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told to use the service phone to call the debit card department who went on to reveal that some wise crack in PERU had withdrawn £264?!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?

Gin Lady Re-Launches!

This week the Gin Lady has re-launched its website! This is especially exciting for me as my Mike Hillard story features on the Eco-friendly, online magazine's brand new homepage!

Fairtrade Fortnight

Fairtrade Fortnight kicks off on Sunday 22nd with a launch event at the Southbank! This year will be bananas..! Check out the website to find out why..

http://www.fairtrade.org.uk/get_involved/fairtrade_fortnight/fairtrade_fortnight_2009/default.aspx

Calm Amidst the Storm

In the midst of an economic downturn, it's no surprise that global warming has been put on the back burner. Despite this, there have been some great developments in sustainable design.
Meet Mike Hillard, a 64-year old pioneering environmental architect who has recently built his very own sustainable dream house. Aptly named Tranquillity, Hillard designed the whole building by himself and even helped build it. Located in Stroud, Gloucestershire Tranquillity is surrounded by two acres of countryside; Hillard claims that it's the most sustainable house in the world.
“It's hugely important to live in a sustainable house,” he states. “In order to minimize the climate impact we need to get to zero carbon.”
Hillard has high hopes that his groundbreaking design will create a domino affect in sustainable living and thinks by 2012 the UK will accept this way of living is mandatory. “I honestly expect it will happen within 3 years and if the climate reality hasn't reached the public domain by then the world will be in crisis that will probably be irrecoverable.” Hillard believes the government should be partially blamed for the public's lack of awareness towards global warming “It is all pseudo action - note the airport expansions and the intended approval of nuclear. I have a signed letter from Government advising they do not know the relative costs of generating electricity from the alternative energy sources.”
It's fair to say the government must take responsibility for their actions (or lack there of), especially following their lies surrounding a supposed 21.7% cut in carbon emissions. So without the right leadership or a good example to follow, what will it take for the public to really start to care? “Understanding the truth - the reality, which some of us are working to give them.” Hillard believes there are too many lies and contradictions floating around in the media to know what's right and what's wrong. We should be focusing on educating those who don't understand the damaging effects of global warming and trying to persuade the non-believers. Schools should be teaching children about how they can help their future, Hillard suggests it should be as important a subject as Maths. “I will push for it being a sustained subject right through all curriculums. Furthermore, as children are more computer literate they will be able to push the adults in any household”.
So is education and leading by example the answer that will turn the UK into a sustainable living frenzy? Hillard certainly aims to find out and he's opened his house to the public in an attempt to try and show viewers what the house of the future will look like, “one weekend, I had over 300 visitors. I am commissioned to write a book on what can be done to the existing housing stock.” What Hillard really wants you to know is how easy it is to change your house to become better at saving energy and even saving money. Hillard says 'It can be shown that by improving performance, many other systems can be reduced in price and by careful structural design many costs can be minimized. Arguing the financial justification is also not difficult, but does include 'subsequent' savings, as in reduced detergents and cleaners by using soft water. Adding the saving of buying bottled water (as rainwater is about as pure as you can get) further improves the financial performance.”
A major set back in terms of the public's resistance to global warming is a misleading belief that being eco-friendly is expensive. “All my solutions are totally cost effective, or they are not solutions I offer and argue for. The media maintain this 'expensive' view especially with such fundamentally bad programmes as 'It Isn't Easy Being Green'." I'll admit that buying organic products is obviously going to cost more than non-organic, but essentially sustainability shouldn't cost anything. I think the media have spun this whole story about how expensive and time-consuming caring for environment is as an excuse for themselves and anyone else who doesn't care. On the flip side of the media, Hillard has found that two governments suggest we kill two birds with one stone, “Interestingly both the US and UK are now proposing to environmentally spend our way out of the economic depression! For more than a decade I have tried to push for us to develop a zero carbon Britain, and had we done it, by now we would have a massive export market and be leading the world.”
What I've learned from Mike Hillard is that nothing's too difficult if you put your mind (and green fingers) to it. He's an inspiring individual who's made me personally realise it IS that easy being green, I'll look forward to reading his tell-all book about Tranquillity. So what's the future got in store for the eco-warrior? “My time will be spent singularly trying to help the world.” Not much then!

The Obama Future!

This week I was at the Royal Society of Arts (RSA) listening to author and historian David Reynolds debate with Bonnie Greer (featured left), playwright and politics whiz. The topic was "The Obama Future - in light of the past" and began with a half hour presentation from Reynolds offering us a quick timeline of previous presidents. After mentioning some of the most memorable inaugural moments of all time ("Ask not what your country can do for you -ask what you can do for your country" John F. Kennedy 1961) he went on to question if Obama's speech was a missed opportunity. Considering this was the inauguration of America's first black president, Reynolds felt that Obama's message should have been stronger, but after a few points were made the author decided that this year, the man was the message. Greer's input was to ask "When did we all become Americans?" which is a great question considering the endless UK coverage of US politics. I'll be the first to admit I feel more inclined to listen to what Obama has to say about his new environmental agenda over Brown and his lies over the supposed 21.7 per cent decrease of carbon emissions since 1990. Anyway, back to the talk. A debate then began with several audience members questioning how long it will be before some kind of backlash begins. Throughout the presidential campaigns, every newspaper seemed to back Obama and sometimes was even perceived as a "saviour" by extremists, but how will he live up to these unrealistic expectations? Reynolds believes that as long as the new president has the support around him in the White House that he needs, there shouldn't be a backlash, but I fear there could be some repercussions as no one likes a public downfall more than the media. One of the best comments of the evening came from an American RSA fellow who blasted any negativity out the door with a compelling point about how brilliant Obama has been so far, "he was dancing til 1.30 in the morning the night of this inauguration ball and up at 8 am the next day shutting down Guantanamo Bay... I think he's on the case!" So will he get the credit he deserves, or will he be the next target for the press to tear apart? We'll have to wait and see.

Do Something Funny For Money

This morning I attended the launch for Red Nose Day 2009 in Leicester Square! The event which was held at the Empire Theatre started at 9am and kicked off with an hour long photo call with celebs braving the cold and milling around the red carpet, taking interviews and posing in their silly red noses. In attendance was TV favourite Steve Jones, girl band The Saturdays and comedienne J0 Brand (wearing a full red nose body suit!), to name a few. By ten o clock we were ushered inside to watch a short screening of what this year’s campaigns and celebrities had in store for us.
First up was Fearne Cotton who gave us a rather heart felt speech about her trip to Uganda before Christmas. Malaria is the biggest killer in the East Africa and Fearne explained how a simple malaria net can save a whole family from the disease. Other celebrities who briefly addressed the audience was Gavin and Stacey favourite Ruth Jones who revealed she’d taken part in one of the two official singles for Comic Relief entitled ‘Barry Islands In The Stream’ which features backing vocals (!) from Tom Jones and Robin Gibb, the other being The Saturdays take on Depeche Modes ‘Just Can’t Get Enough’. Claudia Winkleman then proceeded to get teary eyed before introducing a video which showed us how Comic Relief cash is helping those in Africa and the UK, and the morning finished with Rob Brydon encouraging us all to go out and big up RND 09! The strongest message throughout the presentation was how tough and depressing this year will be, but the good news is a fiver can make a difference to a small village in Africa so there are no excuses! So go on, as the brilliant tag line says - Do Something Funny For Money!

Published News!

I had a great start to the New Year as I my first piece of work has been published for Societas! The feature went into Medium Magazine earlier this month! Check it out..

In 1666 the Great Fire of London hit the country’s capital, blazing fiercely for five days. It destroyed over 13,000 houses making more than100,000 people homeless. In previous years there had been no less than six major warnings that this could, and probably would, happen. Why then did Londoners not take the necessary steps to prevent the catastrophe?
London was weak in 17th Century. The Great Plague was stalking England which gave locals a more immediate problem to worry about. Much like today, there was a hierarchy of needs which left protecting ones environment a low priority. Along with the disease came the lack of resources to act in a preventative fashion. There was no such thing as a fire brigade or even fire insurance so defending yourself was no easy feat.
A logical reason behind the lack of protection towards fire is denial. If no one believed another disaster would strike, there was no reason to prepare. Denying London’s inevitable downfall served as a perfect defence mechanism for the locals at the time, but came at an irreversible cost.
Since the realisation and development of climate change, it has negatively affected our weather patterns, health, sea levels and wildlife. To help comprehend what kind of threat the earth is under, here are six serious warnings that global warming has offered us so far.
In 2005, hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans killing at least 1,836 people and making it the deadliest U.S hurricane since 1928. The flooding in India in 2008 served as second warning that left half a million people stranded and homeless.
Moving away from the UK to a farther destination, we find another warning in the North Pole. Some scientists predict it will be ice-free by the end the year, others suggest the whole of the North Pole will have collapsed by 2050.
Proving it’s not just a few random areas being disturbed and we are dealing with a global problem are the water shortages in Africa and Australia.
From dying humans to dying animals, global warming isn’t just upsetting the weather. From approximately 65 million years ago, there have been six, separate mass extinctions. ‘Contemporary’ is the name of the current extinction and for the first time this one is mostly down to human actions.
A final and more recent warning struck in the form of Hurricane Gustav, hitting Cuba in late August 2008. Gustav caused $15 billion of damage killing 138 people in the U.S and Caribbean.
Six serious warnings which have affected us world-wide yet we still reject the call to action. Why, over 300 years later are we continuing to display similar behavioural patterns when we know what’s around the corner? (Perhaps the reason for the public’s reluctance isn’t just a simple case of laziness.) The parallels between the two disasters go beyond destruction; the actions of those affected in the 17th Century are comparable to those of today. Ignoring the obvious has once again lead to denial. Hiding behind this excuse gives the public a perfect scapegoat (how were we supposed to do anything when we didn’t realise there was a problem? How are we supposed to help when we don’t even believe we’re in trouble?). Whether it’s denying the fact there is a problem or denying the fact itself, we still see a drastic problem in human behaviour.
When it comes to climate change there are a hundred wake-up calls a day around the world. So what will it take for the world’s public to pay attention? Does global warming need its very own Great Fire to trigger a response?
One major outlet that serves us with information, influences our opinionsand even changes our behaviour is the media. Over the last year it’s nosurprise that global warming took a back seat to the state of our economyin terms of coverage and debate. Could this be a reason behind our lack ofsupport towards environment?
According to Roman Krznaric, teacher and writer, the answer to global realisation of climate change lies within empathy. Krznaric believes that if we understand how our actions can negatively affect others across the world, our behaviour should change accordingly.
As individuals we can do a lot to help, but when a country’s government is playing ignorant, it becomes a lot harder to follow by example.
Recent acts of the American Government have demonstrated a ridiculous streak of irony. The US Congress passed a piece of legislation to give public money to banks to stop them from collapsing, yet this is the government that has still not signed the Kyoto Protocol against global warming (though. Under the Obama administration this is looking likely to change.) Sending out mixed messages such as this lead to a confused public; if the government doesn’t care why should we?
The truth is it’s much easier to ignore what’s going on or even choose not to believe, but inevitably this isn’t something that will just go away after a couple of years. The collapse of our environment won’t wait for anyone, and certainly can’t be paid off.
We are not only facing an environmental problem. We face a social re-structure and not enough people are taking responsibility for the damage they are causing planet Earth. It’s not just a problem of 17th century England, but part of human behaviour. Before we can tackle our environmental issues, we need to knock down our social barriers. Thepublic’s resistance towards global warming needs be addressed through such methods as the media, the Internet and our governments. The sooner we stop denying our future, the sooner we can look forward to a clearer conscience.
© Laura Daly