus clearly showing that radiation away from the Earth (Solar Radia- much discussion in the scientific community mankind has a significant impact on our cli- tion Management (SRM)).” for decades, but, at this stage, there isnʼt mate, itʼs clear that something needs to be much movement “towards providing some kind of done. But nations have repeatedly failed to CDR includes various techniques, from carbon implementation capacity, as theyʼre all at a come to an agreement on how to significantly capture through biomass, artificial trees and hypothetical stage, a conceptual stage.” But, curb emissions or make any meaningful changes chemicals like calcium oxide or sodium hy- as the prospect of climate engineering has to their carbon footprints, due to the eco- droxide. However, CDR techniques are slow to “moved into political discussions, especial- nomic and political challenges that drastic act and have an impact, and therefore require ly at the international level, itʼs really changes can raise. long term political support, as well as often important to have these discussions early on” require large scale engineering efforts. to provide support for decisions on where re- Due to this, some have called for a more rad- search should continue. ical approach to the climate problem – cli- SRM “is referred to as a set of high lever- mate engineering. The hope is to use technol- age, fast acting, potentially cheap technique ** ogy to undo some of the damaging effects of that could, over a short timescale, reduce climate change and rising temperatures. global average temperatures and some of the “But I donʼt think that a roadmap to imple- effects associated with climate change.” mentation is being developed anywhere. These However, with the science behind climate en- are all concepts that people are talking gineering currently remaining untested and The two most discussed approaches in SRM “are about, at this stage thereʼs no way to even still in its early stages, many are also con- to either introduce aerosols into the strat- confidently say that something will be possi- cerned at its possible side effects, or how osphere to reflect a small part of the incom- ble to do in the future. Itʼs all very ex- it could be used to distract from the issue ing sunlight, or to brighten clouds.” In each ploratory, very early.” of curbing emissions. case, the reduction in solar energy in the atmosphere helps cool the planet in the short In Schäferʼs view, with the current state of ** term. However, while it could help solve the climate engineering and the lack of politi- temperature-based problems of climate change, cal will around it, “the likeliness that we Stefan Schäfer co-leads the research group major issues like the acidification of the will see large, or even small, outdoor exper- on climate engineering at the Institute for oceans would remain a growing concern. imentation on especially the SRM methods in Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS), and Europe soon is quite small.” served as the chair of the conference steer- According to Schäfer, we canʼt say just yet ing committee for the Climate Engineering which of the SRM techniques is the most prom- However, while being unable to perform some Conference 2014. He defines the umbrella ising, or if they are viable. “Itʼs something experiments does obviously impact the rate term of climate engineering as “a large set that scientists are researching with some of research, “there are a lot of things that of very different approaches, techniques, wanting to intesify the research effort.” can still be learned from modelling studies. and proposals that operate on very different Climate impact modelling has not been done timescales and with very different resoiurce “A lot of exaggerated claims are made about to a large degree on SRM, so that area could requirements and would require vastly differ- SRM on both ends of the spectrum, with some really benefit from more research.” ent logistical and material infrastructures” invoking catastrophism and others possibly but which are designed to change our climate. neglecting potentially serious risks and con- Ken Caldeira, an atmospheric scientist at cerns. One of our goals is to provide a plat- the Carnegie Institution who in 2007 was the “The general distinction people make is be- form for scientifically supported discuss- principal contributor to an IPCC team that tween removing greenhouse gases from the sions, so that such claims can be scrutinized won a Nobel Peace Prize, is sceptical about atmosphere (usually referred to as Carbon and dialogue ensue.” how much further we can go with just models.

38 39 “Iʼm not saying itʼs been exhausted, but a Additionally, promoting climate engineering In Lawrenceʼs view, climate engineering is “a lot of that low-hanging fruit of what you requires you to believe that change is hap- difficult topic that tends to polarise people could do running a computer model is kind of pening. “A lot of right wing climate change very quickly, and that leads to a discussion starting to get exhausted. To get much fur- deniers who donʼt agree with climate change that is often mainly based on underlying val- ther than we are today, you would have to do like the idea of geoengineering. So that ues and principles, which people donʼt bring some experiments outdoors, and this is obvi- means theyʼre having to say that there is out very clearly , but which strongly influ- ously controversial.” some risk, some reason for it.” ence the way they see and interpret what very little evidence there is.” The problem, he says, is that “the world is Another concern with climate engineering that a lot more complicated than our models, and many raise is how it could be either used “Our information is paltry. With those un- one thing you can be sure is that things will by governments as a weapon, or how it could certainties, itʼs difficult to make decisions happen that you didnʼt anticipate. Models can cause escalating tensions between nations. in the first place. But when the issue is form the basis for rational expectation, but you shouldnʼt really treat it as a prediction of what will actually happen.”

Caldeira also questions why we have certain safeguards on climate engineering tests: “With preventing testing, are we concerned “You could modify the weather to make it about the damage the test could cause, or the creation of dangerous knowledge? I think itʼs appropriate to have regulatory safeguards to prevent environmental damage, but the idea rain really hard and cause a flash flood” that knowledge itself is dangerous? I donʼt like that framing.”

But one way Schäfer highlights that we could improve our collective knowledge would be to Atmospheric scientist Dr. Mark Lawrence, something that touches on peopleʼs sense of establish what he describes as “a research scientific director of IASS, doesnʼt believe morality, then the ethical associations very infrastructure that could observe, for exam- that direct weaponisation is terribly likely. quickly tends to politicise the discourse.” ple, natural events that are in some aspects Not only have 85 countries signed the U.N. analogous to processes that would also happen Convention prohibiting using the weather as a ** in SRM deployment scenarios, like volcanic weapon (and climate is the long-term average eruptions.” of the weather), but the science behind it No country has shown itself to be openly isnʼt ready yet. interested in climate engineering, Lawrence In 1991, Philippine island volcano Mt. Pina- says “I donʼt think any country at a high tubo erupted, causing millions of tonnes of ** level of government is currently going to sulphur dioxide mixed with water droplets to step forward and say outright that theyʼre cover the Earthʼs atmosphere, reducing the “The weaponisation possibility is only there going to put forward any form of climate en- amount of sunlight that reached the planet if a climate engineering intervention can be gineering.” over the next two years to be reduced by over targeted to affect one region and not affect ten percent. other regions, or at least not affect oneʼs In the US, Caldeira notes that the issue has home region. That would be quite complicat- become politicised. “The problem is, if a In a single year, global temperatures dropped ed, and the knowledge for that does not yet politician who has voted for geoengineering by almost three quarters of a degree Celsi- exist.” research is on the campaign trail, the op- us, but at the same time a number of floods ponent will say that theyʼre ʻin favour of and droughts were experienced in various “Climate modifications would also have to injecting chemicals into the skyʼ, when they continents. Studying this eruption, as well last for a long period of time to really be just want to research it. If there wasnʼt as others, is seen by many in the field of affecting the climate. For example, you could this political overlay, I think thereʼd be a climate engineering as a way to analyse the possibly make it rain really hard to cause a research program in the US in this area.” impact of SRM techniques without physical ex- flash flood as a form of weather modifica- periments. tion, but you would have to change the rain- However there have been small signs of inter- fall for decades to really call it climate est from some nations: leaked documents from ** modification.” 2013 showed that Russia had pushed to include support for climate engineering in the UN But while there are fears about the unin- However, what is a much greater possibili- climate report, while Yuri Izrael, who was an tended consequences of engineering our cli- ty is nations using climate engineering as adviser to Russian President Vladimir Putin, mate, that is not why many scientists are a threat, or for their own benefit when it conducted a 2009 experiment to spray parti- anxious about working in the field. Instead, could have an adverse impact on other parts cles from a helicopter as a very simple SRM many have become concerned that it could be of the world. test. used as a political tool to divert attention and resources away from the goal of reducing “It has been speculated that some of the China is also seen by some as a potential greenhouse gases. small island states, for instance, could leader in climate engineering, with the coun- threaten to implement some form of SRM if the try listing geoengineering among its Earth Schäfer believes that this “is probably the larger nations donʼt get their act in gear science research priorities in 2012, and largest worry in the academic community right and start reducing CO2. Thatʼs one version using a barrage of 1,110 rockets filled with now, that investing into climate engineering thatʼs like a Cold War scenario.” silver iodide to stop rain ruining the 2008 research or even discussing the possibili- Olympics. ty that climate engineering will emerge as a “The other possibility is that international response to some aspects of climate change in conflicts could arise over an implementation Nevertheless, while some countries and groups the future, will syphon resources away from of climate engineering, especially SRM. If may push forward with climate engineering, efforts to reduce greenhoiuse gas emissions.” there was a coalition of the willing, say the Schäfer believes that “itʼs extremely impor- North American countries, that decides that tant to always highlight that the most im- Caldeira, however, has a different view: they are going to implement something that portant and crucial thing to focus on now is “Thereʼs a certain empirical question over is tuned to their benefit, then it is prob- to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to prevent whether solar geoengineering causes people to ably not going to be tuned to the benefit of future climate change.” want to do more or less about emissions, and the rest of the world. So there is the very the data is pretty thin. I believe that it real concern - that if anything is implement- There is no quick fix, no ultimate cure. It can actually help, that if people think that ed that falls short of a real international seems that most we can hope for from climate weʼre desperate enough to try such extreme consensus regarding the implementation, then engineering is that it will alleviate some measures, maybe they should be worried about it could very well lead to international hos- issues, but we cannot rely on it to provide a climate change.” tilities.” solution to the problem. Unfuck the world, Noel Douglas

40 41 Words and image: Sophie Demay, Ken Kirton, Mirjam Warg, Rachel Littlewood, Lisa Matzi, Words: Danielle Agtani Sean Wyatt-Livesley, Veronika Papadopoulou. Image:Zero Carbon Food

The Last Whole Underground farms Earth Catalog

A radical publication from How an innovative business is the 1960s continues to have growing fruit and veg beneath an impact the London streets

The Whole Earth Catalog [WEC] was in the catalogs, it also acted Urban farming has become popu- training unemployed young people an American magazine published as an alternative library and a lar in some of the most developed in horticulture. between 1968 and 1972 and inter- mobile information service. The and built up cities as a means mittently thereafter. Its content truck-store eventually resided of providing fresh produce for ** was a collection of tools, books, permanently in Menlo Park, Cali- the city dwellers. For example, and objects chosen to inspire fornia, before it opened up as an Persona 02 in Tokyo, Japan took Cultivate London has three main readers, to help them conduct actual store in the same loca- an innovative approach to its objectives: to convert derelict their own research and shape tion. Although readers couldn’t farm. Instead of recycling dere- land in London into productive their environment. It was put to- buy directly from the catalog, it lict land, it recycled old office food growing space, to increase gether by Stewart Brand, a writ- put them in direct contact the buildings. the amount of local and organi- er and editor, and a key figure sellers of the tools, books, and cally grown produce for Londoners in the San Francisco psychedelia items themselves. Located in Tokyo, Pasona HQ is and to generate training oppor- scene of the 1960s. a nine storey office building, tunities and jobs for unemployed They could visit the Truck Store renovated to become an urban young people. Brand was a hippy visionary as- to purchase some of the items or farm. The green space totals sociated with Ken Keseyʼs Merry visit their local libraries in- over 43,000 square feet with 200 Cultivate recently received the Pranksters, who features in Tom stead. The WEC encouraged librar- species including fruits, vegeta- Observer Food Monthly “Producer Wolfeʼs Electric Kool-Aid Acid ies to stock the catalog, sug- bles and rice that are harvested, of the Year” award. So far Culti- Test. At a time when millions of gesting they should have entire prepared and served at cafeterias vate has transformed three loca- Americans were experimenting with shelves housing the catalogs and within the building. tions in London into urban farms. forms of communal living, he cre- associated texts and tools. If ated the Whole Earth Catalog as a the library didn’t have one of New York City is the city holding Cultivate do not aim to just new community in print, in which the associated books or catalogs the most urban farms. With its change the environment in the any tool deemed useful, as well an ‘Inter-library loan system’ lack of derelict or unused land, growing site, but in the area as new ideas, were accessible to was put in place. entrepreneurs take to the sky and they locate their farms. They those who wanted it. transform roof tops into growing work with local schools and com- Despite its growing popularity, sites to grow local and organ- munity groups which already exist Self-published, with no advertis- Brand decided to stop produc- ic produce using sustainable and on the South Acton Estate, in ing, the first catalog was only ing the catalog, leaving instead responsible techniques. order to engage residents and to produced in a run of 1000 copies. a legacy to encourage others improve the environment. Since then, the catalogs have to set about starting their own ** Zero Carbon Food prides itself carbon hungry society otherwise been widely disseminated, play- catalog-inspired projects in an on being carbon neutral. It uses there wonʼt be a society.” As for the actual environmental ing a major role in the rise of article called How to Do a Whole Closer to home, the UKʼs version 70% less water versus tradition- impact modern day farming has the American counter culture and Earth Catalog featured in the of Pasona 02 or these rooftop al farming methods and can farm Stephen and Rich grew up on the on the environment, agriculture continuing to inspire today. last issue. growing sites, comes in the form year round, reducing the need to outskirts of Bristol before mov- contributes to a third of total of Zero Carbon Food. They took import produce. ing to London. They used their carbon emissions. Scientists be- ** Most of the profit from the final a World War Two bomb shelter, desire to be part of the environ- lieve that increasing convention- issue of the Whole Earth Catalog 33 metres below the streets of ** mental change and applied their al farming poses a rising threat Anything could be added to the went into a charitable founda- Clapham and utilised the disused experience and desire to get back to the environment as the world catalog as long as it fulfilled tion that distributed $1 million space to grow salad vegetables. The LEDs used are three times to their farming roots to create tries to feed an additional 2 the list of criteria presented to groups and individuals. Brand more efficient than traditional Zero Carbon Food. They believe billion people by 2050. in the first pages of the mag- himself went on to play a key The space is owned by Transport high pressure sodium lights used that the only way to feed the azine. The new addition to the role in the development of the for London and was used to accom- in commercial agriculture, and growing population is to do it Closer to home, Londonʼs popula- collection had to be: ‘useful as Through the Catalog useful tools early Internet and remains active modate up to 8000 people during the perfectly insulated tunnel without carbon or fossil fuels. tion will grow by 24. 4% or two a tool, relevant to independent as a speaker, activist and social the war. The tunnels use hydro- requires no extra heating to grow million people, over the next education, high quality or low and ideas were made accessible to entrepreneur. ponics and LED lighting to grow naturally healthy crops. They spent around a year carrying decade. The targets of local gov- cost, not already common knowl- rocket, coriander, thai basil, out research about how they would ernment over the next decade are: edge, and easily available by anybody who wanted them. amongst other leafy greens in the Zero Carbon Food can control pre- be able to produce vast amounts 1. A 60% reduction in Londonʼs mail’. There was also a focus on ** urban environment. cisely how much water, light and of food to feed London and do it CO2 by 2025 including the theory alongside nutrients the crops get, meaning without any environmental impact. 2. Ensuring 25% of Londonʼs ener- the practice, which helps rein- back-to-the-land communities due son you respect and like, tell In Spring 2015, London College of Zero Carbon Food aims to benefit that they are both healthy and Where they excelled in the busi- gy is delivered through more force the relevance or usefulness to how little they cost to build them why the product is great and Communication will host the first Londoners including businesses, tasty. ness side of things, they lacked efficient energy by 2025 of the tool. whilst still providing a large then GET OUT OF THE WAY.’ Small Access Through Tools Festival, society and the environment. Thew in knowledge of actual growing. 3. Improving the energy efficien- amount of interior space. supplement issues were published which explores the pedagogy of a farm was launched by Stephen and Since pests donʼt live natural- cy of homes and buildings One of Brand’s most obvious in- between issues, which acted as a ʻtoolʼ in the context of Graphic Rich, who have been friends since ly 33 metres below the ground, The challenge of building a farm 4. Reducing transport emissions spirations was the visionary ** series of amendments. Design through an exhibition, a school, with the aim of using the crops are all grown without underground using only LED light 5. Capturing the environmental architect and designer Richard series of events and workshops, redundant underground spaces to pesticide. The produce grown in and hydroponics required an in- and economic benefits of mak- Buckminster Fuller. Many of his The content for the WEC was pub- The WEC was pre-internet and open to students and the design produce leafy greens, herbs and the underground farm is supplied novative individual. Chris Nelson ing London a low carbon city books and theories were included licly sourced: its readers would took out no advertisements, yet industry. microgreens for sale to Londoners to restaurants, wholesalers and - a ʻgrowing geniusʼ- joined the in the catalogs, many of which suggest new tools, as long as it became widely spread with a within the M25 - to reduce the through a consumer brand called team and became the brains behind By adapting traditional farm- had an emphasis on the need to they fit the catalog’s criteria, huge cult following. The cata- The Access Through Tools Festival food miles. Growing Underground. the growing revolution. ing techniques like Zero Carbon have access to tools, and the or chose to review existing ones. log’s original form was in the is curated by Sophie Demay and Food and Cultivate, these targets necessary invention of new tools The reviews often became debates, shape of a 1963 Dodge Truck which Ken Kirton, in collaboration with The immediate benefit for London- As for why they embarked on this While Zero Carbon Food took to may just be achievable. With the to enhance our lives. The catalog with two or more people analys- Brand, and his wife, drove around five students, Rachel Littlewood, ers is reduced food waste through venture, Stephen said: “I re- the derelict underground spac- challenges of climate change and made the complete plans for his ing the uses of the tool and its the Southwest visiting communes. Lisa Matzi, Veronika Papadopou- increased shelf-life, horticul- alised that without some major es, Cultivate London utilises the carbon emissions, a unique and geodesic domes available, ena- limitations. These reviewers were The Whole Earth Truck Store not lou, Mirjam Warg, and Sean Wyatt ture employment prospects and changes, London and everywhere derelict land in West London. As innovative approach is needed to bling readers to build their own. told to, ‘Write as you would in only sold tools, books, and items Livesley. It will run from the helping to achieve the reduction else for that matter, had to well as recycling derelict land, change the world in which we live They were especially popular with a letter to some specific per- that would later be recommended 20th to the 25th April 2015. in Londonʼs carbon footprint. change the way we approach our they are a social enterprise, to a greener and cleaner place.

42 43 Words: Max Schwerdtfeger Words: David Cross

Image: Human After All Image: Jake Haynes

The power Choosing of reason the future

A new magazine offers Should a university join creative solutions to the global movement to global problems divest from fossil fuels?

Weapons of Reason is a magazine pressure from within to allow The scientific evidence on cli- sil fuels, and the creation of whose purpose is to understand the benefits of sudden economic mate change gives us two compel- $50 billion in green bonds. In the worldʼs problems and articu- growth to be used in a more eco- ling reasons to join the movement May, Stanford University commit- late answers. Over eight issues, logical way. To do so will un- ot divest. We have an ethical ted to divest coal from its $18.7 it aims to use the creativity of doubtedly take time; China still obligation to do what is right: billion endowment fund. In June its contributors to explore eight builds factories to supplement we should pass on the planet to the British Medical Association key interconnected problems fac- the slowdown of its unprecedent- the future as good as, or better recognized the catastrophic con- ing the planet. It is the brain- ed industrial growth and Putin’s than we found it. sequences for health of climate child of Danny Miller, the found- Russia will be difficult to be change, and voted to transfer er of Little White Lies magazine, persuaded from the logic that This obligation applies to every their investments from fossil fu- and is designed to involve as global warming ultimately means citizen of the world, in propor- els to renewable energy. many people as possible in creat- the population will have to spend tion to the benefit they have had ing solutions. less money on thick woolly hats. from fossil fuels. A university ** is made and sustained with wealth Many of the challenges have po- In the West, the rhetoric regard- indirectly derived from fossil In July, the World Council of litical and social origins. The ing climate change is often aimed fuels. By participating in uni- Churches endorsed divestment. In world is growing and resources towards its effect on the world’s versity life, we make a positive September, the Rockefeller Foun- are running low; the certainties wildlife. The hope is that that choice to learn together to shape dation committed to divest their of previous generations have been the connection Danny Miller talks the world of ideas, materials and vast wealth and Oxford became undermined. of will spread across the world actions. Moreover, the University Britain’s first city council to as the global population grows of the Arts London is a creative divest. In October Glasgow Uni- New sources of oil are becoming and nations become more interde- organisation and our access to versity became the first academic more sought after. One of those pendent. If and when that hap- the cultural wealth of the past institution in Europe to divest. areas, the Arctic, is the sub- order to find solutions and dis- sive effect on tackling climate pens, it will be because we as a and present gives us a special ject of Weapons of Reasonsʼ first seminate them widely. change before it’s too late? people will have made big changes ethical obligation to the future. It’s time to divest from fossil issue. There are believed to be to the way we live and how our fuel. But to end fuel poverty, 160 billion barrels worth of oil “For me the greatest problem “I think we just have to teach world works. ** and escape the trap of corporate in the Arctic Ocean. That could isnʼt any one issue - itʼs the people - to make them care - and wind farms, bio fuels, and nucle- be as much as 30% of the worldʼs communication of any given prob- by any means we can. A lot of ** We also have a prudential ob- ar plants, we must reclaim ener- untapped oil reserves, and that lem. The challenge is connecting people talk about climate change ligation to do what is good for gy and power together. By acting two of the most powerful nations individuals with important infor- with their friends at work, or A significant part of that is ourselves. On the assumption that collectively through our institu- on Earth, America and Russia, mation that they might not oth- at home with their families, but finding ways to sustain our way what is good for our institution tions, we could support finance have coastlines within the Arctic erwise be interested in. We can perhaps they do so without a sol- of life for the long term through is good for us, a team of peo- for energy that is not only re- Circle is a worry for some. use our editorial, design, illus- id grounding in exactly what the sustainable energy. The tradi- ple is entrusted to handle the newable, but also decentralized, trative and other creative skills issues are, where they stem from, tional and limited energies, such university’s finances, making diversified, and democratic. ** to find new ways to communicate and where theyʼre going.” as coal, oil and gas, are not trade-offs between short-term and these problems.” enough to keep us all warm and long-term risk and security. The The global movement to divest However, that is not a view ** fed. Is it realistic to expect President of the World Bank ar- from fossil fuels is benefitting shared by Danny Miller, who has In the past generation there has wholescale shifts in how the gued for tackling climate change from a rare convergence between seen in his work for the maga- been a distinct decline in how Can popular culture be used more world sustains itself? through divestment, saying that ethical and prudential obliga- zineʼs first issue that the Arc- far the public trust their polit- effectively in making those cur- financiers must, “rethink what tion. Ecological, economic and tic is a place for hope. ical leaders. Anger about a lack rently disinterested care, and “Absolutely,” according to Dan- fiduciary responsibility means in er examines how ideology forms trial levels: “Scientists esti- cultural change are entering into “Everything weʼve learned about of genuine representation in how informing the others who do care ny Miller and the very fact that this changing world. It’s sim- ‘reality’, or what is possible mate that humans can pour rough- a chain reaction: climate dam- the Arctic during our time spent we are governed, coupled with but still lack the “solid ground- doing so is so important is what ple self-interest. Every company, to think and know, and therefore ly 565 more gigatons of carbon age which seemed a distant fu- researching our first issue of the economic crisis of 2008, has ing” to make a difference? Yes, gives him and his colleagues con- investor, and bank that screens to do and be. To live with the dioxide into the atmosphere by ture risk is here and now; fossil Weapons of Reason suggests that meant traditional politics has according to Danny Miller. fidence. new and existing investments for contradictions of capitalism we midcentury and still have some fuels are rapidly becoming toxic it is not likely to become an haemorrhaged support. “Apathy needs combatting with climate risk is simply being misrecognize ethical principles reasonable hope of staying below assets. area of dispute. Rather, itʼs powerful, scalable communica- “The worldʼs population is grow- pragmatic.” Why did he appeal to as personal values, and internal- two degrees. (‘Reasonable’, in actually an area of great inter- “Politically, there is a growing tions. A great book or a film ing - its middle classes are pragmatism rather than principle? ize doubt, anxiety or guilt; in this case, means four chances in Ideological and psychological national co-operation - especial- lack of faith in leadership which (such as An Inconvenient Truth) - swelling, and they need energy Perhaps because the financial public we feel obliged to keep five, or somewhat worse odds than struggles are played out through ly considering that its land-mass is, it seems to me, causing more anything that can really connect to sustain nearly every aspect system is a value system: self calm and carry on. People tend to playing Russian roulette with a the pursuit of self-interest, is comprised of eight countries people to become more vocal about with people emotionally and spur of their lifestyles. Until suit- interest is interpreted as fi- respond to issues according to six-shooter.)” Obliterating the and through acts of solidarity, who are thousands of miles away increasing numbers of issues. them into action.” able alternative energy sourc- nancial advantage, materials are how they are framed, in terms of distinction between ethical and compassion and kindness. Whether from each other, across a vast People are getting noisier and es are found oil, coal and gas commodities, and ecosystems are competition, co-operation, threat prudential obligation, McKibben we go with the flow, or show some ocean. The Arcticʼs resources more articulate about the things Making that connection, either will be extracted and they will services, because nature is seen or opportunity. frames fossil fuel dependency as love, our prudential and ethical will be developed - there can be they care about, and climate emotionally or otherwise, is be utilised. Whatʼs realistic is as a resource. a suicidal gamble. obligations interact with diver- no doubt - but if countries can change is a huge part of that.” critical. Despite the sceptics us learning to use these energy Reason might suggest that only a gent belief systems. work together to ensure that this and those who feel that green sources more efficiently and more Such a worldview may seem practi- positive message elicits a posi- But in 2012, over 2000 people happens responsibly and safely, ** policies act against their person responsibly.” cal and realistic, but it splits tive response, but could a con- joined him and 350.org in Seat- One such belief system pictures then dispute seems unlikely.” interests, there remains a gen- what we believe should happen, tradiction between an issue and tle to kick off the Fossil Free us as competing individuals in The role of Weapons of Reason and eral emphasis on the importance The potential for change is un- from what we accept could happen. its frame produce an ‘ethical divestment campaign. In 2013, a world of scarcity amd threat Danny Miller’s belief in the others will therefore become more defeating climate change. doubtedly there. Making as many I felt this in 2007, when George image’? Bill McKibben illustrates the student organisation People in which power dominates, money world’s ability to co-oper- important; to ensure the apathy people care and subsequently Monbiot’s article, Leave it in the conflict between the amount & Planet teamed up with 350.org is the primary measure of val- ate goes beyond the realms of towards politics does not seep The emerging economic powers in act on their care is the biggest the Ground showed that govern- of carbon held by fossil fuel to make Fossil Free the fast- ue, and culture is separate from geo-politics. The need to do more through to political issues and the world have developed an aspi- challenge of all, but through ment policy to increase fossil companies, and the amount that est growing divestment movement nature. Another says we live best is part of the reason why Weap- their solutions. How does one rational and well informed middle Weapons of Reason Danny Miller is fuel production contradicts its can be burned, while limiting the in history. In January 2014, as social beings: our greatest ons of Reason was founded in the prevent an erosion of trust in class; as a result there is hope helping to give us the best pos- policy to reduce climate change. rise in global temperature to two the President of the World Bank successes and failures are not first place- to communicate in those in charge having a corro- that they will come under more sible chance. In Capitalist Realism Mark Fish- degrees Celsius above pre-indus- called for divestment from fos- individual but collective.

44 45 REVIEWS

Film App Documentaries

Some classic Hollywood takes on Living ethically can be exhausting Hard-hitting investigative environmental issues work, so why not let your phone reports into the devastation of show you how to do it? a beautiful nation park, and the devastation of the world itself.

Erin Brockovich Noah Interstellar GoodGuide Virunga Disruption

Stephen Soderbergh is known for films One wouldn’t expect to find that many Christopher Nolanʼs cerebral block- I know it’s no Flappy Bird, nor Face- Congoʼs Virunga National Park is one Disruption is not just a documentary such as the Ocean’s Eleven trilogy, references to the scientific notion buster Interstellar entangles viewers book and Twitter but if you’re looking of the most beautiful places in the to raise awareness of climate change Solaris and Che. But one of Soder- of man-made climate change in a Bib- in an emotional voyage of choosing be- for a simple way to change your life- world, filled with incredible vistas, and our ignorance to it, it’s also bergh’s best has to be Erin Brockovich lical film from Hollywood, but Dar- tween duty to family and to mankind. style to a greener one then GreenGuide luscious landscapes and a dwindling there to get you off your butt and go (2000) starring Julia Roberts, Albert ren Aronofsky’s Noah is all about the is your guide to finding products number of the planetʼs last mountain and put pressure on governments. It Finney and Aaron Eckhart. self-destructive power of hubris. Nolan’s biggest project to date, In- which are healthy, green and socially gorillas. But Netflixʼs Oscar-nominat- wants you to so angry that you want to terstellar stars Matthew McConaughey, responsible. The app has given ratings ed 2014 movie Virunga is not a nature make that change yourself. That is one It scooped numerous awards for Julia The Black Swan director reinterprets Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain and to its 20,000 products on the guide, documentary about wildlife in the hell of an aim in this fickle society. Roberts’ portrayal of an environmental the story of the great flood to be Michael Caine in a whirlwind of space on a scale from 0-10 for their health, park, instead focusing on the intense activist in a multimillion dollar bat- about God’s anger at a human race that exploration, emotion and trauma. environmental and social impact. geopolitical events that converge on Disruption tells the story of climate tle with Pacific Gas and Electric over ravishes the Earth for its riches, the reserve. change, calling it is the greatest the contamination of drinking water. eats meat and burns everything around Matthew McConaughey’s character Coop- The products come from a variety of crisis mankind has ever faced. Di- to fuel its selfish desires. God’s er, a former test pilot and engineer, categories such as pet food, hair- This is not a story about nature in rectors of Disruption, Kelly Nyks and Upon the discovery of a massive cover response is to raise sea levels. The is like a fish out of water on a dying care and beauty to household goods the same vein as the BBCʼs Planet Jared P. Scott say: “We could not im- up that threatens the lives of com- film is as heavy with metaphors as the Earth, which favours farmers due to and food. It’s is useful if you are Earth. This is a story about blood, agine a more important story than the munity members, Brockovich leads the sky is with pollutants. a shortage of food and water, forcing pre-planning your shop or items you oil and money. climate crisis and the movement fight- community in a fight for justice. Cooper into agriculture. may want to buy. You can search for ing to meet it.” While the film is far removed from the a particular product you want to use Director Orlando von Einsiedel opens Erin Brockovich is one of Roberts’ original scripture, it can still feel When his former employers at NASA to see how good it is, or browse the the film by showing the struggle be- The documentary also features behind- best performances, scooping up Best preachy. But this isn’t the word of present him the opportunity to trav- guide’s various categories. For those tween the few park rangers and the the-scenes footage of the organisation Actress awards with the Golden Globe, God, rather a message about humanity’s el into another galaxy in search for who do not like to plan, the guide numerous poachers, drawing you into of The People’s Climate March - the The Academy, Screen Actors’ Guild place in the world, its responsibility another home for mankind, Cooper must comes with the ability to scan the the lives of those willing to put largest climate rally in history. It Award and BAFTA in 2000. It’s superior to life and the environment. decide between his ambition to travel barcode of the item you’re looking at everything on the line for their park. took place two weeks after the movie even than her performances in Notting into space or stay with his family. and bring it up on your screen with But soon things get even worse. launched. Of course this was a calcu- Hill and Runaway Bride (1999), both Unfortunately, this message can some- all its scientific facts and figures. lated move: the movie was there to add top grossing films. times feel forced and at the expense One of the most exhilarating moments How clever. Despite Virunga being a World Heritage momentum to the movement. of the narrative, made worse by the is when the ship accelerates into a Site, corporations are interested in The film combines a great combination fact that the movie is far too long. wormhole, a doorway into another gal- The guide doesn’t actually have any mining for oil in the park. The docu- Speakers such as James Hensen, Bill of humour and charming character on At times, it is self-indulgent and axy. The cinematography beautifully official reviews on the app store, mentary paints a picture of the ruth- McKibben, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, Roberts’ behalf. Brockovich definite- rambling, a shame as much of the film illustrates the contrast between a dy- which left me slightly skeptical to less pursuit of wealth at the expense amongst others, give us the science ly has a feminist edge to it, with the is better than most blockbusters. ing Earth and the infinity of space. begin with. However it is a well de- of the environment. behind the terrifying tipping points common American underdog trope, which signed and good-looking app, which is we are threatening to trigger. They often can appear patronising - but Perhaps the oddest part of Noah is its Although the cast deliver brilliant quite a surprise as most of the green The Belgian warden of the park, Prince also tell us exactly what we need to harmonises perfectly with Roberts’ ʻWatchers’, fallen angels covered in and believable performances, space apps I have been looking at are pretty Emmanuel de Merode, risks everything do to adjust our behaviour towards charm and Soderbergh’s direction. The cooled lava that look strangely like as a whole has to be one of the best ugly, and no one likes an ugly app. It for Virunga, along with his right hand being green, so as to prevent the in- film features a cameo from the real stop-motion stone age Transformers. In characters. The crew’s excitement and is also easy to use and actually quite man, Rodrigue, an ex-child soldier. creasing number of natural disasters. Erin Brockovich, playing a waitress. fact, they are so bizarre that Para- wonder is slowly replaced with the useful, the products it rates are pop- mount endeavoured to limit the pub- urgency of the mission; finding a new ular and easy to find in your local Yet, almost unimaginably, things take The main feeling was one of urgency. Although it’s been almost 15 years licity behind them before the film’s sustainable planet for mankind. shops. a turn for the worse when Virunga Park You cannot deny that Disruption does since its release, Erin Brockovich release. Their addition, like much in What’s poignant are the anecdotes from is caught in the middle of another what it aims to do, it makes you want is still a pleasure to watch despite the film, is strange and confusing. the people of Earth, talking about the It’s not easy to seek out healthy, Congo civil war as M23 rebels sweep in to get involved. its rather overused themes. It’s easy slow degradation of their home. green and socially responsible prod- and take over the region. to watch and the strive for justice But that’s what makes Noah so special: ucts on your own, especially without Disruption was produced and directed is heartwarming, and would still be so much of it is odd and unique. Sure, Interstellar is a melange of scien- any prior knowledge of the green mar- Virunga is a heartbreakingly trag- by the same team that produced Do the an interesting film even if it wasn’t a lot of this weirdness misses the tific theory, soliloquies on love and ket. But this app makes it a lot eas- ic look at how Congo is still reeling Math, a 2013 film documenting McKib- based on a true story. mark or just distracts, but it’s still plenty of drama to keep your eyes ier and gives insight into how every from centuries of western exploita- benʼs fight against the fossil fuel refreshing to see any attempt at crea- glued for its 169 minutes. To some it day products we might be using, actu- tion, in a breathtaking film that industry. That’s also another great Erin Brockovich is now available tivity in a film with a budget over a may be a hard to swallow, but it is a ally affect us and the world in which switches between nature, war and in- documentary that you should go and on Netflix. hundred million dollars. fantastic environmental, sci-fi dream. we are living. vestigative documentary deftly. watch, but right now, watch Disruption

Words: Ria Sajit Words: Sebastian Moss Words: Ria Sajit Words: Danielle Agtani Words: Sebastian Moss Words: Danielle Agtani

46 47 EVENTS Words: Sarah Temple and Tara Hanrahan Image: Ana Escobar

Green Week happenings

How you can get involved in environmental events

This special edition of Artefact going to witness them but also demonstrates that connecting with taking part when invited to do nature and exploring the roots so. By their very nature, they that sustain and explain our are anti-authoritarian, anarchic world, is an exciting opportuni- and often downright dangerous. ty to access an incredible source With the museum project, I hope of information, inspiration and to highlight that our Folklore innovation. It reminds us too, traditions are just as alive and that if we become strangers to relevant to people today, as they our natural environment, we will were hundreds of years ago. Times be unprepared for the challenges change and the meaning may not of our future. be the same, but the music and the customs go on with new rele- Nature, like all creative organi- vance.” zations and individuals must con- tinue to be adaptive and discon- LOBBYING ON DIVESTMENT certingly ‘intelligent’. Becoming Global Divestment Day falls on a ‘student’ of the natural world Friday 13th February and the rather than a conqueror, or a last day of Green Week. Students coloniser, is an exciting (and may not often feel very power- essential) professional and per- ful but UK students are begin- sonal approach to adopt in city and campaigns, often taking film Morris Dancing and Folk Festival ning to lobby their Universities life. crews with them. Stephen Cor- There will be a morris danc- to withdraw endowment funds from ry, Director of Survival talked ing performance by the Belles fossil fuels, which puts them at Activities during Green Week 2015 at LCC last year about the very of London City at LCC on Monday the cutting edge of Climate ac- at the London College of Commu- same thing: the first ever aerial 9th February at 4:15 before the tion. Divestment is the ethical nication will unpick this year’s footage of one of the World’s opening of ‘Figures of Folk’ in issue of our time, as apartied theme of ‘Natural Capital’. We last uncontacted Amazon tribes the PARCspace, an exhibition that and the Vietnam War once were to will investigate what an amaz- (narrated by Gilliam Anderson) runs until 30th April. earlier generations. Students ing resource Nature is to us, to and the unrivalled impression it in city Universities could begin business, to society as a whole, had left on audiences in 2011. Simon Costin, Director of the to affect the natural balance of and one that we often take for Destruction of rainforests in the Museum of British Folklore, who the World. Peopleandplanet.org, granted. We will explore ways wildest of natural habitats came curated the show, is passion- a network of 15,000 UK students that we can encounter nature more into sharp focus as city dwell- ate about the history of Eng- are credited with putting “cli- readily in an urban environment ers reflected on their individual lish folklore and the traditions mate change on the desk of every and the benefits of those encoun- responsibility. of the many people whose lives vice-chancellor.” UAL Profes- ters. We inquire how designers, were dominated by the sea or the sor Lucy Orta, David Buckland of filmmakers, sound artists, jour- ACCESS THROUGH TOOLS agricultural yearly cycle. Simon Cape Farewell and Daniele Paf- nalists and photographers are Individual empowerment and per- firmly believes that these folk ford of 350.org are contributing responding to the issue of ‘going sonal responsibility is explored rites and rituals have much to to events at LCC on Friday 13th back to nature’ as an act of sur- from a different perspective by offer us in modern life, espe- February. vival and sustenance. the ‘Access through Tools Festi- cially as the seasons tend to val’ to be held at LCC in April blend and lose their distinctive- Perhaps creative action does GREENPEACE FILM 2015. This special edition of Ar- ness from the perspective of a have the power to change how we Jerry Rothwell’s new film ‘How to tefact pays tribute to visionary city. All modern Festivals have live our lives? It is very pos- change the World’, which opens American Stewart Brand, author of ancient roots. Simon reflects: sible that designers, artists, the World Documentary programme the Whole Earth Catalog, an Open ‘My parents were antique dealers photographers and filmmakers can at Sundance Film Festival 2015 is source, encyclopedic reference not Morris Dancers, but they both lead the way through promotion of full of archive footage of daring point for counter-culture living, have a great love of the British the circular economy, the value actions which are both inspiring making and self-dependency. countryside and particularly my of nature, material alchemy and and shockingly honest about the Mother who was evacuated to Devon adaptive behaviors. dangers of environmental activ- LONDON WALKS during the war. As children we ism. Jerry Rothwell will be at Guerrilla Geographer Daniel Ra- would often spend trips explor- Green Week is an extra-curricu- LCC on Wednesday 11th February at ven-Ellison is leading two walks ing the English Countryside. My lar opportunity for LCC/UAL staff 5:00 to discuss the value of his on Tuesday and Wednesday (10th parents had a copy of ‘Folklore, and students to explore ethics film. There is an image from the & 11th February) of Green Week, Myths and Legends of Britain, and responsibility in relation to film on the front cover of this traversing London, (one of the published by the Readers Digest their discipline, as well as a edition which provides a wonder- greenest cities in the world) in the mid-sixties. Inside its platform to showcase current good ful example of how Bob Hunter, from North to South and from black, embossed covers, was a practice. Greenpeace’s first President, East to West, by public bridle rich and magical world of Stone understood how to use the pow- paths, as part of his campaign Circles, Witches, Giants, Haunted Events take place at London Col- er of the media for environmen- to make London the first city Houses and Seasonal Customs. In lege of Communication, Elephant & tal campaigning. In this heroic in the world to become a natural many ways it engendered my life- Castle, London SE1 6SB image, one of many of its kind, resource. ‘Reimagine London’, on long interest in the folklore Greenpeace exposed the tireless 24th February at the Southbank traditions of these Islands. Over For more information on Green work that they undertook through- Centre, ask Boris Johnson ‘What the years I’ve become increas- Week 2015 events: out the 70’s on their anti-whal- if we made London a National ingly involved with the coun- www.arts.ac.uk/lcc/inside-lcc/ ing and anti-seal-cull missions Park?” try customs themselves, not only greenweek/

48 49 LAST WORD Words: Imthiar Khan Image: Oswin Tickler

Green Spaces

In our cities, we need to find room to breathe

I often, as I suppose many of Blue Dome has three aims: us do, wander through our cit- • Reduce waste and redirect it ies feeling a gut wrenching sense towards composting where pos- of suffocation, oppressed by the sible. constant marring greyness number- • Enable individuals and groups ing well beyond the fifty shades. to grow their own food wherev- Brilliant colours don’t seem er possible. to come alive until the grace • Make even the most difficult of evening bears down upon us. of urban areas greener. Suddenly we are struck by the strobic hypnotism of the adverts Kings Cross St. Pancras is home and shops displaying all that we to one such skip farm. Yes – you supposedly wish we could possess. read right- skips that would usu- ally contain waste rubble from There is an urgent need to culti- construction sites are used to vate the few spaces of pure life grow wholesome organic food. Not that we have left in our cities. only feeding locals but also in- Nurturing not only the greenery viting youngsters to learn about but also the hopes of future gen- the planting process. erations. Global Generations mission is to; I am inspired by the example of “connect people to each other the New York Restoration Project and the natural world by creating works closely with NYC Parks in hands on and reflective opportu- just this framework and is on nities.” course to plant a million trees in five boroughs this year. Other such projects that Blue Dome have worked on are on roof- This is an example of communities tops of a restaurant, an office, and corporations coming together a school and even a car park. to provide the citizens of one of Clearly there is an appetite for the world’s largest urban popula- this kind of movement. tions with “beautiful, high-qual- The true answer lays in dedicat- owed by the fact that we are ity public space within ready If we worked side by side with ing your time. Planting a tree or causing the world to disinte- walking distance of their homes.” one another, then the barriers growing your own herbs in your grate. In my opinion, there is The scheme includes fifty-two that build distrust and contempt kitchen are relatively small only one party that is going in gardens and parks that are main- in our polarised cliques could steps we as individuals can take. the right direction. tained funded by companies such be broken and replaced by free It is a money saver, looks pretty as Toyota and individuals who can spirited hope and oneness with and is spiritually satisfying. In Brighton there is an increased go on to the website and make one the earth. Helping a friend who has an al- threat of home building taking off donations. lotment space is a lovely way to over the spaces needed for the Committed individuals should spend a weekend. Ending with a developments that charities and The impact is beneficial on eco- pressurise their councils to tasty meal with friends that are individuals need to create commu- nomic, health, social and envi- reach out to supermarkets, banks for life. Nothing says friendship nal gardens. ronmental fronts. An emphasis on and other large-scale buyers of like growing spinach together or volunteering and community cohe- land in our cities. These corpo- munching on self-grown salad. Thankfully the National Lottery sion is a must for projects such rations have a responsibility to has pledged £4 million towards as 1milliontreesNYC to succeed. give back to our communities as Alternatively, you can contact regeneration of Stanmer Park- one With proper planning, techniques we have a responsibility to look one of the organisations men- of seven historic sites being and methodology it wouldn’t cost out for those most vulnerable on tioned, or even start your own given a total of £20.6 million. any more than the country spends our streets. initiative, and volunteer. Really “It’s become clearer that parks already does to deal with home- all it takes is the motivation to are facing an uncertain future”, lessness. Having said this, we cannot lay plant trees and enjoy one anoth- said Historic Lottery Fund chief such a high burden of respon- er’s company. executive Carole Souter. The spaces I talk of can be found sibility on the individuals and all over cities across the UK, small businesses- although this The methodology is available. The Write to your MP. Help us save if you look hard enough. They are is the key- the door can only be technology exists. So why aren’t green spaces across the country. either publicly owned and under- opened by the large corporations. we interested? Is it not cool or Get outside this spring. Plant a staffed or privately owned and Our friends over the pond have interesting enough? Is our gen- tree somewhere. Please. enclosed. What do both types of shown us a pathway. eration too scared to get their spaces have in common? They are hands dirty? nyrp.org/about neglected and wasted. So what can we do to assist? How bluedomesynergies.co.uk/ can we get involved? Money is This is the year of a general what-we-do.htm Global Generations is an or- helpful. You can support the or- election. Questions of debates globalgeneration.org.uk/ ganisation that has worked with ganisations I have mentioned on and UKIPology, the movement of experts such as Paul Richards of their websites. NYRP will give European politics shifting right- New York Restoration Project! You Blue Dome Synergies to create you a certificate if you donate wards fear of terrorism and media can download our 2014 press pack urban farms. over $100. freedom should all be overshad- here: bit.ly/1ycLwxx

50 51 Could do with getting it res- canned at higher resolution if possible. current file may be too fuzzy at this size.