1083, it is the distance between the two most distant cities in France (Menton, in the South-East and Porspoder in Brittany). It is also the name of a brand-new French brand that creates eco-conceived jeans and sneakers, 100% made in France. Did you know that jeans can travel up to 65,000 kilometers during its making? This young brand offers you jeans or a pair of sneakers, made less than 1083 kilometers away from your home! An original concept that has attracted lovers of an urban and ecological fashion.

Beautiful products
1083 offers 100% bio cotton jeans, and eco-conceived sneakers: recycled soles, eco-textile, bio linen laces, tanned leather without chrome 6. They are available from size 4.5 to size 12, and they are unisex models. Moreover, the prices are affordable: 89€ for jeans and 99€ for a pair of sneakers.  For the record, a registration number is inscribed on the soles of each pair! It includes the brand’s name (1083), the term “BIF” (for “Born in France”), and the number 26 (manufacture department).

No doubt, this young, dynamic and ecological brand will be able to seduce you!

To buy 1083’s products, go to Ulule. This crowd funding website gives life to numerous projects and takes part in 1083’s growth.

As the vegan revolution seems to be underway, few of us know its origins. The Gavarni Hotel looks into the subject and gives you the key elements!

The origins
The word “vegan” appeared in 1944, thanks to Donald Watson, following an ideological disagreement with the Vegetarian Society. Its exact definition is the following: “way of life looking to expel, as long as it is possible and feasible, any form of exploitation and cruelty to animals, whether it is to eat, get dressed or to any other goal.”

Vegans and vegetarians: same thing?
These two notions are above all very different ways of life and not only diets. To sum up, a vegetarian doesn’t eat meat and, sometimes, fish, shellfish and eggs, but he eats milk products. A vegan goes further by eating only products coming from the soil (fruits, vegetables, cereals etc.). Some people go even further by cutting every sort of products coming from animals (fish, meat, shellfish, milk, eggs, honey). They also refuse to wear leather, wool, silk, feathers and fur. Exploitation of animals or cruelty against them is strictly prohibited for some vegans who then refuse to go to circuses or zoos. However, this way of life is difficultly 100% applicable, hence criticism vegans have to face on a regular basis.

More information about vegans here.

Did you hear about the Great Paris? This multidimensional project initiated by the State and the local authorities combines economical development, employment and transportation. Its goal is to transform the city into a sustainable metropolis, innovative, united but also attractive and welcoming for the newt 30 years. In concrete terms, this is translated into the building of 205km of automatic subway lines to make the citizens’ life easier, but also the tourists’. But that’s not all! The Great Paris Express will also reduce traffic on the RER and the existing transportation while reducing congestion and cars’ pollution. The struggle against sprawl and the reduction of agricultural land is also part of the project’s goals. It will start in 2015 and we will meet you in 2030 to discover the final result!

For more information about the construction and the stakes of the Great Paris Express, go to the official website.

Good news, the sportswear brand Puma becomes green and launches the InCycle collection, composed exclusively of biodegradable and recyclable clothes, shoes and accessories.

A “Cradle to Cradle” labeled collection
Having obtained the Cradle to Cradle certification thanks to its collaboration with the EPEA (Environmental Protection Encouragement Agency), the company promises to use non-poisonous materials and products while favoring recycling and composting. This also includes a commitment to manage a reasonable use of water and to act responsibly at a societal level.

InCycle, an eco-responsible range
The shoes of the InCycle collection are thus made from a mix between biological cotton and linen, with an insole made of biodegradable plastic. As to the sweat suit, it is made with a recycled polyester coming from used bottle made with PET (Polyethylene Terephthalate). What is healthier than doing sports while taking part in environmental saving?

You can find the InCycle collection on the brand’s official website, or in stores.

Puma Paris
22, Boulevard de Sebastopol
75004 Paris
France
T. : +33 (0)1 44 59 65 15
Subway : Chatelet (L.1, L.4, L. 11 or L. 14).

Four Ouessant sheep recently bought by the Paris Farm have established their quarters in the Archives Park, at the heart of the 19^th district. This grassed space of 2000m2 at the foot of the building that preserves several million documents from the public services of the capital will thus abandon mechanical devices and chemical herbicides this summer. It will enable birds and bugs to enrich the flora and fauna of the area while guaranteeing a biodiversity that was becoming scarcer and scarcer. This practice of eco-grazing already existed in the Parisian region, but the goal here is to develop it in the city. The first mowing only lasts 15 days, but the British sheep (from French Britain) will be back three times for the same amount of time during the net 6 months. Their services are more and more popular, so there’s a future for this endangered species!

Photo credit: A. Gelebart/20 minutes

Jardin des Archives de Paris
18, Boulevard Sérurier
75019 Paris
T.: +33 (0)1 53 72 41 23
Subway: Porte des Lilas (L. 3bis or 11)

Yes, beautiful days are coming and you only have two months left before you wear your swimsuit to bask in the sun! So it is now more than never the moment to take care of your body. For this, you won’t find a better deal than Detox Delight, which offers a large range of healthy and natural juices and cooked dishes. The principle: wellbeing and pleasures with a practical bonus. Nothing simpler than choosing your own daily menus, ordering them online and thus having them delivered the same morning at home or at work. All of the preparations are made with organic products or products from reasoned agriculture. This nutritiously correct concept is based on the very energizing content of raw food. Enough to purify your body and stop worrying about the arrival of summer once and for all!

Order directly on Detox Delight official website.

Thanks to a partnership with the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), the organizers of the project “Clean up the World” call the communities to repair and preserve their environment. In order to do so, collective initiatives were organized, like removing wastes or planting trees, but also projects of water and energy savings. About 35 million volunteers from more than 120 countries took part in this campaign happening each year. The 2013 edition’s theme, organized all year long, is “Our region… Our World… Our responsibility.” The attention is thus focused on the effects of local measures of environment cleaning on the scale of the world. Are you going to join the movement?

You too, join Clean Up The World!

To learn more, visit the official website.

Good news for Spring 2013, the prestigious brand Gucci, launches its first range of purses that are respectful to the environment. Let’s go back to the motivations of the brand.

An ecologic and fashionable deal
It all begins with a collaboration with the Green Carpet Challenge, an association created by Livia Firth, wife of the British actor Collin Firth, whose goal is to defend environmental causes in the sector of fashion. These accessories are entirely made of leather certified Rainforest Alliance, a material produced under control in order to limit the deforestation and that way protect the fauna and its habitat. The label also attends to treat the cattle ethically and defends the rights of workmen. The range created by Gucci declines into three models, each more elegant than the other, which are the Tate, The Jackie and the Hobo. All these items are sold with their Passeport, on which the historic of the logistic chain and the ecologic certification of the final product appears.

Photo credit: www.eco-age.com

Devastating consequences for the environment
The Rainforest Alliance gathers four Brazilian ranches from where the leather is made.  If you want to understand the existence of this network, you have to know that in South America, a lot of environmental damages are caused by livestock farming, leading to a very threatening deforestation. Also note that when it comes to natural leather, the energy production that is necessary is twenty times superior to the one that is needed for the fabrication of a synthetic substitute. Fortunately, some associations are fighting to limit the harmful effects of this practices that put the future of our planet in danger.

From 1800€ for the purse (Hobo model).
On sale in the different Gucci stores and on the official website of the brand.

Gucci store
60, Avenue Montaigne
75008 Paris
France
T.: +33 (0)1 56 69 80 80
Subway station: Franklin Roosevelt (L.1 or L.9).

Hobo model

Photo credit: www.eco-age.com

How do you contemplate the future housing? With its new exhibition “Housing for tomorrow”, the Cité des Sciences et de l’Industrie (Sciences and Industry City) brings you the answers to your questions. On the list: a complete immersion in housing universes, in all of its fields (materials, bathroom fittings, insulation ecc.). Nice solutions are offered to the public so that they can have a comfy and healthy house.

A 100% educational exhibition
This interactive exhibition enables visitors to act and manipulate objects and scale models presented. Two major themes are tackled: build and live. The first one develops technical and scientific principles used to build and renovate housing, while also focusing on housing precariousness. The second one revolves around lifestyles, health issues and smart housing. To be discovered urgently!

Exhibition “Housing for Tomorrow”, from December 4^th to November 10^th, 2013.
Tuesday to Saturday from 10a.m to 6p.m, and on Sunday from 10a.m to 7p.m.
Full rate: 8€ / Reduced rate: 6€.

Cite des Sciences et de l’Industrie
30, avenue Corentin-Cariou
75019 Paris
France
T;: +33 (0)1 40 05 70 00
Subway: Porte de la Vilette (L.7).

Do you know that each French couple throws away about 40kg of food a year: 14kg are still in their package, while 26kg are leftovers! This represents 1,3 billion tons of waste on the scale of the world, i.e. a third of food produced for human consumption. We waste even without noticing when we let ourselves be tempted by “family” size products, which have bigger quantities than what we really need. Over and above the fact that the best before date is often in the following days. We think we’re saving money when we are really uselessly losing some. This waste contributes to the food crisis, to the resources squandering and to global warming: we can be worried. However, the reducing challenge is far from being impossible. It is our turn to each make an effort on our scale because it doesn’t take a lot to make a change!

Photo credit: www.radicaleating.com

To learn more about causes, consequences and solutions to food wasting, don’t hesitate to check the official food website, managed by the Agriculture Ministry.

Some tips to fight against food waste at home
First, it is strongly advised against going shopping with an empty belly. It is in this kind of situation that we tend to have bigger eyes than your belly and we buy too much food, that won’t be consumed afterwards. Once at the supermarket, pay attention to the dates:  don’t mix up the best-by date and the use-by! Then, don’t forget to organize your fridge by placing old products in front of the newly bought ones, while being careful that the different products that are already started are being hermetically closed. You have to know that a lot of food, even already cooked, can be reconverted thanks to famous recipes like shepherd’s pie, mac and cheese or risotto. Don’t throw away anymore and be original by cooking your leftovers.

Photo credit: Anna Moore – College Green Man

Also discover Think Eat Save, campaign of the Save Food Initiative started by UNO in January 2013.

If it’s not already done, hurry up and go see the movie We Feed The World, a documentary about the reality and the absurdity of our alimentary consumption. Here’s the trailer: