It’s impossible not to feel a bit envious of Nordic nations. Norway, Denmark and Sweden were so accomplished at recycling that by 2014 they had no need for landfill. Just like Nordic prisons, the landfills are empty. Now Denmark even has hygge, a system for living that combines cosiness and chunky knits with sustainability, and an enviable design aesthetic. What’s not to like?
But Sweden normally gets the gold star. One of the first countries to implement a heavy tax on fossil fuels in 1991, it now sources almost half its electricity from renewable resources. The ruling coalition (Green and Social Democrat) has just announced plans to slash VAT on repairs to bicycles, clothes and shoes from 25% to 12%, in a big effort to drive sustainability.
No wonder Swedes are regularly touted as the most sustainable nation. The only problem is, it’s not necessarily true according to Johan Rockstrom of the Stockholm Resilience Centre, someone who knows who is, and isn’t, overstepping the mark
Rockstrom points to the fact that the much praised Swedish psyche that prizes responsibility doesn’t actually add up to impressively low emissions. Two years ago, a World Wide Fund for Nature survey of ecological performance from 152 countries placed Sweden in the bottom 10 (ahead of the UK and behind Kuwait, that came first). Rockstrom confirms what other economists and sustainability experts have suggested: wealthy Swedes are bumping up their carbon footprint with endless holidays. Meanwhile the nation remains dependent on imports (with a lot of embodied carbon). It’s not easy being green, or a Swede, and not at all easy being a green Swede.
The big picture: ugly food
With their book Ugly Food: Overlooked and Undercooked, Richard Horsey and Tim Wharton have become cheerleaders for those vegetables, animal parts and fish species deemed so unattractive that they go to waste. With photographs by Tanya Ghosh, it Includes tricks you need to prepare undervalued ingredients with ease. Even chicken feet or pig’s cheeks suddenly look a whole lot more appetising.
Well dressed: world family
Sustainable fashion is getting its theatrical moment in the spotlight. World Factory (with the strapline ‘Made in China. Sold in Britain. Worn by You’) is an interactive theatre performance where you, as the audience, have to get stuck into the fashion supply chain, role playing and making decisions. Will you be an ethical factory owner or will profits always come first? In the rag trade, can anyone ever really win? Zoë Svendsen and Simon Daw collaborated with Shanghai-based theatre director Zhao Chuan to pool research and develop the project. Nobody said it would be easy, but Metis Arts has come up with a brilliant way of helping us to engage with the complexity of the fashion supply chain. The usual division between performers and audience dissolves, we are provoked to engage with real problems in a realistic way.
Email Lucy at lucy.siegle@observer.co.uk or follow her on Twitter @lucysiegle
