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7 Edible Wild Flowers

There is an abundance of flowers blooming in Helsinki right now. These seven are all edible, and they also grow elsewhere in Europe and in North America.

This time we enjoyed them in vegan summer rolls, but the simplest way to serve edible flowers is just to sprinkle the petals on top of any food.

The flowers stay fresh in the fridge for a few days, or they can be dried. We store flowers with some stem in the fridge in small jars or glasses of water, just cut a fresh stem surface with a sharp knife. Individual flowers can be placed in an airtight container (steel box, glass jar, repurposed food grade plastic container) to retain moisture.

Wild pansy / Viola tricolor (keto-orvokki) Small multicoloured pansy often found on sunny rocky areas. Great on anything, a slightly spicy taste.

Clover / Trifolium (apila) Pictured here is Trifolium hybridum (alsikeapila), but other very common edible clovers are white clover / Trifolium repens (valkoapila) and red clover / Trifolium pratense (puna-apila).

Daisy / Leucanthemum vulgare Pictured here is the ox-eye daisy (päivänkakkara) but the common daisy / Bellis perennis (kaunokainen) is also edible.

Rose / Rosa (ruusu) Many wild and cultivated species, a common wild one is the pink flowered Rosa majalis (metsäruusu). Watch out for the thorns.

Meadowsweet / Filipendula ulmaria (mesiangervo) Wonderful strong scent and flavour. Great dried as well. If you have aspirin allergy or sensitivity, be careful with meadowsweet as it contains salicylic acid.

Chives / Allium schoenoprasum (ruohosipuli) Known for its tasty stems that are great when young, the top of the plant is edible as well, both as a bud and a flower.

Fireweed / Rosebay Willowherb / Chamaenerion angustifolium (maitohorsma) The young stems can be eaten fried alike asparagus, but also the flowers are edible and we recommend using those fresh. While there are many more edible flowers, these are some that are quite common and familiar to many, and easy to recognise. Remember always to only pick plants you recognise and species that aren’t locally endangered.

7 Edible Wild Flowers was originally published on Gentle Adventure

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Renewable Electricity & Heating

Housing forms a large part of an individual’s carbon footprint, about a quarter for an average Finnish person. And as most of this is from heating and electricity, housing emissions can be dramatically reduced by switching to renewable energy. Now that many are spending more time and consuming more energy at home and online, where that energy comes from is even more important, and potential reductions even greater. You can also have more control over some of the emissions of your work if you’re working from home. While you might be able to control the amount of electricity you use at the office as well, you usually can’t decide how it’s produced.

If you’re not sure what kind of electricity you have, it is most usually a mix containing a significant amount of fossil fuel. But getting renewable electricity is quite easy, and after the switch you don’t need to do anything about it anymore and yet your carbon footprint will be significantly smaller. Considering the effort needed to cut in emissions this is definitely the easiest, most impactful thing you can do. You can get renewable electricity by just making a new contract online, you don’t have to separately cancel your old one, even if you’re switching companies (at least in Finland, we’re not sure about other countries!). There are several different companies offering different contracts, one Finnish example is Ilmatar that only offers wind generated electricity and has a fab website.

As for heating methods, if you have electric heating you have your heating sorted out automatically by getting renewable electricity. A ground source heat pump (or other kind of heat pump) can be a great, more efficient option that pays itself back in a few years, but requires an initial investment. And for those who live in Helsinki and have district heating (95% of Helsinki does), Helen is now offering a renewable option. You can get it even when you’re not the one who has the district heating contract with them (it’s usually your housing company that has it), and it starts at 2,2e a month depending on the size of your home and cuts your emissions significantly.

PS. The iMac was bought second hand from Mresell.

Renewable Electricity & Heating was originally published on Gentle Adventure

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Carbon Footprint Calculators

The turn of the year is a time to plan and make positive changes to live better lives. In planning and learning how to live more sustainably, carbon footprint calculators can be useful tools for finding out where you’re at and targeting areas of improvement. The average yearly carbon footprint of a Finnish person is over 10,000 kg co2e. To stay below 1.5 degrees of warming, this needs to be cut to 2,500 kg by the year 2030 and to 700 kg by 2050. [1] There is great potential in reducing our carbon footprints with lifestyle changes since about 70% of all emissions are linked to personal consumption (68% in Finland, 72% globally). [2]

Personally we have been living pleasant low-carbon lives for years. Our individual carbon footprints have been between 1300 and 2300 kg, depending on the calculator, our living situation and yearly consumption. This is below the 2030 goal and easy for us to maintain, but we don’t yet know how to reach the 2050 goal.

To estimate your personal carbon footprint, here are some calculators we recommend:

Sitra https://lifestyletest.sitra.fi A simple test for estimating your yearly emissions that divides them into 4 basic categories.

Climate diet https://ilmastodieetti.ymparisto.fi/ilmastodieetti/ A lot more detailed calculator that gives you more accurate results, but you need to have quite detailed data of your consumption for it to work.

Spark https://sparksustainability.com/the-solution/#calculator Spark’s calculator has a super simple 5 question test that gives you a general idea, and then you can dive deeper and answer more questions that give you more specific options than Sitra’s test but you don’t need nearly as much data as for the Climate diet calculator. (Unfortunately Spark’s calculator doesn’t give accurate results if you heat with renewable electricity. We have contacted Spark about this and they said they are going to fix it.

Spark is also currently developing an app for calculating and reducing your carbon footprint. Another upcoming app is My Carbon Action by Enfuce that uses data of your purchases automatically without a need to input it manually. If you know of any other carbon calculators or relevant apps, let us know!

Sources 1 Institute for Global Environmental Strategies, Aalto University, and D-mat ltd. 2019. 1.5-Degree Lifestyles: Targets and Options for Reducing Lifestyle Carbon Footprints. Technical Report. 2 Finnish Environment Institute. 2017. Consumption choices to decrease personal carbon footprints of Finns.

Carbon Footprint Calculators was originally published on Gentle Adventure

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Sustainable Pride Celebration

It’s Pride week in Helsinki, so I’ve collected some last minute pointers (they’ll work next year too!) on how you can make your Pride celebrations more sustainable.

Travel

Arrive with public transport, favour rails: trains, trams, underground

Come by bicycle if you’re closeby!

Food

Have a vegan picnic

Bring a fork, spoon and napkin along (and water from home)

We like to pack our picnic foods and dishes in cloth wraps (furoshiki), glass jars (for wet/oily stuff) and paper bags (for dry stuff)

Avoid single use dishes or plastic cups. Make picnic foods that require less plates/stuff around them, such as fruit, bread, different finger foods.

Shop picnic things zero/low waste. Some ideas: Homemade or takeout sushi (bought into your own container), with noodle and cabbage salad seasoned with sesame oil. Homemade or storebought bread with hummus or tapenade. Fresh foccacia. Crispbread with jams. Dried fruit. Fresh fruit. Cold fancy pizza slices, topped with large capers, thin slivers of seitan, zucchini, dill, vegan cheese. Potato salad with wild herbs. A simple pound cake cut into bite sized bits.

Drinks

Favour lightweight aluminium cans, cardboard packages, wine boxes and deposit PET bottles

There’s an excellent deposit system for beverage packages in Finland, so buy packages with deposits and return them.

Make your own lemonade or mocktails and bring them along in reusable bottles

Decorations

Use second hand materials for crafting outfits, accessories, flags and signs. Local Reuse Centres (Kierrätyskeskus) has a wide variety of craft materials available.

Lend, reuse and share craft materials/props.

Dispose of any props properly. Or if you use flags or signs year after year, store them for future use instead of purchasing/making new ones every year.

Responsible Flower crowns We love flower crowns for their beauty, and for the craft, and because they compost.

If you use thread in the crowns, choose a compostable fibre (most sewing threads are polyester, so check. Use cotton, linen, hemp). Cut the crown up before binnning into compost.

Pick common plant species that are not threatened. A list of protected species (pdf in Finnish) can be viewed here

It’s better to pick sparsely here and there in a wider area than deplete an entire patch

If you have a garden, mix wild and grown flowers

Craft the wreath in nature where you can pick just the amount you need and not any more, or gather a reasonable amount of plants to take home

Cut the stems and put the picked flowers in water, you can also pop them in the fridge (they keep better in a cool environment) if you’re gathering the plants beforehand

Pick locally flourishing and especially invasive plant species to use in flowers crowns, such as lupins (Lupinus polyphyllus).

Makeup

Use what you already have

Make a communal glitter purchase and share with friends

Use glitter that is more likely to compost with less plastic in it

Dab tiny flowers around the eyes with lip balm

Use packageless makeup like Lush’s gold bars

Sun protection

Find some shade

Wear a hat

Try some solid package free sunblock (I like the bar from Lush)

Trash and recycling There’s usually very few trashcans and virtually no clearly separated cans for recyclables at the Pride parade’s park festival, so be super and take your recyclables back home (I like to take a separate bag or wrapping cloth for oily/wet recyclables).

Hold on to decorations and festive items (esp. if they’re balloons). We don’t want seagulls choking on rainbow plastics

If you’re being ⁓festive⁓ outdoors, be safe but bin condoms and wrappers responsibly!

Don’t leave trash or heavy bottles behind. Take everything you brought to the park back home with you, or to a suitable recycling/trash can.

You can give your empty drink cans with return deposit to people collecting them, but please note that heavy sparkling wine bottles are usually not taken.

People who collect cans don’t take heavy bottles because they’re extremely bulky compared to cans. Lightweight cans have significantly better weight/value ratio: they usually have 15 cent refund, while glass wine/sparkling wine packages have only 10 cents. An empty 0,5 litre aluminum can weights about 17,2 grams, and an empty 0,75 l Prosecco wine bottle I checked weighted 800 grams. So to get, say, 1 euros, you’d need to carry 8 kg in bottles versus to 0,115 kg in cans. And to get 5 euros, you’d need to carry 40 kilograms of bottles. Versus 0,575 kg of cans. The difference is huge, even with slight variations in the bubbly wine bottle weight.

So, take your empty heavy bottles home or pop them into a return point on your way. If you carried them into the park full, you can most likely carry them back empty.

Consider volunteering in cleanup or try and suggests good recycling spots/policies for events. The city of Helsinki had a campaign where you got a movie ticket in exhange for 10 champagne bottles during May Day cleanup, similar might work for Pride.

Have a wonderful, fulfilling, responsible and delightful Pride!

– Amir

Sustainable Pride Celebration was originally published on Gentle Adventure

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Botanical mead

Mead is a typical beverage on the May Day celebrations in Finland, and we made our almost zero waste beverage with meadowsweet, for a botanical wild food version of the traditional drink.

Finnish mead (sima) is usually made with granulated brown sugar, lemons and a tiny amount of fresh yeast, so unlike some honey meads it’s generally vegan here (do check the labels if buying though). It’s also a homemade low or zero waste lemonade, and definitely easy to make with ingredients packed plastic-free. Sugar is available in a paper bags or cardboard boxes, and it can be bought in bulk too (local bulk/snack shop P&S has sugars). Raisins are also available in bulk! I bought some golden big ones. Lemons are sold without plastic wraps. Fresh yeast is wrapped in paper, which according to the manufacturer is compostable. Water comes from the tap. Wild herbs I’ve gathered from the meadow last year, dried and stored in glass jars.

Mead is an ancient, prehistoric drink, the first inklings of it found from pottery vessels in northern China dating back to 7000 BCE, over nine thousand years ago. And it has possibly been around in Europe for four thousand years. Mead is made all around the word, and it has been associated with poetry and heroism. Pliny the Elder mentioned mead in his Naturalis Historia, and it’s also featured in Germanic folk tales. And it’s also in the works of J.K.Rowling, as Madam Rosmerta’s oak matured mead!

Medieval meads were quite different from the ones we drink today, their alcohol content was higher, and they were matured for as long as a year. Mead was a popular festive drink all year around, it was brewed in the castle of Turku, and was also imported to Finland when it’s popularity peaked. Throughout the centuries it changed to resemble the milder modern version brewed and enjoyed today. There’s no clear certainty of why it’s drank these days specifically during May Day celebrations. I think it’s quite lovely people still make their own, and the craft lives on. We served our mead from an old, thoroughly washed medicinal glass bottle (the actual fermenting needs a tighter cap!).

Mead flavoured with spices or herbs (meadowsweet is historically mentioned as an example!) is apparently called metheglin, and mead containing fruit melomel. I made our mead with lemon, and dried meadowsweet I picked last year, adding both flowers and leaves, and a pinch of mint.

Botanical mead 2 1/2 litres water 3 dl sugar (unrefined) 1-2 lemons A handful of dried meadowsweet* Fresh mint, few leaves (optional) Fresh yeast, half a pea sized lump

Wash the lemons carefully, coarsely grate one and squeeze the juice into a bowl. Slice the other thinly. Boil 1 litre of the water, add the sugar, lemon juice, peel and slices. Stir the mixture until the sugar dissolves. Add the meadowsweet and optional mint, then pour on the remaining 1 1/2 litres of cold water. Check that the liquid’s about room temperature, then add the tiny speck of yeast (I dissolved it into a thimbleful of water first). Stir well. Let sit for 12-24 hours in room temperature covered with cloth or lid.

Sieve through wire mesh colander and pour (a funnel helps) into clean bottles suitable for fermenting drinks. Repurposed lemonade bottles are great. Add a pinch of sugar to each bottle, and few raisins. Either refrigerate or keep at room temperature, in the fridge the fermentation takes about a week, at room temp few days. The mead is ready when the raisins rise to the top. Cool before serving, and consume within a week after opening! Mead is traditionally drank with sugarcoated deep fried doughnuts, but it’s perhaps even better as a lovely brunch beverage. We’re tempted to test it in drink mixes with gin or sparkling wine, or paired with picnic sandwiches (maybe with the first crisp ground elder / Aegopodium podagraria leaves and some grilled tofu).

*If meadowsweet is unavailable, you can simply use little more lemon, or add some lime or ginger. Or other edible leaves: My aunt makes Midsummer’s mead with fresh blackcurrant leaves, and it’s wonderful. Also note that meadowsweet can cause symptoms for folk with aspirin allergy, so be careful and check the suitability for guests and like. Also when picking wild plants, remember that proper identification is key!

– Amir

Botanical mead was originally published on Gentle Adventure

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Pink Burger Buns, Pink Coleslaw & Swede Fries

We love the concept of fast food style food that is a bit healthier and a bit fancier, made using local and/or seasonal ingredients. As nothing much grows here up North in the wintertime, we rely heavily on root vegetables and cabbages grown during the summer for sides and fillings in vegan burgers, wraps and hotdogs. Unlike many leafy greens, swedes and cabbages are not grown in the greenhouses, so they are generally less resource intensive. Usually they’re also sold package-free, and are widely available (and very affordable!).

Swede Fries The swedish turnip or rutabaga, brassica napus, is a very underappreciated nordic food item. This is understandable as it is often served raw or as an extremely overcooked mush. It has a bitter taste, but when cooked it also becomes sweet. It is like a more fancy and flavorful sweet potato. These fries are not super crispy like deep fried or breaded sweet or white potato ones, but are a lot tastier. 2 servings ½ swede (~ 500 g) 2 t oil 1 t salt 1 t pepper Cut into fries. Add oil, salt and pepper. Bake 30 minutes in 225˚C (437 F) or until a bit of crisp brown appears. Eat right away with ketchup and/or mayo.

Pink Coleslaw Coleslaw is a great way to get some fresh veg during the winter and it works well not only in burgers but also hot dogs, wraps and tacos, as well as a side salad. We use it like we would a green salad with tomatoes and cucumber during the summer. ~4 servings ¼ (~100 g) red cabbage 1-2 (~100g) carrots 1 (~100 g) onion 1 dl vegan mayo 1 lemon’s juice 1 t salt 1 t pepper 1 t sugar Cut the cabbage and the onion into thin strips, grade (or cut into thin strips) the carrot(s). Combine all ingredients and mix well. Serve or store in the fridge in a closed jar, stays good for days.

Pink Burger Buns Fresh bread is amazing and making pink bread is no more complicated than normal bread. The secret is the liquid of pickled beets, which is usually just thrown away. It contains no added colouring, the pink comes all from the beets! To make these pink burger buns, just make normal bread (water, wheat flour, yeast, salt and sugar) but with half of the water replaced with the liquid of pickled beets, and top with poppy, sesame and sunflower seeds. Jamie Oliver has a good basic bread recipe with detailed instructions here.(Note that when making small buns the cooking time is shorter than for a whole loaf of bread, ours took 15 minutes.)

Pink Burger Buns, Pink Coleslaw & Swede Fries was originally published on Gentle Adventure

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How to Save the World

There are a lot of choices to make in life and trying to be environmentally friendly all the time can feel overwhelming and complicated. There are many of small things you can do, but those small things only have small impacts. We listed four of the most impactful choices to make to reduce your carbon footprint and live a sustainable life.

1. Eat vegan Eat at least mostly plants. While there are many other choices related to food (packaging, health, locality) this is the most important one from the point of view of the environment (as well as from the point of view of the animals).

2. Avoid flying and driving Walk, bicycle, use public transport.

3. Use renewable electricity If you can choose your electricity plan, change it to 100% renewable. Living in a smaller space also affects your impact, but less than the renewability of the energy used there.

4. Don’t have more kids If you don’t want any, don’t have any. If you have some, don’t pressure them to have any. If you want (more) children, consider adoption or becoming a foster parent.

Whether you can do all of these, some of these, or even just one of these, this is where your choices matter the most.

How to Save the World was originally published on Gentle Adventure

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Tomorrow we will be attempting to bicycle from Helsinki to Tampere (almost 200 km / 120 miles) in just one day! Follow our Story on Instagram to see if we succeed. 🚲🚲

Dressing Vegan in the Winter

It’s the coldest month of the year as I’m writing this, temperatures as low as minus 10 to minus 20 Celsius degrees (14 to -4 F). This year I’ve been dressing almost vegan for the first time (previously I had leather shoes, second hand wool coats, now there’s just the second hand hats of nonvegan materials) and I feel like I’ve finally learned to dress warm in the cold.

I’ve learned layering is more important than the materials. Layer layer layer. Layering is key. I wear black leggings under my jeans, t-shirt or long sleeved thin knit under a shirt and a thicker sweater or knit on top.

Coats My coat is a cotton-polyester blend, vintage (made in Finland!), with a detachable artificial fur collar and thin polyester padding. The outer fabric has been effective against wind, and the length keeps my legs warm too. I looked for a vegan winter coat for some time, as I wanted to buy one second hand. There are some new vegan wool coats available, like the classics from Vautecouture and Brave Gentlemen, but they are quite large investments. Puffer coats are available with polyester padding (often also second hand!), check the labels to avoid down or fur trims. Consider layering coats as well, jean jackets can help wrap the warmth around you when buttoned up properly.

Ears and head My second hand acrylic balaclava has been wonderful. It’s quite thin, but it has kept my ears, neck and forehead toasty. I usually wear a knit beanie on top for extra warmth and looks (the balaclava is somehow less peculiar with the beanie, I look slightly less like an angry seal who’s pissed of for being dragged out of the ocean for no good reason whatsoever). Hoods on coats are also great for protecting ears from the wind and frost. Scarves can be worn over ears as well and as additional warmth over shoulders, neck and face.

Hands I use second hand padded gloves in nylon and polyester. Thick nylon or canvas mittens would probably be even warmer. Look for a thick, wind-proof outer fabric. I’d recommend purchasing thinner, touch screen compatible gloves to wear under thicker gloves, layers again.

Feet Combine regular cotton socks with thicker polyester/acrylic/cotton socks. I’ve been loving my Vegetarian Shoes Chelsea boots. Winter boots should generally be roomy to wear with thick socks, and have some height in the ankle, otherwise all the snow will get to your feet. Textured soles are usually less slippery.

Many people might feel like they need to wear wool, down or fur in the winter, but these materials are in no way necessary. Layer up smartly, and you’ll stay warm. Cover up extremities like fingers, toes and ears in multiple layers of fabrics. Button up coats and shirts, and add extra padded clothes on top when needed and you’re good even in arctic Finland.

P.S. We’re really looking forward to the Fashion Animals book by the amazing Joshua Katcher. It’s about the animals exloited in the fashion industry, a subject that hasn’t been discussed in a book like this ever before. Go pre-order or contribute to the publishing on Indiegogo!

Amir

Dressing Vegan in the Winter was originally published on Gentle Adventure

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Winter Cycling

Amir inspired me to start cycling to school every day. He cycled to work 40 kilometers a day and I was like that’s cool I wanna do that. So I started riding my bike to school every day and when the winter came, I just didn’t stop. That was a few years ago.

You do not need a lot of expensive equipment to be able to cycle in the winter, even this up North (we live in Southern Finland). The only special equipment I have is winter tires and a headlight and of those only the latter is mandatory. I have seen some people more equipped with very wide tires and goggles and sporty outfits, but also local elder folk sliding down icy hills on old utility bikes with summer tires, shopping bags swinging on the handlebars, never falling over or even slowing down. I do not know how they do it but they still do. I ride slower during the winter, and walk my bike down the iciest hills.

You might think that winter cycling is really fucking cold, but it’s actually pretty warm, as exercise makes you feel warm. I remember when I was a kid and had to ski for hours in the woods (I’m not kidding, I remember wanting to stay inside and read but being told to go outside and ski on multiple occasions) and feeling very sweaty and having to take my coat off. Bicycling during the winter is the same, halfway through the trip I end up taking some of my clothes off. I don’t own any special cycling clothes but wear what I would if I walked or took the bus.

My point here is not that everyone should bike through ice and snow for hours every day, but that it’s very possible, and doesn’t require a lot of fancy equipment. The views can be pretty magical, and when the weather gets really bad, it can make you feel like a strong arctic adventurer to cycle through it.

Daniel

Winter Cycling was originally published on Gentle Adventure

#gentlelife

Amir & Daniel.

Gentle Adventure

Our second hand mobile devices. ♻️📱 Tips for being ethical & digital on the blog.

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Ethical Electronics

Computers, smart phones and tablets make a lot of things not only easier but possible in the first place. They can also replace a lot of other items and be a minimalist choice in that sense. But while companies are aiming to become more sustainable, there are still a lot of ethical problems with the manufacturing of new electronics. But what can you do?

Minimize You might not need a desktop computer, printer, scanner, speakers, TV, laptop, camera, smartphone and tablet. I haven’t owned a phone of any kind or even a computer for over 3 years now (I do have a tablet) and it has worked well for me so far. Think of what you need, then own just that.

Share You might not need to own your own desktop computer if you have one at school or work. You can also use one in the library or share one with your family.

Recycle I am one of those people who hoard their old broken devices for no sensible reason. But taking them to a recycling center or selling them to some other place that repairs and sells used electronics means they can get fixed and be used by someone else. Even if they are not repaired the materials can be used to make new devices instead of having to dig up new natural resources.

Buy second hand Perhaps the most important tip I wanted to give. Supporting the recycling of devices instead of the manufacturing of new ones is simply the more ethical choice. My tablet and Amir’s phone were bought from Vihreä Omena and my stylus from Ronkeli and I can recommend both, although they sadly sell only Apple products. They both are in Helsinki and online, but if you know any reliable shops that sell used electronics anywhere else in the world, leave us a comment!

Daniel

Ethical Electronics was originally published on Gentle Adventure

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Helsinki City Bikes

A few days ago we were on our way to meet some small wild animals on an island, and before we were even halfway there, my front tyre exploded. It didn’t just go flat, the inner tube ripped open several inches and the outer tyre fell off. Not wanting to stop the trip I decided to take a city bike. They are very easy to use, you can register and buy time online. The whole summer (until October) is just 25 euros, a week is 10 euros and a day 5 euros, and you can use the bikes as much as you want during those times. The instructions make it sound like you should use a credit card but I don’t have one and used Visa Electron successfully.

But there is a catch. You can only use the same bike for 30 minutes at a time or you have to pay extra. For me this was not enough time at all. But they are convenient for short rides. You don’t have to store or maintain them yourself, and with their low frame and loose feeling gears they are easy to mount and ride even if you are not a very accustomed cyclist. The height of the saddle is easy to adjust without any tools or force. They also have a basket with an attached bungee cord which is super convenient. But the bikes are quite ugly, being sponsored by a grocery store chain, and having a design that looks more like a cheap toy than a classic utility bike.

All in all they are a great option if you are just visiting the city or don’t own a bike, but also as a backup for local cyclists. No need for a second bike or a bus ride even if your bike is in the shop for some sunny summer days.

You can register to become a user here.

Ps. The bike took me where I wanted to go and we met some squirrels and birds and it was awesome.