AUDIOBLOG: SANDY McCUTCHEON with a View from Fes

Every week, an interview heard on PASSION for the PLANET.

This week author & broadcaster Sandy McCutcheon talks about the city of Fes. CLICK FOR INTERVIEW.

For more Views from Fes, read Sandy's blog.

You can hear more interviews on air and on demand at www.passionfortheplanet.com

It's Worth Not Giving Up

A few weeks ago I wrote about climbing Tinto, one of the highest peaks in the Southern Uplands. For the full blog click here , but here are the basics ... My sister's house is at the bottom of Tinto. I like to climb it whenever I stay.

So ... just like everywhere else in the UK, it's been snowing around Tinto, quite heavily. The other day the snow stopped and the sun came out, so I layered up and headed for the hill.

Usually I give myself three goals ...
[1] get to the top
[2] do it without stopping
[3] beat my fastest time.

Fastest time so far is 44 minutes to the top. Now my sister reckons that's pretty good. However, every November some super fit freaks from Area 51 take human form and make us all feel inadequate by running up AND down - the race record is about 30minutes! Up and down in the thick snow took me THREE HOURS! It was so worth it.

I was expecting to be the only one adventurous enough to be on the hill, and wondered if this was odd behaviour, but then I had a mini Captain Scott moment when I spied a couple of dark shapes making their way down. Damn, I wasn't the only one on the hill. Now these two guys were together, but one was on foot, the other had skiis?! It was like bumping into some kind of ski lord and his trusty manservant. I decided not to feel odd. And good news, they'd only gone half way up, leaving the rest of the hill to me.

Much of the usual path up Tinto looks like a stream once flowed down it, although I suspect this erosion is more likely caused by squillions of footsteps. Whatever is responsible, a lot of the path is cut into the hillside, and was filled in with snow, so to avoid ending up ear deep in the stuff I had to walk where I could see the heather peaking through. I regularly came across parts that were just drifts though, and had to develop a technique of pushing down slowly a few inches to compact the snow then put my weight on it to push forward. At times I had to do a kind of on all fours Gollum-like shuffle [the easyJet flight path between Edinburgh & Gatwick is directly above, so maybe I amused a few passengers waiting for their overpriced Pringles]. It was tough going, but the reward more than made up for it.

At the top, simply amazing. My side of the hill had been in shade, so as I got close to the cairn, suddenly there was the other side of the hill flooded by sunshine. I actually said “wow” out loud. Then at the cairn the 360 degree view was spectacular, so different with everything white. The sky had streaks of blue but the clouds made the view. Because of the light, they looked different as I panned around. With the sun behind them the clouds glowed a spooky, ghostly white. I turned a little, and giant blobs of cotton wool embraced the hills. I looked round another bit, and it was impossible to tell where cloud and hill started and finished.

The way the snow had been blown around the cairn was really interesting too. What I guess happended was that the snow had fallen and settled on the large cairn stones [sizes between small and large mellons], then the wind had picked up and blown in one direction. This caused “fingers” of hard snow to form, all pointing horizontally in the same direction. The “fingers” formed in clusters on the individual stones, and because of the size of the stones, it looked like hundreds of white hands reaching out from the cairn. Beautiful turned into creepy.

Going up I'd been Shackleton, at the top I'd appreciated nature's beauty, coming down I decided to have some fun, so I did some snow angels. Also tried a bit of arse tobogganing, and then just rolled down a bit of hill [not as much fun as I hoped, and it made me dizzy]. About half way down, I met another bloke on skiis heading for the top. He’d been planning to head north for “proper” skiing, but traffic conditions made him settle for a half day on Tinto. I couldn’t help wonder what this seasoned skier would make of my trail of snow angels on otherwise virgin slopes.

Further down I saw someone else walking up. As this newcomer got closer I could see that they obviously hadn’t shopped at Millets. Their outfit included a white Patagonia wooly hat and light blue jeans tucked into what looked like beige cowboy boots. I thought I was walking towards Gok Wan. It wasn’t, but the bloke was cheery and friendly. I don't know if he tried to get to the top, but if he did I'm sure the helicopter crew appreciated his pluck [if not his heels]. Closer to the bottom I spoke to a Grandad with grandson in tow, and passed on my walk on the heather advice, but didn’t bother telling them not to eat the yellow snow.

Do YOU Have the Power of Protection?

Do you need protection? Are you strong enough to protect yourself? Or do you need someone to protect you? We tend to think of protection on a physical level and the idea that if you are physically strong enough you will be able to protect your self. And if you are not then there are three options a) go to the gym build your muscles b) get someone to protect you or c) stay in!

Discos employ bouncers, armies train soldiers and the rich and famous hire bodyguards. But the vast majority of us will never need to worry about being hurt by others as our average day carries very little physical threat. However if we move to the mental/emotional level there appears to be a different kind of possibility that we may get ‘hurt’. Indeed it seems that some of us believe we are being mentally or emotionally ‘hurt’ almost every day. Our symptoms of hurt are the behaviours that emerge as a result e.g. blaming, complaining and accusing others for ‘making me feel this way’. Is that because, like physical hurt, we are not strong enough or not powerful enough to protect ourselves, or is it because we feel we are at the mercy of other people and circumstances regardless of how powerful we are? Does it mean we need some kind of mental/emotional protection or do we need to manage our hurt feelings a little more discretely? Do we need some kind of ‘bouncer system’ standing guard at the widows of our minds and at the doors of our heart?

In order to clearly see what kind of protection we may need, it’s useful to consider exactly how ‘hurt’ happens. These are the seven main reasons why we might feel that we are ‘hurting’ mentally or emotionally.

Insulted “How dare you say that to me!” Whether someone calls us names or makes derogatory remarks about our personality, it seems many of us can easily feel personally insulted.

Offended. “Can you believe what they just said about ‘my’ religion” Similar to a personal insult being offended means we are disapproving of someone’s behavior or words. In our ‘judgment’ of the other we see them as doing or saying something against our beliefs or values. It could be a slander towards our race or religion. Some have come to habitually feel so easily affronted they consciously seek for reasons to be offended.

Let Down “I am so disappointed in you because you’ve let me down” A sense of hurt is the form of disappointment that follows quickly from the perception that someone has let us down. Whether they turned up late or just didn’t meet a commitment, we take it personally and once our sadness and anger (hurt) have faded, we put a black mark against that persons name in filing cabinet called memory.

Betrayed “How could you tell them what I said, how can I ever trust you again” When we take others into our ‘confidence’ we do so with the expectation that they will keep that confidence confidential! We do not expect them to pass it on to any old ‘other’! And when they do we feel the hurt of betrayal.

Robbed “They took everything from me” Perhaps one of the deepest hurts is when we have something we deem precious taken from us. Sometimes we feel it’s not just thieves, but we perceive some businesses are out to take as much from as many of us as they can for their product or service, and we then call it daylight robbery!

Broken Promise “But you promised me…”! We all know the moment of personal hurt when someone breaks a promise, whether it’s a parent who fails to buy that bike at Christmas, the boss who fails to deliver a promised promotion or the friend who fails to return a precious item on time.

Excluded “You didn’t invite me…” It’s that moment when you realise that you are not included in what you desired to be a part of. Any hurt feelings are often followed by, “What’s wrong with me?”

Life seems to throw up so many good reasons to feel hurt which means to feel powerless in the face of other’s behaviours and prevailing circumstances. In some areas this can happen so frequently to so many people that eventually the government has to create a ‘protection agency’ to ensure ‘the people’ are not exploited by others.

So how do we build our mental and emotional strength, how do we empower our self so that we don’t experience these feelings of hurt? How can we build the inner power to protect our self from our own mental and emotional suffering? Perhaps ‘protection’ is not the right word! Perhaps the real question is how do we not create, or break the habit of creating, our own suffering, our own hurt, in the first place?

Here are some suggestions in the form of the basic principles of ‘self emPOWERment’ which can both eliminate all hurt and eventually give you the strength not to create it.

1 Accept Responsibility Sometimes it’s hard to see, never mind accept, that we are each responsible for our thoughts and feelings at all times and in all situations. Our first responsibility in life is our ‘ability to respond’. This means any ‘hurt’ feelings are entirely our own creation and it’s never the other person or the situation. Easy theory but hard to put into practice in the ‘heat of the moment’, especially after a lifetime of believing ‘it’s them’. But if we can apply the principle of self responsibility, even after the situation has receded, we will begin to look for the cause of our hurt within our self as opposed to continue projecting our emotions on to others. And when we look we will almost certainly find that we feel hurt because the world is not dancing to our tune.

2 End Controlling It’s just not possible to control anyone else’s words or behaviours…ever! And most of our hurt comes because others are not saying or doing what we want, or they are saying/doing what we don’t want. Our emotional reaction is a sign that we are trying to control what we cannot control. Our ‘hurt’ is a sign that we are unhappy, and believe they are ‘making’ us unhappy. But ‘reality’ reminds us that the world is not designed to dance to ‘my tune’ and neither is the world, which includes other people, responsible for our happiness.

3 Be Happy Anyway Being responsible for our own happiness is also a challenge in a world that sends us hundreds of messages every day to say you cannot be happy until you have this, go there, consume that and acquire these etc. But as long as we make our happiness dependent on anything or anyone outside our self our emotions will fluctuate wildly and we will be unable to be at peace with our self, unable to give the gift of our peace to others, unable to extend the light of our love consistently to others. We will be unable to stop hurting our self emotionally or mentally. Realising that our happiness is an ‘inside job’ frees us from our dependencies and then there is nothing anyone can do that would ‘let us down’.

4 Letting Go If you explore the root of any hurt and all your unhappiness you will always find some form of attachment. Holding on to things, ideas and images of how others ‘should’ speak and act, is the real cause of our hurt feelings. Letting go or being detached does not mean we don’t care or that we are ‘avoiding’, it simply means we are free, our energy, our power is not trapped or blocked by old attachments, and we are able use our energy to respond positively to whatever happens.

5 Self Awareness The one place we tend not to look and learn is the inner space of our self. Cultivating self awareness allows us to see how and why we are ‘feeling’ hurt. It reminds us we are always responsible for our feelings and that we have the inner power to choose our feelings regardless of what others say or do. We may even see that we too have the ‘occasional inclination’ to insult, offend, exclude, let others down. And as we do we also realise that in the reality of real life these are things some people intend to do. And we can do absolutely nothing about others intentions and what they eventually do. All we can do is not be ‘affected’ by what they do. Some people do try to protect themselves from such behaviours but only by avoiding them. Much better to empower our self so that we don’t ‘hurt’ our own feelings, our self, when we see and hear ‘them’ attempting to insult, offend, exclude, rob etc.

You know when you are self-empowered, you know when you are standing in our power when:

No one can hurt you by insulting you, as you now see you are not whatever ‘name/s’ they may call you. It is just words (sticks and stones…)

You can no longer be ‘offended’ because you are no longer ‘attached’ to a particular belief or belief system about how others ‘should’ speak, act, wear their clothes and live their lives.

You are can never be hurt by some one who lets you down because you have learned not to make your happiness dependent on having your expectations met by others.

You can never be hurt by betrayal because you are no longer dependent on what others think about you for your self worth and self esteem and you know that you cannot control what others will do with what you share.

You cannot be robbed of anything of real value because in truth you know you possess nothing (you can’t take it with when you go) and everything comes and goes, and you have no control over the manner in which it may leave! And you now know your primary values are intangible and internal not those tangible and external things you are taught to acquire.

You can no longer be hurt by a broken promise because you know and accept that that is what people sometimes do, they break their promises, and your happiness is no longer dependent on others keeping their promises.

You are no longer devastated when you appear to be excluded. You do not take it personally. Your self-esteem and self-worth are no longer dependent on the approval of others. You no longer need to be involved in anything to be content within your self. You know there is nothing ‘wrong’ with you. You are a free spirit, and if the invitations come that’s OK, but if they don’t come that’s also OK.

In truth you cannot be protected against ‘hurt’ at a mental/emotional level because you create the hurt feelings yourself. But if you are still ‘hurting’ then it’s a signal to head for the mental/emotional gym and embark on some mental muscle building. And the first exercise is realising it’s ‘not them, it’s me’.

Question: Which of the above seven reasons tends to be the ‘trigger’ (not cause) of your hurt feelings.

Reflection: How could you free your self from all hurt?

Action: Take five minutes at the end of each day this week and note down all the moments you felt hurt by someone or something and see if you can see why it was you and not ‘them’.


Mike George is a relaxation expert and author of “The 7 Ahas of highly enlightened souls”. For more information visit: Awareness Retreats and Relax7.

Top Tips for a low Carbon Christmas 4

Christmas is here!

Will your festivities be low carbon this year? There’s still time… so here are a few top tips to make your Christmas a planet friendly one…

1) After all the festivities are over see how much of the Christmas wrapping paper and Christmas cards can be recycled. If you can reuse wrapping paper for next year – even better! If not put it all in the recycling bin. It takes much less energy and water to produce new paper from recycled pulp than from virgin pulp. You can also shred your waste paper and use it for packing or for bedding for your pets.

2) If your eyes were bigger than your belly and you can’t eat all your Christmas lunch – don’t throw it away. If you have a bird table put out your scraps and left-overs. Birds need all the food they can get at this time of year and they quite enjoy the odd roast potato and Yorkshire pudding.

3) We generate huge quantities of waste over the Christmas period – including cardboard packaging, wrapping paper, plastic bags, glass bottles and jars, and empty food tins and drinks cans. All of these are recyclable – so if you local council won’t collect them, load them up and take them to the civic amenity and recycling centre. Despite the carbon from the car journey it’s still better to recycle these materials than throw them in the dustbin. You could be extra eco-friendly and offer to take your neighbours as well – that way you’ll be reducing the amount of car journeys you both make.


4) If you are lucky enough to get a new mobile phone for Christmas remember to recycle your old one. Many charities collect old mobile phones. Any unwanted gifts or items you no longer want can be donated to your local charity shop to help raise money.

5) As the year draws to a close take a moment to think about how you will live your life in 2010. Consider your impact on the planet and if you can choose a couple of things that you could easily do differently in 2010 that would make a difference. It doesn’t need to be anything major – start small and grow your contribution. Every step we take to reduce our carbon emissions is a step in the right direction, so don’t be put off by the size of the problem – remember the old saying; “How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.” Now is a great time to take that first bite.

Cutting your carbon at Christmas doesn’t have to mean cutting your fun, but it can mean cutting your costs!

Have a very merry green Christmas this year!

AUDIOBLOG: Learning from the past with Prof John Tolon

Every Monday we have an interview heard on PASSION for the PLANET.

Today, Prof John Tolon tells how Muslims and Christians lived side by side in 12th century Sicily.

CLICK FOR INTERVIEW

This interview was recorded during the Fes Festival of World Sacred Music. There will be more from the Fes Festival on air and online in the New Year.

You can hear more interviews on air and on demand at passionfortheplanet.com

How my job changed my life and my health

I’ve been with Passion for the Planet for over a year now. Did I see myself working here a year? The short answer, to begin with, was no.

Let me explain. I didn’t apply for the job. I didn’t want a job in media and I wasn’t environmentally friendly. I wasn’t a complete eco hazard – I recycled bottles and clothing, and would walk instead of drive when possible. Although, if I’m honest this was because pre-Passion for the Planet I was a student and a lot of my ‘greener’ actions were fuelled by the knowledge it would save me money – it turns out that a good sale & buy on eBay can pay for next week’s food, that energy saving light bulbs cut electricity bills and that parking on campus costs a small fortune.

However, during my university years I also committed various environmental crimes. I drove up and down the M1 between London and Leicester, threw scrunched up scrap paper from essays in to bins rather than recycling and our diets were definitely not doing anybody any favours, including ourselves.

If a student gives you the excuse that they eat rubbish because they don’t have money for food – they’re lying. We used to buy take-aways a couple of times a week and eat burgers on the way home after nights out. These burgers were grim to say the least, being known universally among my friends as ‘rat burgers’ (the owner of the van used called us the ‘ratty girls’ as he never worked out we were referring to his business). We evened these expenses out by buying noodles that cost 5p per pack (I’m not joking, see here and sort the results in ascending order - they’ve gone up to 9p now). Apart from the fact they probably have about the same nutritional value as the newspaper you read this morning and forget the carbon footprint for a second - I still can’t get my head around how they could afford the entire manufacturing process from buying the ingredients, to cooking them, packaging and driving them to the supermarket all for just 5p.

Anyway, I know I wasn’t the only one eating like this. In fact, with regards to health, I was still slim as I would run around the park to work off the night before, and I was even relatively fit because I played a lot of sport for the badminton and hockey team. The fact that I was at the top end of the health scale compared to my peers says a lot about the benefits of exercising (or their lifestyles)!

So how did I get a job at the UK’s only environmental and health focused radio station without lying or even applying??

Well, the radio station was becoming more popular and expanding, so quickly in fact that it was keen to find some support staff. I happened to be at a friend’s house after graduating, discussing how I needed a job quickly to save up for travelling so I could go and come back before getting myself on to a graduate scheme. Her mother overheard and suggested Passion for the Planet, even though they hadn’t started advertising any positions yet. She said she wasn’t sure if it was what I was looking for (or even if I was what they were looking for) but maybe it would suit both parties for a while. So after a short interview that established I was capable of helping with admin and would fit in at the office, I got the job. As I only intended to stay for about 6 months before leaving to go travelling it was also agreed that they would continue to look for someone who would grow with the business.

As I began working at Passion for the Planet, I would also be listening to the radio at the same time as working. The interviews meant I quickly picked up hundreds of tips and lots of advice – not just on how to live a healthier lifestyle but a more environmentally friendly one too. Although I had never made any conscious effort to change my life, as I tuned in it just seemed to happen naturally.

By listening to the station I gained insights into a whole range of topics from cutting down office waste, to training falcons, where I can shop ethically and how to get into business. And my education was absolutely effortless too. Not to mention free!

Now, although I still own a car I certainly use it less. Even the smallest changes have made such a difference, from the way I eat (although I’m not a full blown vegetarian I am definitely feeling the benefits of eating less meat) to using websites like Freecycle to keep my flat tidy. The health tips have left me feeling more energetic and the inspiring good business interviews have made me reconsider my career path. Now I know there are so many more options available to me than just joining a graduate scheme! Reusing or reducing what I use has not only cut down waste but has saved me money which went towards my travels. (Passion for the Planet kindly kept the job open for me to allow me to fulfil my dream of travelling for 5 months, in the knowledge that I had a full time job to come back to.)

Passion for the Planet’s aim is to inspire and motivate people to live a healthier, greener life by giving them useful information in an entertaining way.

I’m proof that what we’re doing is making a difference!

Controversial Jewish rulings in the UK

Israel criticises UK over Livni arrest warrant
Olly Barratt, FSN London Bureau

Israel has criticised the issuing of a war crimes arrest warrant in the UK for former Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni.
Ms Livni had been due to visit Britain, but her trip was cancelled.
The UK says it is urgently looking into the wider implications of the case - but there may be nothing it can do to stop warrants being issued against members and former members of the Israeli government.
Olly Barratt reports from London... CLICK FOR REPORT

Controversial UK ruling on Jewishness
Olly Barratt, FSN London Bureau

Britain's Supreme Court has found a Jewish school guilty of race discrimination for refusing to admit pupils it did not class as ethnically Jewish.
The justices ruled that the JFS school in London had breached race relations laws.
But it's raised concern amongst the Jewish community, and has implications for religious schools all over the UK.
Olly Barratt reports from London... CLICK FOR REPORT

FSN is PASSION for the PLANET's award winning news partner, providing global news from bureaus worldwide.

You'll find more world news stories, plus analysis from FSN at FSN REPORTERS BLOG .

North African women at forefront of legal reform

Women in North Africa have made tremendous progress in promoting and upholding their rights. Women in this region—commonly known as the Maghreb—are at the forefront of the Arab world in terms of individual rights and gender equality, and constitute models for other Arab women to follow. A number of lessons may be drawn from the inspiring experience of women in North Africa, especially in Morocco and Tunisia.

Access to justice has been greatly facilitated by the new Family Courts in Morocco as necessitated by the Moroccan Family Code of 2004. When women marry, they are now able to retain ownership of their property thanks to Article 49 of the code, which allows for a separate contract on property alongside the marriage contract. This is in accordance with Islamic law, in which women may remain the sole owners of their property and have no legal obligation to share it with their husbands.

In addition, mothers married to foreign nationals in Morocco and Tunisia can now pass on their citizenship to their children—a privilege previously allowed only to men.

The countries of the Maghreb have made significant headway in combating violence against women. Almost all Arab countries have signed the most important international convention that bans such violence, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), with exceptions to articles that clashed with a literal interpretation of the Islamic law. But Morocco has recently agreed to the convention in full.

Women are also more visible in economic and academic spheres than before in the Maghreb. Nationwide youth literacy is gradually becoming a reality with women demanding accessible and standardised educational opportunities. And women often spearhead business ventures, are increasingly choosing their professions freely and feeling safer at the workplace as a result of laws that combat sexual harassment, and have better access to clinics and more independence in making decisions about their reproductive health.

Fertility rates have dropped considerably in the region, from well above six children per women in the 1970s to approximately two per woman in Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria, according to the Journal of African and Asian Studies. This reduction is impressive: the Maghreb accomplished in 25 years what took almost 200 years in France.

Women in the Maghreb have also progressed when it comes to exercising their political rights and civic voice, with more and more women becoming members of their nations' parliaments (43 in Tunisia, 34 in Morocco and 30 in Algeria) and local governing councils (no less than 3,406 in Morocco).

Non-governmental organisations have played an essential role in pushing women's rights forward in the Maghreb region. Networking between associations at national and grassroots levels ensures that activists can disseminate information and rally multiple groups to help promote new legislation or initiatives that help women.

Support networks, such as Anaruz, a network of Moroccan women's associations, are getting stronger despite the society's conservative social norms. Women's rights organisations and individual activists have helped the government to improve the rights of all women, which the state sees as a way to improve society as a whole.

Another lesson that the Moroccan and Tunisian experiences offer is the importance of the place given to gender and women studies in some universities. These academic programmes have proved instrumental in changing social perceptions, attitudes and structures that obstruct gender equality.

One of the main reasons for the slow progress in women's rights in the rest of the Arab world is an unfounded fear among conservatives that granting full equality to women constitutes an imposition of Western values and a deviation from Islamic norms. Proponents of women's rights in the Maghreb, however, have made every effort in their thinking and action to show that it is patriarchy and social norms, and not Islam itself, that constitute the roots of their problems.

Women's rights are indeed congruent with the spirit of Islam and with universal ideals. Islamic jurisprudence has a tradition of ijtihad—an independent and contextual interpretation of the Qur'an and hadith, the sayings of the Prophet Muhammad—which allows consideration of culture as a changing concept.

The countries of the Maghreb strive to reinterpret Islam in modern social contexts through their revised family codes, which secure women's rights without compromising Islamic values. Tradition and modernity are not lived as mutually exclusive. The future of women's rights in the Maghreb greatly depends both on the work of civil society activists and continued Islamic legal reform based on universal human rights.

Fatima Sadiqi is a professor of linguistics and gender studies and a UN expert on gender. With permission from the Common Ground News Service (CGNews).

Top Tips for a low Carbon Christmas 3

Christmas is just over a week away and there’s still time to make it a low carbon one.

Here are a few top tips to make your Christmas green…

1) Ditch the turkey – meat production accounts for over 18% of global greenhouse gas emissions (higher than transport!) so cutting back on your meat can make a real difference. How about a healthy nut roast instead? For some meat free recipes try the Munch Less Meat website.

2) No Christmas is complete without chocolate – and now is a great time to treat yourself (remember the diet doesn’t start until January!) so if you do fancy some chocolate – look for fair-trade brands. They taste great and help the farmers in the cocoa growing regions.

3) Try a candlelit Christmas dinner. By turning the lights off and going for atmospheric candles you’ll reduce your power consumption and in turn your CO2 emissions. It may not make a huge difference, but it’s true that every little bit helps and it’ll be more Christmassy with candles anyway!

4) Compost your vegetable scraps – don’t put them in your dustbin. As they rot down in landfill sites they produce leachate and while sitting in your dustbin they attract vermin. Go for a compost bin or a Greencone if you have a garden. If not then ask your local council - many local councils will collect compostable food scraps.

5) Christmas is a time of giving. If you can afford it make one of your gifts a donation to charity – however small, you can be sure your cash will be put to good use. If you haven’t got any spare cash then donate some of your time. A day volunteering can make a huge difference to you and the charity. It’s a great way to give back and for many is an inspiring way to start the new year.


For more Low Carbon Christmas Tips tune into Passion for the Planet and check out next Tuesday’s blog, right here!

Veggie, Vegan, Lacto-Ovo, Fruitarian – what does it all mean?

Vegetarian, vegan, lacto-ovo, pescetarian, fruitarian, raw foodie…. what do they mean and how can you be sure you’re feeding your guests the right food this Christmas?

Throughout my childhood I grew up in a house where we actually cooked the turkey on Christmas Eve to avoid the stress of the trying to baste with one hand and play Monopoly with the other on Christmas Day.

We also always had extended family round on Boxing Day, which meant even more cooking, less space in the kitchen and even more organising. Now we’re all adults, the space in the house seems to have shrunk again, with not only more people but different dietary requirements to cater for as well.

Now let’s be honest, even adding vegetarians to the equation does seem to take up more space! It means separate dishes to fit in the fridge, oven or on the stove (although I maintain this is not the fault of the veggie’s – it’s mainly because all the surface space is already covered in cakes, champagne and bowls of nuts). So while you’re feeling pleased with yourself for organising a big enough feast that everyone present will end up feeling so full they’ll never want to eat again, the last thing you’ll want to do is serve someone something they can’t eat.

With people using the word ‘vegetarian’ to mean so many things (I once heard someone describe themselves as partly vegetarian – what does that mean?) it’s no wonder people still get confused about what foods come under this diet. I even have a friend that claims she’s vegetarian and then says ‘It’s alright, I’ll just stick some fish on for myself’, so it’s not just the carnivores in the house that are clearly confused!

So here is a quick guide to the various diets you might come across this festive season…

Vegetarian: A diet that is defined by not eating meat (flesh) – whether it be red meat, poultry, fish, shellfish or game. The Vegetarian Society of the United Kingdom is the oldest vegetarian organisation in the world, establishing the term ‘vegetarian’ over 150 years ago, and in their definition they also include slaughter by-products. This may mean you want to ask your guests whether they’ll eat sweets with gelatin in (derived from the collagen found inside animals’ skin and bones) before you serve them a desert topped with candy.

There are also some sub categories:

Lacto-ovo-vegetarian: Eats both dairy products and eggs. This is the most common type of vegetarian diet.

Lacto-vegetarian: Eats dairy products but not eggs.

Here are some other useful definitions of the different diets you might come across this season:

Pescetarianism: Typically includes fish and shellfish but excludes all other meat. It is also sometimes known as ‘pesco-vegetarianism’. This can easily lead to confusion as it isn’t actually a form of vegetarianism, but rather (for some people) it can be a transition period from omnivore to vegetarian. This is a fairly new term; ‘pescetarianism’ was only recognised in 1993.

Vegan: A vegetarian diet that also does not include dairy products, eggs, or any other animal product or by-product (including honey). Many vegans are committed as a lifestyle choice too; they not only avoid animals for food but all animal products such as leather, fur, silk and wool. The Vegan Society established in 1944 describes itself as “promoting ways of living free from animal products for the benefit of people, animals and the environment”.

Raw Foodist: A diet that promotes eating un-cooked, un-processed and often organic foods. Typically they eat 75 % of their food not heated above 46C (116F) degrees. Most often they are vegan (and this is considered the pure form of a raw food diet), but there are subcategories of raw vegetarianism and raw animal food diets, which means they eat some food that is cooked, but the bulk of the diet is raw.

Fruitarian: A diet comprising of only raw fruit, including raw nuts and seeds without animal products, vegetables and grains. Some people consider themselves fruitarian if their diet is 75% or more fruit.

So in a nutshell, and as demonstrated by my confused pescetarian friend, it’s always worth asking your guests a few more questions about their food dos and don’ts this Christmas. You never know – they might be as confused about the definitions as you are!

And if you need a few recipe ideas – have a look at Munch Less Meat.

Attracting money is about rubbish!

Why Attracting Money During The Recession Is All About Rubbish

We are currently living in a time where you cannot turn on the news without hearing another sad tale of the “credit crunch”. Most of us know of someone, if not ourselves, who has been made redundant or has been asked to work fewer hours. Our high streets are littered with closed down shops and businesses. Our savings have diminished in value and lines of credit have simply dried up.

And we’re all ready to blame someone else for the mess we’re in. We blame the banks, the greedy City traders or the Government.

But whilst we are pointing the finger at others, we are distracted from looking at ourselves. And whilst we are using our energy to cast blame on others, we have less energy for ourselves.

If you keep your focus on bad news, you will only ever see bad news. Shift your focus and keep a look out for the good news – the companies who are thriving and adding to their staff, or the people you know who have found what they love to do and have turned it into a successful business, maybe even financed by a redundancy payment. The good news is out there if you decide to see it – I promise you.

When we stop blaming others and choose instead to take responsibility for our own status, then we can start to become a Money Magnet, irrespective of external circumstances.

So ask yourself; are you taking in all the negativity or have you found a way to stay positive amid the gloom?

I really believe that the credit crunch is a “heaven sent” opportunity for us to clear out our clutter and get focused on what we really want to be doing.

Our negative thoughts are a form of clutter, and clutter gets in the way of our true potential. Clutter, whether it’s in our homes, our bodies, our lives or in our thoughts, clouds us from our purpose and clarity. Remember the lightness you felt when you last cleared some clutter in your home, office or car? If you have ever done a detox programme, you will know how much clearer your thoughts became. Clutter is a distraction.

In many ways, the recession that we are currently experiencing is a chance to clear out our clutter and to get back to what is really important.

Don’t blame the “credit crunch” for your current situation, no matter how tempting it may be. The economic climate is too convenient an excuse for you to do nothing. Instead use it as a way to clear out your clutter.

When we blame external circumstances or even other people for our situation, we place ourselves in the role of “victim”. You are not a victim. You are the “Director” of your own life. You have the power to change your world.

The money is already there. The only thing preventing you from being rich is you.

Here is a quick checklist to discover whether you are a “poor me” or a “lucky me”?

• Is your glass half full or half empty?
• Are you saving for a rainy day or for an unexpected holiday?
• Do you love your job or is it just a way to pay the bills?
• Is your financial situation all the fault of someone else or are you proud of what you have achieved?
• Do you hold regrets or are you happy for the learning experiences?
• Is it all their fault or were you steering your own ship?
• Is it all down to the recession, or to your own personal choices?
• Are you destined to continue as you are or do you see new opportunity around every corner?
• Are you adopting the news of the day or do you have your own vision of the world?
• How do you feel when it’s raining? Pleased for the plants or miserable because you forgot your umbrella?

If you have discovered you are a poor me then its time to flip it around and see the positive side and look for the opportunity. Unless you change your world view the world around you won’t change.

Marie-Claire Carlyle is author of “How To Become A Money Magnet”.
For more information visit Marie-Claire’s website.

Top Tips for a low Carbon Christmas 2

Christmas is getting closer – are you ready? And will it a low carbon Christmas?

Here are a few top tips to help you cut your carbon and your costs this Christmas…

1) Rather than buying rolls and rolls of wrapping paper, you could make your own by decorating newspaper, or wrap your presents in pretty pieces of fabric that can be reused again and again.

2) If you are buying Christmas cards or wrapping paper – then buy recycled paper and ideally look to support a charity. Many charities offer lovely Christmas cards and paper with profits going to fund their work.

3) Big bowls of nuts are synonymous with a tradition Christmas so make sure you include some fair-trade Brazil nuts. Eating Brazil nuts from the Amazon gives people a sustainable income and helps to preserve the forest, soaking up even more carbon from the atmosphere!

4) When you are shopping for Christmas lunch look locally produced meat and vegetables. Transporting food long distances from overseas or even just from the other end of the UK produces many tonnes of CO2 every day, so check the labels and ask the shopkeeper where the food was produced.

5) After Christmas lunch, if you’re visiting family and friends locally why not suggest that you all walk, rather than take the car. It might even help to work up an appetite for the mince pies at teatime, as well as reduce carbon emissions from using petrol.

For more Low Carbon Christmas Tips tune into Passion for the Planet and check out next Tuesday’s blog, right here!

AUDIOBLOG: Electro-magnetic Fields with Dr David Dowson

Every Monday we have an interview heard on PASSION for the PLANET.

Today, Dr David Dowson explains why he believes we need to be concerned about electro-magnetic fields. So what are they, and what do they do to us?

CLICK FOR INTERVIEW

You can hear more interviews on air and on demand at passionfortheplanet.com

Flooding – could it happen to you?

What would you do if you were at work, the rain was hammering down and within a day your offices were several feet underwater? Would your family be safe if you home was flooded? What would you loose to the rising water?

Over 5 million people in England and Wales are at risk of becoming a victim of flooding. The long term solution to prevent future flooding across the planet is to cut you and your family’s carbon emissions; however you need to have a short term plan as well.

Be prepared!
As we saw recently in Cumbria and back in 2007, floods can come suddenly and when they do they’re absolutely devastating to communities. By being prepared you could not just save you belongings but your life.

• Know the risk; Check these flood maps so that you can check whether you’re at risk from flooding from rivers or the sea.
  
• You don’t just need to be near water to experience flooding. Even if you live inland, you too could be a victim of flooding. Sewers can get blocked and overflow, contaminating flood water. Heavy rainfall can overwhelm the drainage capacity of the local area causing floods.
  
• Get flood alerts – almost three quarters of people that live in the areas that are at risk of flooding have not signed up to get regular flood alerts. Sign up to Floodline Warnings Direct by calling Floodline on 0845 988 1188 or online by following this link. The service they provide is free and sends flood warnings direct to you by telephone, mobile, email, SMS text message or fax.
  
• Flood proof your property. It will never be possible to fully protect your home or offices from the risk of flooding, but you can significantly reduce the damage done. Here’s a handy check list by the Environment Agency to help you get started.
  
• Check your insurance plan and make sure that it covers flood damage – otherwise you could find yourself footing the bill. Flooding can be financially costly on top of the inconvenience and distress of loosing your home.
  
• Find out how to turn off your gas, electricity and water mains supply in order to minimise damage
  
• Move treasured possessions and mementos. Secure a place to put cherished items such as photo albums, family videos and heirlooms. It’s quicker and safer to remove one box of things you want to keep safe from you house when leaving, rather than running round trying to collect things on the day of an emergency!
  
• What would you want to move to safety? Think about items that you’d want to save such as a pets and furniture and think about how you’d go about moving them.
  
• Community – not only will working together when a flood occurs help you to respond quickly and effectively, but consider neighbours that might need extra help, such as the elderly.

If you are unlucky enough to experience flooding in your area, or you have any concerns, the Environment Agency can provide you with the advice you need. Click on their flood advice guides or go to their main flood page if you want any more information.

Snake Invaders and Geriatrc Ninjas

Florida is known as the Sunshine State, and its good weather makes it the retirement destination of many Americans. Florida's climate is also increasing the numbers of other new comers. Here are two reports from Steve Mort.

SNAKES DON'T NEED TO BE ON A PLANE TO WORRY AMERICANS
Steve Mort, FSN Florida Bureau

The strangling death of a two-year-old girl by a pet Burmese python in the U.S. state of Florida earlier this year has sparked public concern about the increasing number of large reptiles in the state. But one reptile expert is trying to quell the public's fear by bringing people and snakes together ... CLICK FOR REPORT

CANE FU, THE MARTIAL ART FOR GRANDPARENTS
Steve Mort, FSN Florida Bureau

Thousands of elderly Americans are learning a form of self-defence that uses a tool many of them already carry - a walking cane. According to some martial arts instructors, Cane Fu is growing in popularity among retirees ... CLICK FOR REPORT



FSN is PASSION for the PLANET's award winning news partner, providing global news from bureaus worldwide.

You'll find more world news stories, plus analysis from FSN at FSN REPORTERS BLOG .

Dynamic Speaking - top ten tips

If you really want to make an impact and ensure that your message is heard, you need to be a dynamic speaker and hold the attention of your audience.

So here are Ten Top Tips to help you do just that…

1. Breathe Life Into Your Presentation
Correct breathing releases tension and anxiety. To overcome nerves prior to speaking, take three long inhales and three long exhales.

2. Speak On The Outward Breath
To enrich the full range of the voice, speak on the outward breath rather than the held breath. You will feel more relaxed and it adds more power to your voice.

3. Think Sexy!
To speak with more power and authority without sounding aggressive, think sexy! The voice becomes deeper and resonates from the chest, conveying a richer, warmer quality.

4. Think Boots!
To project a more powerful voice and avoid voice strain, look straight out to your audience and imagine sending your voice down to your boots. Try practising on the dog, kids, or your partner and watch them sit up and take notice!

5. Say It Like It Is
Remember to write and speak in shorter sentences. It sounds more natural and helps your audience stay with you.

6. Make Eye Contact
Eye contact makes a powerful connection with your audience. Give a nugget of information or a phrase to each person. If you’re nervous about making real eye contact, look at their forehead, they’ll never know the difference.

7. Invest In A Gesture
Do move and use gestures, but aim for economy of movement. Try moving the arms from the elbow, rather than the shoulder. This avoids looking like you’re
flagging down a bus!

8. Wait For It!
Pause more. Pause in between each phrase. Allow your audience time to assimilate your message. Remember, it’s the first time they’ve heard your talk.

9. Use More Visual Imagery
People always remember powerful images. Paint a picture through words. Use an analogy - then complex concepts or technical material comes “alive”.

10. Practise, Practise, Practise!
It really does make you perfect. Practise your talk aloud to yourself and then to a colleague. This gives you a sense of pace.

In all walks of life good communication skills are essential.

Everyone deserves to discover that their “real” voice is dynamic, powerful and memorable - it’s truly amazing!

Once learnt, these skills are with you for life!


Constance Lamb is a professional actress and public speaking consultant. She works in Television, Theatre and as a Voice-Over. She is a trained teacher, has an M.A. and has taught voice to undergraduates at Florida State University. Clients include: Reuters, Pricewaterhouse Coopers, Morgan Stanley, Thales Acoustics, Toyota, Training & Enterprise Councils, TV producers and many international business people.

Top Tips for a low Carbon Christmas 1

As we start gearing up for Christmas its time to think about how we can reduce our carbon footprint over the festive period.

So here are a few top tips to help you have a low carbon Christmas without skimping on the fun and festivities…

1) Buying presents for friends and family is one of the best parts of Christmas so if you are choosing gifts or looking for ideas for yourself, try out some of the online ethical gift stores or charity shops. For example: Ethical Superstore, Love Lula, and RSPB. Alternatively turn your back on consumerism and use your money to support a charity by sponsoring a gift for someone needy.

2) If any of the items you give or receive require batteries – remember to get rechargeable batteries. They will save you money and at the same time you’ll be protecting the environment from the toxic chemicals that are in old batteries.

3) Do you really need to buy new Christmas decorations again this year? Could you re-use last years? Or make your own? The frivolities of Christmas are lovely but they use up so much of our resources – so anything you can re-use or recycle will help to cut your carbon and your costs.

4) Send e-cards rather than Christmas cards – it costs less, uses less paper, there are no transport emissions and no waste afterwards.

5) Choose a live Christmas tree in a pot, rather than a cut tree. They don’t drop their spines and after Christmas, if you keep the tree well watered and put it in the garden, it will last until next year. During the year the tree will absorb lots of CO2, so as well as brightening up the garden it’s also absorbing carbon from the atmosphere.

6) If you are decorating the tree choose low energy Christmas lights, (Lights4fun has a massive range or Ecocentric has a smaller quirky selection). They don’t cost any more to buy but they are much more environmentally friendly, as they use less energy. It is also worth remembering to put the Christmas lights on a timer so they don’t stay on all night. It will save money and the environment.

For more Low Carbon Christmas Tips tune into Passion for the Planet and check out next Tuesday’s blog, right here!

AUDIOBLOG: The Real Cost of Christmas Turkey

Every Monday we have an interview heard on PASSION for the PLANET.

Today, Alastair Currie explains why he believes we need to think more about our festive food shopping.

CLICK FOR INTERVIEW

You can hear more interviews on air and on demand at passionfortheplanet.com

£5,000 Prize Available to Transform an Ethical Business

Great news for Ethical Businesses – there’s £5000 up for grab!

The “Pledging For Change Ethical Business Advantage Award 2009” is a new competition to win £5,000 worth of business image development from the brand image experts, Creatively Minded Design.

Pledging For Change is an ethical community interest company promoting networking in the spirit of harmony with the planet and together with sponsors The SME Brand News, Creatively Minded design, Passion for the Planet and YouCanOnline they want to help small ethical businesses grow.

The organisers are looking for young or struggling ethical businesses which will really benefit from the transformation in image, online presence, marketing strategy and potential revenue this prize can open up.

They are looking for a business owner who is forward driven, ambitious and passionate about their ethical product or service. Someone who doesn't have the budget for brand development or the knowledge to ensure they exploit their business image at every given opportunity both online and offline. Someone who will really benefit from expert advice to help them STAND OUT and attract many new customers.

This Award also has a wider aim; to gather real life stories from ethical entrepreneurs, which can then be shared with other budding entrepreneurs to help them build their businesses. For example, how to get from a having a great idea to business launch and development, tips on overcoming typical business challenges, how to develop a brand on a shoe string budget, how to communicate a clear ethical message on social media, how to stay true to your ethical principles, how to market your business and grow your customer base and the practicalities of managing a positive business while keeping a work-family life balance.

The winning business owner will receive a bespoke prize package designed to help their business grow, plus there will be continued support from those backing the award. The prize package will help the winner to re-establish a niche, create the right business image, build credibility, put forward a clear business message, a consistent brand image and engage in marketing and social media promotion activities. The prize will include a website and training support. The prize is designed to help transform their business and give them a hand up towards a sustainable future.

To enter please join www.pledgingforchange.com (it is free to join) you can then sign up to the Business Image Advantage Group and complete the online entry form. Last date for submitting entries is Friday 11th December 2009.

Big News Name Getting Smaller

BIG NEWS NAME GETTING SMALLER
Kate Moody, FSN Washington DC Bureau

It's another casualty for the world of journalism - the Washington Post has announced it will close its remaining US bureaus (in New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles). The six correspondents who work there have been offered positions in the Washington office, while three news assistants will be let go.

A memo from executive editor Marcuz Brauchli told staff: "Our commitment to national news of interest to our readers is undiminished, and we will maintain the level and caliber of coverage our readers expect." But even the Post's own media writer, Howard Kurtz, pointed out that the publication will be losing "the knowledge and experience of reporters who come to understand the local issues, personalities and culture of other regions by living there."

The move comes in stark contrast to a recent decision by the New York Times to expand its coverage in San Francisco and Chicago - and media insiders will be watching closely to see which strategy seems to be the most effective in the changing industry.

FSN is PASSION for the PLANET's award winning news partner, providing global news from bureaus worldwide.

You'll find more world news stories, plus analysis from FSN at FSN REPORTERS BLOG .

The Internet; how to stop wasting time and increase productivity

Avoiding Staff Misuse and Spam

Spam or unsolicited emails is the biggest waste of business time today.

As defences have improved so has the cunning of the “Spammers”. Last year they embedded all messages inside pictures to avoid detection, but the latest spam tools read the text inside pictures.
So first and foremost guard your email address as you would your pin number. If you put your email address on your website, put it on as a picture or break up the email, for example “sales @ abbeysupport dot com”. Also use a hotmail or gmail address for anything you register for.


We originally started stopping spam with Microsoft’s free offering or GFI Mail essentials and these blocked between 20-75% of spam, reducing user annoyance. They only occasionally gave a false positive.

Nowadays we have moved many of our customers over to a hosted spam solution, where your emails pass through a server which receives over a million emails a day, compares their content and source and strips out 90-99% of spam. It also has the facility to send you one email digest a day of all the emails blocked just in case of false positives.
With the basic version you even get another Anti-Virus clean, for the basic price of £15 per user per year, with the real added bonus that your internet is quicker because its not downloading spam messages.

Points to remember:
1) consider a hosted spam cleaning service
2) Publish email addresses on your website as picture only
3) Use Gmail or Hotmail for all product registrations

Internet misuse by staff is another big problem for many businesses – it leads to loss of productivity, slower broadband speeds and higher risks of infection.

I am repeatedly asked by owners of businesses what can be done to stop staff wasting company time on the internet. Surprisingly perhaps my answer is always the same: make sure you have an HR policy in place saying what is considered acceptable internet use and what is not.

The second stage is to remove messenger applications such as MSN messenger and Yahoo messenger. Combining this with the blocking of major sites such as “youtube” and “facebook” will reduce internet traffic.

The final solution is a hardware device, most of you will have a Zyxel firewall and it is possible to get a subscription service that will block certain types of sites based. This costs around £100.00 a year.

If you need more control of who can access what sites when, then there are devices from around £1,000.00 which allow you to control access on a per user basis. You get reports on internet usage and can allow all users access at lunch time or outside core hours.

Points to remember:
1) Put an HR policy in place and publish it to your staff
2) Block messenger applications and social sites
3) Upgrade your firewall or purchase an Internet proxy device

Anthony Melbourne is the founder of IT software and hardware support company; Abbey Support

Fancy a drink?

Millions of people in the UK spend millions of pounds on bottled water every year. And we’re being sold a scam… so let’s just clear something up;

By opting for tap water over bottles you can help the ENVIRONMENT, YOUR POCKET and YOUR HEALTH!


Now, if all this is true then why is bottled water such a successful industry? It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to work out that it isn’t a very sustainable way of doing business.

Some imported brands of bottled water are responsible for more than 300 times the CO2 emissions per litre than tap water (Thames Water 2009). According to WRAP three out of four plastics bottles are not recycled meaning millions of bottles needlessly end up in landfill. And even if they are recycled (which is far better than creating them from raw materials) it still leads to higher carbon emissions as the recycling process consumes energy.

Ignoring the environmental impact for a minute, why do people just keep reaching in to their pockets to buy another bottle of water when it’s so expensive?

According to the Consumer Council for Water bottled water costs 500 times more than tap water, so when we ask for bottled water at a restaurant it can be comparable to paying £1500 for a beer or glass of wine when we’d usually pay just £3. Interestingly, one in five people claim that they’re ‘slightly nervous’ or ‘too scared to ask’ for tap water (National Consumer Council). But the main reason is because of successful advertising campaigns which have managed to convince us that bottled water is somehow better for us.

However on the whole, tap water is just as safe, clean and healthy. And if you live in London (where the water certainly isn’t coming from any fresh water springs) then your tap water is actually rated top in the UK according the Drinking Water Inspectorate’s (DWI) annual water quality report in 2008. The DWI rigorously tests the quality of drinking water to make sure that it is safe in terms of bacteria, the chemical and metal content and perhaps surprisingly, how the water looks and tastes.

Further to this, The London On Tap campaign, a collaboration between Thames Water and the Mayor of London, recently launched a competition to design an iconic carafe to be used to serve tap water in restaurants, bars and hotels throughout the capital. So now restaurant owners can order a carafe with their logo on to serve tap water, which not only looks smart, but shows that their establishment has invested in our environment.

Now if you already know all of the above and in addition are trying to cut down on how much tap water you use (we salute you) then the Consumer Council for Water and the Energy Saving Trust have come up with these top tips to help you save money and the environment:

• Replace worn washers on leaky taps. A dripping hot water tap wastes energy and over a year could unnecessarily add over £18 to your annual water bill.

• Shorten your shower. For every minute you cut off your daily shower you could save between £5 and £10 off your energy bills over the year, or go one step further and install a water saving shower head, which can cut the amount of water used by about 30 per cent.

• When putting the kettle on to boil, only fill it with as much water as necessary. Two-thirds of us waste energy by boiling more water than we need.

• Make sure that the dishwasher or washing machine is completely full before turning it on, and avoid using the half load setting. Half-load cycles use much more than half the energy and water of a full load.

• Washing machines use huge amounts of energy, 90 per cent of which is through heating water. By reducing the temperature from 40 to 30 degrees, energy consumption will be reduced by 40 per cent.

• The hot water cylinder thermostat should be set at 60°C or 140°F. Any higher is a waste of energy and could lead to scalding.

• Insulate the hot water cistern to avoid wasting energy to keep it hot. Fitting a jacket that is at least 75mm thick could save around £35 each year.

Like so many environmental initiatives, when you think about it, it makes perfect sense, it saves you money and it’s actually very easy to do.