This is a copy of my recent column which appeared in the latest issue of Sustained magazine.... http://www.sustainedmagazine.com/


Lisa Loves... Real Life Big Carbon Debates

Carbon! We hear that word bandied around these days like nobody’s business ...we’re meant to save it, offset it, think about how much of it we use, it’s the basis of life, we’re made from it and if we don’t start taking it a bit more seriously then soon it will all be gone and the world will explode – or something? Well, I’ll give it a whirl, but in between the school run, running a business, keeping up with the mortgage, dealing with the modern middle class nightmare that is homework and making sure there’s enough wine (organic of course) in the fridge (A++ rated) to last the week, I’m afraid my carbon footprint is the least of my worries.

Still, politicians and the media wag their fingers at us as though we’re teenagers - walk instead of drive, use low energy light bulbs (mercury-laden by the way), turn the thermostat down and put on a sweater. Okay, I’m happy to do this in the name of energy conservation and the future of the planet, but what I, and most of the rest of the population would really love to know is, is it really going to make a difference? And why should I be so worried about it anyway? Surely one person can’t be responsible for the entire world going to pot – isn’t that the plot of a Superman film? All I know about carbon is that it’s a natural element trapped in vegetation, coal, the earth, oil etc, and that releasing it into the atmosphere causes the greenhouse effect which is why we should drive a Reliant Robin rather than a Range Rover Vogue monster. Why doesn’t someone tell us more about this stuff? I’m sure people would be a lot more willing to give saving it a go if we knew why and, more to the point, that we were being supported. But sitting shivering in our living rooms watching TV by the light of a candle seems a tad masochistic when, if you take a trip to London at any time of the day or night, half the city is lit up like Las Vegas with only five people actually using the light, heat, computers etc. How much carbon would be saved if the Gherkin building was to please switch off the lights at home time?

Does Gordon Brown give Sarah a hard time for using the Downing Street washing machine more than once a day? Is Barack Obama going to refuse Air Force One and switch to video conferencing in the hope we’ll all choose Dorset over Benidorm for our summer holiday? I doubt that very much. And we’ve all seen David Cameron publicly shunning cars but I bet he tucks into his Sunday roast every week – the global livestock industry reportedly uses just as much energy as transport. And how many times have I heard disinterested friends or family say to me, ‘Well Lisa, I’d readily swap my Trojan Warrior Trailblaster for a moped if I thought that those factories in China would stop throwing out smoke and fumes like there’s no tomorrow.’ (which by the way, there won’t be at this rate!). These are the very same people whose demand for iPods, supermarket clothing and Nikes is the reason for the factories in the first place!

It’s all very well for the Government to put the onus on the homeowner to use less energy and transport, and fine us for having too much rubbish but I can’t help feeling that’s like using a pneumatic drill to open a pistachio. What about ticking off the car companies, heavy industry, the supermarket chains and most of Canary Wharf?

I’m on my children’s Eco-schools Council and it makes me smile right down to my toes to see such passion and commitment about saving energy and doing good for the environment from children as young as seven, who this planet, after all, belongs to. But it also breaks my heart to think that unless everyone from individuals, business owners, governments and multinational organizations, pulls together and takes responsibility for cutting carbon usage then, it seems to me, the earth will surely be doomed.

Confused as Lisa? You can find out more and have your say at http://tinyurl.com/CO2debate

Thanks to the lovely (and I quote "exquisite"!) David North, Sustained Editor, for allowing me to reproduce this piece on my blog. If you want a copy of the magazine please get in touch with me.

It's Show Time!

Well my feet are still aching and my head spinning, but the full impact of the two shows I’ve recently attended is still to be realised…. Exhibitions are such hard work, long hours on your feet, a sore throat from talking all day long, aching cheeks (facial ones!) from perpetually smiling… not to mention the expense, hours of preparation beforehand and the usually hideous carpeting in the show halls. But weighing up all this seeming negativity against the pure gold opportunities to come face to face with potential clients and customers.. forging relationships that will last into the next few months and hopefully years.... it really is a no-brainer!

The first show I went to this month was the Natural & Organic Products Show at Olympia’s grand hall. I went along in my capacity as PR for my client Manfred Techentin of Energise Your Life, who had bravely booked a stand. We spent hours on set-up day lugging, lifting and arranging (well, he did most of the lugging and lifting, if I’m brutally honest, but I feel I surpassed myself in the arranging department!) and two days spending hours developing varicose veins from standing all day long (sitting down on a show stand is really not a great plan unless your product needs to be demoed from the comfort of a chair and table), drinking rather nice tea blends from the fabulous Dragonfly Café and chatting to the most amazing array of people from health food store owners to raw food enthusiasts and sprouting junkies!!

At the end of the show, my own personal knowledge of the fabulous array of juicers, sprouters and water purification systems Energise Your Life distributes had increased exponentially, and thanks to the recent acquisition of a Samson juicer for my very own kitchen, felt very confident recommending this King of the Juicers to all and sundry… although some of the more hard-core juicing fanatics couldn’t keep their healthy hands off the Gold Star juicers on display, the real Rolls-Royces of the juicing world. Yes, we did actually have people come up to the machines simply to gaze longingly and stroke them on occasion (must have been the free organic pomegranate wine
samples from one of the neighbouring stands?)

We even had a visit from the famous Sproutman himself, whose books were on display on our shelves, and despite the rather dodgy barcode reading gadget Manfred had forked out an arm and a leg for, managed to generate a host of leads for further contact and hopefully business.

Something which hit home to me as I spent time with the visitors – all wonderful, happy, vibrant people with such excitement and enthusiasm for the show, which was a joy considering it was a trade show and in the “real world” would have had a very business-like atmosphere – was the number of medical practitioners keen to learn more about juicing for their patients… and I don’t mean just naturopaths and homeopaths, but NHS nurses and doctors, who had come to the show to find nature’s answer to alleviating problems they were involved with such as allergies and even cancer. In fact, several people we spoke to discussed how they used juicing and sprouting to help protect or cure their own or loved ones’ cancers. At one point I had to fight back tears as one gentleman specifically came to our stand to enquire about the best machine to make vibrant juices for his very sick wife who was at home in bed ill with cancer - eye opening really, considering that I hadn't really fully appreciated that as well as using the show to gain new clients, the products actually do really help people.



Of course, I always try and eat, sleep, breathe and live my clients’ products as much as possible, so I even lost my wheatgrass juice cherry that weekend – in fact much to the amazement of virtually everyone I loved the taste and couldn’t wait for more! This incredible stuff contains virtually every enzyme, element and vitamin in existence (apparently) and a couple of shots a day should see me well into old age, if any of the super healthy looking juicing pros I spoke to are anything to go by!








Champagne? nah - pass me the wheatgrass dahhling!
The show itself was amazing and Ethical PR Girl’s dream world… every single exhibitor with delicious tasting, smelling or feeling products which are all completely natural, organic, pure or in some way beneficial to the environment. Instead of an atmosphere filled with pungent artificial fragrances, we were treated to constant wafts of essential oils, organic spices and herbs as all the exhibitors demonstrated their amazing ranges of food, clothing and beauty products, not to mention some of the tasting experiences (my route to the cloakroom somehow always seemed to coincide with pinching segments of truffles from the Booja Booja stand!)

The best show I’ve ever been to took place just last week – UK Aware at Olympia 2… what an atmosphere! I can honestly say that I’ve never felt such an intensely positive vibration at any exhibition I’ve attended, instead of desperately sloping off the minute the doors closed, virtually everyone straggled even at the exhibitor party, where the organic wine and wonderful people carried the buoyant mood well into the evening. I particularly liked the fact the seminars were held in the open centre of the show hall where passers by could stop and listen in for as long as they liked as well as stay the distance. And top marks to the wonderful Nicola from Daisy Green who together with ethical stylist Lupe Castro, tirelessly swished their way through the event with the help of their gorgeous models, swapping clothes and accessories at a rate of knots and recycling the leftover items as well.



I must confess to buying some great items too from Onya bags and sandwich packers to some lovely underwear from Pants to Poverty, and found it a great opportunity to catch up with new clients Natural Empathy, whose new range of luxurious organic skincare products had plenty of people ooohing and aahing on their stand as well as in the relaxing area where MD Beverley kindly furnished pooped punters with a generous squirt of handcream as they chatted over tea and coffee. (In fact the Swish models actually came to the stand to get some face cleanser to remove their makeup before whizzing off to their "day" jobs")



Swish Pic courtesy of Nico Dattani














My personal highlight was the ten minute head, back and shoulder massage though… although nearly falling asleep in the middle of a crowded, noisy room probably wouldn’t be classed as one of my most professional moments!

The main impression I came away with from UK Aware was immense optimism and hope at how many businesses are out there fearlessly braving the current financial stormy weather, protesting about the government, capitalism, climate change and the rest of the turgid messiness we’re all in at the moment, but in such innovative, positive and change-making ways… they are all surely being that much needed change in the world that Gandhi spoke of.