Ethical

Activism - The Google activist

If you want to campaign on the big issues greenpeace.org.uk foe.co.uk (Friends of the Earth) antislavery.org cancerresearchuk.org childline.org.uk rspca.org.uk howardleague.org (Howard League for Prison Reform) For insightful…

Nii Ayikwei Parkes' 'Tail of the Blue Bird'

British-born Ghanian poet on his novelistic debut

The jump from performance poet to novelist is not necessarily easy or obvious, but Nii Ayikwei Parkes pulls it off with aplomb. The British-born, Ghana-raised writer is now based in Manchester, where he’s made a name for himself as a live performer of…

Cycling to work

Cycling is enjoyable, healthy and makes us feel good. But that’s not why most people in cities do it. Not me anyway. I don’t have ‘reasons’ for cycling any more than I have reasons for walking. Neither do I make use of specialist equipment. ‘Distrust…

The Grassmarkets

Summer’s (almost) here, and the time is right for shopping in the street. As David Bowie might have sung, were he a product of a more capitalist age. However, if you must shop, you could do worse than paying a visit to the newly refurbished Grassmarket…

Certified sustainable fish

More guidance at www.msc.org South African hake One of the most easily available MSC-labelled seafood products, hake are deep-sea members of the cod family. Although they have a more subtle flavour than cod, they are considered one of the best fish…

Findhorn

It’s the morning of my first day at the Findhorn Foundation and Community and I’m having a chat with Gretal, the owner of the bed and breakfast I’m staying in (one of the many houses that make up part of the Eco-village of Findhorn). ‘When we first came…

Festival of Middle Eastern Spirituality and Peace

With the strikes on Gaza receiving near blanket coverage across all media, it’s been impossible to ignore the situation in Israel and Palestine recently. Inevitably, and perhaps understandably, when communicating the realities of life in a war zone…

Entrading café

Situated in the heart of the busy business district of Glasgow is a café and shop that some might find a bit of a surprise. Entrading is a combined high street eco-store and café. Like high street shops, drinking and eating in our city centres have…

Have a crafty Christmas: Ethical Christmas shopping

Ethical elf Anna Docherty, visits the one-stop-shop for a guilt-free Christmas. Christmas comes but once a year and so do those niggling feelings of guilt about getting a real tree, not recycling your wrapping paper, or omitting to get charity Christmas…

Get on your bikes and ride!

'Cycles,' say the organisers, 'is a musical event. It's also about bicycles.' Good, that's cleared that one up, then. That's about as close as we can come to it too, to be honest. So, there's live and electronic music inspired by - and played on…

Festival Books - Mark Watson

Eco-friendly, my dear Watson

According to Mark Watson, saving the planet would, at the very least, ‘look pretty smart on all our CVs’. With an already sterling comedy résumé, Watson takes on environmentalism in his latest book, Crap at the Environment, which through the author’s…

Richard Holloway - Between the Monster and the Saint

PHILOSOPHICAL ESSAYS (Canongate) Richard Holloway talks himself and us in and out of moral corners in this reflection upon the nature of good and evil and analyses their tug of war with intellectual ease. Beginning by contemplating the monster and…

Spirit of the age

Edinburgh Festival of Spirituality and Peace

Another festival growing in popularity, from humble beginnings is the Festival of Spirituality & Peace. Launched just three years ago, through the Edinburgh Inter-Faith Association, the Edinburgh International Centre for World Spiritualities and…

Mark Watson - Crap at the Environment

POLITICAL COMEDY (Hodder & Stoughton) When reducing your carbon footprint, the first thing to do is admit that you’re crap at the environment. This is according to stand-up comedian, writer, TV personality and one-man iceberg melter Mark Watson, who…

Simon Critchley - The Book of Dead Philosophers

PHILOSOPHER HISTORY (Granta) Alongside religious types, the permanently unhealthy and stand-up comedians, philosophers have a nightly battle with questions about the process of dying and the actual reality of having snuffed it. Naturally, none of them…

Earthy Food Store

Despite the very best and utterly wholesome intentions to stock up on organic cheeses at the weekly farmers’ market, or to take a drive to the country to buy veg with the soil still hanging off it, sometimes a long lie or a busy week gets in the way.

Susan Faludi - The Terror Dream

MODERN HISTORY (Atlantic) Susan Faludi has gained a fearsome reputation for her analysis of gender politics, the state of America and political horseplay. And after making her name with Backlash and Stiffed, she has now chucked all three into one…

Wind farm plan for Glasgow

Glasgow City Council has announced plans to build the city’s first wind farm, should it get the appropriate backing for the project. Five turbines would be used to power all traffic and street lights in the city.

The Hard Rain Picture Show

Presentation and lecture by Mark Edwards, one of the most widely-published environmental photographers in the world. Neither a travelogue, nor another exercise in handwringing, The Hard Rain Picture Show takes audiences on a journey through rainforests…

The outer limits

We packed Allan Radcliffe and Kirstin Innes off on two very different Scottish weekend breaks – the former thrown to the wind in the rugged peninsula of Knoydart, the latter placed in the lap of luxury in a country house – with strict orders to…

Ann Patchett

In the space of 24 hours, Ann Patchett’s Run covers an entire social spectrum: interracial relationships, Catholicism and its validity, familial conflict, economic and class equality, and political ethics. This is a hefty fallout from a single event for…

Julian Baggini

Julian Baggini is certainly not afraid to engage with popular culture. He recently wrote this on BBC online: ‘Matt Groening is the true heir of Plato, Aristotle and Kant’. Although this article landed Baggini a mention in Private Eye, he talks of the…

Rainbow faith

The open-minded Metropolitan Community Church congregation bring history into their regular service this month, discussing queer heroes in the Bible, the MCC’s formation, spirituality and sexuality. A special inter-faith event will be held on Sun 25…