Biodegradable mailers

With only a few weeks to go to print, ecoescape has been trawling stationery suppliers across the land for environmentally friendly envelopes in which to distribute the guides. We think we've found the answer - our guides will be packed up and sent off in their very own Eco-Poly Jacket.

How does this work? Aren't plastics meant to take 100s if not 1000s of years to degrade?

The clever part is that this new type of polythene has developed a way to reduce the molecular weight without impairing quality. Due to the reduction, these biodegradable mailers can be consumed by micro organisms found everywhere.

In time, the film will begin to degrade in any normal environment, a process enhanced by daylight or higher temperatures. It does not need a microbial agent to initiate degradation and, in fact, degrades more readily than paper. The eventual products of degradation are water, a small amount of carbon dioxide and biomass which can be composted and used as a fertilizer.

Here is a diagram of the process taken from the website www.ecopolyjacket.com

The good news is that the earthworms have given their seal of approval and if it's good enough for them...

The Busycle

A very clever self propelled bus using renewable energy sources...

eco Sound escape

Andrew Greenman (Soul Jazz Records) has kindly put together the soundtrack to ecoescape, available to preview and buy on itunes. Here's what he has to say about the mix...

"Borrowing the ‘highly original’ concept of dawn to dusk and the seasonal spin-cycle, Ecosoundescape is our little gift. The imix draws on a wide range of genres that float around ecoescape HQ. We start of in the ‘small hours’ with Brit Folk survivor John Martyn, its not sure if this the start of a new day or the continuation of the night before. But we move on over to Japan, sonically not physically, to take in the ‘shinsen’ (or fresh) morning air. Back in the UK, Brian Eno and Max Richter sooth us into the early morning, before Nina Simone heralds in the new day in proper fashion.

The next section features many a natural reference and lots of Vitamin D enhancing sunshine. Merz offers us a paean to a butterfly; Norway’s Todd Terje mixes up the ‘route of the sun’ (Camino del Sol), whilst Sade asks us to Cherish the Day, Horace Andy (also of Massive Attack) covers Bob Marely’s Natural Mystic and Nick Drake invites us to watch the River Man. As we slip into the afternoon we get lost in a Forest, courtesy of Nouvelle Vague’s lounge pop cover of the Cure classic, before Air settle us into a pre-sunset cocktail with ‘le solei est pres de moi’ (the sun is close to me).

Somewhere between day and night, or summer and autumn comes the sounds of the Scottish Highlands finest, with Boards of Canada’s ‘a beautiful place out in the country’ evening and winter encroach Vashti Bunyan reminds us there is warmth in that golden autumnal glow of a rosehip November. Finally Welshman extraordinaire, Gruff Rhys, offers us his beacon in the darkness, before Talk Talk wind things down as its getting late in the evening."

Eco Sound escape is available to preview on itunes with some footnotes:

1. We preferred the original nina simone version of here comes the sun, whereas itunes only carries the Francois Kervokian mix, nothing against FK mind.

2. Winter Music is Roger Eno’s Between Tides Lp, whereas itunes attributes it to Harold Budd? Again nothing against Mr Budd, but be sure to note the song should be attributed to Roger Eno. We found it on the excellent Compounds + Elements: An Introduction To All Saints Records.