Tag Archives: Sustainable food

Challenges, Featured article, Inspiration

Ecotoxicology – and the plastic toxins in our lives No025

2016-07-01 admin Leave a comment

Ecotoxicology is a research area in ascent. Since the beginning humans have survived by finding and making things in nature. Today we use thousands of chemicals that affords us new functionality. Unfortunately the chemicals also bring toxins into our every day lives. Tellus Think Tank contacts Åsa Arrhenius, doctor of Ecotoxicology, to learn more.
Text: Domi, Tellus Think Tank Photo: AnnVixen & Åsa Arrhenius

The Science of Ecotoxicology

There is a lot of research activity how chemicals affect our lives. Tellus Think Tank meets Åsa Arrhenius, PhD in

Åsa Arrhenius, Coordinator of FRAM and PhD in Ecotoxicology at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden.

Ecotoxicology at Gothenburg University. She is also the coordinator of the newly established interdisciplinary “Center for future chemical risk analysis and management at the University of Gothenburg” ( FRAM).

Åsa Arrhenius says that humans are most sensitive to toxic chemicals when still in the womb or in adolescence, during periods of life when the body is growing and developing. As adults, the effect of chemicals is not quite as considerable. However, adults can transfer chemicals to children, for example during pregnancy.

Toxic substances in plastic toys

Åsa Arrhenius tells us that we now use hundreds of thousands of chemicals compared to just a hundred years ago. Some of these new chemicals are found in our homes. One example is Phthalates that are unhealthy and toxic. Phthalates can be found in, among other things, plastic toys.

Plastic toys might hold toxic chemicals. Photo: AnnVixen

According to the Swedish Nature Conservation Society (Naturskyddsföreningen), being overexposed to Phthalates can lead to severe deformities of children when still in the womb. Other risks are fetal death, decreased birth weight, undeveloped testicles, penises and livers leading to permanently damaged performance and tumours.

Fortunately Phthalates of some kinds are banned in the EU since 2015, but they are very likely still to be found in our homes. The Phthalates are used to soften plastics and rubber products, such as baby changing table covers, rubber ducks and plastic toys.

Toxic substances in textiles

Åsa Arrhenius says that even textiles may contain toxic substances. Toxic chemicals may have been added during manufacturing or added to protect the fabric. The functionality sought by use of these chemicals is certain types of colour pigments, flame-retardants, anti-mildew, water and dirt resistant effects.

According to the Swedish Chemicals Agency (Kemikalieinspektionen), textiles can contain toxins. They write about the carcinogenic Formaldehyde, Chromium compounds and Phthalates that also can cause allergies.

Åsa Arrhenius says that clothing with certain features such as antibacterial branded clothing and sweat repellent branded clothing and footwear can contain unhealthy toxic substances. She recommends avoiding these types of goods.

Plastic in our lives

We talk briefly about the admirable plastic ban that was introduced in Rwanda in 2008 (read article) .

Photo: AnnVixen — Read article about the admirable plastic ban in Rwanda…

This leads us to the small soft plastic bags, used daily, for example when buying fruit in the supermarket. These small bags often contain the chemical substance Bisphenol A. Bisphenol chemicals are used to soften plastic.

Studies show that Bisphenol A leads to reduced sperm quality and decreased sperm production. This is one important

reason for the EU banning Bisphenol A in baby bottles. Sweden has its own wider ban of Bisphenol A forbidding the chemical in food packages for children up to three years of age.

The Swedish Chemicals Agency has also proposed that Bisphenol A should be banned in the thermal paper that is used in receipts and tickets.

The Tellus Think Tank editorial team finds it extraordinary that Bisphenol A is allowed in food packaging at all. We would, as an example, prefer not to find Bisfenol A in the plastic coating on the inside of canned food.

EU and hazardous chemicals – a slow development in the right direction

EU controls much of the legislation and use of chemicals. Countries such as Sweden, Germany and Holland are driving forces in introducing stronger regulation on the use of chemicals. Sometimes they have to hold back their ambitions (on the pace) as the EU ‘s legislative work takes longer than wished for. It can be perceived that the EU is hindering efforts to strengthen legislation on toxic substances, however Åsa widens the perspective.

She reasons that chemicals cross country borders with the movement of people and goods but also with rain and wind. She means that a ban in one country therefore only has a limited effect. EU legislation may be cumbersome but when in place the impact across the EU is immediate. Eu legislation reaches way beyond the borders of Europe as imported goods from all corners of our planet have to follow the same legislation.

Regardless Åsa Arrhenius recommends to avoid buy plastic toys or plastic products from countries like China.

How I can reduce toxic substances in my own life

Rather use glass and ceramics... Photo: AnnVixen — Rather use glass and ceramics… Photo: AnnVixen

Åsa gives us solid advice on how to reduce the toxic chemicals in our everyday lives:

When possible cut down on the use of chemicals and plastic in everything from food, clothing, detergents and medicine.

Have a headache? Rather that routinely eat painkillers try and slow down for a while, take it easy and have a glass of water.
Discard old plastic toys and send them to recycling instead of to the flea market.
Replace plastic things in your home with more natural materials such as wood, glass and ceramics.
Reduce your direct exposure to harmful chemicals in new textiles by washing before you use them. Unfortunately the chemical residues in waste water might end up in nature.
When microwaving: Don’t use plastic containers, it is better to use glass bowls.
When cooking: Avoid heating plastic utensils and bowls as the heating process can release toxic substances in them.
Be an active consumer. Consumers have an enormous power – remove the plastic packaging in the supermarket and ask if the store might consider packing their food in other ways.
Air your home regularly to rid it of deposited chemicals from plastic things, paint and furniture.
If possible, use eco-labelled products and food such as the EU eco-label and others.
Try to avoid detergents and cosmetics products that may contain plastic in micro formats.

Any hope on less toxic substances in our lives?

Åsa Arrhenius believes that general awareness on toxic chemicals is increasing. Stores around Sweden say that eco-labelled food and products are on demand. One area that FRAM, the centre that Åsa is coordinating, is looking into how to develop economic and legal instruments to bring about faster change. FRAM wants to help get legislation in place that encourages producers to replace harmful substances with more healthy ones.

On the whole, we still have a lot to learn on the effects of the thousands of substances that we are exposed to through different products such as detergents, medicines, plastics and food in our lives. Fortunately, there is progress in both research and legislation in the field of Ecotoxicology.

In Tellus Think Tanks next article we meet Madeleine who performed a “Plastic Diet” in her life and home. Get notified when the article is available!

For a Sustainable Future Tellus Think Tank TellusThinkTank.com — © Tellus Think Tank

Quick facts

Ecotoxicology is the study of the effects of toxic chemicals on biological organisms, especially in the population, community, ecosystem level. Ecotoxicology is a multidisciplinary field, which integrates toxicology and ecology

Åsa Arrhenius, PhD in Ecotoxicologi at the University of Gothenburg. Since 2016 Åsa is also the coordinator of the Center for Future chemical risk analysis and management at the University of Gothenburg”, FRAM.

The University of Gothenburgh, Sweden: 37 000 students, 6000 employees, 282 PhD graduates per year, 2000 research students, founded 125 years ago in 1891, 538 professors in 8 faculties: Natural Sciences, Humanities, Art, Social Sciences, Business Administration, Education, IT faculty, Sahlgrenska Academy (medical).

FRAM – Center for Future Chemical Risk Analysis and Management at the University of Gothenburg. The centre aims, among other things, to find safe limits for chemical contaminants to protect people and the environment and believes that the effect of chemical mixtures are more toxic than single chemicals on their own, something that we should focus on in order to get to a more sustainable use of chemicals.

Happy animals at Nibble Farm No022

2016-04-19 admin Leave a comment

It is most probable that we to some extent will be eating meat even in the future. Tellus Think Tank meets a passionate pig farmer that runs, what he calls, an eco dynamic breeding – and we investigate some alternative practises to what is labelled organic meat.
Text: Domi Photography: AnnVixen & Nibble Farm

Momentarily we are being hit with the message, from many places and persons in society, that we should completely stop eating meat and become vegetarians. Media reports that livestock is one of the main contributors to greenhouse gas emissions.
We have also learnt that meat is expensive to produce because it requires more land and water than plants do to feed us. The growing population on Earth means that we will need to switch to a plant-based diet and there are no excuses left – all the proteins we need can be found in the more efficient plant kingdom, so why should we torment and eat animals?

Why do humans eat animals?

All people on earth do not eat animals, or at least not meat from certain animals. Hindus avoid eating cow,

Air-dried ham at Nibble Farm. Photo: AnnVixen

Muslims avoid pig, Buddhists avoid any kind of animal, and in many countries people avoid eating dogs and cats.

But why do humans eat animals at all? The historical reason has to do with human survival, of course, as the possibility to feed on animals made it possible to live in places where the plant kingdom, for various reasons has not been sufficient, examples of such sites are numerous:

Places with geographical limitations such as islands with a growing population have turned instead to the sea and fish.
Places where the climate does not allowed the plant kingdom to provide food year-round, for example places with long snowy winters or dry periods.
Places where the kind of vegetation growing, such as grass, can’t feed humans but can feed animals such as cows, pigs, goats and sheep.

There are probably even more reasons to why we eat meat but we can probably agree that animals in many cases have offered mankind an alternative when the plant kingdom has not been sufficient and that from a very early stage of mankind the human diet often has been a mix of plant- and animal based foods.

Animal care is important

A Nibble piglet in a realy nice place. Photo: Nibble

It is most likely that the human diet, in part, will continue to be both plant- and animal based. This is why we find it extra important that both agriculture and livestock breeding practises are organic and sustainable and that animals are well taken care of and do not live in misery.

Why is Tellus Think Tank visiting a pig farmer? It is thanks to the flowery descriptions from our local grocery store BEA, at Svedmyra, in Stockholm. The Swedish Christmas tradition includes ham in the oven, instead of a turkey. This Christmas customers could read a large sign above the Christmas ham from Nibble Farm, stating how well the animals were taken care of. On the BEA deli counter Linda, Jenny and Leffe where absolutely enthusiastic about the food from Nibble using phrases such as “tastes better”,
“happy animals” and ” they think differently at Nibble Farm” . This raised our curiosity.

The founder of Nibble Farm

A thin cover of snow lies over the beautiful Swedish Västmanland plains around Nibble Farm the morning I

The Västman plains, Sweden. Photo: AnnVixen

meet Sven-Erik Johansson. He has over 50 years experience of farming and livestock breeding practises.

A few years ago he passed the responsibility for the farm to the next generation, Magnus and Lena Lindahl. Sven-Erik moved out of the main house of the farm and into a Tiny Home on wheels. He is still working as “Senior Advisor” and daily active in the operational tasks of the farm.

Sven-Erik is 76 years, very sharp and still very engaged and enthusiastic about the development of the farm’s breeding practises. Not only has Sven-Erik built and developed pig-breeding practises on the farm during his career but he also co-founded a hospital practise for spinal recovery – to give you a picture of his capacity. During our conversation, he talked about respecting animals and exploring new and better ways to develop breeding practises.

Sven-Erik’s upbringing, background and life reminds me of Ingvar Kamprad, founder of IKEA, who started off by selling matches to his neighbours. In Sven-Erik’s case, he took over four chickens when he was eight and started selling eggs to teachers and classmates. The proceeds where used to expand both the poultry practise and later to pay for his higher studies. When in his 20’ies he switched to pig farming.

Eco-dynamic Nibble

Nibble Farm breeds 5,000 pigs a year and Sven-Erik describes the development of the eco-dynamic pig practises. One of the farm’s research partners has been the SVA, Swedish National Veterinarian Medical Institution. The research has included filming of pigs to increase the understanding of their needs so that farms can develop operations to fit the pig better. The aim of research has often been to develop practises so that breeding pigs can thrive. It was discovered when filming the pigs that fixed feeding times stressed them immensely. Therefore the farm introduced feeding machines where the pigs could eat whenever they wanted.

Inspiration to develop the practises of the farm has also been sought abroad, much has been learnt from Danish farmers. Legislation in Sweden, however, has been better with an early ban on disease preventing antibiotics, says Sven-Erik.

The Netherlands is also a forerunner in livestock development and Sven-Erik was very impressed by the Dutch company Nedap, with 90 people in their research department working on technology for better animal conditions!

According to Sven-Erik, Nibble Farm runs a mix of breeding practises, positioning their farm between what is

The newly built stables at Nibble Farm. Photo: Nibble

considered pure organic and old fashioned “regular” pig breeding. Nibble calls their practice eco-dynamic and they aim to breed happy pigs that give the meat a great taste. It is equally important that the meat is affordable to everyone. In order to breed happy pigs one important factor is not to rush or stress the animals.

Instead of being visitors Nibble Farm is currently often visited by delegations from around the world– last week they received a delegation from Australia. They are happy to share their ideas on eco-dynamic farming and how the natural cycle of nature is mixed with the farming practises.

Nibble Farm and the natural cycle of nature

A sow and her lively piglets. Photo: AnnVixen

Nibble Farm is almost self-sufficient and grows about 90 % of the food needed by their pigs. They aim to run a practise with as little environmental impact as possible in both livestock breeding and agricultural practises and engage in crop rotation to avoid soil depletion, which also reduces the need to add nutrients. The farm also minimizes the use of pesticides, fertilise the soil with natural resources from the pig practise.

They run livestock breeding and agriculture practises in balance with the natural cycle of nature and try to minimize the harmful effects of the farm by, for instance, upgrading the agricultural machinery, such as tractors, to lighter versions to avoid compressing the soil too much.

The tour begins of Nibble Farm begins with the sows and their piglets

I admit to being a true city slicker and that this is the first time I have ever set foot in a real farm. From films

The piglets and their cubbyhole. Photo: AnnVixen

on YouTube I have understood that pig breeding practises are often murky with pigs trapped in dark and confined spaces and running and screaming in fear. Although Sven-Erik has told me that Nibble Farm’s practice differs I still enter expecting the worst.

The newly borns

We visit the sows and their piglets. The contrast between the biting wind outside and the pleasant warmth of this building is palpable. I learn that cold can stress both piglets and sows and that the heat in the building, therefore, is important.

Two piglets in their cubbyhole. Photo: AnnVixen

In this large farm room there are about 20 boxes filled with mother-child pig families. Each box is 7 square metres and houses a sow with 12-14 piglets. In addition to the heated building, each box includes a cubbyhole with red heating lamps for the piglets to cuddle under. The sows have special heating tubes to warm them when feeding the piglets. Each box has a pipe throughout it to minimize the risk for the piglets to being squeezed under the sow as she lies down.

We visit one of the boxes and find the piglets to be lively engaged in play with each other. The mother-sow looks tired and a bit discouraged – it must be quite a job to feed 14 piglets. Sven-Erik says that the sow and piglets remain in the box for 31 days after farrowing, i.e. the actual birth. The sow can eat whenever she wants and doesn’t need to wait for fixed meal times, which reduces the stress that the pigs would otherwise experience. Sven-Erik says that this is why we do not hear any screams, the pigs are not stressed, eat when they want and are warm and comfortable. Undeniably, even though the sows are understandably tired, the piglets seem to thrive.

31 days old – time to leave home

Next stop we make is with piglets between 31 and 70 days old. They live together in a different building and are

Full rush among the two month old piglets, engaged in play with siblings. Photo: AnnVixen

kept indoors to keep their warmth. It turns out to be a fun visit on our tour of the farm as we visit 50 piglets in a 100 square meter box. They can eat when they want and also have a heating lamp to warm them. However, they seem not at all interested in the lamps as they playfully run around in groups in a style that resembles a tiny soccer team. I’m no pig expert but when I see these pigs, I perceive them to be happy!

Between the ages of two and six months the pigs move into the farm’s most recently built stables where they share a box with about 20 other pigs. This is the last station for them on the farm. The boxes do not look very inspiring but the pigs can eat when they want and if they want to go outdoors they have their own balcony. In the summer the balcony even holds a shower so they can cool down!

Soon six months old and enjoying some fresh air on the balcony. Photo: AnnVixen

Again, I see pigs looking curious and happy. Sven-Erik tells me a few surprising things about the pig. One is that they do not like to stand in hot sun because of their weak pigmentation and lack of protective hair. The pig is one of the cleanliest animals. After researching the area, Nibble Farm now know that pigs prefer the shade and a cool water shower before taking a role in the mud and have designed the farm accordingly.

Not even one bad day

At six months of age, it is time for the pigs’ journey to the slaughterhouse in Skövde.

-So, Pigs only have one bad day? I ask.

-No, they do not even have one bad day! Sven-Erik responds.

He explains that the pigs move in a very easy and stress-less way into the transportation truck and that they quickly fall asleep during the journey as they feel safe and are still together with their siblings. Once at the slaughterhouse, they are calmly moved into a one-pig-at-a-time elevator and sedated prior to the actual slaughter.

During their lifetime they are never separated from their siblings.

The sows in waiting

The last building we visit on our tour is a classic Swedish Falu-red barn. It is one of the most beautiful places

I’ve visited and the air inside is fresh and cool, the birds are chirping in the rafters, and the airy walls let in a beautiful pattern of glorious daylight. The sows live here during their three months pregnancy and it looks very harmonious.

The sows can choose if they want to be in their outdoor courtyard or stay in the straw filled barn. The sow quarters have been designed so they can move around freely and exercise during their pregnancy. During my visit the weather is dull and most decide to stay indoors snuggle down in thick layers of straw. Some are curious and greet us upon arrival and when we go to look at their concrete yard some of them follow us out!

The Nibble pig feed

Nibble Farm grows 90 % of their pigs food. The food consists of roughage (hay), herbs such as camomile, bird’s-foot-trefoil and catsfoot but also peas, broad beans , linseed cake, rape seed and cereals. The last ten per cent of the diet consists of various nutritional supplements.

Nibble eco-dynamic farming compared to organically labelled breeding

Swedes consumers find several different kinds of sustainable labelled food and the one that is the most difficult to produce is KRAV. Another widely used organic label is the EU organic logo, which is usually somewhat easier to produce.

Here are some examples of organic requirements that Nibble Farm follows:

The EU organic logo.

The pig should be able to go outdoors at any time of the year. The pig should always have the possibility to root. During hot weather the pig should be able to cool off. The farm should be self-sufficient up to 50% of their pigs’ food (Nibble produces 90%). The pig should have free access to a bed of hay. Pigs should not routinely be given preventive treatment with antibiotics. During castration male pigs have to be provided with anaesthesia and analgesics.

Nibble Farm has chosen to deviate from some organic label requirement and Sven-Erik explains why:

According to some organic requirements pigs must obtain field grazing in the summer and have large areas to move around. Nibble Farm doesn’t provided this and Sven-Erik explains that for centuries pigs have become accustomed to a life indoors, that their pigment can’t handle strong sun and they don’t like to protect themselves from the sun by rolling in mud. Therefore, the animals have the ability to go out but they always have the opportunity to go back indoors and during summer they can take a cooling shower whenever they want.

According to the current organic requirements sows should be allowed to build nests. Nibble considered that pigs’ nests require so much straw that many piglets are “lost” in it and more easily squeezed to death. The sows are instead presented with enough straw to be able to make a nice bed and a heat lamp as a replacement to a full nest.
Additional organic requirements state the pig should only eat organically grown food, not treated with any chemical pesticides. Nibble Farm want both plants and animals to be healthy and therefore use pesticides when needed but not routinely. Pigs are also vaccinated to prevent disease but are not given
The tasty and happy pig is one of the aims of the eco-dynamic farm. Photo: AnnVixen

antibiotics regularly.

I understand that there are discussion about which approach should be accepted in the livestock industry,

ranging from “ordinary” to strictly organic according to official guidelines.

Nibble Farm has chosen its own path and conducted research in areas that have not seemed apparent to others, respecting the cycle of nature in balance with the urge to produce good meat affordable to the many.

My day at Nibble Farm is coming to an end and we pass the silo, the storage of the self-grown animal food, and the farmhouse where the air-dried hams and salami hang. During summertime Nibble Farm opens for visitors – I would recommend anyone that wishes to learn more to drop by!

To summarize my day at Nibble Farm it has been informative and full of happy and curious pigs!
If we are to continue eating meat in the future I believe every farm should be breeding happy animals.

Do you want to read more about the future of food, check out the skyscrapers that will feed city dwellers with vegetables!

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DIY, Featured article, Inspiration

Compost – the black gold of urban farming No019

2016-03-16 admin Leave a comment

In our world today we have many different opportunities to go green. We can use solar energy to power our homes, drive hybrid cars, re-purpose old things to give them new life and even live in tiny homes. In this article John Morphis, founder of Backyard-eden, sheds light on one of the most over-looked ways to go green! Text by John Morphis. Photos: John Morphis and AnnVixen

One of the most over-looked ways to go green is the practice of composting. It is a simple and easy way to turn waste that would be thrown out into a useful resource. Compost in small amounts can change your life, compost in large amounts can change cities. With this talk about lives being changed, you have to be wondering, what is compost?

What is compost?

Compost simply means decayed organic material used as a plant fertiliser.

Basically, compost is broken down waste that eventually turns into soil and then is used to amend gardens. There is nothing more important to a gardener than compost. As a matter of fact, compost is considered the “black-gold” that fuels the garden by re-charging the soil with the necessary nutrients and micro-organisms needed to produce delicious fruits and vegetables. When a plant grows , it uses up resources found in the soil.

Think about it like this: you work in an office where you make copies throughout the day, you go into the copy room to use the copy machine only to find out there is no copy paper anywhere to be found. The room was out of paper because no one chose to re-stock it for the next person. Plants using up nutrients can be seen the same way. If no one replaces the nutrients the next planting will not have enough to thrive. We can refill the nutrients by adding compost to our soil.

Next week: Why is the development of traffic so important to a greener life? Would you like to be notified when the article is available?

Composting is a natural process of Earth.

The earth naturally does this process itself in forests across the globe. In the fall, the leaves start to change colours and eventually fall to the earth. Layers upon layers of leaves rest on top of the soil and breaks down over the winter making food for the trees. This topsoil compost found in forests is called humus.

This process helps the trees continue to grow, helps retain water in the soil by adding a layer of mulch and provides food for the natural micro-organisms found in the soil. There is a circle of life found in this system, everything working together to thrive. This works so well that we have imitated it in our gardening/ growing techniques.

Layers of leaves rest on top of the soil and break down over the winter making topsoil food for the trees, called humus. Photo: AnnVixen

The Back to Eden and Hugelcultur methods both use a similar concept of building soil by layering organic material that slowly breaks down. The earth has already lined out how to compost by the model that is given by our forests.

Can I start composting?

Can we simulate the natural composting process in our homes and gardens? Yes, absolutely and it is easy too! I believe every home should be composting in order to give back to their piece of earth.

You can use almost any vegetable matter that you would have left over in your kitchen such as tea bags, coffee grounds, bits and pieces of paper. Leaves and grass clippings from your yard also make great compost ingredients.
Their are some things to avoid putting in an open compost such as cooked foods like meats, dairy or any fatty foods.

Kitchen scraps for compost - eggshells, peels and other produce. Photo: Backyard-Eden — Kitchen scraps for compost – eggshells, peels and other produce. Photo: Backyard-Eden

Different types, methods and ingredients of composting

Getting started with composting is easier than it seems because there are several ways to compost and products to help you. The way you choose to compost is up to you but will greatly benefit you and your garden. The method you choose will also depend on the resources you have available; the space you have to devote, how much and what type of waste you produce.

The different types of composting are hot, cold, indoor, outdoor and vermi composting; however no matter what method you choose they all have the same basic principle.

In this article we will look at the “lasagna” method of composting which is a type of hot composting. The idea is to layer the different materials in such a way that the pile will heat up and break down faster.

Examples of nitrogen rich “greens” and carbon rich “browns” .

As we said before compost means decayed organic material so composting is the process by which we allow that material to decay and break down creating that nutrient rich black gold for your garden.

Your compost needs four ingredients:

nitrogen rich “greens”
carbon rich “browns”
water
oxygen in order to properly break down.

These four things are absolutely crucial to making your own compost. The compost pile needs the proper balance of the necessary ingredients and just like in life that balance can be hard to find. Once you get the balance down you will begin to make some of the best compost and it will supercharge your garden. Some of the best ingredients to compost are leaves, grass clippings, household kitchen scraps such as eggshells, peals and other vegetable materials (see Greens and Browns pictures above).

This is my compost, built from plans found online. It is still empty in the picture but ready to fill with layers of the four compost ingredients. Fill one side until full and then start filling the next half. Photo: Backyard-Eden.com

Getting started with the hot lasagna method

The easiest way to start composting is what gardeners call the lasagna method by starting a compost pile by layering nitrogen rich “green” materials follow by a layer of carbon rich “brown” materials. Alternate these layers as well as add water and some soil every couple of layers will put you well on your way to making compost.

Soil from your garden would work or some organic compost from a local garden center would work. The reason you add in some soil is to add in the micro organisms into the compost pile to speed up the process.

The water in addition to the other ingredients will cause your compost pile to heat up starting the decomposition process.

Add some soil to your lasagna compost. Photo: Backyard-Eden.com

You want to make sure to turn it every couple of weeks so that oxygen is introduced into the pile in order to aid in the material break down process. This process can take anywhere from 2-12 months depending on the amount of time you devote to turning it.

When the pile is almost completely broken down the pile will start to cool off some and it will be available to use in your garden or flower beds. That is the beauty of compost, you do not have to grow vegetables to be able to use it. Compost is great to add to flower beds, fruit trees or even indoor plants to add nutrients.

Everyone should be composting not only to feed their plants and gardens but also to help reduce the amount of waste going into local landfills. With the availability of products to make composting easy in addition to the ingredients to make awesome compost even easier to find makes composting something that anyone can do.

Why should we be composting?

Composting is a great way to give back to our little piece of earth. If we are successful with our efforts to reduce our global footprint then we are working toward a future for children and grandchildren to be able to grow their own food as well. Help out by doing your part to make the world a better place for future generations.

We googled for compost containers to be used in apartments or indoor.

If you would like to learn more about composting and other gardening topics, check out Backyard-eden.com!

Tellus Think Tank is happy to have the opportunity to connect with John and the very inspiring home page of Backyard-Eden.com and hope you might have been inspired to start your own compost!

Next week: Tellus Think Tank visits the city of Gothenburg and their unique take on autonomous cars – taking a different stance compared to the Google Car project.
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Sustainability in Swedish schools No003

2015-12-03 admin Leave a comment

September 2015, Stockholm, Sweden. Tellus Think Tank wanted an insight into how the sustainability approach in schools can differ and met with Lars Benon, Headmaster of Enskede School. He is also former headmaster and founder of the Global Gymnasium (Globala gymnasiet) in Stockholm which was built from scratch on a foundation of human rights. By Domi, TellusThinkTank, November 2015

Since the autumn of 2014 Lars Benon is currently headmaster of Enskede School, located in the Stockholm suburb of Enskede. However, his career started as a teacher and later as Chief Information Officer at WeEffect. Lars Benon was also one of the founders, and the first headmaster, of the Global Gymnasium on Södermalm in the center of Stockholm.

ABOUT TELLUS THINK TANK….read more here

The Tellus Think Tank team finds Lars Benon’s career to have been very interesting; first designing a school based on ideas and then taking over an 100-year old school with old traditions, is a special and unique combination. The red thread through the career of Lars Benon seems to have been to Human Rights and Sustainability!

Lars tells us about the Global Gymnasium

‘Gymnasium’ in the Swedish world of education, could be compared to an English Upper Secondary School or an American Senior High School. A gymnasium educates people between the ages of 15 and 20 years.

The idea that led to the Global Gymnasium came from a group of six people, one of them being Lars Benon. The group had an idea of starting a school with focus on global human rights. All members of the group had backgrounds either in teaching or working with global human rights issues.

The Global Gymnasium, Stockholm. Photo: AnnVixen

The group met with representatives of the City of Stockholm to tell the city what they where planning. The city liked their ideas so much that it asked the team to open the school within the domain of the city.

The specially designed Global Gymnasium opened for students in 2004 and Lars Benon became its first headmaster.

The initial guiding human rights principles were soon broadened from “Education for a more equal society” to “Education for Sustainable Development”. The school was placed within the city, in the middle of the densely populated island of Södermalm.

One of the first projects that the new pupils got to work with went under the name “The Glocal Project”. The assignment was to perform a life-cycle analysis on a product of the pupils choosing. The analysis showed:

The origin of every component in the product.
How and by whom the components had been produced and assembled.
How all the components and assembled product had been transported.
How the product had been packaged and sold.
How the product had been used.
What finally happened to the product after it had been discarded.

The Global Gymnasium of Stockholm. Photo: AnnVixen

The Glocal project often became an immediate eye-opener for the pupil, linking production and consumption with the unsustainable use of the resources of our planet.

The pupils of the Global Gymnasium were offered many possibilities that normal Swedish gymnasiums don’t provide:

A strong cooperation was developed between the gymnasium and the Stockholm Resilience Centre
– a Swedish government research center on social-ecological systems.
A strong cooperation was built around student study materials with the WWF (formerly World Wildlife Fund).
Co-operations were also formed with the Universities of Södertörn and Stockholm, which gave third year pupils of the gymnasium, the possibility to also take Climate and Environment courses at both universities. The Global Gymnasium acted as guarantor to ensure that the pupils were prepared both mentally and knowledge wise.

School lunch at Global gymnasium. Organic chick-pea beef. Photo: AnnVixen

The Global Gymnasium was early to advertise for a lunch chef with an interest in running an organic school kitchen. It was soon identified in the pre-planning of the kitchen that to be able to be sustainable the kitchen needed to serve organic and mostly vegetarian food.

The vegetarian lunch soon became a natural part of the pupils normal school day.
The few occasions that lunch contained either fish or meat were met by strong pupil protests because of the unsustainable food (note: due to transport, carbon- and methane emission surrounded by these foods).

After seven years, as the founding headmaster, Lars Benon left Global Gymnasium and re-entered the school world, first as a consultant and later as headmaster for elementary schools, with pupils from six to fifteen years of age.

Enskede School by sunrise. Photo: AnnVixen

About Enskede School

Enskede School is located in the middle of one of Stockholm’s garden suburbs and was build over 100 years ago on ground that had previously been agricultural land.

The early inhabitants of Enskede initially experienced living in the countryside but as Stockholm has grown a lot since then Enskede is now one of the closest suburbs to the city. Up until the 1980’s, however, there were still farming plots and allotments on the grounds of the school.

The number of pupils of Enskede School has constantly increased. In the 1980’s the school annually educated about 550 pupils a year, to be compared to 2015 when the school educates about 1000 pupils with the help of a staff of 125. The gardens and allotments on the school grounds have had to be removed to be able to house more educational buildings.

Lars Benon, you have been the headmaster of Enskede School for just over a year. What was your first impression?

-There are many really capable pupils and well educated teachers at Enskede School. The pupils are mostly happy, healthy and have good parental support. The school also has a tradition of encouraging healthy living among the teachers. When I first started I could see many inspiring pedagogical initiatives from many of the teachers, Lars Benon remembers.

Did you identify any challenges for the school during your first year?

-The school had many able teachers that worked individually with different inspiring projects but they were not coordinated centrally, Lars Benon says.

He further describes that the school lacked a common approach to pedagogics and learning and that pedagogical activities were not run from a common idea of practise or vision. Lars Benon also describes the school buildings as not being properly suited for the activities of the school.

-During my first year we started a couple of improvement projects.

He tells med that the staff of Enskede School are very committed and tells us more about the projects:

Photo: AnnVixen

Identifying and launching a joint vision and basic principles for Enskede School. -Participation in the Stockholms Prio-project, aiming at strengthening the faculty cooperation and developing working procedures so that school management can steer resources to where they are needed best.
Developing articulated expectation documents to show what expectations pupils and parents may have from the school and vice versa what the school expects from pupils and parents.
Taking the competence of teachers to the next level by participating in national Swedish Mathematics leverage- and Teacher leverage programs.
Developing methods for the staff to support pupils physical and social health by working with so called “Student Health Teams”.
Developing the buildings of the school so they are better adjusted to school activities.

Lars Benon tells med that currently all school staff is intensely involved with these improvement projects and running the school and education in parallel. He looks a bit worried about the school staff workload and explains that it is a vast amount of work that has to be handled. I understand him as he has an ambitious program going on!

How have you noticed the environmental policy of the city of Stockholm? And is it difficult to live up to?

Autumn leaves in Stockholm. Photo: AnnVixen — Autumn leaves in Stockholm.
Photo: AnnVixen

The City of Stockholm is certified according to the IS0 14001 environmental quality system that demands for instance: a process for constant improvements, following environmental legislation and keeping track of the organisation’s impact on the environment.

Lars Benon says that he has not yet noticed much of the city’s environment policy. The most apparent directive has been that all the city’s school vehicles should be electrically powered. Enskede School, however, doesn’t own any cars.

Another directive from the city is that 25% of all food served at schools should be organic. Enskede School has no problem with living up to that standard.

How is Enskede School involved in environment work? How can this be noticed?

Work with sustainability within Enskede school is currently driven by individual initiative among the staff but really needs to be co-ordinated. However there is only so much a team can do at once. Lars Benon holds the improvement projects as a priority before moving on to focusing more on pedagogics within sustainable development.

Do you find that Enskede School currently distinguishes itself in any way in the areas of environment and sustainability?

Patchwork art from Enskede Schools 100-year jubilee. Photo: AnnVixen

Lars Benon looks as if he feels a bit guilty and says:

-So far Enskede School has not denoted itself especially but I would love to mention that the school has set a higher target for the amount of organic food than the city of Stockholm. The aim is to reach 40% and the school is already serving food with an organic ratio of up to 30%.

Lars Benon would love to see a stronger focus on Sustainability in the future, but first he wants the school to reach the goals of the ongoing pedagogical projects to take the schools pedagogics to the level where they should be.

Further, Lars Benon proclaims, sustainable development within a school with an already ongoing educational effort has to be run according to a process, one step at a time.

Does Enskede School have the prerequisites that are needed to work in more sustainable ways?

Lars Benon smiles:

-Yes, absolutely! The best thing going for the school here is the strong commitment from parents, pupils and teachers. I would love to see the school kitchen and the cooking of school lunches become a part of the sustainability education. The school kitchen needs to become even more organically profiled and serve not only “healthy food” but “healthy and organic food” which demands a higher ratio of organic food products and the decreasing of food waste.

Lars Benon also believes that the school will introduce inter-disciplinary work, over school subjects, with focus on sustainability. The pupils could from a relatively early age start looking at the origins of their food, clothes and local prerequisites from a sustainability perspective.

Is there something you think I should have asked you?

The School yard of Enskede School. Photo: AnnVixen

Lars Benon tells med that he would have loved for the school to be involved in a manifestation on sustainability during the UN Climate meeting in Paris, Cop21, in December 2015. The school had plans to involve all students in building an ice sculpture on the schoolyard, under the leadership of a famous artist. When I meet Lars Benon, in September, the school recently had to discard this specific idea. However, Lars Benon hopes some other idea will be performed instead. It will be exciting to see what the school comes up with!

TellusThinkTank realises that every school has its own prerequisites when it comes to sustainability. The City of Stockholm’s support of the Global Gymnasium plus the fact that the city once again has hired a human rights and sustainability agent, that we can find in Lars Benon, seem like constructive steps in the right direction!

The Tellus Think Tank team looks forward to following the sustainable progress of Enskede School! We also probably share the same curiosity as You do, if there are any other schools in the world that distinguish themselves more in sustainability than the Global Gymnasium or Enskede School. Maybe you know of one, please let us know!

Next week Tellus Think Tank meets a representative from a distinguished University of Sweden, namely Sachiko Ishihara of CEMUS, a sustainability faculty of Uppsala University. Sign up for our newsletter and we will let you know when the article is published!

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