Sinai calling...

In between the mad and exciting rush of sustainable design in 2007 I will be jetting off to Sinai in February to visit our clients', The Makhad Trust!

The Makhad Trust provides a meeting place in nomadic regions of the world, such as Sinai, Tibet and the Arctic Circle, where there is a powerful relationship between the environment and the spirit.

"The Trust takes action to sustain the natural heritage of these regions and to cherish the indigenous wisdom of the people. It does this in a broadly educational context and through cultural exchange, by means of a programme of practical projects in which visitors making a journey through the area are able to participate. Thus it operates as a model for sustainable development and eco-tourism, at the heart of which is the principle that the indigenous peoples are the hosts and the visitors are their guests."
The Makhad Trust

I can't wait to see the great work The Mackhad Trust are doing. But I might have to climb for an insight; one current project involves restoring traditional walled family gardens in the High Mountains of the Sinai, many of which go back over 1000 years but were abandoned in response to the lure of the city. They will grow herbs, fruit, olives and medicinal plants for Bedouin use and for sale.

I'll send you a post card :)

Paper price hiking; the dominos will fall...

The impending paper price hike of 8% is about to descend on us like an unwanted Christmas gift. And be sure that printers will no doubt have to react with adding a further 7or 8% to the overall costs :(

Choose your suppliers wisely, sustainably and recycle, recycle, recycle....

National Energy Efficiency Awards honours our client!

Our client, the Wiltshire Wildlife Trust have received the Highly Commended Award at UK CEED's inaugural National Energy Efficiency Awards, in the Community & Volunteers category for their Urchfront Climate Friendly Communities project. Leap helped launch the project and are happy it has been recognised at such a high profile event.

The prestigious Awards ceremony, held on 6th December at the Science Museum, showcased the innovative energy efficiency work of 49 finalists across the Award's 9 categories.

The Awards, sponsored by EDF Energy, Defra, English Partnerships and the Independent newspaper, received 170 high quality entries illustrating a broad range of good energy efficiency practice by public, voluntary and private sector organisations.

Nice one WWT !

Why we support Good Energy!

The debate about renewable energy is heated, but there is no denying the severity of the challenge facing us: there has been little long-range investment in our energy system while we have been harvesting north sea oil. But the chickens are coming home to roost: where will our electricity come from?

Carbon Dioxide (CO2) is the primary gas responsible for Climate Change and conventional power stations are the biggest source of CO2 emissions. Therefore, one of the simplest and most effective solutions is to switch to a 100% renewable electricity supplier. Using the power of the wind, sun and running water to provide electricity does not generate CO2 during its generation. Wind power has its critics but most thoughtful environmentalists ? who wish to defend the countryside from predatory development ? accept it as an inevitable, and least-bad, option. Many consider it to be part of the potential solution to our electricity-supply problems.

We buy all our electricity from Good Energy, which is based in Wiltshire and supplies only 100% renewable electricity to homes and businesses in the UK. Their parent company, the Monkton Group only invests in renewables too. We rate Good Energy as among the best of all the renewable suppliers. If you switch to them you will have several benefits: the real pleasure of dealing with a dedicated team, with human beings on the end of a telephone line; and the satisfaction of knowing that you are really making a difference and reducing your impact on Climate Change. In 2004 the average Good Energy customer saved two tonnes of CO2 emissions, the equivalent to not driving over 5,000 miles in a petrol car.

Tis' the season to be jolly ( and green : )

Some interesting festive facts....

"The cost of the average Christmas lunch, with wine and crackers, is
estimated to be £14 per person but the ingredients could have flown 84,612
miles producing the same amount of greenhouse gas from planes as 50,000
three bedroom semis in a year. So when shopping look for locally produced
food and wine to help the planet and support local businesses!"
Times 20/11/2006

"In 2004 we sent 744 million Christmas cards and if all were recycled it
would have saved 248,000 trees. Last year only 82 million cards were
recycled but this meant 1,630 tonnes of rubbish diverted from landfill."
Green Guide

"In 2001 of the 7.5 million Christmas tress bought only 1.2 million were
recycled the rest created enough rubbish to fill the Albert Hall in London
three times over. Why not buy a tree with roots?"
Defra

Yo ho ho :)

Say hello to Lee

During the festive period, Lee Rogers, a graphic design student from University College Falmouth, will be joining the Leap Team as temporary Creative Assistant to gain a professional insight into the world of sustainable design. Check out a brief auto-biog from the man himself:

Lee (Buck) Rogers:

"Hi my name is Lee, I’m 22 and I am studying Graphic Design at University College Falmouth. There’s only 2 terms left, and there’s lots to do! When I’m not designing I love to surf, which is more of an obsession than a hobby. Surfing throughout our cold winters, along with an interest in travel motivated me to visit several places around the world, which include; Austria, Costa Rica, Cyprus, France, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Morocco, Panama, Portugal, Spain (+Balearic and Canary Islands), Sri Lanka and USA.

Art & Design was always my favourite subject through school, and into college. On a foundation course at college I decided Graphic Design was for me. I’m still trying things out to help me identify the areas which I enjoy most; this allows me to work broadly experimenting with brand identity, editorial, typography and ideas. I had a good work placement at Nixon Design in Hayle for two weeks over the summer, where I learnt a lot about the working environment.

Some of my favourite designers include;
Josef Müller-Brockmann - For the clarity of the message in his posters.
Derek Birdsall – For his book designs where content is paramount.
Yugo Nakamura – For his experimental web designs.

But rather than finding inspiration from particular designers, I like to find inspiration in everything.

Some people I’d like to meet include;
Occy, Arnold Schwarchenegger and Lenin.

Throughout school Buck Rogers was my nickname – Not because I did anything superhero like, my second name is Rogers.

The goal for a sustainable future is ever more important. I’m writing a dissertation about ‘Greenwashing’, which is a term used to describe large organizations that project themselves as green, when the reality is often that their environmental actions are insignificant."

Ethical consumption on an all-time high

Good news:

Shoppers are now spending £29.3 billion on 'ethical' products, according to the Co-operative Bank's annual 'Ethical Consumerism' report. For the first time, the amount being spent on such products - including organic food, Fairtrade items and 'green' energy - has overtaken the £28 billion a year spent on beer and cigarettes. The figures, from 2005 and based on data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), showed an 11% increase in spending on this type of product.

There is more information at:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6186778.stm

Speakathon 2007

It's gonna seem like that, and we are, as always, chomping at the bit to spread the sustainable word so to speak. And speak we will; in January 2007 Leap will be giving a talkshop type seminar on Sustainable Marketing for Cornwall Tourism Skills Network, and in June 2007 we'll be presenting a course with Rezolve's Jon Rolls on Sustainable Marketing & Packaging, and Waste Minimisation.

It's good to talk...

Leap sponsors Cornwall Sustainability Awards 2006!

Morning blog fiends!

A busy week unfolded last week. As well as being immersed in the hectic normality of Leap that is the world of good old fashioned sustainable design graft delivered at lightning speed, I also found myself slap bang in the middle of some glitz and glamour.

No I wasn't quarking in a sequinned dress and stilettos, I was honoured, as a main sponsor, to join 80 local businessmen and women at Trerice Manor in Newquay in cheering on the winners of the Cornwall Sustainability Awards 2006, not to mention presenting the overall winners Ginsters with a unique trophy designed by Leap and Parc Signs.

The trophy was constructed from local Yew, sourced from Heligan Gardens, recycled banknotes set in a resin made from melted car headlamp lenses, off cut acrylic and recycled PVC.

The Cornwall Sustainability Awards 2006 rewards top Cornish businesses for their excellent environmental practices.

Leap is pretty proud of sponsoring this event which utilised our design skills to the max; we designed all the branding, graphics and print literature for the awards.

Check out the link below for the Western Morning News take on the event; I've no idea who the grinning dude is holding a trophy aloft...

ttp://www.thisiscornwall.co.uk/

Leap gets a green thumbs up in IT WEEK!

Yes that's right! Massive IT orientated business weekly ITWEEK magazine have given Leap a nice thumbs up in their Green Business section, albeit with the occasional misunderstanding of our status and ethos (1. we ain't carbon 'neutral' but we are 100% carbon 'zero' company , 2. we also love to work with small businesses AS WELL as the colossal ones - because we want EVERYONE to get sustainable, and we're a small business ourselves!)

Minor edits aside, we appreciate ITWEEK giving us a sizeable chunk of praise and making us turn a rich shade of rouge! Read all about it:

http://green.itweek.co.uk/2006/11/cornwall_aims_t.html

That's all folks ;)