Oops

Not blogged in almost a year, I am officially rubbish. Final year of uni is upon us and I couldn't be more freaked out at the prospect of finishing in about 2 months! Dissertation is under way and my chosen topic is celebrity endorsement which sounds a lot more glamorous than it is! Turns out there's not that much literature surrounding the subject, but then again I guess that's why I chose it.

Current thoughts about what to do post graduation...moving to Manchester is appealing, although I do want to travel I've made no arrangements as such which makes me wonder if I'm bothered or not? I know I'd always regret it if I never went...so future very much up in the air at the mo, much to Dad's dismay!

Will write again when I need a distraction for my work...probably in the next hour then!

Happiness Reflected in Words

I haven't written in a while. I guess I didn't have anything to say. Since my last post, I have changed jobs and am now working at an amazing communications company called Public Eye. My new placement started just under a month ago, and with my due date back at uni looming in September, time is precious. Essentially, I have to cram a years worth of work and experience into what little time I have left of my year. It's a scary thought, but with the determination I know I have to succeed and the platform I have been missing for so long, I'm hoping I won't have to call this whole year a write off. To say I've learned nothing from my experiences would be an unfair comment. Although I was hoping to learn more about PR in practice, I've actually learned some pretty hard hitting life lessons. Things don't always work out, times are tough, and searching for job to fit my demanding criteria was even tougher! So here we are, job number 3, but will it be a charm? I think so. I sure hope so. From what I've seen so far, I think I could come up with some great opportunities and potentially, a few nifty pieces for my worryingly slow portfolio.

Fraud: Not big OR clever!

Yesterday I noticed some worrying activities going on with my bank account so I went along to Barclays to see what was going on. Shortly after explaining to the lady at the desk that I've got approximately £250 missing from my balance, (and her giving me her "yeah, yeah" eyes) she showed me my statement on the screen. To my shock there had been 3 lots of transactions the sum of £88 that I just could not explain. I was then told to use the service phone to call the debit card department who went on to reveal that some wise crack in PERU had withdrawn £264?! "What???" I heard myself demand! Apparently, according to 'Matt' I must have used a cash machine somewhere in London that had a skimming machine attached to it. So there we go, I've used the machine and now the fraudsters have my ALL details, go on to (somehow) make a copy of my card and off they trot to South America to rinse my account for all its worth! What a joke! So how do you know NOT to use a cash machine that may have been tampered with? I hear you ask. Well it's pretty difficult to tell if you ask me (obviously, or we wouldn't be having this conversation) but for your visual pleasure I've included a photo of a hole in the wall I recommend you stay away from! Despite this nightmare, credit where credit's due (s'cuse the pun) Barclays have been very helpful throughout my whole ordeal and have already dispatched my new card and I'm expecting my dispute papers in 2-3 days so I can claim my stolen money back! So, moral of the story, when withdrawing cash if the machine looks like it's been messed with, don't use it! Equally when you can, try and use cash machines inside banks as they get regular check ups for skimmers. Lesson learned, from now on I'll be even more suspicious of everything and everyone! Trust no-one...

THE GIN LADY GETS SEXY

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE EUROSTAR SAY ‘NON’ TO SEX!

Eurostar, who touts itself as part of a green lifestyle as well asoffering ‘Love Trains’ over Valentines, has reneged on its decision toadvertise on the eco chic online glossy magazine, TheGINlady.com, due toits “inappropriate content”.

The popular Green, Independent & Natural online magazine, The GINLady.com, was set up to showcase a green lifestyle as fun, stylish andsexy to engage a mainstream audience. The GIN Lady, the alter ego of DrNicola Thomas, who’s been blogging on the website since May 2008, says “Wecover fashion, beauty, family life, food and drink, wellbeing, travel andmore, but take a green, ethical angle. We never have, and never will,offer “inappropriate content” such as pornography on our site. I reallydon’t understand why Eurostar has gone back on its decision to advertiseon our site. Eurostar needs to decide, once and for all, whether it wantsto be seen as part of a green lifestyle or not.”

While TheGINLady.com does not hold any lewd content, it does have a Sex &Wellbeing section, featuring non-toxic sex toys, natural aphrodisiacs andeco-friendly love gifts. Nicola, the site’s editor, comments “Promotingthe safe alternatives is crucial for a women’s lifestyle title, not justbecause it’s fun, but because so many adult toys contain toxic substancesthat many feel should be banned.”

Greenpeace, an ardent campaigner to ban the use of harmful substances inadult toys, reports “...the plastics used to construct a wide range of sextoys contain very high concentrations of hazardous phlalates, toxicchemical softeners used in PVC to make it soft and flexible... these arechemicals which do not easily biodegrade and can be dangerous - even insmall amounts.”

Lucy Tanat-Jones, the owner of Organic Pleasures, the first eco eroticboutique, has been a huge success, both online and its hometown Edinburgh.Lucy says “I opened our Organic Pleasures store due to high market demand.There was a lack of sophisticated, sexy, but safe alternatives for womenand couples, instead of the usual sleazy and toxic fare on offer. Ourproducts are considered part of a sustainable, healthy lifestyle. Wesupport what The GIN Lady is doing wholeheartedly.”

Prior to Eurostar’s turnaround decision, a number of travel features hadbeen planned for The GIN Lady’s Out & About section, which covers greentravel, tourism and entertainment. The team wanted to support Eurostar’spositioning as the eco-friendly alternative to flying. Rather thanfeaturing the Eurostar as a simple means to get from A to B, the teamwanted to promote Eurostar as part of the ‘green experience’ and as afabulous way to get to nearby European destinations such as Lille,Brussels and Paris, as well as a gateway to places further afield, such asMarrakesh and Scandinavia.

Nicola believes this decision is at odds with Eurostar’s marketingmessages. Nicola asks “Why is Eurostar suddenly being so prudish? They’verecently promoted their ‘Love Trains’ for Valentines and rightly so.Couples don’t travel to Paris to play Tiddlywinks in their hotel rooms. While they may want to turn a blind eye to the Mile Deep Club, Eurostarshould not turn their back on sexy green lifestyle brands such as The GINLady. The GIN Lady readers are just the sort of people who want to travelby Eurostar, because it’s comfortable, quick and carbon neutral.”

ENDS

Further information, images and interviews with Nicola can be arranged bycalling her on 0208 704 4676/07917 220 090 or emailingnicola@theginlady.com

Notes To Editor: Please find more information regarding Eurostar’s Love trains:http://www.eurostar.com/UK/uk/leisure/about_eurostar/press_release/eurostar_valentines_weekend.jsp

For more information regarding Greenpeace’s sex toy report:http://www.greenpeace.org.uk/blog/toxics/bad-vibrations-we-expose-an-eu-sex-scandal

Organic Pleasures owner Lucy Tanat-Jones has recently been voted 6th MostEligible Woman in Scotland by The Scotsman newspaper in recognition of herrole as a national business woman. Rather than being shunned by the publicand business community, Lucy and her high profile eco erotic business hasbeen welcomed by the Scottish community.

Dr Nicola Thomas, prior to her career in online publishing, was atransdisciplinary research scientist and specialised in green attitudesand behaviours (once upon a time she was a marine biologist). In 2004,Nicola was awarded a PhD in ‘Restoring Ecosystem Health’ from the Schoolof Life Sciences, University of Queensland, Australia. When Nicolareturned home to England, Nicola sought to engage a mass audience, firmlyin the belief that a fun, engaging and sexy format would be the mosteffective means to incentivise a sustainable green lifestyle in the UK andbeyond.

Green commentators have long been urging us to make green lifestyle issueslook and feel ‘sexy’ to attract widespread interest. Experts include BruceStirling, Sut Jhally and John Grant, the author of The Green MarketingManifesto.

The GIN Lady.com was originally accepted on the affiliate advertisingprogram by Eurostar in Summer 2008. Affiliate advertising is not paid foradvertising, instead, the publisher affiliate receives a commission fromsales referred to the advertiser.

Sleeping Naked is Green

Since deciding to up the ante of my blog posts (like, yesterday) I've been reading and browsing for other sustainable writers in hopes of inspiring some continuity in myself. Enter Vanessa from Canada who one day woke up and decided that for a whole year, she'd dedicate her life to being Eco-friendly whilst documenting her escapades on "Green as a Thistle" my new favourite blog. A journalist at the National Post based in Toronto, Vanessa has an amazing flare for exciting writing and I never find it dull to read her green views (unlike some Eco-sites out there). I especially love the "Loving It" and "Regretting It" links which offer some of her thoughts and opinions on her experiences so far like products she's used, troubles she's come across and a bit of an inside on her life being green. The site has thousands of followers and she's recently published a book called Sleeping Naked is Green which I'm so keen to read but can't seem to get my hands on this side of the Atlantic. With her clever balance of witty irony and relevant facts, "Green as a Thistle" is definitely going to be one to watch this year. Well, for me anyway.

Is there any point?

Today I encountered a new perspective on climate change in the form of James Lovelock. I was once again at the RSA listening to the infamously pessimistic scientist talk about his new book and theories surrounding “The Vanishing Face of Gaia”, chaired by Guardian favourite Tim Radford. The lecture read more like an interview with Radford having to prompt the aging Lovelock into focusing on relevant topics. After hearing a brief summary of the (can you believe?) 90 year olds early career and his first job as a lab assistant in Brixton, he went on to tell us about working with US geologists and spoke of their “we can fix this!” approach to most things, calling it the “American way.” Next up was question round from the audience and the discussion was kicked off by front rower Dame Vivienne Westwood who simply asked, “What should we be doing next?” Lovelock answered staying true to his rather extreme theory (which basically states that we’ve done too much damage to reverse the path we’re already on our way down, i.e. we’re screwed either way) saying our worries should lie within the developing world countries, “Africa and India will be where the real trouble is.” The environmentalist went on to explain that there’s very little point in the UK or anyone for that matter trying to lower their carbon footprint as it will do no good for the world, other than make you feel better perhaps. Lovelock believes all our time should be dedicated to the economically challenged parts of the world that will be hit the worst by global warming consequences such as a rise in sea level. Although he acknowledges that we will be affected, predicting that “Britain will become one big city and may attract refugees.” The way I understand it is that Lovelock see’s the West as the problem starter (and should be solver) yet the affects of global warming will be small scale compared to the droughts and famine that will overwhelm Africa. Therefore, almost like some kind of sacrifice, he proposes we help the needier before considering ourselves, but if we can’t even get some people to believe there is a problem to begin with, how will we persuade them to help others?
Perhaps the answer lies in Lovelock’s book, “The Vanishing Face of Gaia”. From what I’ve gathered “Gaia” is a metaphor for the Earth and from reading a few reviews I think the basic gist is that we should stop caring for the environment because the damage we’ve caused is irreversible and start thinking of ways how to protect the human race when disaster strikes. An extremely severe point of view to say the least, so what kind of response is he getting?
There was definitely no Love lost between the Telegraph and the theorist judging by a recent review by a very head strong blogger who ended his rant with “Do not purchase The Vanishing Face of Gaia. Do not read it. Do not tell your friends about it.” So there’s one side of the argument, but what do others think? The Times recent input on the subject was a fairly boring review (if you can call it that) which was missing the rather important element of opinion. The avid fan of fence-sitting went on to explain what the book was about and ended with a “Buy the book” link, so I guess he liked it, or he just did it to be nice. I guess we’ll never know. What do you think of Mr. Lovelock? Barmy or brilliant?

Freebie Fun for Fairtrade Fortnight

This weekend was the launch of Fairtrade Fortnight at the Southbank and on Sunday I went along to have a nosy at what was going on. After a lovely walk down the river, I came across a long row of outdoor tents with lots of people milling about. From children to old folk, the fair seemed to be very popular! The first tent I encountered was called Cycle Challenge and encouraged people to hop on the exercise bike in an attempt to learn how man powers electricity, much like the TV ad. Next door there was a similar situation with a rowing machine and a very determined old lady! My personal favourite feature of the fair had to be the people walking around with trays of free food, great use of grabbing attention. I tried some organic chocolate cake, a fairtrade banana and washed it down with a shot of mango smoothie. Very nice! The most popular tent had to be Ben and Jerry's who were handing out free pots of ice cream to a very long cue of people. Other organisations who were involved were Starbucks, AMT Coffee and the Co-op who were also dishing out freebies. What was great about the day was that it was really appealing to kids, whether they were helping hand out fruit or taking part in the organic egg and spoon race, the message was getting through to them. The two adults prancing about in full body banana suits may have helped, too! What's next for the Fairtrade Fortnight?