How fair is Fair Trade? The notion of consuming with a conscience has suddenly burst noisily into the mainstream.
Or so says Jess Worth in a comprehensive look at ethical shopping in the current issue of the New Internationalist. While praising Fair Trade initiatives, Worth believes that many companies are re-branding themselves as green in a defensive response to Western consumer desires. And, she warns, such re-branding sometimes leads to a watering down of ethical, organic and Fair Trade principles. Instead, she says, "we need to change the entire structure of our exploitative, wasteful, resource-intensive economy; and that includes buying much less stuff". Jess Worth is one of the speakers at a free public seminar in Tallaght this afternoon. Other speakers at Ethical Shopping - How You Can Spend Your Way to a Sustainable World are Sean McArdle, who is involved in the farmers' market movement and Jim Loughran of Amnesty International. The seminar will be held in St Maelruain's Hall, Main Street, Tallaght from 2.30pm to 4.30pm.
For peat's sake
The Netherlands was the first country to use up all its peatlands, a loss that led some Dutch people to try to prevent the same thing happening in Ireland. A group of conservationists, led by Dutchman Matthijs Schouten, raised enough funds to purchase three peatlands in Ireland - Scragh Bog in Co Westmeath, Cummeragh River Bog in Co Kerry and Clochar na gCon in Co Galway. They then handed these peatlands back to the Irish nation. An exhibition entitled The Dutch and Irish Bog Story celebrates the partnership in bog conservation in this country for the past 25 years. The exhibition opened this week in Enfo, Andrew Street, Dublin, and at the Bog of Allen Nature Centre, Lullymore, Rathangan, Co Kildare. There will be workshops for schoolchildren during the exhibition. Tel: 045-860133, e-mail bogs@ipcc.ie for more details.
Keeping landscape in focus
Anyone interested in landscape photography should consider entering the Irish Geological Association's Du Noyer Geological Photography Competition. This annual event honours a 19th-century geologist, George Victor Du Noyer, whose artistic sketches were the "field photographs" of their day. The competition aims to encourage a blend of artistic and scientific skills expressed through photographs. Recent photographs and older, historic photographs are acceptable as entries. The closing date is Friday. See www.gsi.ie, tel: 01-6782867 for details.
An organic open day
Sonairte, the ecology centre on the Laytown Road (just off the N1 near Julianstown) in Co Meath is having an organic open day today from 10.30am to 5pm. Held in conjunction with National Organic Week, which ends today, there will be advice on growing organic food, plus guided walks in the organic walled gardens and nature trails. Also, there will be local organic produce for sale. Admission is free. See www.sonairte.org for details, tel: 041-9827572.
.