I heard about this “epically green” yoga spot in Ireland. It is The Clare Island Yoga Retreat Centre in Ballytoughey County Mayo on the west coast. They serve organic meals, and offer meditation and Ashtanga yoga classes. You will stay in a traditional cottage renovated with natural, earth-friendly materials. The cottages use solar panels to heat water and a wood-burning stove for heating.
I’ve been singing the praises of small, ultra-portable external hard drives since they came out, and they’ve made my life much easier and taken a significant load off my computer. I’ve been checking out available ones lately, since files do pile up, and found the Seagate Barracuda Green, an eco-friendly hard drive.
So what makes it green? The reduced power consumption as well as the use of recycled materials. It would probably be even nicer if they provided more details on the recycled materials aspect, though.
A holiday feature on Blisstree features some excellent ideas for eco-friendly and even edible Christmas wreaths. It’s a pretty and tasty idea. I’m especially loving the thought of this eucalyptus wreath.
Perhaps it’s something to add to your itinerary when you head on over to Paris in a few years? A new development called Les Villages Nature de Val d’Europe or Villages Nature is presently being planned by Euro Disney and Groupe Pierre & Vacances Center Parcs. According to the project’s press release:
Harmony between Man and Nature is central to the Villages Nature concept. As a mixed-use resort, Villages Nature will work with visionary landscape architects to develop new lodging and leisure experiences that will provide multiple opportunities for visitors to interact with nature. These activities would be centered on gardening, boating, hiking, horse-back riding, visiting an organic farm, walking along discovery paths, and enjoying seasonal festivals and culinary events. The entire resort will be developed around its iconic 3,500msquared geothermal lagoon, and the adjacent water park which will be the largest in Europe.
While writing an article about the Philippine Green Building Council, I learned that they have teamed up with the European Union’s Switch Asia program to launch and implement the Zero Carbon Resorts project. It sounds like an excellent project, and it’s currently underway in two El Nido resorts in Palawan, Philippines. Changes are afoot in these resorts, starting with making the switch from the use of fossil fuels to renewable energy. Recycling will also be implemented, and as with any new program, training will also be provided for the staff of the resorts so they can fully understand the goals of the project. It’s still in its infancy, so it will be nice to see if it works out and if other resorts can be encouraged to make the same changes. After all, it’s not exactly a good idea to go to a seemingly clean and unspoiled destination and then find out that the resort or hotel where you’re staying is actually polluting the entire place.
Song Dong, a Beijing-based, is currently holding an exhibition entitled “Waste Not,” featuring the things that his mother has accumulated in her lifetime, though obviously not her entire lifetime. The exhibit has been on display in the Museum of Modern Art in New York some years ago, and is presently at the Vancouver Art Gallery. Definitely worth seeing if you want a staggering example of how much people buy and use throughout their lives, and perhaps even rethink your buying habits.
