Independent Business: An Interview With Ali Gower Owner Of The Chocolate Tree

This is an interview with Ali Gower exploring various aspects of The Chocolate Tree as a sustainable, ethical business in the 21st century:

The two owners, Alastair Gower & Friederike Matthis, met whilst performing as “red men” in the Beltane festival of Edinburgh. The positive reactions we received at the festivals highly motivated us, and we progressed The Chocolate Tree to become our full time passion and business. Read more…

Palm Oil: The Good, The Bad and the Downright Ugly! by Faith Canter

These days most people have heard of palm oil, even if it’s just to know that it’s an ingredient in food and beauty products.  However, most people won’t know that this is only scratching the surface and that palm oil production is one of the largest businesses in the world.  This then becomes a real concern when you hear about what goes into producing the palm oil you eat, use on your body and also as fuel – we use it almost every single day without even realising it. Read more…

Transition: A Personal Account by Sarah Stewart

Transition is a global/local environmental movement: work in your community, but benefit from a global network of people working out of a similar model. The following is a brief outline of what Transition is, lessons I’ve learned and plans for the future. This is a movement as diverse as its network and framework for setting up groups are handy, so I must stress that my experiences are just that: my own.
So hi, I’m Sarah and I began to Transition with a capital T after answering an ad two years ago for a volunteer copywriter with a local Transition group. Currently, I’m the lead editor of the monthly Transition Edinburgh Newsletter (Plug: do subscribe if you’re interested in community and eco events in Edinburgh) and in the process of starting up a community group in Meadowbank with friends and neighbours. Read more…

Help Save the Western Capercaillie

Nick Dixon came along to do a talk at the Ragged University event in Manchester, and since then I have been talking with him on ideas of just how we can make a difference for this endangered species – The Western Capercaillie.  Working with the ExtInked ambassadors has made me personally realise that unless we all individually ask what we can do to preserve the environment and species we have left, then it amounts to an irresponsible society.
So with this in mind Nick has been invited to champion this strange bird in the Ragged project.  I can tell how passionate he is about the subject and invite people to get involved in his work. I quite like the idea of creating art and essays about the Capercaillie and endangered species to line the fences which kill many of them each year.  This I will be putting to him as a potential project. Read more…