Green Map NI

Wireless charging could drive electric vehicle take-up, developers say

HaloIPT believes next generation of green cars could be charged wirelessly by parking over a transmitter pad or even using electrified roads

Scything cuts ‘will be grim for environment’

Irish hares, lapwings and rare marsh fritillary butterflies could all be doomed in Northern Ireland if the Government introduces swingeing cuts to environmental funding.

Northern Ireland bids for electric car infrastructure

Green electric cars could be invading our roads in the next couple of years if Northern Ireland is successful with its bid to install electric car charging points.

Shape-Shifting Octopuses Endangered by Blog Stardom? (Video)

Bring on the electric bicycle!

While at the Eco-Show last weekend at Belfast's King's Hall, I fell in love with the Promovec-Flow electric bicycle which hails from Denmark and is distributed in Ireland by www.electricbicycles.ie. It is just so cool and retro looking!

I really want to make an effort to leave the car at home more, but I have to admit that I am not the keenest cyclist, so this is the perfect solution for me especially if I don't feel like cycling up any tough hills on my way to a meeting.  Fully charged, this little beauty can go for about 30 miles and can reach speeds of up to 35mph! 

The price tag is a little bit of a hurdle though, coming in at around £1,200 this is a pricey investment, but just think of all the petrol that you will save! Also, if you cycle to work, you can qualify for the Cycle to Work Scheme and save up to 50% of the cost your bike.  In addition, you can also get mileage if you use you bike for work purposes.  So, as a self-employed consultant, I can cycle to meetings with clients and factor in 20p per mile - not bad! 

We visited the EcoShow this past weekend at the King's Hall in Belfast.

Billed as the first event of its kind in Europe, there was a bit of something for everyone: house holders, business owners, farmers, children, etc.  You could learn about anything from growing your own vegetables to the benefits of getting a hybrid electric bicycle, to monitoring your family's energy use at home and finding out about factors to include when building a house that will use environmentally-friendly energy sources.

It was fun and very informative day out.  We were so impressed by the tremendous local expertise and experience that we have at out finger tips here in Northern Ireland. We learned about garden roofs, timber housing, rain water re-cycling systems, waste management initiatives, and how you can make your own smoothie while cycling to the shops!

Get your cameras and video-cameras out this Sunday for project One Day on Earth. Running for 24 hours, photographers and videographers in every country will go about capturing their lives and celebrating their diversity. The uploaded clips and pictures will become a global, social film strip called One Day on Earth.

Just charge up your car and go!

Culture & Society > Eco-Information

Get various kinds of environmental, sustainability and ecological information in person, by phone or mail. 

Green Map Icons

The Green Icons® are a part of a universal set of symbols used by the Green Map System.

With the start of the academic year, and Fresher weeks just round the corner, the Greenmapni team would like to encourage students with ways to go Green. Reduce

Mail: Rented Accommodation accumulates a lot of unwanted mail visit Royal Mail online and it can give options 'to return to sender', opt out schemes to stop for example flyers, circulars, supermarket leaflets and junk mail.

Food Waste: It's sometimes hard cooking for one, organise some days you can club together to eat. The Love Food Hate Waste campaign gives brilliant ideas on food storage, portion size , left over food recipe's and waste disposal.

Packaging: Avoid over packaged food, buy bulk if possible a good one is cleaning products and non-perishables such as rice, pasta,tea and coffee. Ecover cleaning products are biodegradable and some health stores offer bulk refillable options, plus you could get student discounts.

Travel: For students travelling, save petrol and parking fees by carpooling with fellow colleagues or you can join up to a local Carshare Scheme (always follow safety advice). 

Energy Consumption:  Turn off & unplug lights, computers, chargers not in use and any other electronics. Standby wastes energy for appliances doing nothing. Visit www.freegreengadgets.co.uk  to claim your FREE Home Energy Saving Pack as part of the government's initiative to cut carbon emissions. Put heating on timers and adjust thermostatic controls. Use higher tog duvets in winter to keep warmer. Air your rooms, dry air is easier to warm up than damp. Cut back your time in the shower, more than 4 min's under a power shower will use the same amount of water as a bath tub.

Reuse

Water Bottles:  Use reusable water bottles, there are some really stylish stainless steel designs out there. The British Bottled Water Producers found that in 2009 1,626 million litres of UK-produced bottled water were consumed here in the UK, the amount of landfill waste from these bottles is unimaginable we can do our bit by not buying into it.

Books:  On a tight budget, text book rentals are available online at Acadreamia.co.uk or set up a local book exchange. You can save up to 50% or more off the retail price by renting.

Clothes: Organise a clothes swap party, I've done some for a few years with close friends until we nearly depleted all our options. Great fun too.

Everyday Items: Use Charity shops, you can pick up a variety cooking utensils, jugs, cups, plates etc...

    Recycle

Waste: Art students can check to see if your college is a member of Play Resource  they collect waste which can be used creatively in your projects. Also many printing companies have huge paper waste and are more than willing to get rid of it.

Unwanted Items: Don't throw away unwanted items either use Charity collection pick ups, Pass it on, or you can use sites such as Gumtree or Freecycle and offer items to the community for free, most users will collect.

Paper: Be conscious about buying stationary, choose recycled office supplies, FSC & Carbon Neutral Paper, with the highest post-consumer waste content (PCW). Check you have your blue or recycling bins with your local council, and what days are for collection..

Percy Schmeiser vs Monsanto: The Story of a Canadian Farmer’s Fight to Defend the Rights of Farmers and the Future of Seeds

We are so lucky to live only a few miles from Mount Steward; beautiful gardens owned by the National Trust. With reference to the Native Forest/Plant – Green Map Icon posted a few days earlier, we rummaged around on our Sunday walk in search of the Rowan tree, a Native tree to Ireland which is also known as the Mountain ash.

It is estimated that the Rowan in Ireland provides support in the form of habitation and food for 28 different insect species.

The timber of the mountain ash is hard and dense, it rarely produces dimensions suitable for commercial sawing. That being said, it is an interesting looking wood, with a purpley-brown heartwood and a yellowy brown outer or sapwood.

An old term for the mountain ash tree was "fid na ndruad" or translated to "tree of the druids".

Mountain ash is more often found at higher elevations (often up to 900 metres) than any other of Ireland's native broadleaved trees.

During the famine the leaves of the tree were thought to have been eaten by the famished Irish, before that time the leaves would occasionally have been used as winter feed for cattle.

Reference: http://www.gardenplansireland.com/forum/about702.html

Other interesting medicinal and folklore facts about the Rowan are:

The ripe berries astringent qualities are said to be beneficial in the treatment of for sore throats and inflamed tonsils, which would have been useful this week as the family have been suffering with the typical back to school colds and bugs. Is there anyone out there making Rowan berry cough syrup? And....

According to many folk legends the Rowan has been associated throughout history with protection and were planted near doors and gates to ward off misfortune.

I was happy to see that despite yesterday's dreadful weather, a good number of people turned out for the Taste of Northern Ireland's Garden Party in Belfast's Botanical Gardens.

The event, organized by Belfast city Council and Tesco, showcased NI companies that are local suppliers to Tesco.  It was billed as being the most environmentally friendly event in the city this year with all the food and drink served on either recycled or biodegradable containers.  Sadly, from what I could see, this was not the case.  All the drinks I saw were being served in plastic or styrofoam cups, and I also saw many plastic plates and utensils out there.  I do want to give a special shout out to Glens of Antrim Potatoes as they did serve their delicious mash in paper containers with wooden forks.

The highlight for me was to walk through the fruit and vegetable competition tent.  There were some very impressive items on display there which I was very tempted to bite into!