Bike week starts today and as I may have mentioned a few times before I love cycling, in fact it is one of my most favourite things in the world. So imagine my delight when I heard about a photography competition aimed at celebrating the diversity of women’s cycling.

In order to promote cycling to ladies in the London borough of Lambeth and to show that cycling can be cool and chic, Lambeth council have decided to organise the bicycle belles competition. There are hundreds of women cycling through and around Lambeth every day and the numbers are increasing. As it is no longer the domain of the lycra clad middle class male, they are looking for images that portray the diversity of women and their bikes. So please send them your photographs of women cycling in and around the borough. More info on how to submit your entries here.

For those of you not living or working in Lambeth like myself there is no need to feel left out. I have discovered a fab website called cyclechic where you can upload photos of yourself cycling and looking glam on their facebook group. So what are you waiting for, the weather is great, get on yer bike and don’t forget to take your camera.

Kate

GreenFinder

Time flies! On March 20th it will officially be the start of spring, thus I thought it best to finally provide you all with a detailed update of my New Year Green Pledges which I first wrote about in the post titled Belated new year greetings and green pledges.

I would like to highlight that I am not like Mary Poppins (practically perfect in every way) so whilst I have worked very hard to fulfil my New Year Green Pledges there are areas in which I could perform better.  However as a vegan and activist, I agree with what Katleen Baum said in her recent GGG post with regards to vegans having to frequently defend themselves as they can be scrutinised and judged almost immediately as people like to try and trip you up to find a weakness or hypocrisy in your beliefs and actions.

Anyhow moving swiftly on please find below an update of my pledges, if you have any questions just ask and if you can offer me any constructive advice / support then please do!

Pledge 1 –  Buy no NEW clothes at all

I am proud to announce that I have not brought any clothes at all! I am however recycling an old chunky scarf by unravelling it and knitting a cardigan.

Pledge 2 – Make my vegan diet at least 80% organic, locally sourced and word free

This pledge got off to a pretty good start but then instead of bananas and tofu, it turned out that during February it was caffeine and dark organic chocolate that was my weakness. However I am back to being super healthy again and practically living off a large weekly organic fruit and veg box containing approximately 80% locally sourced food but with some items such as peppers coming from Spain or Italy and occasional fruit from further afar (but not air freighted).

However I can not live on fruit and veg alone as I would not get all my nutrients, so I have been supplementing my vegan diet with:

Nuts – predominantly:

Almonds (100g of Almonds contain 16.9g protein, 4.2mg iron, 250mg calcium, 20mg vitamin E, 3.1mg zinc and 0.92mg vitamin B2)

Walnuts (100g walnuts contain 10.6g protein and 2.4mg iron)

Almonds and Walnuts can be grown effectively in the UK. In fact through my local veg box scheme I recently purchased a large string bag full of shelled almonds, walnuts and hazelnuts (I am slightly allergic to hazelnuts so passed these onto family and friends)

When I purchase my next home (with the aim of hopefully staying there forever) I would like to plant a nut orchard comprising almonds, walnuts, sweet chestnut and also pine kernels which can be grown in the UK too.

For further information about growing nuts in the UK please click here.

Seeds – predominantly:

Pumpkin seeds (100g pumpkin seeds contain 29g protein, 11.2mg iron and 1144mg phosphorous )

Sunflower seeds (100g sunflower seeds contain 24g protein and 7.1mg iron and 120mg calcium.)

Flax seeds (100g flax seeds contain 18g protein, 255mg calcium, and 644mg phosphorus. Rich in Omega 3)

Again all of these can be grown in the UK, however I don’t think that the seeds I sourced are of the
UK variety. (if anyone knows of a supplier – please let me know)

Beans and Legumes – predominantly:

Lentils: I incorporate dried puy lentils into my cooking at least once a week and whilst they can be grown in the UK (though not guaranteed with success) the lentils that I purchased were of European origin. (Puy lentils are originally from France)

Dried beans are also included in my diet and it is quite easy to get UK sourced beans. You can make a range of interesting and exciting dishes with beans ranging from soups, pate’s, three bean chilli, Mexican wraps etc.

Chickpeas have a major role in my diet as I absolutely love hummus! However in order to reduce packaging I have started to try and make my own from dried chickpeas, organic lemon and locally sourced garlic. Chickpeas are typically imported in from Asian countries however they are also grown commercially in Southern Europe too. However I am going to start reducing my hummus intake as I perhaps have rather a lot.

Grains, cereal etc – predominantly:

Oats (from Scotland), Wheat (from UK), Millet (not sure), Quinoa (Can be grown in Europe)Brown rice (the rice I got from the Co-Op said country of origin Italy – apparently Italy is the leading producer of rice in Europe)

Herbal tea:

Last year I harvested lots of herbs from my garden and when at home I enjoy pots of delicious herbal tea such as thyme, peppermint, rosemary, sage and also nettle (which is high in iron). At work I usually drink lots of tap water and also herbal infusions from teabags.

Pledge update – conclusive remarks

Whilst my diet is 100% vegan, at the moment it’s probably approximately 90% organic and only 60-70% locally sourced and word free. I don’t think that I will be able to have a 100% locally sourced healthy vegan diet until I am able to be more self sufficient and grow my own nuts and legumes.

Pledge 3 – Grow more vegetables, herbs and fruits

This is not convenient at the moment as I am about to begin the process of selling my house thus even if I sowed some vegetable seeds in my garden I may not be there to harvest them. However upon selling my house I will be completely downsizing and going to move from Nottingham to the South of England to live with my fiancé where we will be renting a bedroom from a live in land lady who also has another tenant (4 people in a 3 bed roomed houses is very eco friendly).

In order to achieve my pledge of growing more fruit and veg (and also because I love gardening) I will be putting my name down for an allotment plot as soon as possible.

Pledge 4 – Buy no presents – instead make them

Forgive me for I have sinned. The last two presents I gave were store brought (books and cd’s) as opposed to home made, my excuse – I was too busy studying. I promise to try harder.

Pledge 5 – Cycle instead of getting the bus

I have walked to work on a few occasions (1 hour 20 mins) however I have yet to get my bike out and cycle to work. After Easter I WILL start cycling to work again.

If like me you have been glued to the channel 4 programme ‘The Woman Who Stopped Traffic’ you will be pleased to know that you can now join the campaign and put yourself on the U.K car free map. The map allows you to pledge a weekly car free journey and will work out your carbon saving.

For those of you who have not seen the inspirational Kris Murrin in action, the last in the series can be viewed on Tuesday evening at 9pm. In the final episode Kris will be in Durham encouraging residents to go car free for a day. I’m hoping she has more success here than in Boston and that the simple, sensible idea of everyone going car free for one day every week will catch on and that this wont be the last we hear of this campaign.

Kate

GreenFinder

It is thought that over 80% of holiday makers to Cornwall arrive by car. So when the population of the county swells to five and a half million during the holiday season it is no surprise that the roads simply can’t cope. Going against the norm, I set out to discover if a holiday without the car in this beauty spot of Britain is both practical and, let’s face it, pleasurable.

The mainline railway between London and Penzance serves as the spine of Cornwall’s public transport system. Served both by Virgin Trains and First Great Western, the journey can be epic, long but surprisingly relaxing. Travel by day and enjoy the coastal views between Exeter and Plymouth; or by night on the Night Riviera Sleeper Service and arrive for sunrise in Penzance.

For daytrippers, the mainline trains stop at the principle south west towns and cities including Taunton, Exeter, Plymouth and Truro. From each of these railway towns you should, in theory, be able to reach further towns and villages in Cornwall and Devon. I wanted to put the theory to the test. Armed with a 70 page public transport guide, I left the train at Bodmin Parkway Station (remembering this time round that the station was a few miles from the town itself) and waited for the hourly Western Greyhound bus to Bodmin. Use www.transportdirect.info to help plan the journey to include all forms of public transport.

As it turned out, the Western Greyhound bus service is providing the essential link between otherwise difficult to reach towns across north Cornwall. The network extends from Lands End in the west to Clovelly, Exeter and Plymouth in the east. And it’s pretty affordable. As an example, a single fare from Boscastle to Truro, a total of 40 miles, costs just £4.50. And what could be better bumping around the winding Cornish roads knowing that you need only worry about the stunning views from the window rather than the approaching traffic.

Trouble is among the bus travellers, there was an entire demographic lacking: namely the mid-to-late twenties and thirty-somethings who I guessed preferred taking the car to public transport. Even more revealing was that despite the fact that each of the towns I passed through was buzzing with tourists, I only ever came across two holiday makers travelling on the bus.

One of the best ways to get around is by bicycle. Granted, certain parts of Cornwall are hilly and you’ll come back feeling fitter than before. But cycling through towns, villages and natural landscapes brings you closer to an authentic experience of Cornwall itself.

Luckily First Great Western and Virgin Trains have good cycle facilities which means travelling with the bike from wherever you are shouldn’t be a problem. The Cornish Way, part of National cycle route 3, connects Bude to Penzance and Land’s End via St Austell or Newquay. So you should be able to connect to a cycle route simply by alighting at certain stations. Take Bodmin Parkway station again. You can follow a stretch of the route 3 directly from the station and through to the town and out toward Padstow or Camelford, on the famous Camel Trail. This easy and flat route out of Bodmin follows the meanders of the Camel River and offers a secluded route through the trees.

The big question I came back with was how to encourage more people to leave the car behind when travelling to Cornwall. It’s not an easy one to tackle, as many holiday properties are in remote locations that aren’t served by buses. Certain green businesses will offer a discount for ‘slow’ arrivals, but many still expect their customers to arrive by car. The Financial Times recently pointed out the paradox around the feeling of independence derived from owning a car and our dependency on owning one to get around. Isn’t this the case for holidays? Driving to the West Country gives us the impression of independence but really we are continually reinforcing our complete lack of. Luckily there are alternatives such as car clubs which have diminished people’s dependence on the car. Car Share Cornwall is growing in popularity. However, the website is directed at residents and not travellers, so visitors to the county would have to find their nearest car pooling scheme. For shorter journeys, Explore South West runs a bio-diesel fuelled taxi service which can pick your small group up from the railway station.

With a bit of imagination and a sense of adventure, there are some fabulous journeys to be had across Cornwall by train, bus or bicycle.

Laura Burgess
www.ecoescape.org

Laura Burgess is the founder of ecoescape. ecoescape promotes responsible escapism in the UK and beyond, helping people find ways to get off-grid and enjoy low carbon lifestyles – holidays included. ecoescape is both a new printed travel guide series and an online community offering people inspiration for greener ways to travel and a place to share their stories. In 2007 with the help of Big Lottery Funding, Laura published the first guide to sustainable travel in the UK. You can order a copy of the guide on her website at www.ecoescape.org. The new series will be published in April 2008 by Green Guide and will include an updated UK edition along with the first Ireland ecoescape guide.

Happy Belated New Year!

Well, it has been quite some time since I last posted which I apologise about and as this is the my first post of the year I thought that I would follow Arcadia’s example and post my New Year resolution and also some green pledges for 2008.

New Year Resolution

My one and only New Year resolution is to get a distinction in the first year of my Environmental Studies degree. So far my studying is going very well and I will be posting an update shortly.

2008 Green Pledges

In 2008 I pledge to make my life greener by…

1) Not buying any NEW clothes at all.

How many items of clothing do we wear at once? How often do we end up wearing our old favourites? With this in mind I am going to save money and simultaneously help reduce the amount of energy needed to produce, transport and sell clothes by pledging to buy no new clothes in 2008 at all. Instead I will alter existing clothes, use recycled material to make my own and swap clothes with friends.

2) Making my vegan diet at least 80% organic, locally sourced and word free

I already have a pretty good diet, however since going vegan I have perhaps had too many soya based products which have been grown and transported from quite far . Thus going forward I aim to have at least 80% of my diet organic, locally sourced and word free (with the aim of getting to 100% eventually) as whilst I am prepared to give up caffeine and chocolate I don’t want to give up my daily banana, weekly cartoon of soya milk and fortnightly tofu just yet.

In case you have not come across ‘word free’ before (New Connsumer magazine brought it to my attention) it involves buying food with no packaging – or if it has packaging then only without writing on it. So basically it involves having nothing processed, nothing label-slapped, nothing mass produced, nothing shrink wrapped.

For those of you who are wondering what on earth I will be eating, I promise to write more about this in a future post (linked to my veganism update)

3) Grow more vegetables, herbs and fruits

This will help me in achieving the above and also help me with the below.

4) Buy no presents – instead make them

Instead of buying people presents I will make them instead, for example knit scarves using recycled material, hampers containing home grown and made goodies such as chutney’s / pickles etc, personalised cookery books and cuttings of plants (provided in newspaper plant pots).

5) Cycle instead of getting the bus

Over the winter I have been really bad and caught the bus to work instead of cycled and I do feel guilty. So I pledge to cycle more in 2008 and stop taking the easy option of getting the bus.

I will keep you updated on how they all go.

……… the Sustrans Connect 2 project!  Which will create and connect more cycling and walking networks in the UK.

Personal reaction to the results

Although I am very disappointed that the Sherwood: Living Legend project did not win (as I live in Nottinghamshire and was helping to promote the bid as reported in the post titled (Vote for Sherwood Forest) I am delighted that the winning project will help to provide resources for a stronger sustainable transport network.

As a cyclist (though been naughty and caught the bus to work the last few months) it is great the see that the Sustrans Connect 2 project will improve local travel in 79 communities by creating new walking and cycling routes for the local journeys we all make every day.

Building Bridges

According to the Sustrans website the project will involve building bridges and crossings over busy roads, rivers and railway lines, resulting sustainably getting people to the places they want to go. Each crossing will link to a network of walking and cycling routes, taking you to your schools, shops, work and green spaces.

In addition to the £50 million of lottery funding, Sustrans have also secured £100 million of funding from the local government. Wow, they have a lot of money to build new bridges. I hope that in addition to connecting these new cycle routes they will also be embarking on a creative and wide marketing campaign encouraging people to use these new cycling and walking paths. If they don’t and the routes are only used by the existing cyclists then it’s not really going to help create a greener and healthier UK, as in order for such new resources to be effective you have to encourage people to use them. The project will be completed over five years and I will keep you updated about their progress.

Don’t forget Sherwood Forest

Whilst the media may end up concentrating on the winning project, it’s important that the public does not forget and also considers the funding requirements of the three projects that did not win the £50m – especially Sherwood Forest!

Without such significant funding, Sherwood Forest could potentially become a complete shadow of the past. The ancient and historic forest is all ready fragmented and suffering due to industrialization. It really needs significant funding and hard work to restore it to its former glory.

Restoring Sherwood’s Ancients Heathlands

I truthfully do not know what the other project partners will be doing to raise money for the areas of Sherwood Forest that they manage or support, however at Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust we will be embarking on a fundraising appeal in 2008 to raise over £350,000 to restore some of Sherwood Forest’s Ancient heathlands. The project will involve undertaking important practical conservation work at two nature reserves (Rainworth and Strawberry Hill Heath) both of which formed part of the original Sherwood Forest.   

Historically, the majority of Sherwood Forest was heathland, not dense oak woodland as many people believe. What’s left of this habitat in the UK represents one fifth of the entire world’s lowland heathland resource, making it extremely important both locally and internationally that remaining heath is properly cared for and that new areas are created to conserve this cherished landscape.

Appeal for funding

Whilst I have tried to limit how many funding appeals that I do via GGG (only cycling to save our seas so far), I am now appealing to GGG readers for your help to support the Restoring Sherwood Forests Ancient Heathlands project.

If you would like further details about how you can help, including through the provision of a donation or creative fundraising please click here for my work email address.

Thank you

Once upon time there lived a little girl who hated bath time. Her mummy decided that she needed to find a way to get the little girl to take a bath. Knowing she loved stories her mummy would promise that for every bath she took she would tell her a story. This worked a treat and for the next 2 or 3 years story time and bath time were rolled into one.

Now one of the little girl’s favourite stories was of a magical land far away. This beautiful island could only be reached by boat and had more butterflies than people living there.

No cars were allowed on the island because that would certainly ruin it’s peace and tranquility and there were no supermarkets either. The little girl loved this story and would ask for it time and time again. She loved to hear about the people on their bicycles and in their horse and carriages going about their daily lives.

Thirty years later the little girl now grown up finally visited ‘Sark’ this mysterious island she’d heard so much about. Nestling amongst the other Channel Islands she took a day trip from Jersey on the ferry and decided to see the place for herself. It was just as she had imagined….

Yes, cars were still not allowed to disturb the peace and the place was heaven for cyclists, walkers, horse riders and wildlife. The sun shone, the sea sparkled and the scenery was amazing.

While it may not be everybodies cup of tea, it is certainy worth a visit if you crave something a bit different, a gentler pace of life, peace and tranquility and a pleasant little eco break away. Sark is really splendid!

Those of you who read Vicky’s post titled ‘cycling to save our seas’ on August 20^th may have wondered how my sponsored bike ride went and how the campaign is going. Well, the three day bike ride and tour of Sussex, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight was a great success – the sun was shining and we saw some beautiful British coastline and countryside.

The aim of the sponsored bike ride was to help raise some funds and create public awareness for the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust’s ‘Operation Seahorse’ campaign. We raised over £200 in the end, which is not bad as it was a rather last minute idea. However the Hampshire and IOW Wildlife Trust still require a significant amount of funding so that they can carry out important surveys of the marine environment. If you would like to help then please purchase a limited edition Operation Seahorse T-shirt or make a donation.

The Operation Seahorse campaign is part of a network of campaigns being conducted by the Wildlife Trust movement and other members of the Wildlife & Countryside Link. The aim of these campaigns is to raise awareness about the UK’s diverse marine life and to lobby the government to designate sites as Highly Protected Marine Reserves.

If you are a UK citizen and would like to help protect our seas then please sign the Wildlife Trusts online petition fish.

But hurry because signatures collected via the online petition and the 200 petition fish which have been on display at Wildlife Trusts’ events throughout the UK will be taken to Westminister on Wednesday 10^th October for an event with MPs. Then the following week, the petition will be delivered to Downing Street, in a final bid to keep the Marine Bill afloat. I will hopefully be attending the event on the 10^th October as a representative of Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust, thus I will keep you posted about the progress of this campaign.

When my friend Anna-Lisa told me about her adventurous plans to carry out a fundraising bike ride with her fiance over the bank holiday period I was so impressed by her energy and committment I wanted to share it with you.

Anyone who gives up a potentially lazy long weekend to raise awareness about the devastating effect we’re all having on our marine life has to be given a voice on GGG.

I asked Anna-Lisa, who works for Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust, to tell us about her trip, the issues that are affecting the British coastline today and what we can all do about it…

1. Hi Anna-Lisa, first of all can you tell us what the Wildlife Trusts’ Operation Seahorse Campaign is?

The Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust launched the ‘Operation Seahorse’ campaign in conjunction with the Wildlife Trusts national campaign ‘Save our Seas’. Both campaigns aim to raise awareness about the importance of protecting our seas and its diverse marine life. The UK’s seas are extraordinarily rich in wildlife, home to more than 44,000 animal and plant species – around 50% of the UK’s biodiversity.

However our seas are poorly protected compared to terrestrial habitats and are under increasing pressure as offshore activities proliferate and climate change alters marine ecosystems. Every level of marine life is under threat, from the charismatic bottlenose dolphin, harbour porpoise and basking shark, to the critically endangered leatherback turtle. Even cod, our most popular fish, is now commercially extinct in the North Sea.

Through the ‘Operation Seahorse’ and the ‘Save our Seas’ campaigns the Wildlife Trust movement (and other members of Wildlife & Countryside Link) are petitioning and lobbying the UK government to ensure that the Marine Bill delivers robust nature conservation laws including designating sites as Highly Protected Marine Reserves (sanctuaries for marine life from where NO natural resources can be extracted – i.e. gravel) At the moment there is only one UK site – Lundy which has been designated as a Highly Protected Marine Reserve and is fully protected from all fishing, dredging and other damaging use. However at just 3.3km2 this sanctuary only represents less than 0.001% of the UK’s seas.

2. What are the issues around the Marine Bill?

Through previous campaigning conducted by the Wildlife Trusts (and other members of Wildlife & Countryside Link), the UK Government issued a White Paper on the Marine Bill on March 15th 2007. The White Paper revealed for the first time the Government’s detailed plans for reforming the way that our seas are managed. The Wildlife Trust felt that overall, the White Paper was very encouraging as it includes many important measures that they have been pushing for – but there is still a long way to go before we have strong, effective new laws in place.

Although a White Paper was issued, the Marine Bill has suffered severe delays, & Gordon Brown recently (July 07) failed to include it in his list of priority Bills for 2007-8. We need to lobby the government to ensure that the Marine Bill comes to Parliament during the 2007-8 session, if we don’t show the government NOW how important it is to designate sites as Highly Protected Marine Reserves then they will fail to commit or deliver the Marine Act in the time frame that is needed to protect our dying seas.

3. What motivated you to do the bike ride?

As an employee of landlocked Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust I was already fully aware about the Wildlife Trusts ‘Save our Seas’ campaign and had signed the Marine Reserves Petition. However whilst looking on the Wildlife Trusts main website I read about Hampshire and the IOW Wildlife Trusts ‘Operation Seahorse’ campaign and decided to support the cause by purchasing one of their ‘Operation Seahorse T-shirts’.

Whilst communicating with the ‘Operation Seahorse’ Team I discovered that they needed urgent funding in order to undertake underwater biological surveying thus as a keen cyclist and wildlife enthusiast who wanted to visit the Isle of Wight I thought that a sponsored bike ride would be a great way of raising funds and also a great way to promote the campaign.

In order to raise funds I will be undertaking an 80 mile bike ride with my fiancée who lives on the Sussex coast and is also a keen cyclist and wildlife enthusiast. During the three day cycle tour we will be wearing Wildlife Trust ‘Operation Seahorse’ and ‘Save our Seas’ T-Shirts, promoting the campaign and encouraging people to sign the Marine Reserves Petition.

4. What will be your route and when does it begin and end?

The plan is that on the morning of Saturday 23rd August we will cycle from Rustington in West Sussex (where my fiancée lives) to Portsmouth in Hampshire (this journey is approximately 34 miles). At Portsmouth we will catch the Wightlink Ferry to Ryde on the Isle of Wight. Saturday evening we will set up camp and then on Sunday we will be doing the Ryde and Bembridge 15 miles coastal circular route on the island. On Monday we will catch the ferry back to Portsmouth and cycle back to Rustington. Phew! It might not sound much to some of the more ‘experienced’ cyclists however it will be rather exhausting for us.

5. How can GGG readers support you on your bike ride?

If after reading this article any GGG readers are enthused to help protect our UK seas then I would be really grateful if they could support my bike ride by sponsoring me for a few pound, my fundraising page is:
http://www.justgiving.com/operation_seahorse

In addition to sponsoring me, I urge GGG readers to take positive action towards protecting the UK’s seas by:

• Signing the Wildlife Trusts Marine Reserves Petition, calling for the Bill to introduce areas that are fully protected from all damaging activities.
• Email friends and family asking them to sign up too, or print out the paper version of the petition to collect further signatures.
• Join the Wildlife Trusts Save our Seas team – a free online campaign group.
• Write to your local MP and explain to them why you’re supporting the campaign and what you want the Marine Bill to achieve for wildlife. Here are some hints and tips on lobbying MPs.

6. What will the sponsorship funds be used for?

All money raised through the sponsored bike ride will provide the Hampshire and the Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust with essential funds that will help them to be able to undertake urgent survey work. The survey work will provide them with facts about what needs protecting under the sea and where. Unfortunately biological surveying underwater is much more difficult and expensive than surveying on land.

• For £500 they can run a training course for divers to carry out underwater surveys so that they know what needs protecting and where.
• £600 charters a boat for a day.
• With £1,000 they can buy an underwater camera to help them record and identify the marine life around the shores.
• £2,000 would buy an underwater video camera.

If you would also like to undertake some fundraising to help the ‘Operation Seahorse’ campaign or make a donation please visit my Operation Seahorse donate page.

7. What can GGG readers do to find out about protecting the British coastline?

GGG readers can help protect our seas by:

Using environmentally friendly detergents and avoid toxic chemicals in your home and garden, as such chemicals can get into our water system and affect marine wildlife.

Using canvas bags instead of plastic. 150 million plastic bags are discarded each year and a percentage of these end up in our seas, turtles mistake these for jellyfish (their favorite food) and when digested the plastic bags can kill the turtles.

If you do include fish in your diet ensure that you buy seasonal and locally caught fish. For further details about sustainably sourced fish please go to http://www.fishonline.org/

Don’t buy ornaments or jewellery made from marine creatures.

If you do want fish as pets, please make sure that any creatures you buy are bred in captivity as opposed to being taken from the ocean.

GGG readers can get more information about they can protect the British coastline from The Wildlife Trust and the Marine Conservation Society

Thank you – together we can really make a difference.