Carolyn's blog

Honey melts in the mouth and drips off the tongue, soothing sore throats and masking the taste of nasty medicine. You can cook with it, dribble it on your toast or just lap it up from the jar. But how would you feel about nature's sweetest treat if it rocked up at the farmers market with a GM label? European beekeepers are aghast at the idea, but if a ruling by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) comes into effect, they will be tasked with proving that their bees are GM-free or forced to do just that.

Ever feel like you need an energy boost, something to help you power on through the day? If you feel run down, spare a thought for UK plc because if industry experts are right, it's not just in need of a tonic; we're running clean out of energy and facing greater competition for vital imports needed to keep the country's business heart pumping.

Jean Paul Gaultier
once said, “It's always the badly dressed people who are the most interesting”.

That's good news for those of us who rifle through the cupboard for inspiration every morning before wriggling into an ancient, floppy cardigan, but doesn't go far to explain our obsession with image and new clobber. In the UK, we buy two million tonnes of clothing each year and, as the branded bags totter through the front door, we're busy creating wardrobe space by cramming half as much again into bin liners bound for charity shops, or the local landfill site. 

It's been a long time but I'm back in the blogosphere with news of recycling 'on the go', persistent offenders, and how recycling and farming fit together like shoo-bop-shoo-waddy-waddy-yippedy-yip-de-yip. Yes, it's the UK's greatest party, Glastonbury!

I don't normally use my blog to shamelessly plug clients, but this is such a fantastic product that I couldn't hold back. See for yourselves...

The National Community Wood Recycling Project has launched an online shop, the Next Door Wood Store (www.nextdoorwoodstore.org.uk), selling timber products created by its members.
 

This week's motto is 'Drink Aware', as soft drinks giant Pepsi unveils the world's first plastic bottle made entirely from plant-based resources and the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) reports that a UK drinks container deposit scheme could generate £432 million a year for community projects. But how do deposits stack up against the traditional genie in the bottle bank?

Big Ben is ablaze (albeit a cardboard effigy rather than the iconic genuine article), and coalition policy steams ahead with the enthusiasm of a tiger cub taking part in its first kill. Let's hope you recharged your batteries over the Christmas break because whatever your political persuasion, you can bet that the year ahead is going to see some shaking up. For starters, while the government is set on flogging off national woodland, the UN – with perfect comic timing – has declared 2011 the International Year of Forests.