Appearing
this month on the shelves in WH Smith and Borders nationwide, new eco-living
directory BOOK OF GREEN is the most comprehensive guide for everybody to
genuinely and easily green their lifestyles.

With
the general public currently becoming more receptive to living a more
eco-friendly life, this completely free guide points the consumer in the right
direction – it includes hundreds of approved ethical providers in a wide range
of sectors including business services, health and beauty, home and garden,
green energy, travel, parenting and food & drink.  All the companies
in the directory are in some way mostly or completely environmentally friendly,
sustainable, fair trade, organic,  ethical and socially responsible.

Book
of Green is intended to show everybody how to easily reduce their carbon
footprint, live a healthy lifestyle and make  a personal positive 
impact on the environment by integrating truly ethical products and services
into their daily home and family lives.

With
an initial print run of 30,000, the guide comes in a handy A5 format and is
printed in vegetable inks on 100% recycled paper.  An online flip magazine
version is also available at www.bookofgreen.com 
 Book of Green will be available in WH Smiths this July, attached to the
front of Permaculture Magazine as well as distributed across the UK in high
street eco stores, online eco stores, and at events during the summer as well
as at the Eden Project and the Kent Eco Village, the Kent Show by The
Ecologist, July 17-19.

Book
of Green is co-founded by Sue Jueno (founder of Allthingseco) and Katie Keegan
(founder of One Green Earth),
 whose combined experience of 6 years in the eco/ethical business arena
has given them the experience, knowledge and contacts to create a guide for
green living which everybody can trust.

“Being
green is more than reducing the threat of climate change, it’s also about
ethical trading and personal health.  The companies found within Book of
Green provide solutions across all sectors through their products &
services to help build a positive foundation for your family’s future
generations,”  says Katie Keegan.

“With
credit crunch in mind and a passion for promoting green shoot businesses we
have made Book of Green extremely affordable to advertisers and free to the
public to show off exceptional companies that are solving environmental
problems and that will be leading us into the future,” says Sue Jueno.

The date for this year is Sunday 5 October from 10am – 5pm. in the Market Hall, Abergavenny. We have backing from Fairtrade Wales as well as local businesses and Abergavenny Council. There will be plenty of local and regional press coverage as well as BBC Wales.

Last year saw a huge attendance and we will increase this year. Stalls last year included – Love Zimbabwe, Goodies from the Gambia, Bag- Age, Bryn – y – Cwm project, Smouldering Sage,Biltong 2 U,Tropical Forest, Fairtrade Abergavenny & Crickhowell, Tools for self reliance, VSO, etc.

We also had fantastic catering from Scrumptious catering and Taste Zimbabwe. We will be having the Fairtrade fashion show again and the drumming workshop from Dave Roberts. Also, hopefully the amazing Chrys Blanchard and Abercapella. We have a school group performing African Dance and hope to be bringing over from Zimbabwe Sam Mtukudzi son of Oliver (Tuku) the most well known Zimbabwean artiste.

There will be a childrens area this year with face painting and a bouncy castle. Music and entertainment will be going on all day and there will be lots more to announce as we get nearer to the date. I realise that it is still relatively early, but it would help us enourmously if those who are interested in taking a stall this year could let me know as soon as possible. Looking forward to seeing you all in October.

Kind Regards,
David and Martha Holman.

Email: fairsfairfairs@mail2world.com
Telephone: 07879400897 / 07774608215 / 01873854055

The disposal of waste is an ever increasing problem and one that is likely to get more and more expensive. It is not only a matter of financial cost but also environmental. However there is now a very natural solution for solving this problem, one that uses the power of some of natures hardest working creatures; worms!

For some years now, domestic sized worm farms have been used to reduce household and garden waste. These systems have become very popular in some European countries and North America. They are also rapidily gaining in popularity in the U.K. These units are easy to manage but lack the capacity that large gardens, estates and business need. This is now changing as several large gardens and estates are now using large scale Worm farms called Just Green Eaterys. The capacity of these Worm units is considerable compared to their domestic cousins. Once a unit is operational it can consume up to 45kg of waste a week depending on the material fed into it.

Eatery Diagram

The Just Green Eatery uses a flow through system. Waste is fed in through the top of the wormery in layers. The worms rise up through the waste digesting it. This significantly reduces the volume of the waste and leads to the production of Vermicompost, sometimes known as "Black Gold". This is a very high in nutrient compost full of beneficial micro-organisms. The Vermicompost is harvested from the bottom of the wormery by a moving grate. The Vermicompost can then be shovelled out through the harvesting door.

Composting worms have a very large appetite, consuming half their body weight in waste a day and will consume nearly all organic waste. It is not only garden waste that can be fed into the wormery. Kitchen waste will  be digested unless it is meat based and fatty foods are to be avoided. Paper waste can be added such as newspapers and shredded office paper and the addition of these in layers, actually improves the performance of the wormery. It is easy to see why an estate or business could benefit from such a waste disposal system. Waste from the gardens, kitchens and offices can all be digested by the worms and turned into a commodity in the form of Vermicompost. This can then be re-used on site.Dan Bennett of the National Trust at Hatchlands Park in Surrey has been responible for running their Just Green Eatery; " I feed the worms on staff kitchen waste and use the shredded paper from the office, about a bin bag a week". Their unit handles the waste from six households on site. It can take up to three months before the "Black Gold" [Vermicompost] is produced but the wormery is processing waste in this period. Hatchlands use their compost for adding to hanging baskets and containers. The only problem they had was an odour problem for a short period, this was solved by putting a layer of fresh earth over the wormery. Odours only normally occur when the wrong type of waste has got into the Wormery and can be corrected quite easily. Dan said that he would recommend the Wormery but advises users to be patient as the start up period can take a while.

Other sites that have taken a Just Green Eatery include; the RHS Gardens at Harlow Carr in Yorkshire, the RSPB , garden centres and even a TV company for processing the waste from the actors canteen!

For more details contact Just Green on 01621 785088 or e-mail Julian Ives: jives@just-green.com

Controversy may be surrounding this year’s Olympic Games in Beijing, but in Twic county in southern Sudan, the true spirit of the Olympics is alive and kicking.

The county – ravaged by civil war for 25 years – has hosted its very own version of the Olympic Games, helping to bring peace and reconciliation to a previously conflict-ridden community.

The Twic Games, held annually and organised by Christian Aid’s partner the Sudan Production Unit (SUPRAID), include football, volleyball, tug-of-war and distance running. Teams from six districts compete for the winning trophy and a chance to host the following year’s event, but the real motivation for the Twic Olympics is peace.

The games aim to bring together people from the previously divided districts of Twic and give participants and spectators a chance to get to know one another in a friendly competitive environment. Peace and reconciliation education is also provided in the hope that any future conflict can be fought with words instead of guns.

The games also provide an essential opportunity for young people, returning to the area after a peace agreement in 2005, to become part of a team and integrate back into their communities.

One participant said: "The Twic Olympics challenges everyone who thinks nothing good can happen in Sudan."