"My biggest wish is that people in the western world could understand what is happening here in Borneo"

This is from an article in the Independent on May 1st 09, the title is a comment from Lone Droscher Neilsen of Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation.

Palm oil plantations and the destruction they are causing are linked to every last consumer who does nothing about changing their shopping habits.

These 3 articles from Friday's Independent paper highlight what is happening and why it must stop:

The Independent: How Britons fuel destruction of the rainforest

The Independent: Lone Droscher-Nielsen: The destruction of the rainforests amounts to orangutan genocide

The Independent: The guilty secrets of palm oil: Are you unwittingly contributing to the devastation of the rain forests?

This is something I posted a few months ago from the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation after I attended their Christmas Event & Art Auction in London.

I was thinking of it because I saw on Michelle Desilets' Facebook (Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation) that they had just taken in a 2 month old Orangutan off the palm oil plantations where his mum had been killed. she has since reported that he is starting to eat and drink, but will need years of care and then somewhere to go back to....

We have become so distant from where our food comes from and how what we do and what we eat has an impact somewhere else. Seems we cant do much for ourselves anymore, and yet in the 1940s during the war everyone got by and 'made do and mend'. We have lost so much and it seems we are about to lose something even more catastrophic...the lungs of our planet and the last of the Orangutans and all sub species in the rainforest.....let's hope that that margarine or eye make up was worth it....

Anne Frank said "How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world."

And from Jane Goodall, who I had the pleasure to meet last year, "Let us remember, always, that we are the consumers. By exercising free choice, by choosing what to buy, what not to buy, we have the power, collectively to change the ethics of the business of industry. We have the potential to exert immense power for good—we each carry it with us, in our purses, cheque books, and credit cards."

I ponder when people cast(e) themselves by what they wear or where they go, or who they hang out with, because when it comes down to it, that's just nonsense, and it's a poor example to set our kids. maybe the tide can turn, because it needs to, and very very soon...

Watch this youtube video and see what we are doing, by being silent and complicit in our weekly shopping:

http://www.savetheorangutan.org.uk/

Jane of Little Satsuma wins title of one of Future 100! Yey!

Well what a lovely award to have. After a great year, raising awareness and taking onboard a national animal charity to our products....we get this!!!!

Little did I think as that crackers 12 year old in 1988 who joined Greenpeace and who stood (and then fainted!) in the drama theatre at school campaigning to stop people using CFCs and stop the whaling in international waters that things would have had turned out like this.....funny the paths we take, and how they lead us to where we were always supposed to be, no matter the diversions we take........

At Striding Out we searched for talented young entrepreneurs aged 18-35 who are demonstrating entrepreneurial flair and innovation in progressing a responsible business venture to celebrate Global Entrepreneurship Week 2008 -17th - 21st November.

Our definition of responsible business, is one which demonstrates a balance between economic, environmental and social goals to achieve ultimate business success. The future of our world is in the hands of individuals who are committed to generating commercial and ethical returns.

"The future of our world is in the hands of individuals who are committed to generating commercial and ethical returns.
Challenging economic times can offer opportunities to question the way we operate as both a business community and a society. Our 'Future 100' young entrepreneurs are changing the face of everyday business and improve commerce's impact on the wider world."

Sydney Cruelty Free Festival 08

Well I haven't put anything on here for ages as I have been caught up with allsorts.

The good news is that the Australian Palm Oil Action Group contacted us to ask for flyers and sample soaps for the annual cruelty free festival in November. In fact I was pleased they even knew we existed!!!!!

Here is what Sydney Time Out said about the event:

http://www.timeoutsydney.com.au

She Suds You - liverpool.com

I chatted to Nicola Mostyn who writes for Liverpool.com
about soaps, the environment, liverpool and all sorts.
the photos were taken at a friend of mine's shop, Landbaby at the Bluecoat.
I thought it came out well and there's been lots of interest since about the soaps and the whole palm oil aspect which is great.
With thousands of American tourists coming in on the Cruiseliner on Wednesday let's hope they go to the Bluecoat and grab some soaps!!!! (:

Somewhere over the....

I saw a rainbow on the way home, a full one, I have never seen one of these before, not only that it was a double rainbow and it was beautiful.

Rising from...well...little ashes

If you had seen Liverpool 10 to 20 years ago you would
not even recognise the place now.
It was on it's knees, written off, down-trodden. There has always been art and culture bubbling away, just hidden away.

I had a cracking conversation with an 81 year old scouser last Friday, he had moved to Buxton 30 years ago and never been back. then that day we met he got in the car and came back home. I told him about what was being built and what had been going on and we had a good chat. I don't know his name but he was a really lovely man.
Since then I have met two more people doing the same and I had good chats with them, them filling me in on some past and me filling them in on some future.

We have endured 4 years of traffic chaos, driving around building sites, late for work most days cos the road layout had changed again. half our city cordoned off behind steel fences. Then Thursday it stopped. I got to work on time and we all got to see part of our new city for the first time. We had to be given maps!!!!! Now its not all about glitzy shops, its about being able to get into the heart of the city without hassle, to bring in thousands of visitors and the cruise ships which are now coming back to the Mersey. Every day on my way to work I watch the little ants in luminous jackets building us a canal, a new museum, a new pier head. And I can't describe how exciting it is. We now have new spaces to sit, chat, eat, converse with strangers.

And aswell we had the launch on Thursday of the UK's first comprehensive exhibition of Klimt, we have a new shopping centre, a new canal, new hotels, a new cruise terminal, people pouring in from Ireland for the weekend. Every Friday walking home I have to navigate the Isle of Man Steam Packet arrivees with their suitcases as they ask directions to here there and everywhere. But it's good to see.

And Mr McCartney is here tonight, and Stella launched her new collection at LIPA today. I find it dead exciting when I thin back to decades ago when my Mum used to post out the Beatles fan mail from Heswall Post Office for Paul's Dad.

And you know I was born in Wirral, I'm not even a real Scouser, but I live in Liverpool now. I left in 1999 as the job prospects were dire. I wanted to come home in 2004 when things were still a bit iffy so I did, more than anything I wanted to be back by the sea.

And all us little companies are starting to see the benefits. bit by bit. Rome wasn't built in a day, and neither was the new Liverpool.

But the buzz in the air is cracking, new jobs, new places, new faces. a real Phoenix from the Flames. If you are not sure what to make of it all, come and have a look and you will not be disappointed, of course everyone loves their home and I am no exception. xx