Another Tomorrow

Another Tomorrow

Inspiring ethical living choices

Natural leather Bags and purses

from Heidi Griffiths’s new collection

Stressed?

Live simply with less

What is flexitarianism?

Find out on p4-5

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elcome to an inspirational world of sustainable living. Here you can discover simple ways of doing what’s good for you, and what’s better for our planet...

Contents

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Fashion, Naturally Interview with Lola and Me’s Heidi Griffiths

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Would you Flexi? Why you should adopt a sustainable diet

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Living, Simply Life done alternatively

Learning, Sustainably Sustainable workshops launching in Cardiff

Editors - Harry Ridgewell, Kim Kaveh, Monita Pesumal & Luke Meates

Photography - Luke Meates, Monita Pesumal, Green Valley Moves, Atma, Ana-Loka

Graphics - Harry Ridgewell

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Fashion, Naturally

Ethically sourced leather can be found in South Wales from fashion company, Lola and Me

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eidi Griffiths is a fashion designer with a difference; she produces her products using only natural leathers and has a no waste policy.

Her Newport based fashion company, Lola and Me, have been making leather bags and purses since April 2016. Ethics and quality are two things at the forefront of Heidi’s mind, which is why all her products are handmade in Haiti by skilled artisans.

“Haiti is a country that suffers from quite severe poverty,” explains Heidi.

“They need to utilise what they have available to them on the ground, and what they have is leather.” Heidi, who believes in treating her employees fairly, makes sure they are paid a decent living wage something that not all leather manufacturers can boast.

Heidi says that in Haiti they have a zero waste philosophy and they try to use the whole animal.

We should learn from their already sustainable lifestyle.

Now to the leather itself; Heidi lovingly holds one of her leather bags

“Very natural and authentic”

Name: Heidi Griffiths Age: 32 Born: Newport Favourite piece of clothing: Black printed scarves from India Favourite drink: Anything with chambord! which oozes quality. She explains typically, leather will go through a lot of chemical processes. Some of the chemical dyes are detrimental to the people and environment within the local area. “But the leather we use,” she exclaims excitedly, “is vegetable tanned, so it uses natural colourings and is not overly processed. It essentially means that the product the customers are getting is very natural and authentic.”

Heidi’s use of natural leathers and vegetable dyes means her products only look better with age.

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Wou l d y ou F l e x i ?

Do you want to eat less meat, but not give it up altogether? Maybe

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ant to have your beef cake and eat it too?

To a committed carnivore, adopting a sustainable vegan based diet may be a dramatic life choice.

For this reason, there is a surge in “flexitarianism” – Vegetarians who eat sustainable, organic plant based food…and occasionally add meat to the mix.

Flexitarians make up their own rules when it comes to the quantity of meat they eat; ensuring

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their occasional pound of meat is ethically sourced and environmentally friendly.

How can flexitarianism benefit you?

Your Body

According to Body Nutrition, being a flexitarian can positively affect your cholesterol levels and other vital health markers. They also say that plant-based diets can boost the chance of lengthening your life and aids weight control.

Your Planet

According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), our agricultural systems are one of the biggest emitters of greenhouse gasses, with livestock production accounting for 14.5%.

Switching to a lower meat diet and reducing your intake from 100g to 50g per day, can cut greenhouse gasses by almost half.

Your City

An award winning app developed in Austria has

you should try being a flexitarian.

“We see the personality behind the earth and she must be respected.” recently made its way to Cardiff to connect green business to green consumers.

The Vanilla Bean app allows diners to search for restaurants which practice sustainable and eco-friendly values.

Co-founder, Fabian Kreipl commented, “I developed the app so humans can finally live in a world where they can learn to use natural recourses in a considerate manner.”

Many restaurants in Cardiff have also welcomed the concept of sustainable eating by only using locally sourced, fresh, organic produce.

Kavi Karnapura Dasa, owner of restaurant Atma, believes it’s important that we don’t add to the large amount of environmental damage created by the meat industry. “We see

Top 5 places to wine and dine

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nna-Loka – A restaurant with an abundance of sustainable and vegan food choices using fresh ingredients which are locally sourced and organic. tma Café – A conscious living lifestyle lounge with a primary focus on the mind, body and soul. angkok Café – Experience a real taste for Thailand where ingredients are locally sourced with herbs and spices imported straight from the heart of Thailand. ilgi – With a passion for natural food, Milgi takes on a sustainable approach to food, working with local farmers and suppliers to get the best produce. he Grazing Shed – A passionate burger restaurant with superb culinary talent that make quality food all sourced from local suppliers to ensure peak qualities of freshness, nutrition and taste.

A B the personality behind the earth and she must be respected,” explained Kavi.

Your Choice

If you love oven roasted lamb shanks or perfectly seared steaks, then the idea of eating tofu burgers and bean salads may not be so appealing. If you’re concerned about your health and the environment but still want to eat a beef burger once in a while, the part-time vegetarian movement is in full swing and many are choosing to adopt the flexitarian lifestyle.

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Living, Simply

‘Less is more’ is good for you and the environment

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lternative lifestyles that contribute of the future is to take care of the present to a more sustainable environment moment.’ are being practiced both locally Anyone can adopt the life choices of the and overseas. Although referred to by a age-old monks by prioritising and owning multitude of names such as only what they find useful in Zen living, deliberate living their life. and naturalism, the ultimate Jayne Owen, a member purpose of these lifestyles of Minimalist Cardiff, says by remains the same. practising these Zen teachings In theory, Zen living refers to she has already found she is the tranquil lives adopted by more conscious about what she Zen Buddhist monks in China, buys.

Korea and Japan, where they Contributor to Mind Palace practice concentration and Podcasts, Jessica Williams, says, mindfulness during everything “By limiting our consumption from breathing to eating. In practice, one of we are playing our role as humans, not Zen living’s mantra’s is owning only what is consumers. It gives us the opportunity to necessary. This means the monks are able have a dignified and respectful approach to live contently towards our with basic clothing, “To take care of the future is to take care environment.” shelter and simple Jessica explains of the present moment.’ vegetarian food. that by purchasing Thich Nhat Hanh less, we tend to focus is a famous Vietnamese Buddhist monk more on the quality, and ethics of how and who lives by the practice of Zen living. He where our goods have been produced. famously said... ‘The best way to take care Minimalist expert Ryan Nicodemus, explains that the less we consume, the less waste we produce and the less waste we produce, the smaller our carbon footprint.

Ryan emphasizes, “I think this is especially true with textile goods. I used to own ten pairs of jeans, now I have one pair. Living simply not only saves people money, it also helps save the environment.”

Drink your tea slowly and reverently - Thich Nhat Hanh

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Learning, Sustainably

A series of sustainable workshops to launch in Cardiff

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reen Valley Moves, a sustainable letting agents based in Caerphilly, plan to power a community project on green living in the new year. The ‘School of Sustainability’ is a series of workshops that will run in collaboration with entrepreneurs, organizations and other like-minded people in Cardiff.

A series of ten sessions will take place from January to April 2017. Each workshop will last for two hours.

Some of the workshops will be fully funded by Green Valley Moves, so that the community can attend these workshops for free and aqquire skills to futher sustainability.

One of the speakers at the upcoming workshops will include Peter Draper from the Eco Home Centre in Cardiff. He will deliver a session on eco retrofitting a standard property, while speaker Chris Billingham will educate people on

upcycled homes.

Anybody who wants to: gain skills for a sustainable future, make their home more eco -friendly, or is interested in green living can participate says the founder of Green Valley Moves, Catherine Woods.

Every person and organization can make a difference. “It’s about cultivating passion within people to make a change in their life,” says Catherine.

She elaborates, “I think people are buying frozen food because they think they can’t grow their own produce due to a lack of garden space. What we are trying to say is use a pot and grow a vertical garden!”

Catherine acknowledges that social media marketing is a powerful tool beyond belief. She explains that people will be able to register for the workshops via Facebook or by entering their email address on greenvalleymoves.com.

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