cafebabel.com

Transition towns: in the gardens of Paris

('Annie Rutherford',) — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 09:00:00 -0000

The most densely populated city in Europe, with just four days worth of food supplies and a startling shortage of accommodation, Paris has few resources to offer. It is the ideal city for experimenting with ‘transition’, but this is anything but easy. One young German tries to explain the lifestyle and philosophy to the Parisians

Eco-architecture in Strasbourg: all hands on the deck

('English language version of cafebabel.com',) — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 11:09:35 -0000

Reduce, recycle and reuse. The eastern French city sails through the 3Rs of the recycling laws. Hundreds of flowers dot balconies across the city, keeping guard over it night and day as well as over its new urban architecture sensibilities. Eco-sustainability and a collective conscience come together to define this emerging city

Eco-activism: Sea Shepherd puts early stop to Japanese whaling

('Sarah Truesdale',) — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 10:30:00 -0000

Three months of fierce combat in the Antarctic has successfully ended the annual whale hunt in Japan. We first met the US-based conversation society activists during preparations for their grand departure on Operation No Compromise in early December 2010

Being green: German lifestyles are less sustainable than they'd think

('Carol Howard',) — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 19:35:42 -0000

In Germany sustainability is in. Germans are buying organic yoghurt, separating their rubbish meticulously and not leaving the tap on when they brush their teeth. But, to be honest, they are actually being inconsistent, for they do also sometimes use a low-cost airline to jet across Europe, they cannot resist new trainers and they eat tomatoes in winter. So why are they more eco-friendly in their minds than in reality?

10:10? EU 'first ever' energy summit? Don’t bother going green

('james whyte',) — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 11:45:01 -0000

With America dumping 128% of Europe's total Co2 figures into the atmosphere and China 133% we just can't make a difference, and the EU knows it. Can it honestly slash its energy consumption by 20% by 2020? Before the first EU energy summit on 4 February, some of us are asking, why bother

Madagascar, Haiti, Congo: what European development days show

('Laura',) — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 12:10:00 -0000

Where do the millions of euros that are sent from European homes to the four corners of the earth through development programs actually go? The ‘It’s our money; it’s their future’ project sees several young Europeans, accompanied by a Belgian film crew, travelling to five countries to observe the work of NGOs in order to find out

Sea Shepherd: tuna fish pirates hiding in a stretch of sea near you

('English language version of cafebabel.com',) — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 13:30:00 -0000

The American conservation society are preparing a ‘No Compromise’ campaign against illegal whale fishing in the Antarctic. Now the ecological pirates are back to fight against tuna fish hunters in the Mediterannean

'Eco hippies' on carbon-neutral weekend in the Vosges, France

('Lindsey Evans',) — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 10:00:00 -0000

Four months on from the Copenhagen summit, the failure of a global climate change policy hasn't crushed or reinvigorated the motivation of environmental activists. In the Vosges region of France, Elise's carbon-neutral weekends indicate that changing our way of life may be key to saving the planet

Green-many: top marks on environment before elections

('Chriomford',) — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 13:00:00 -0000

Germany is always thought of as being top of the European class when it comes to sustainable development. Politics makes the rules, but there's still a way to go in terms of individual action and certain taboo areas

Turin, world design capital 2008: the keyword is sustainability

Fri, 29 Feb 2008 12:00:00 -0000

This year, the northern Italian city becomes a laboratory of large-scale projects such as industrial conversion, development and eco-compatibility

Strasbourg is bikes

Wed, 27 Feb 2008 12:00:00 -0000

With the inauguration of the TGV to Strasbourg, the city is staking its claim for modernity and the environment. The bicycle rules in this city that wants to overtake Fribourg as model of sustainable growth

Eco-suburbs: Vauban, Freiburg

('Sarah Gray',) — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 12:00:00 -0000

The district in south-west Germany is a pioneering development that puts into action innovative rules for communal living in a unique environment. But this paradise of purity is not without its faults