And that brings me to the inspiration for this blog post.

Firstly, Julie Cohen of Better Than Fiction Productions emailed me the link to a video that she produced for PBS about a lady called Dee Williams who lives in a tiny house.

Watch the full episode. See more Need To Know.

And secondly, I read this morning at Bindu Wiles blog that she is starting a community project called the Shed Project, which has nothing whatsoever to do with sheds (or tiny houses), but fits perfectly alongside the story of tiny houses because it’s all about shedding the bumf that we don’t really need (including excess body weight).

I’m going to be taking part in the Shed Project to see what I can shed. If you’re interested in getting rid of some of your excess, Bindu Wiles will be launching the project in about a month’s time, so add her to your feed reader if you don’t want to miss out.

This Tuesday, 13th July, I’m going to be joining artist Janet Botes to launch ecojunki at the Atlantic Seaboard Greendrinks Meet-up. We’ll be showing some of our own recycled art and crafts, and inviting Greendrink-ers to bring along their own recyclables for a demonstration/have-a-go.

If you’re in Cape Town and want to come along, here are the details:

Atlantic Seaboard Greendrinks
Cape Creative Exhibition Centre, 37, Main Road, Greenpoint
Tuesday 13th July 2010
6 pm for 6.30 pm – till 9 pm
The theme for the evening is greening visual arts and wine making
Time changes for this month : 6 pm for 6.30 pm – till 9 pm.

Eco artist and activist Janet Botes will present the Ecojunki movement and projects in Waste Art.
Bring recycled packaging (paper, plastic) which can be used for a demonstration !

All Capetonian artists are invited to participate in an open discussion about how to green Visual Arts.

Heron Ridge Wine Farm from Helderberg will be presenting their experience of farming the wine biodynamically and offer some wine tasting, which you will be able to compliment for a small contribution with some cheese platters from African Cheese and Wine Tours.

There are two swishing events happening in the next little while, one in London (UK) and one in Cape Town (RSA).  See their details below.

Incase you can’t read the fine print, here’s a close-up:

For the Cape Town (Northern suburbs) event, check out the Fashion Exchange website or their Facebook page for more info.  Take note that you will need a ticket for the Cape Town event.  Here are the basics:

And for the activist at a loose end next weekend, why not join in with a mass action called by London Rising Tide, London Tar Sands Network and Climate Camp London.

Party at the Pumps Part 2 is taking place just three days before Shell’s AGM, where the company will come under fire from shareholders over its plans in the Canadian tar sands; and a week before the Merthyr to Mayo solidarity bike ride, which will link two communities in Wales and Ireland resisting fossil fuel extraction.

When: Saturday, 15th May
Meet: 1PM at Oxford Circus
Bring: a zone 1-2 tube pass, noisemakers, your friends & family and your
dancing shoes
Oxford Circus meeting point map: http://tinyurl.com/OCnw-SVmap

Shutting down a petrol station for 5 hours on a sunny Saturday afternoon
was so much fun we’re going to do it again. Shell’s Hell – in the tar
sands and beyond – is next in the firing line.

Party 1 had Samba, twin sound systems, a live Ceilidh band, face-painting,
free cakes and 200 people. Party 2 will be bigger and better, with
activists joining us from Brighton, Oxford and beyond.

Watch the video call-out here:

And while there aren’t any protest parties going on in Cape Town on that day, there is this community market, which is well worth supporting:

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COPArt Live! Bank Holiday Monday (3 May, 10.30am)

Londoners interested in the environment and looking for some bank holiday fun are invited to attend a free event that will mix art and music at the Village Underground in Shoreditch on Monday 3rd May from 10:30am to 9:00pm.

Visitors to COPArt Live! can create their own work of art and witness the making of a mural and sculptures by five young local artists. All pieces of art created before 6:00pm on the day will be exhibited from 6:00pm to 9:00pm and will then be collated to form COPArt – a large digital montage and visual petition for action against climate change.

COPArt was officially launched at the United Nations Climate Change conference in Copenhagen in November 2009. Hundreds of people have already contributed.  It is organised by Climate Squad, a project run by environmental charity Global Action Plan and funded by Bank of America Merrill Lynch and v, the National Young Volunteer Service.

Kate Lyons of Global Action Plan called  COPArt a forum for young people to express their views on climate change and demonstrate what they are doing about it in their communities.

UK readers: lookout for a UK-exclusive giveaway, coming on Monday.

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If you’re in Cape Town this Friday, consider joining the Chernobyl Day Commemoration in Plein Street, outside parliament.

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PS It’s been quiet around here ‘cos I’ve been travelling. Photos to follow.

PPS Look out for some groovy Earth Day giveaways here tomorrow.

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Turns out there are some who have been doing pavement pimping for years, and they’re encouraging you to pimp your pavement too.

And no need to stop there, how about seed bombing the entire neighbourhood.  Be careful in ecologically sensitive areas, be sure to only bomb with indigenous seeds where appropriate.

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Here’s  a head’s up on a new, exciting opportunity from the Sierra Club that could just be The Best Internship on Earth. One lucky young person will get to spend this summer travelling around the US to Sierra Club’s outdoor youth programs, including Inner City Outings, Volunteer Vacations, and Building Bridges to the Outdoors.  The intern will video-blog about all of the outdoor adventures that he or she will have (backpacking, rafting, hiking, etc).   As the cherry on top, the selected intern will receive a $2,500 stipend and be outfitted with $2,000 worth of gear from The North Face and Planet Explore!

No previous outdoor or video experience is required. Applicants just have to be between the ages of 18 and 25 and have a real passion for exploring, enjoying, and protecting the outdoors.  The internship is open to U.S. Citizens, permanent residents, legal residents with a valid work permit, or holders of a valid work visa.

More application info here.

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During the recent UN Climate Conference in Copenhagen our world leaders failed to agree on a climate deal. But we all know it’s not only up to them and there are plenty of things that we mere mortals can do to make an impact on climate change. As consumers, we need to take responsibilility for our own actions. Here’s one way to do something – do 30!

The ‘I do 30′ campaign encourages people across the world to turn down the temperature on their laundry to reduce co2.

Visit their website to find out more about the campaign and become a member of their Facebook group to join the other 12,000 supporters of the ‘I do 30′ campaign to see what positive impact you can have on our planet.

Radical Nature draws on ideas that have emerged out of Land Art, environmental activism, experimental architecture and utopianism. The exhibition is designed as one fantastical landscape, with each piece introducing into the gallery space a dramatic portion of nature. Work by pioneering figures such as the architectural collective Ant Farm and visionary architect Richard Buckminster Fuller, artists Joseph Beuys, Agnes Denes, Hans Haacke and Robert Smithson are shown alongside pieces by a younger generation of practitioners including Heather and Ivan Morison, R&Sie(n), Philippe Rahm architects and Simon Starling. Radical Nature also features specially commissioned and restaged historical installations, some of which are located in the outdoor spaces around the Barbican while a satellite project by the architectural collective EXYZT is situated off site.

The exhibition is on until the 18th of October and if you’d like to stand a chance of winning a ticket, simply add a comment telling us about something you do in your daily life that reduces your footprint on our planet.

This competition ends on Friday 9th of October. Two winners will be drawn out of a hat and notified by email.