Green Holidays

Not just 1, but 2 chances to make a difference in London for you and your friends!

There is a great build up of events across the world in the build up to the Climate Talks in Copenhagen this December, so make sure you drag your friends along to as many as you can so that our voices can be heard.

Remember, great things can be achieved if you let someone know your opinions - and voting with your feet or your money are the best things out there!

Event 1: Your Feet (and some blue gloves!)
Starting at Grosvenor Square in London at 12am is The Wave. An event where (hopefully) thousands of people will march through the streets of London dressed in blue like a giant wave!

A tide of change if you like!

There are events leading up to the rally, and events after the rally - with the big climax involving blue ‘waving’ - which is where the blue gloves are going to come into their own!

Bring as many friends as possible and spread the word to complete strangers too! The more people - the greater the impact!

And, Megabus are offering a massive number of buses into London for the event from just £2 - check online for details………

Event 2: Your Money
Bring your money and your re-usable shopping bags to the greatest Eco Christmas Fair in London!

The Royal Geographical Society are opening their doors in South Kensington and offering you the change to try and buy from a whole host of eco friendly and community-driven enterprises and goods.

From baby wear to body care, fair trade to hand made, and much much more including and eco puppet show - free for the kids!!

And don’t worry if you are busy at the demonstration above - or don’t want to go shopping in blue - then visit the Fair on the following day from 9.30am.

Two green events in 1 great weekend!

If you fancy getting your wellies on and digging a hole - then find your local tree planting event!

Every year the National Tree Council run and support National Tree Week - this year running from November 25th thru to December 6th - so more than a week really - but more time to get involved!

What Is It All About?
Basically, it is a time for people to get involved with community planting events in the winter, and make a difference to local woodlands and parks - and to the environment.

Running since 1975 (wow!), this national event has dramatically changed local communities, schools, parks and gardens across the country - and this year is no different! 

With a list of events running all over the country - and the chance to list your own event - they expect over a quarter of a million people to get involved.

What Else Can You Do?
There are plenty of things that you can do to support National Tree Week that don’t involve any costs, and are just as fun!

1) Your Own Garden: If you can’t make one of the tree planting events - then why not plant your own tree in your garden?  Get your family involved and make a day of it - dedicating your tree to your kids, parents, favourite pet or whatever.  A tree is a tree, so whatever the reason - it doesn’t matter.

2) Record Breaker?:  Although, if you can plant your tree on the 5th of December this year - you could take part in the record-breaking event being hosted by BBC breathing spaces.  All you need to do is make a pledge to plant your tree on their website, then take a photo of you planting it and send it in to count!

3) Go Exploring:  You don’t have to plant a tree to support trees - take a walk in the woods.  By regularly visiting your local woodlands you are helping to make sure that they remain.  If people don’t visit these places, they will simply disappear or become private.

4) Capture The Image: Go out loking for great trees to photograph in your area. You can attach your images to Google Maps so that when people search for your town, they can see your photos of amazing trees!

5) Living Giants: Go out looking for huge trees to add to the Woodland Trust Ancient Tree Hunt database. THey are hoping to create a map of all the oldest trees in the UK - so need you out there finding the undiscovered ones!

6) Learn More:  Take the time to teach yourself and your family about the UK’s native tree species and how to identify them.  The more you know about something the more you can get involved, and the more your kids know, the safer the trees futures will be. 

7) Collect Seeds:  When you know the difference between an acorn and a hazelnut - you can plant them yourself and grow your favourite trees from seed!  Not all the seeds that fall to the ground in autumn will grow into trees, so why not take home a few nuts and seeds and try to grow them yourself.

If they survive and last the year - you will have your own trees to plant out for National Tree Week 2010!

Here we are again in the blustery weather for another cosy look at other peoples holidays!

Oh, no. Hang on - there is only one entrant this month - so they get the whole post to themselves!

So, here we are with a story of a rather brave adventure to Sudan with Shannon O’Donnell and An Unexpected Stop in Wadi Halfa, Sudan | A Little Adrift…An Around the World Travel Blog |

Hopefully see you all next month for the final edition of 2009!

Travel Cat

Thanks to a dry summer - the mushrooms are out in force at the moment in the UK.

I have just finished traipsing around my lawn, crouched over and with wet knees and elbows! That’s right, I have been finding fungi to take great photos of!

You should be out there too checking out your (untreated) lawn or nearby woodlands for some great mushrooms and tree fungi!

After a long dry summer and these past few weeks of heavy rain - the fungus living undergrown have started to bloom.  Be quick though, as a lot of mushrooms change color when they get wet - the brightness is literally washed away!

I know it is near impossible to identify all the tiny brown and white ones if you aren’t an expert - but you can find some red, bright orange, slimy green and even blue mushrooms out there if you just get looking!

Where To Look:
Well, depending on the type of fungi you are looking for, you need to look close to the ground, around the bases of trees and on logs or even high up in the branches.

Bright Orange Fungus

Fungi can live anywhere - including a great shot I saw of a mushroom growing out the back of a live birds head! And, they don’t have to be the typical ‘mushroom’ shape, so get yourself a basic guide to get started.

There are often professional groups that go around to woodlands or historic houses and run a fungal foray with the public to help identify and record important and interesting species - like the Ballerina Wax Cap which is thought to be quite rare.

And, even though they are bright colours, you can’t always see them from afar - you literally need to walk slowly across the land and ope to catch a glimpse of them - I even walked right into a patch of bright yellow ones as you just couldn’t see them over the grass - but from above they were quite a site!

What To Look For:
And, the more you look for them, the more you see - and then you start to notice the common ones and may even learn to identify one or two that you know can’t be anything else. I mean, once you see a few parrot wax caps (they are slimy green mushrooms) you won’t forget them in a hurry!

Slimy Green Parrot Wax Caps

Others are more difficult to identify as you need to look at the gills underneath or see the color of the spores - but they are only really necessary for the experts. I mean, if everyone went around snapping off the heads of every mushroom they saw to see underneath then none of them would send out spores and seed the next generation.

And a woodland with all the mushrooms picked out won’t be any fun for anyone else now will it!

So unless you need to know the exact name of a fungus for something really important (in which case I suggest you find and expert to take with you) - leave them all alone where they grow. Take some great pictures and take them home instead!

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I know it’s early yet - but keep the date clear in your diary!

I have been to this show for several years now - and I love it! 

It has got everything from volunteering, gap year advice, great products, specific seminars and great food!

I would really recommend a visit here for any travel related queries. The experts on hand can offer you all sorts of tips and tricks and new ideas - whether you know what you want already or you want to be taken completely by surprise!

This show has inspired us to finally travel to Costa Rica for a month to watch the wildlife - which was one of my best travel experiences yet - as well as numerous other trips and ideas!

I remember sitting in the Overland tours bus that was rolled into the hall watching a great video about Africa wondering where on earth anyone was supposed to go to the toilet!

So whether you are looking for inspiration or want to fine tune your ideas - this is the place!

Go to their website: Adventure Show 2010 for more details and to sign up for their newsletter…..