Stephen Fry's got a knack for talking. He's also got a wonderful knack for talking to all sorts of odd bods.

In his series Stephen Fry in America Mr Fry travels across the land of the stars and stripes in a black cab and along the way stops to talk to everyone from plastic faced Texan Billionaire's, Midwest hill billies, a hippy family living in an old underground American missile base and a few highway 61 truckers.

But why I write of him on the SoOrganic blog is that it seems apparent he's one of those brilliant eco warriors who very subtly spreads the message of environmentalism (that is, let's be on nature's side instead of dumping her with a load of toxic chemicals) to a very attentive public.

In his series Stephen talks to long time eco activist Ted Turner - more famous for his billions and being married to Jane Fonda than his radical eco ethics. Ted once sent out 5,500 copies of Plan B 3.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization by Lester R. Brown to the U.S. Congress, Fortune 500 CEOs, the world's billionaires and the European Parliament. Plan B is a brilliant book that says it how it really is. Plus it gives real solutions for how our governments, cities and selves can turn global poverty and climate change around.

In middle-America Stephen visits a small community that built a home 38 years ago that is still at the cutting edge of sustainable housing. Washing water is recycled through the plants growing inside the home, which could feed and sustain a family of four with no take from the outside world. There is a TV and other electrical gadgets you'd find in every home but is in now way reliant on fossil fuels. Instead they use solar voltaic panels to power the buildings. Nothing is wasted. It's completely sustainable.

Stephen is not on an obvious eco mission. His series isn't called ‘Lets get together to save our planet' or similar green cheese. Perhaps the people and places he visits are just a reflection of the increased activity in this new era of climate change protection. Who knows, I've not had the opportunity to ask him. But I do have the feeling he might just be on team Ecoearth.

Why make your own paper logs? More importantly, what are paper logs? That's what I was thinking until a delightful So Organic customer told me all about her paper fire log creations.

When compressed into briquettes paper can burn for hours and can be just as good a wood logs. All you have to do is soak your collection of paper in a bucket or sink until it turns to a mushy consistency. Then compress your pulp into logs using a paper log maker (see below - these are easy to use and quite affordable). The final step involves drying your briquettes. It takes a few months depending on the season for the compressed paper logs to dry but this is still shorter time period than freshly cut wood logs which also take some time to dry.

Back to the question of why is it a good idea to make your own paper logs? Rather than throwing away the mountains of paper - wrapping paper, gift cards, disposable napkins, boxes that some gifts come in - we use at Christmas paper logs are a great alternative to sending it off to the recycling factory that still uses a lot of energy to re mould it into new rolls of wrapping paper. It is best however, to avoid glossy papers as these have greater amount of toxic dyes in them and can create nasty fumes.

And no need to worry about your personal information being exposed as once you've shredded and washed the paper it's impossible to recover. Oh and then of course you burn it!

So collect all those Christmas cards - we're sure the neighbours would be happy to give theirs to you - and start creating paper logs for those spring bonfires!

Thinking of making 2009 the year you go green? Every step, no matter how small, in the right direction helps. But now is a good time to make the most of the higher focus and energy the New Year brings in creating change. It's like there's something extra in the air at the beginning of the year - we seem to be more determined, more inspired, and more attentive to the things we want to change in our lives. Often, this transpires naturally into motives of how we can improve the lives of others and well... in true idealist fashion... the world.

The health of our individual selves; the health of the planet - never before have these two aspects been more closely intertwined. So it's no wonder ‘going green' is the coolest thing since sliced bread. It has purpose. Its taking us back to our ancestral roots (relearning how to live using the sustainable ways of old), cleaning us out (starting the process of removing chemicals and pollution from our lives) and evolving our species to become a more united, conscious force.

The result of going green is a general feeling of wholeness - feeling more alive and connected to community, and the acceptance that we must co-exist with nature's ways rather than against them.

Have you ever heard an argument against Ghandi's appeal ‘we must be the change we want to see in the world'? I haven't. One individual being kinder to the environment seems like as good an example as any to begin the New Year with a banging eco change!

The clear skies and strong sunshine of southern Spain have helped deliver the world's largest solar tower plant. About 20 miles from Seville 1000 mirrors, each the size of a tennis court, have been connected to reflect sunlight and superheat water at a central tower.

Using Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) technology, this leading project for utilizing renewable energy produces 20 Mega Watt of electricity. Finished being built this month, this project will product enough power to run 11,000 Spanish households.

CSP is a cheaper and more efficient technology to collect solar energy than Photovoltaic (PV) panels but it only works in desert like conditions of cloudless skies and intense sunshine. With more than 30 CSP projects underway in Spain the country is leading the way with this technology. José Luis García, from Greenpeace in Spain told the Guardian recently "CSP is at the very beginning of a big boom... Spain is in a good position to develop and implement the technology. We have the sun so we are in the best position to lead in this field."

Companies constructing the CSP projects are exporting the technology to sun concentrated countries across the globe including Morocco and Algeria.

The hearts in the So Organic office skipped a beat yesterday, but not in the joyful sense. The headline from the BBC story said it all ‘Amazon Deforestation Accelerate'.

Brazilian officials have said that the destruction of the Amazon rainforest has accelerated for the first time in four years. Evidence comes in the form of satellite images, which show 11,968 sq km of land clear in one. That is 4% more than the four years before.

It is believed that more farmers have cleared land due to the demand for land for cattle and soya. The temptation of high commodity prices for these is simply to high for some to resist.

It's a warning that has come at a good time in many respects. We are in the season of spend - overeating, over indulgence, generally over doing it. But we can still be careful about the selection of what exactly we consume. Local, fresh and organic are best. Let's all work together to make this an eco festive season.