Special Offer – Discounted Promotional Films!

Much of my work involves short interviews with individuals and businesses in the environmental sector. If we film your interview you can use it for your promotions! See examples at:
www.youtube.com/user/EcoExpertNews
To find out more, email atul@ecoexpert.tv

Atul Srivastava - Showreel

Food for people on low incomes - Plan Zheroes project launched

I was delighted to present the launch of Plan Zheroes at The Hub, on behalf of London Citizens Greener Planet Action Team (GPAT). The presentation included 3 live interviews with key members of GPAT, and was followed by a screening of the film Food Inc.


This was a great way of raising awareness about the campaign and attracted new volunteers to support the cause. Plan Zheroes aims to direct food waste from shops and supermarkets, and give it to homeless people or those on low incomes, rather than it going to landfill. If you would like to get involved, or just find out more contact me at atul@ecoexpert.tv

Affordable Eco Fashion - Interview with the Environmental Justice Foundation

Following my report from the Clothes Show 2010, readers asked to see the transcript of the interview with the Environmental Justice Foundation. Here it is...



So you’re from the Environmental Justice Foundation, what’s your name and position?

My name is Valerie, I’m an intern on EJF’s Marketing and PR team and I’m working on the cotton campaign mainly.


Ok, so what is the cotton campaign?

The cotton campaign is an EJF campaign to raise awareness of the environmental and human right abuse linked with cotton production, especially in Uzbekistan. Non organic cotton production uses very harmful and toxic chemicals and in Uzbekistan the government has taken control of the production and farmers do not get fair prices for their work.


Can I ask for those who don’t know, cotton grown isn’t grown in the UK is that right?

No it’s not.


So people talk about locally grown material as being good because it reduces the miles that the goods have to travel. What do you think about the balance between having locally grown materials in the UK, and organic cotton from other countries?

Well I actually look at it the other way around. When cotton is grown in poorer countries such as India or Mali, so it can be way of generating wealth for countries and communities that needs it. It can be a very positive thing, because you buy a great product here and you’re also helping somebody at the other side of the planet.

In terms of transport our t-shirts are 100% organic cotton and are produced in India using wind turbine and are 90% carbon dioxide neutral. The company which produces the t-shirts has a no freight policy so all is shipped by boat. Ethical and ecological brands often try to reduce the amount of transport involved, so for example they might ship large amounts of items at once. In other words there are ways of reducing CO2 emissions linked with shipping if it’s not a product that is produced locally.


I find it very interesting, the similarities between food and fashion, organic food and organic cotton.

The main thing those two areas have in common is the pesticides. Any food or fibre like cotton that has been grown organically has been grown without the use of toxic chemical pesticides. People often understand the implications of pesticides in food more easily – by eating organically they avoid possibly ingesting something which is, simply, designed to kill. Clothing kind of takes it to a next step as its more down to the health of the people that grow the cotton in the first instance. But of course, when the pesticide are sprayed in the fields the wind transport these pesticides all over the planet literally and it can affect all of us.


So the Environmental Justice Foundation sells cotton bags, what other products does it sell? Does it sell clothes as well?

EJF has recently collaborated with Jade Jagger and the organic cotton bags are a limited edition. But our main range of products are the organic cotton t-shirts. EJF has developed the t-shirts collection with various fashion designers such as Betty Jackson, Giles Deacon, Christian Lacroix and many more who support our “Pick Your Cotton Carefully” campaign for environmental justice in the cotton industry. Every year we have more designers coming on board and the collection keeps growing! You can buy EJF t-shirts on our website, they are beautiful and there is a design for everyone.


So does the Environmental Justice Foundation focus on fashion, or does it do other things as well?

For nearly ten years EJF has run a number of major campaigns including action to resolve abuses and create ethical practice and environmental sustainability in cotton production, shrimp farming and fisheries. The NGO works to stop the devastating impacts of illegal fishing operators, prevent the use of unnecessary and dangerous pesticides and to secure vital international support for climate refugees.

So no, it doesn’t focus solely on fashion and cotton! We use t-shirts as a message board to raise awareness, funds and actions for all our campaigns which you can see films and read reports about on the website. You can find out more information about all EJF campaigns on the website: www.ejfoundation.org.

Interview with Dan Bucknell, the man responsible for all those colourful elephants around central London!

Dan, can you tell us a little about Elephant Family, and how the idea for this campaign came about?


Elephant Family is the only UK charity dedicated solely and exclusively to saving the Asian elephant from extinction in the wild, while the Elephant Parade is all about raising awareness of the plight of the Asian elephant. Elephant Family has always looked for fun and novel ways of drawing people’s attention to this.



I was surprised that thousands of people had clearly made it their short term hobby to go around London locating all 258 elephants!


I have the general impression that those who have really taken the Elephant Parade to heart so enthusiastically have certainly taken on board the more important message, have signed the petition and will hopefully go on to be regular supporters of ours.



What will be done with the money and the petition?


The funds will be invested in our projects in Asia, the majority of which involve securing habitat – particularly wildlife corridors – for the endangered Asian elephant, as well as finding ways of reducing conflict between people and elephants. The petition will be used to demonstrate the level of support there is for Asian elephants around the world, making it easier for governments in particular to take the necessary action to save them. This could be anything from investing in conservation projects, designating protected areas, or changing and enforcing legislation to protect elephants etc.



How can people donate? Can they sign the petition online?


Both can be done online: www.justgiving.com/elephantfamily/donate and www.elephantparadelondon.org/petition



And the question everyone wants to know the answer to....will there be more elephants visiting London or other cities again in future?

Elephant Parade is a unique event for each city in which it takes place. Therefore, while we will not be repeating the event in London, we are certainly looking to host future parades in other cities within the UK and beyond!

Affordable Organic Wine

Cono Sur organic wine benefits the environment, the consumer and the vineyards’ workers. They use geese, sheep, insects and plants to regulate the vines instead of pesticides, and all vineyard workers travel around on bikes.


www.conosur.com

Clothes Show Report - Part 2

In Part 1 of my review of the Clothes Show London 2010 at Earl‟s Court, I reported a notable lack of eco fashion relative to demand. But let‟s not forget to celebrate the brands that did show, and encourage more to come in future. Here are the 7 organisations I interviewed at the show:

www.ejfoundation.org
The Environmental Justice Foundation has a leading position in the eco fashion industry. Celebrity endorsement is always useful, and as well as working with Lily Cole, EJF secured the services of Jade Jagger who designed one of their organic cotton bags, with net proceeds supporting EJF. To request a transcript of my interview with Valerie from EJF, email atul@ecoexpert.tv

www.komodo.co.uk
“What we hope for the future is that it will just be the norm...we always say it‟s a fashion brand first, and eco is how it should be done...” To request a transcript of my interview with Tony from Komodo, email atul@ecoexpert.tv
www.loveespadrilles.com
Environmentally friendly footwear made from natural cotton, jute (affordable, vegetable fibre) rope and recycled tyres.

www.mermaidinengland.com
Swimwear that changes colour and pattern on contact with water, made from UK materials including recycled nylon.

www.fresh20.org
Stole the show with an enormous water tank with bikini clad models posing for photos, which were sold to the media. Profits go towards clean water provision in Madagascar. Keira Knightly had a go in the tank.

www.coronasavethebeach.org
Launched by Bar Refaeli, the Corona Save the Beach campaign had a mock beach at the Clothes Show, used as a catwalk. CSTB is touring a „trash hotel‟ to warn what future beaches will be like if we do nothing.

www.fashionbabylon.com
Fashion magazine and community launched at the Clothes Show 2010.