Our footprints are all over this planet…..but do we have to stomp so hard!?

My name is Laura Bergman, the creator of Bottled Up Designs. I have lived all my life in the beautiful Pennsylvania Amish Country, where as a child we would dig around old foundations pulling old treasures from the ground from a simpler time.

The love of old glass and bottle digging stayed with me, and have always been an avid bottle collector. One thing that has always bothered me, though, is how we take away the pretty whole pieces, but leave all the broken remains behind for the environment and wildlife do deal with.

When I walk through these pretty wooded habitats, the sun slants through the woods and lights these little pieces of history. The ruby glows in the sun, looking like it’s on fire, amber from old medicine, beer, and the countless broken Clorox bottles used and carelessly tossed there so long ago. Another common find is the pretty ice blue glass of broken Mason jars, and always envision them in someone’s pantry full of the summer’s work “put up” for the coming winter. I am always a little sad when I see the broken depression glass, wondering if during those lean times there was the money to replace the pretty dishware that had broken.

To me, this glass still has history and real beauty behind it, and out of love for the pretty glass and the environment, I now bring home the broken pieces and create my jewelry. Each piece is handmade from this reclaimed glass, and wanting to share the history with those that wear it, have created “The Story of the Glass” detailing for each piece what it was originally, and the approx. age of the glass.

Recently, while walking my dog through a peaceful part of the woods, I spotted a baby fawn and her mother laying in the dappled sunlight. Of course, they caught the scent of us and were up and away, and where the fawn was laying was the broken shards of a cobalt Noxzema bottle. Hoping that she was unhurt, I sighed and picked up the glass to bring it home, wondering once again how we ever thought we had the right to treat our environment so carelessly.

To see all of the pretty vintage colors and how they are wonderfully transformed into beautiful artisan jewelry, please visit www.bottledupdesigns.com.

Read GGG editor Henriette’s review of Bottled Up Designs and this beautiful necklace.

I haven’t seen this before - but it’s scaring me that this video is 16 years old and still as relevant as it was back then, if not more. I think the message in this video is so strong that it gives me goosebumps - and I am ashamed that we still ain’t fixin it. I would say it’s a must-see. Enjoy.

Severn Suzuki speaking at UN Earth Summit 1992

Lyme Bay Reefs on the Devon / Dorset coast is one of the UK’s finest marine wildlife sites and thanks to a successful campaign conducted by the Wildlife Trusts in conjunction with excellent support from members of the public, an area of 60sq miles has been protected from commercial scallop dredging.

I first reported about the Save Lyme Bay Reefs campaign in the posts titled ‘Help save the seaside’ and I would like to thank any GGG readers who supported the campaigning by signing the petition and or writing to Defra.

The Wildlife Trusts have been campaigning for a 60sq mile exclusion zone around Lyme Bay reefs , since concern was highlighted, in the early 1990s, by divers who observed damage to some areas. Survey work by Devon and Dorset Wildlife Trusts has shown that scallop-dredging is damaging the reefs and that time is running out for their preservation.

Lyme Bay is home to around 300 recorded species of plants and animals, including dense populations of the nationally protected pink seafan and the extremely rare sunset coral. As well as a haven for sponges, starfish and coral, the reefs also support a range of seafood animals, including crab, lobster and scallops.

Talking about the success Paul Gompertz, Devon Wildlife Trust’s director, said:

“This is one small step for marine but one giant leap for marine-kind. It finally acknowledges that our seas need vital life-support systems like Lyme Bay reefs. It’s taken 18 years, hundreds of thousands of fundraised pounds, the energy and dedication of many people - and a host of setbacks and heartache along the way. But it has all been worth it - to see a new day dawn for the future of marine conservation in this country. The Government is to be congratulated on a bold step. Now we need to see the exclusions enforced.”

Important Marine Sites

World wide there are a range of important wildlife marine sites that require urgent protection. Whilst it may appear a daunting task to get such sites protected, I think that if conservation organisations work in partnership with one another, engage members of public into the campaigns and lobby MP’s face to face then we can truly save our seas.

Photo Sources

Lyme Bay by North Light: Source Flickr

Scallops by Rory MacNish: Source Marine Photobank

When I watch wildlife documentaries I love to see playful seals and I would love to take part in a seal watching expedition in Scotland or even on the South East Coast of England (Margate in Kent is becoming a hot spot for seal spotting).

However these popular marine mammals which help attract wildlife tourists to various locations across the world are victims of human cruelty. Seals are brutally and savagely murdered across the world for their skin, oil and most bizarrely by fishermen because seals eat fish to survive!

The Canadian commercial seal hunt

When I think of Canada, I think of a country rich in wildlife however it appears that the Canadian Government may care more about what the fishing industry thinks and increasing GDP from commercial activity than wanting to keep its country rich in wildlife. Each year a cruel and unethical practice takes place in Canada in which seals (including pups aged about 2 weeks to 3 months) are killed with a blow to the head using a wooden club or hakapik.

This hunt is a highly competitive activity and it is disturbing to know that some of the seals are actually skinned before being rendered fully unconscious. Most of the sealers are fishermen who in addition to wanting the seals to sell abroad also have a vested interest as they own sea food companies and thus want to reduce seal population to maintain cod stock levels which in turn will increase their profits.

The 2008 Seal Hunt

The allowed quota for 2008 was 275,000 seals however it was reported that participation in seal hunting was lower than usual and federal officials say that about 80% of the quota was taken (still far too many!!). The reason for low participation included bad weather, high fuel price and the fall in financial value of pelts (half of what they were a year ago).

Seal products

Whilst seal products are not sold in the U.S.A (thanks Marine Mammal Protection Act) they are still legally sold in a variety of countries including the UK!

Seal pelts

Back in 1982, the European Union banned the import of ‘whitecoat’ seal pup pelts (skin) however hunters instead waited until the pups shed their white fur before they killed them.

Seal pelts are still used for a variety of products ranging from designer coats to traditional Scottish sporrans (see photograph below).

However I was delighted to hear that the UK ethical Bank ‘Cop-Operative’ refused to do business with one Scottish kilt company which still uses seal pelts in its sporran range (news source from Guardian newspaper)

Seal meat

After the seals have been skinned most of the meat is wasted and left on the ice, however some is sold and ground up into animal feed and some of the flippers are even sold for human consumption in Newfoundland.

Seal oil

North Atlantic Harp Seal oil is sold in capsules labeled “Terra Nova Omega-3 capsules” by a company called ‘Atlantic Marine Products’. However there is no need at all to source Omega 3 from seals or even fish as ethical alternatives exists including vegan versions containing predominantly seed oil.

Seal products and the EU Legislation

Thanks to the successful lobbying of various conservation and animal welfare organisations the European Commission recently announced that it will seek to ban the import of “inhumane” seal products.  However it is not known how long it will be until it is enforced.

Seals and the Fishing industry

It is hard to escape the fact that fish stocks are becoming drastically low, however rather than blaming the unsustainable fish quota’s, many unjustifiable persecute seals simply for eating fish for survival.

Conservation organisations including the Seal Preservation Action Group (SPAG) in the
UK state that:

“There is no scientific evidence to justify claims that seals are threats to fish stocks when human over-fishing clearly is”

In fact research suggests that seals are opportunistic feeders and their diet mainly consists of fish species which commercial fishermen target. According to SPAG:

“It has been estimated that seals in the North Sea account for only 2% of fish stocks annually, compared to 25% to 30% by the fishing industry”

The way in which some fishermen, fish farmers and even the owners of sports fishing rivers deal with seals eating their fish stock is to shoot them. In such instances profit is being put before ethics, animal welfare and nature conservation. However consumers must also play a role in terms of supply and demand, commercial fishermen and fish farmers are protecting fish stock from marine mammals to supply the demand from consumers.

What you can do to help

1) Use your consumer power to protect seals by:

a) Not purchasing any seal by-products

b) Boycott business organisations that sell seal byproducts including fashion designers

c) Help SPAG encourage UK food retailers to stock seal friendly salmon

d) Reduce or even completely stop eating fish

e) Not participating in or funding the sport fishing industry

2) Lobby for change:

a) Help SPAG encourage the UK government to create a Seal Protection Act whereby the killing of seals will be strictly forbidden.  If you would like to help SPAG’s campaign, please write to the relevant UK and Scottish Ministers calling for the protection of seals.

Their addresses are:

Lord Rooker, Minister for Animal Welfare, Nobel House, 17 Smith Square, Nobel House, London SW1P 3JR

Richard Lochhead MSP Secretary for Environment and Rural Affairs, Scottish Parliament,Edinburgh EH99 1SP

For further information about this campaign please go to the Seal Preservation Action Group (SPAG) website

b) Write to the Canadian Ambassador in your country and pledge to boycott all Canadian seafood products until sealing is ended.

In the UK the address is Canadian High Commission, Macdonald House,1 Grosvenor Square, London,W1X 0AB

c) Write to UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown demanding that the UK introduces a unilateral ban on the import of all seal products as have EU partners Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands:

Rt Hon.Gordon Brown MP, Prime Minister, Downing Street, London, SWIA 2AA

I have written to all of the above and I hope that GGG readers will get involved to help protect seals too!

This is the most amazing time of year, everywhere you look there’s new life.

Flowers are beginning to bloom, birds are preparing their nests, tiny rabbit kittens graze on the grassy roadsides - there is ‘ahhh factor’ galore!

Even in our own back garden we’ve had some special babies this year. For the first time the frogs have laid spawn and we have hundreds (literally) of fat tadpoles swimming around in our pond.

I’m always fascinated with the pond because only a couple of summers ago it was just a plastic lining filled with tap water, a couple of bunches of pond weed and two water snails. Now it is so full of life, aside from the frogs, tadpoles and snails there are all kinds of insect larvae, plants and even the land dwelling wildlife such as blackbirds rely on it for baths and drinks. I always think of our garden pond as a tiny example of how resilient nature is.

The other newborns we witnessed this week were some spider babies which had been nesting in the corner of a window pane in our back door. The most incredible thing was to watch them collectively construct a long thread of launch web which allowed them to float off and make their own way in the world.

Nature is resilient but it is also a delicate balance and it is things like this that remind you why we must do our best not to cause it even more damage.

I’m back! Regular GGG readers may have noticed that it has been some time since I wrote a post for this fantastic blog and I would like to apologise for that. However I hope that you will forgive me as I have been in the middle of selling my house and relocating. Whilst I have lots of interesting news that I could post on GGG, I thought that I would start off by providing you all with an update about the Marine Bill Campaign.

Marine and Coastal Access Bill

After extensive campaigning from a wide range of environmental and conservation organisations the UK Government has included the Marine Bill (now called the Marine and Coastal Access Bill) in its draft legislative programme. This is absolutely fantastic news for the environment and marine life, however before we all get excited I would like to highlight that whilst there is a strong indication that it will be mentioned in the Queens speech (and thus be brought forward to Parliament) there is no guarantee.

Good – but could be better

I have read a couple of different summary documents for the Marine and Coastal Access Bill (not yet had time to read the whole draft Bill in great detail) and from what I can gather and what marine experts have informed me (including Lisa Chilton the Marine Development Manager at the Wildlife Trust) the Bill is good but could be a lot better. For example there is concern over the following points:

§ There seems to be too much emphasis on economic development (in terms of tourism, commerce etc) as opposed to protecting the environment and marine life.

§ Under the new rules some damaging activities such as dredging may be exempt from licensing. Also oil and gas licensing will continue under The Department for Business, Enterprise & Regulatory Reform (BERR) rather than the Marine Management Organisation (MMO)

§ It appears that there is not a duty on the Secretary of State to designate Marine Conservation Zones (MCZ) which is appalling. The Marine Bill should enforce the duty to designate MCZ’s not just a power to designate.

Going Forward

A joint Committee of the House of Commons and the House of Lords has been established to scrutinize the draft Bill. As a member of the public you can provide your views and comments on the draft Bill by writing to Defra before 26^th June 2008.

I will be writing my response and I hope that GGG readers will too. In order to gain the full picture I highly recommend that you read the full, draft Marine Bill and accompanying notes which is available to download by clicking here.

After reading the draft Bill please send your comments to:

Marine Bill TeamDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsArea 2C Nobel House, 17 Smith Square, London SW1P 3JR

I will keep you posted about the Marine and Coastal Access Bill including updates about specific important marine sites such as Lyme Bay Reefs.

I have to admit it but we don’t have the best view from our front room window. In fact for lovely leafy Leamington it’s perhaps not the best view or most typical of our town. I live opposite a car show room that has flags flying in the daytime, lights glaring at night time and balloons by the dozen at the weekend to promote their special offers. So as you can imagine for someone who is passionate about sustainable transport it’s not a view I tend to marvel at.

Now a few months back on a Sunday afternoon we were lazing in the front room with our Sunday papers when I happened to look up and see a staff member walk around the car park and cut all the balloons free. Up, up, up they floated as the worker continued to set about 50 balloons free.

I was flabbergasted, as to me it was just plain littering. A business wouldn’t throw out 50 odd leaflets or food wrappers on the street. Just because they float upward and out of site doesn’t mean they are not litter when they land. They obviously weren’t thinking about where they were going to land as it would be far, far away out of sight and not on their land. Not their problem! I was also annoyed as I’d read that they posed a danger to wildlife as birds and marine creatures can mistake them for food similar to plastic bags and can choke on the remains.

The following Saturday to my shock horror when I drew back the curtains there were pink, blue and yellow balloons (yes, all colour co-ordinated) promoting their latest cut deal offer. This time there must have been over 100 balloons gracefully bobbing in the breeze. I wont go into the next half an hour but it involved me stomping around the house whilst my poor long suffering partner looked on bemused followed by me marching across the road to see the manger.

Luckily I ‘d found some info on the net about balloon littering and that organisations could be fined up to £2,500 if caught littering. Needless to say the manger did take seriously what I had to say and promised not to release (litter) any more. Whilst balloons are no way on the same scale as plastic bags for polluting our landscape. I still think it’s important for companies to realise the risks to our wildlife and that there is no excuse to litter. Hopefully the ‘Don’t let go’ campaign will raise awareness of this issue.

For more information about the campaign you can download a Don’t let go fact sheet. This has details of the threat to wildlife and more information about fines, the environmental protection act and the Marine Conservation Society.

Who’s your favourite Wildlife presenter? My personal favourite has always been David Attenborough who inspired me at a young age to connect with nature. Through his programmes and many other wildlife documentaries I felt inspired to watch real wildlife and undertake some nature surveying of my own, and whilst it was only my back garden in my young and creative imagination it was every bit as exotic as the jungles on the TV documentaries.

My passion for the natural environment stayed with me and eventually led me to a job working for a wildlife charity. Whilst my job is office based and involves fundraising and some marketing as opposed to being a qualified conservationist conducting surveys, my enthusiasm and eco adventure remains and I still participate in exotic surveys……… ok they are still in my back garden.

However such amateur survey skills can come in very handy, for example the conservation charity ‘People’s Trust for endangered Species’ is currently trying to recruit volunteers in the UK to help them with their annual ‘Living with Mammals’ survey which runs through the UK during April, May and June.

Through the project they aim to find out how wild mammals use the built environment and the green spaces within it so that they can begin to understand – and encourage – the biodiversity on our doorstep. Participants are being asked to choose a site in the built environment (such as their garden, allotments, a playing field or churchyard) and to record sightings and field signs of mammals for eight or more weeks in the survey period.

So if any of you GGG readers are keen wildlife enthusiasts like me and you would like to undertake some surveying  then I encourage you to participate. For further details about the Living with Mammals survey click here. If you want to brush up on your mammal knowledge then I highly recommend David Attenborough’s ‘Life of Mammals’.

I will definitely be participating and yes my childish behavior will most likely not have progressed as my back garden in my mind will be just as exciting and important in terms of biodiversity as the Galapagos Islands.

Houses, flats, shopping centres and commercial properties are being built everywhere these days. You would think that nowhere was safe from development!

Think again! Organisations such as the Wildlife Trusts are reviewing planning thousands and thousands of planning applications in order to try and protect greenbelt and even brown field sites from being unnecessarily or unsympathetically being developed on.In addition to protecting such sites, various Wildlife Trusts are also purchasing land in order to transform them into wildlife havens for the benefit of people and wildlife. For example through a recent fundraising campaign Gwent Wildlife Trust managed to raise over £525,000 in order purchase a 104 acre dairy pasture in Penallt, near Monmouth, South Wales, UK.

Whilst this piece of land is currently extremely wildlife poor it was an essential purchase for Gwent Wildlife Trust in terms of the site acting as a wildlife corridor between a wildflower meadow at the Trust’s Pentwyn Farm reserve and a woodland habitat of the Wye Valley.

When transforming the site, Gwent Wildlife Trust will be stepping back in time to the stone ages in order to create to a traditional ‘open wildwood forest’ of neotholic Wales’. It is estimated that the project will take up to 25 years however upon completion it will be rich in biodiversity and I think truly majestic.When thinking of Wales, you may already imagine a Country rich in wildlife however intensive farmland still dominates areas of Wales, leaving vulnerable patches of isolated wildlife rich grassland and woodland. Instead of fragmented nature reserves it is vital that wildlife corridors are established.

As a child I spent a couple of wonderful holidays in the Welsh countryside, to me Wales was a beautiful and magical place thus I am delighted that strong progress is being made by the Wildlife Trust in order to create a truly wildlife rich Wales.

If you would like to help Gwent Wildlife Trust with enhancing and protecting South Wales then why not:

- Click here to donate money to help them transform the dairy pasture

- Click here to find out how you can help them campaign against the building of a new toll motorway across the Gwent Levels

This is my final instalment of articles about our experiences at Make Hay of working to be a green and ethical company. This article is related to my previous posts where I talked about using ethical suppliers and encouraging others with your ethical policy.

Just to recap, the previous articles were:

Part 1 - Powered by the Wind
Part 2 - Waste? What Waste?
Part 3 - Be a Smart Consumer
Part 4 - Live your Policy

PART 5 - MAKE ETHICAL FRIENDS

Starting out with an ethical business was sometimes an isolating experience for us. At that time there was not the huge number of like-minded entrepreneurs around us and we were often told that what we were trying to do was a bad idea.

If it wasn’t for the enthusiasm of the people we met via green blogs, directories and networks life would have been much more difficult.

Making ethical business friends does not necessarily mean you are running an ethical business but it certainly motivates you to keep learning and working harder to improve. Seeing more and more new ethical businesses appear shows that the market is growing and consumers want more responsible services. I strongly believe that there’s power in unity and making links with these businesses allows us to share ideas, good practice and collectively raise the profile of ethical entrepreneurship. If, collectively, ethical businesses can influence business practice as a whole then eventually ethical business won’t be unusual or alternative but just the way things are done.

Community Working

Another way that we have made friends here at Make Hay is by getting involved in local community groups and activities.

Some businesses align themselves with a charity and donate a percentage of their profits to that charity. This can work well for larger companies but for small businesses like ours there is another, more creative way to provide useful, substantial support; and that is to volunteer your expertise.

We are actively involved with a few community groups in this way. For example, we provide free Green Hosting and voluntary web designs services to All Ours. This is grassroots service which holds social sessions and cooks healthy, organic meals for people experiencing mental ill health. For the Gedling Fairtrade Group we provide voluntary web services and work on the steering group to raise awareness of Fairtrade issues in the local area. Additionally, we are currently providing voluntary web consultancy to the Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust with a view to building them a new, accessible website this year.

Whatever type of business you run it is highly likely that you have a product or service that you can donate to someone who needs it. You don’t have to have lots and lots of spare money (and most small businesses don’t) just be able to give up a little of your spare time.

Making friends with individuals and groups within your community allows you to make tangible changes by doing what you do best - your ethical business.

What do you do?

Well I’ve talked quite a lot about Make Hay and the things we do to be an ethical business but there is always room for improvement and new things to learn.

I’d love to find out about other business owners’ experiences (good or bad), practices and ideas. Contact me at Make Hay, I’ll look forward to hearing from you!