Biome Lifestyle Blog: Eco Design, Ethical Fashion and Green News

For all you Londoners out there, how many elephants have you spotted recently??

Thankfully I have not gone insane and started to see fantasy elephants in front of me! Not yet anyway… My recent elephant spotting is in fact a fantastic art exhibition running until 29th June. These adolescent sized elephants will be dotted around the capital, each uniquely decorated by an artist – some really are very spectacular!

The model elephants in the capital are part of the Elephant Parade, organised by the Elephant Family charity that have set up similar events throughout the world in an effort to raise awareness of the plight that faces many of our big-eared friends.

So keep your eyes peeled There are 250 in total and I have only seen 7 so far so have many more to find! How many have you seen?

Happy hunting!

In my opinion, Coco is one lucky dog! Not only is she walked for at least 2 hours a day, she also has a big comfy basket, comes to work with me, is regularly checked by the vet and of course given a lot of praise and attention too! She is our little star.

However, until I read this report tonight regarding organic dog food, I didn’t realise just how lucky she was! Coco is fed on Lily’s Kitchen, which is a truly fantastic organic dog food.

I can hear you now, scoffing at the craziness of organic dog food – but once you read what goes into ‘normal’ dog food, it’s enough to turn your stomach! Did you know that dog food only needs to have 5% of a ‘meat’ to be classed as beef or chicken? And who knows where this meat is from or how it was reared…  Horrible!

President Obama’s recent Cancer Panel Report states: “Exposure to pesticides can be decreased by choosing, to the extent possible, food grown without pesticides or chemical fertilizers,” the report, “Reducing Environmental Cancer Risk: What We Can Do Now,” said.

“Exposure to antibiotics, growth hormones, and toxic run-off from livestock feed lots can be minimized by eating free-range meat raised without these medications,” the report added.

There is definitely a BIG price to pay though for the lovely Lily’s food, but by cutting back in other areas of our lives, we feel it’s worth it. Obviously though the price point can understandably price it out of reach for most dog owners and there are other great dog food options on the market, but I heed you to read the ingredients… Some of them make very interesting reading!

However, Coco’s health is so important to us and her coat now gleams. She really is one happy dog, which probably explains why her tail constantly wags!

I also love their packaging! Yes I am a total sucker for well designed products too!

So thank you Lily’s and keep up the good work!

It’s happened again and this time they think it’s even worse. The recent oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is said to be more extensive than Exxon Valdez. The explosion and sinking of an oil rig 50 miles off the Louisiana coast on April 20 that killed 11 people is said to be spilling out at 5000 barrels a day! Disgusting.

This oil slick could become one of the worst environmental disasters in decades, threatening hundreds of species of fish, birds and other wildlife along the Gulf Coast, one of the world’s richest seafood grounds, teeming with shrimp, oysters and other marine life.

It is now believed that the spill is washing onto the Louisiana shore line too, creating further damage.

As well as the terrible environmental impacts, the spill will also have immeasurable social consequences, from impacting the livelihoods of fishermen to the far reaching impact on tourism. Apparently, Louisiana shrimpers filed a lawsuit against BP, claiming they were negligent in allowing the explosion (which led to the spill) and now threatens their income. They are asking for damages of at least $5 million.

Let’s just hope recent attempts by BP to funnel the oil from the fractured well will work… However apparently even BP admits it could be BP before it knows if the giant device built to capture thousands of gallons of leaking oil is actually working. Terrifying.