A little story with a Green tint!

Yesterday, I saw the first house in my neighborhood populated with dozens of festive lights in anticipation of Christmas celebrations. Then my very best friend called me in a state of anxiety in regards to her Christmas shopping, Christmas present wrapping and Christmas card dispatching.

I am only human after all and there is only that much that I can take on Monday evening, after a busy day at work. I put the phone down, closed the curtains in a rush and felt my heart beating faster as I thought, "Christmas! Money to spend, items to buy, cards to write, presents to wrap…. I need a miracle!!!!"

At that very moment, James, my husband walked in… and said,
“I’ve decided this Christmas we shouldn’t send any Christmas cards, but we should call those far and visit those close to us. That's better than a card which will be thrown in the bin - or if lucky in the recycled - don’t you think? And as far as Christmas present wrapping: this year we should use newspapers. Why not? Lets be different, be trendy, be eco - at the end of the day everyone throws the wrapping paper away in an instance anyway!”

Do you think James has a point? I do!

OvO mini- ecosystem

Kenneth Cheung, 23, is the founder of BEEcycle Ltd which is one of the environmental start-up companies being incubated at LEC.

Kenneth has invented the OvO, a mini-ecosystem which allows children to observe the decomposition of food into soil in only a week.

Two schools - Moorside and Ryelands Primaries in Lancaster - have bought the OvO, which Kenneth aims to sell to schools nationwide.

Usually composing at school means a bucketful of peelings but the OvO is clear and self-contained so the children can see the composting in action.

The OvO comes with composting worms which live in a soil cavity which is covered by a clear dome to trap heat, creating the ideal temperature for the worms to grow and enabling the children to observe the whole process.The system provides oxygen for the worms through the air capsule and only needs to be refilled with water every three weeks thanks to an absorbing wick creates a self-watering system.

Kenneth said: "The OvO is a great way to teach children about the breakdown of food waste into highly nutritious compost which they can then plant a seed in. It enables children to understand the food cycle and appreciate the biology and the importance of each stage. "
Once the waste is composted, the children plant a seed and watch their plant grow.

This was taken from www.lec.lancs.ac.uk/business/latest_news.php?article_id=651