My Habbit is Not a Hobbit – How to Calculate Your Carbon Footprint

Shopping locally, by Kayleigh Bluck

I have to honestly admit that I don’t really THINK about sustainability in my everyday life. I even recycle without thinking because it is such a natural process to me. You don’t consciously think about why you drink tea from a cup and not from a bowl or why you pee into the toilet and not into the basin.
I think you’re only truly sustainable when it’s a part of your way of life, just like a diet is pointless unless you actually change your lifestyle and habits. In keeping with this, I came across a test with a perfectly relevant name: “My Habbit“. You can check out your own carbon footprint and you might be surprised at how easy it is to change really small habits.

Whilst taking the test it visualises your carbon footprint in the form of a strange and creepy semi-alien computer-generated human body. Proportionally distorting a human’s body parts in order to visualise your disproportionate use, you work your way through the different stages of sustainability. For instance, if you use a lot of electricity, you head starts to look more and more like a skeleton. The more meat you eat, the fatter your belly gets. Electricity and gas expands your hands, travel expands your feet until it looks like an almost bursting balloon. Mine looked pretty normal at the end, but it still had suggestions for me to better myself. But how did I even come across this test?

“So, a guy came into the office today to borrow some of our paper, which was recycled and said ‘So are you trying to save the world or summin?’ (sic) to which I wanted to start replying but by the time I said ‘Um..’ he said ‘Then stop driving!’ I obviously replied ‘I don’t drive’ and he said ‘Oh’ and walked off. What’s the dude hassling me for?”
This is a snippet of a conversation I had during dinner today, where it transpired that me being a vegetarian and not having a car actually makes me “pretty green” according to a test my partner had taken during the workshop he held at the “Sustainable Futures” exhibition at the Design Museum. I was immediately intrigued. This may have been mainly due to the fact that I was fairly certain I was going to come out of the other end of the tunnel with a result to be proud of (aka something to show off about).

Shopping locally for fabric, illustrated by Naomi Law

I already knew some of the reasons that were going to be to my advantage. I work from home, which means that in average, I use the underground only once a week for meetings or events in town. I have only travelled by plane once in the past year (last November, in fact), which is highly unusual and mainly down to the fact that work has happily consumed all my time. Either way, I knew it was going to make me look good in the test. I walk to the shops, and buy most of my food and fabric (I am a fashion designer) in the local market where things are mainly locally sourced. I’m very lazy when it comes to anything that is essential to life such as sleep, eating and washing. That’s only of advantage because I own a lot of clothes, which means I very rarely have to actually wash any of them. My washing machine is extremely underused.

Furthermore, since we’re on the subject of big white goods, I don’t own a dishwasher or tumble dryer or any such machinery. I recycle everything from paper snippets to plastic to glass to fabric. I would say “tins” but I don’t really use them. As I mentioned before, most my food moves directly from the bowl of vegetables of the farmer’s table into my Longchamp shopping bag into my vegetable drawer. Another point that I knew was going to help me look good in this test was the fact that I’m a vegetarian. Apparently, that makes a difference although I’m still not quite sure why. Surely any food needs to be transported, worked on? Do feel free to enlighten me if you know.

Returning to the subject of technical items, I don’t watch TV. I have a TV set for watching a DVD every now and then, but I usually prefer to work, and the TV is of course unplugged when I don’t use it because otherwise it makes a very annoying humming noise when it’s on standby. I unplug my printers, sewing machines, hair straighteners etc when I’m not using them.

People who don’t live with me would never believe it, but I’d rather look like a couch potato wearing three jackets (I’m at home, right?) than turn on the heating unnecessarily. In fact, the heating is completely switched off until the temperature drops below 10 degrees Celsius for more than a week, which doesn’t make me very popular with my housemates.

We were given some free sustainable light bulbs when we last switched gas and electricity companies, which we use throughout the house and half of the fluorescent light bulbs we have in our office have burned out and we are too lazy to replace them.

Shopping for clothes, illustrated by Zarina Liew

This one is a big deal, but not a topic that gave me any extra credit during the test. About 80% of my wardrobe (including my shoes) is either second hand, vintage or passed on in some form or another through eBay, TK Maxx, in the form of presents from family and friends, inherited pieces, charity shops etc. This does not, however, mean that I don’t indulge my fashion sense, as a quick peek into the style section of my website will confirm.

I don’t listen to the radio, I don’t have a CD player or stereo because I have all my music on my Mac and iPhone – who knew being this non-nostalgic about music, could turn into a blessing?

We have an agreement with our landlord who sends round a gardener every two months. Officially, any carbon footprint they amass during their work is technically not mine, so I am not counting it. The grass is yellow from the few days of “heat” this lame English summer had, but I don’t really see that as my responsibility and as far as I can tell, I don’t think the gardeners ever water the grass – they simply cut it even shorter and dryer and pick up the leaves.

Some of the questions in the test were difficult. For instance, I had to look up which type of light bulbs we actually use. They cleverly adjust the optimum “habit” you could have at the end and suggest ways in which you can better yourself, even if your carbon emission is as low as one could realistically imagine.

However, there were aspects of importance that were not quite taken into consideration. A big issue, which could tip someone’s carbon print (especially among us fashionistas and fashionistos, eh?) is our shopping and consumption habits beyond mere primary necessity (food). Do you buy online? Are your purchases shipped or flown from overseas or do you make sure buy locally? Do you shop in chain supermarkets or local markets? How much stuff do you own? Do you buy from Primark or second hand? Do you buy per trend and season or do you invest in pieces that you have worn for decades? Do you tend to consume actual objects such as electric equipment, decorative items, clothing or something altogether different?

Using recycled paper, illustrated by Emma Block, using recycled paper!

There are also questions relating to your profession that are not taken into consideration at all. For instance, the test asks you whether you use a printer at home, but not whether you use a printer at work. How much paper do you use and waste, knowing you’re not paying for it? I’ll forgive them for not asking office-related questions, though, as this could get very detailed and complex. But what about mobile phones? No sign of their impact.

Having an iPhone, which I use for work, means I charge my phone up a lot more often than, say, someone who works in a shop and turns theirs off for most of the day. As anybody who owns an iPhone knows, as much as we love them – the battery of the iPhone is abysmal. It needs charging ALL the time. Surely the test should be asking about the different phones one has, the same way they asked about what type of TV I own? On the other hand, I charge my iPhone via my laptop – this means less electricity is used. You can see, the questions can be quite endless, but an essential acknowledgement of such basics would have improved the test.
Many of my friends and colleagues are writers or need to write in some form or another. When you do your writing, do you do it online or offline? That sounds like it would make no difference, but it does. Here’s a good illustrating example, which has astounded quite a lot of people when I’ve mentioned it.

Energy in the kitchen, illustrated by Gemma Randall

One of the questions in the questionnaire is how often you boil the kettle. Did you know that every time you do a search on google it uses as much electricity and power from the mighty google servers as it does to boil a full kettle? A question in the test, if I have had any say, should have been “Do you look up the tiniest question on google rather than trying to think that second longer in case you remember?” Do you maybe have a real life dictionary (oh wonder and glory), which can help you just as much? Yes, one should consider the production cost of making said book, but for the sake of the argument, let’s assume it’s a vintage book, which still holds perfectly updated descriptions of most words we know. If it doesn’t, you can STILL use Google, Wikipedia or an online dictionary. But not doing so would immediately reduce your carbon footprint more than you think…

I am a great believer in the fact that until something is accepted as normal, it has not really been overcome. Until it is, the obstacle of integration is not complete. I feel this is the way with sustainability. I grew up with it, so it was quite strange for me to see what fuss people made about being sustainable – it was new to me. Once people embrace it as part of their lives, it will be a lot easier. You hear campaigns telling you to “be aware” and “do your part” as if most of these acts weren’t perfectly logical. I disagree. Sure, some people just don’t admit to perfectly basic knowledge being obvious, and need those hints and tips, and none of us are perfect and continue to be educated. However, the obsession of making recycling something to be conscious about is not going to help. Only once it’s truly and easily integrated into our lives in a manner that is natural to participate in will sustainability really be standard practice.

(This article was published on Amelia's Magazine)

It's confirmed - Lanvin is collaborating with H and M

After a string of high profile Designer collaborations with H&M ranging from Karl Lagerfeld, Stella McCartney, Viktor & Rolf, Madonna, Roberto Cavalli, Kylie Minogue, Comme des Garçons, Matthew Williamson, Sonia Rykiel to a rapidly sold out collection bearing the label “Jimmy Choo for H&M”, one always is slightly perked when hearing that H&M could get another coup.

H&M did designer collaborations at the very beginning of when they became “the thing to do” to open up new markets and make the shareholders *cough*, I mean consumers, happy. This year, in particular, has seen a boom in collaborations between fashion houses and designers such as between Forever 21 and L.A. designer Brian Lichtenberg, Stella McCartney and Gap, Range Rover and Victoria Beckham (I know, weird, right?) and many more; surely prompting H&M to up their game and partner with the notoriously difficult and exclusive art director Alber Elbaz by convincing him or letting him convince himself that the approach would be “making H&M luxurious” rather than Lanvin accessible.

Despite the plans of imminent collaboration with Shiatzy Chen, which is to be launched in November 2010, H&M saw it fitting to push further with even bigger news. With a mysterious and clever build up of a few sneak peak previews the rumours were boiling in the fashionsphere and the pieces trying to be identified.

Today, the rumours were confirmed by Lanvin’s Art Director Alber Elbaz (who, incidentally, is also the head of menswear Lucas Ossendrijver) in a clip to the world, subtitled despite being spoken in English. To view the clip, have a look at the Lanvin for H&M Designer Collection video on YouTube.

The new line will arrive in stores November 23. Will you be there?

(This article was published on LDNfashion.net)

Harvey Nichols Hosts a “Classy” Dinner

Last week Lucy Yeomans and Sophia Neophitou hosted a private dinner at Harvey Nichols in celebration of the newest courtesy book to join the ranks of historically and culturally poignant behavioral books – “Classy – Exceptional Advice for the Extremely Modern Lady” by Derek Blasberg. With his impressive fashion based background ranging from publishing for Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, W, V Magazine, Interview, The Sunday Times and Conde Nast’s Style.com and a collection of a fashionistas with a wide fan base, this book is setting itself out to be a must-read even if it is to chuckle at silly quotes or more innocently, to read up a few stories of rags to riches to red carpet (quite literally) and dream that “modern” American Dream.

Burping may bring you glory according to Jonathan Swift’s “Tale of a Tub”‘s Aeolists (if one would like to consider themselves as a fool reader), and the oldest English courtesy book dating back to the 13th century, the “Book of the Civilized Man” by Daniel of Beccles outlines that “If you wish to belch, remember to look up to the ceiling.” So burping can’t be quite wrong, right? Right? Uh…

I’m sure we can come to agree that despite the amusement and historical factor of these books, when it comes to such social constitutions as fleeting as social manners, it is quite pivotal to have a regular update every few centuries or so (at the least). In many cases, they will help future generations understand not only the details of etiquette, but also the implications such etiquette have about the culture and understanding of what was deemed higher society in general.

With his firm belief that “At the end of the day, even the unclassiest girls can become classy” one does wonder whether there has been an adjustment to the understanding of the word and meaning “classy”. Yes, we saw that Lindsay Lohan can look ladylike on the cover of Vanity Fair before her stint in jail, that whichever childhood or background you come from, you can “get to the top” where you’ll be perfectified by a horde of stylists, make-up artists and hairdressers. Does that mean class? Perhaps not, but for the sake of a fashion based book with the assumption that looking classy (plus having your manners roughly in check) means you are classy, let’s say yes. Derek Blasberg provides a handbook with quotes and secrets from “all the socialites”, and may be confusing fame with class, but maybe this is the new definition of the word or the new understanding of what is deemed high class today.

However, pulling in the extremest examples that overshadow all the hard working and well mannered people working in fashion isn’t entirely fair. Take Anna Wintour for example. Do you think she should have a peak into what this book promises to be? Do you think she really needs to? Would you classify her sharp but real tongue to be “unclassy” or does it suddenly not matter because of her position? “Classy” sounds to be a very fun book to read where, I am sure, the structure, hierarchies and real rules of today’s fashion culture will come across if the words aren’t taken by their literal meaning and am even more certain, will provide a an actual insight to this mad world we call the fashion industry.

Apart from the fact that modernity is strictly speaking a historical time frame that was taking place around the time of the Industrial Revolution and that the late 20th was, technically speaking, post-modernity, one must go with the given lingo even if I do think that the “Extremely Modern Lady” Derek Basberg is referring to might actually be the the “Extremely Post – Modern Lady” since the extremely modern lady is actually one from the last century as, one could argue, is the concept of the “American Dream”, which underlies the rags to riches storyline. But of course, this doesn’t sound as good, so I’m going to put aside such technicalities for now and celebrate the star studded launch, most namely Alexa Chung in that beautiful leather skirt outfit (see how quickly I abandon all reason and argumentative tendencies just to celebrate fashion?).

From left to right: Alexa Chung; Roland Mouret; Alexa Chung; Derek Blasberg; Richard Nicoll; Derek Blasberg

Back to the point, here are the nitty gritty detail of where you may purchase the discussed book: The US No. 1 Bestseller ‘CLASSY’ by Derek Blasberg is exclusively available at Harvey Nichols for £9.99

(This article was published on LDNfashion.net)

We Love the Power - the shift to consumer driven technology

Do you realize we're the last generation who grew up, at least part of their childhood, without internet, mobile phones or even - o shock and horror - without iPhones (or blackberries, for you PC people out there)?

This became incredibly apparent when I started getting panic attacks imagining being without constant access to the internet whilst comfortably lodged at my grandmother's house the coming month, who very impressively uses email like no other, but still enjoys the non-comfort of a dial up connection on a ten year old PC laptop (they're so sturdy, aren't they, those android things). This was eased when I found out that installing wireless will be able to be done in a jiffy. Problem sorted.

However, the revelation remains, and it's a scary one at that. I have come to rely on the fact that I can leave my house and still be connected. I know this sounds incredibly obvious, but think back ten years. Do you remember the maps, address books, slight panic at 5 minute lateness of friends, racking the brain for that name of that actor of that film... Yes, this was not long ago. Now, I rely on the fact that all this does not have to happen. That I can be in control, never lost, save time, always in reach of knowledge via Google, Wikipedia, eBay and other applications (the use of which has risen to 13million downloads this year. Seriously). That I am never alone. And that my bag is a lot lighter and emptier, leaving space to carry an extra pair of flats so I keep the usage of my Prada heels to a minimum. And most importantly, that I am independent from the help of anybody else. The dependency is based solely on a single object.

Given that, I started to look up some facts (I am a journalist geek, what do you want?) and it's astounding. "Looking up facts" involved scouring - you guessed it- the internet but luckily also involved getting invited to the Primrose Bakery to a panel discussion of the new "Hip to be Square" Motorola flip out phones.

Remember how I was talking about "ten years ago"? Scrap that. Think back merely TWO years ago. The use of smart phones has risen to 20% of all phones in the UK from 1% last year. No, this isn't a joke. I thought it was going to be a number around that of 70%, which is being predicted is what the use of smart phones is going to rise to in the next few years. And there I was, in my relatively small world of fashionistas in London, thinking it was representable of people in the UK in general. Still, that is quite a scary number to observe.

As Victoria McManus, the UK Marketing Director of Motorola pointed out, the phones we use are no longer merely about fashion. Or functionality. If it were about functionality only we'd still be walking around with those adorable android Nokia sets. Remember them? I left mine outside in a thunderstorm by mistake and found it dripping water from its speakers. It was a sad day. "It's about how smart your phone is as well as about how fashionable it is" says Victoria, and I agree. It's not just about making phone calls, it's about the applications and how far you can rely on that single object to make you look as good, communicative and intelligent as possible.

Since I'm an eBay addict if ever there was one, the eBay app obviously graces the front cover of my application listings on my iPhone. For those of you equally as interested in facts and statistics as me (knowing they are never really what they seem, but still impressive) 9mil people in UK downloaded the eBay application. I had a strange mix of surprise and "I knew it"- sensation when I was told by Ruth Szwszkowski, the spokesperson for eBay Europe, that more eBay apps were downloaded in the UK than anywhere else in Europe. It made me chuckle, and a bit worried to know that I am one of the people in such a large group.

And then another reason transpired as to why applications as we know it are so popular in comparison to android applications as created by the makers of the respective objects (technically they're both android, but let's ease the distinction and say they're not). "Androids development and creation is guarded. Applications as we know it can be done by anybody. The technology becomes consumer driven, the balance of power is inverted. Consumers can now make or break a brand." Peter Cross, the Managing Partner of YellowDoor made the most poignant point of the evening.

It truly outlines the psychology of the popularity of the democratic power of technology that has been introduced. Because don't we bloggers know it better than anyone else... we love the power. And we're here to take it.