The French Won’t Bike to See Radiohead for Free

Radiohead, known for being an environmentally conscious band, had a previous free giveaway tactic meet with success – namely, their decision to release their most recent studio album ‘In Rainbows’ for whatever price the consumer wanted to pay, even if it was nothing at all. This time, though, they didn’t get as many takers.

From AOL:

… Radiohead were left with a row of empty seats at a recent French concert after a ticket giveaway backfired. The eco-friendly group announced 50 passes were available for their show at Paris’ Bercy Arena but fans could only get by cycling to their record label’s offices in the French city.

However, Parisians were not prepared to get on their bikes so 35 tickets went unclaimed. A source said: “Radiohead are using their current world tour to highlight their commitment to green issues. They advise all concertgoers to use public transport and are doing all they can to make their carbon footprint as small as possible. Unfortunately the French didn’t appear to share their noble intentions and roundly ignored the free ticket tactic.”

Strange – bicycling is fairly popular in this city, which even has a nearly one-year-old bike share program. Riding a bike, indeed, is one of the best ways to experience Paris, and as in Amsterdam, Parisians are often seen riding beach cruisers in full formal wear. Perhaps Parisians just aren’t that into Radiohead, or the giveaway wasn’t promoted widely enough.

Link [AOL]
Photo credit: Flickr user Joe Shlabotnik

The Ultimate in Green Booze: French Returning to Shipping Wine by Sailboat

When French vineyards decided they wanted to reduce their carbon footprint, they thought backwards instead of forwards: they’re going back to a shipping method they last used in the 1800’s. Some vintners are choosing sailboats to transport their most eco-friendly wines.

From The Guardian:

Later this month 60,000 bottles from Languedoc will be shipped to Ireland in a 19th-century barque, saving 18,375lb of carbon. Further voyages to Bristol, Manchester and even Canada are planned soon afterwards.

The three-mast barque Belem, which was launched in 1896, the last French merchant sailing vessel to be built, will sail into Dublin following a voyage from Bordeaux that should last about four days. The wines will be delivered to Bordeaux by barge using the Canal du Midi and Canal du Garonne, which run across southern France from Sète in the east, via Béziers in Languedoc. Each bottle will be labelled: ‘Carried by sailing ship, a better deal for the planet.’ Although the whole process will end up taking up to a week longer than a flight, it is estimated it will save 4.9oz of carbon per bottle.

Frederic Albert, founder of the shipping company Compagnie de Transport Maritime à la Voile (CTMV), said: ‘My idea was to do something for the planet and something for the wines of Languedoc. One of my grandfathers was a wine-maker and one was a sailor.’

Smart move! Not only is it a great eco-friendly way to ship wine, it increases visibility of these vineyards because of the great story. What makes this even cooler is that ships will return to France bearing an equal tonnage of crushed glass for recycling into wine bottles. The vineyards have chosen their best, most sustainably produced wines for the sailboat voyage, because they want their eco-conscious consumers to get the full ‘green wine’ experience. Despite all this trouble, the wines will remain fairly cheap - €7 to €20 a bottle.

I’m a bit of a wino and a history dork, so the idea of my Beaujolais coming across the Atlantic on a romantic sailboat voyage makes me want to drink even more of it. Hey, we’ve got to make it worth their time and investment, right? A round of red for everyone!

Link [The Guardian]
Photo credit: Flickr user Kables

Pushing the Envelope: Human Milk Cheese from France

Oh. My. Science.

Le Petit Singly is a farm in France that sells human cheese, made from the breast milk of a stable of French women.

Trendhunter has it:

“Human dairy, the taste of mother’s love” is sure to terrify a lot of people, but then again, these same people should be just as horrified by consuming cow’s milk.

“Human cheese is the best cheese I can feed my family,” the woman in the video says. “It is formulated for the human mind. It has a unique sweet flavour with rich and creamy undertones and a slight tang that will make your taste buds go wild.

“After I properly milked, the factories get to work, processing and mass producing me.”

There’s a video:

I ran with my curiosity when my wife was breastfeeding my girls and tried a small nip of the milk- it’s sweet stuff indeed. I’m sure the cheese Le Petit Singly makes is good, if you can get over the initial squeamishness. I just don’t know if I could eat human cheese.

Link [Le Petit Singly on French Lycos] Via Treehugger Via Trendhunter