e-photoframes is keen to recruit a green blogger to contribute at least one quality blog a week. We are specifically looking for a someone to write about environmental issues that relate to climate change. Themes that involve trees and forest burning are of particular interest (as they relate to our “one tree one frame” concept).

We are not looking for salaried bloggers but rather enthusiastic writers looking for a forum for their views and ideas. Our Google rankings are very high and we usually have between 500 and 1000 site visits a week.

Anyone interested please e-mail  richard@e-photoframes.co.uk

Our tree planting is currently focused in area called Mae-on. Although only 40km outside of the cosmopolitan town of Chiang Mai, the burning of forest litter still goes unchecked. We have counted over 350 fires this year from our hilltop. One fire approached our tree planting area (the trees are all being planted in two weeks time - they are currently in the nursery) but our staff were able to extinguish it.

Yesterday we went live with our one frame one tree home page animation. We hope you like it. Either way we would appreciate your feedback. Please e-mail richard@e-photoframes.co.uk with your comments. (e.g. Too slow, a little “girly”, “doesn’t make sense”, “I don’t like her boots!!”)

In the next few days e-photo frames will be launching it’s new home page animation. The whole idea is to deliver the message of one “frame one tree” to our customers in an amusing and informative manner. No easy task when you consider how little time an average web shopper is prepared to stay on any given site.

The animation was put together by a designer in India. Not only is this a cost effective, but it is also remarkably green: All communication is by e-mail. I have never met the designer or even spoken to him. Therefore no emissions from car journeys or much power usage from telephone calls! Very green, just like our products.

Two days ago, I was lucky enough to bump into professor Stephen Elliot from Chiang Mai Universities forestry department.

My biggest concern for the trees we are planting for e-photoframes is fire. In many parts of Asia, there is a tradition to burn the forest floor from January through until April when the rains kick in. The sole purpose is to stimulate mushroom growth and clear the path for hunting (not that there are many animals left). The villagers did manage to slaughter a wild bore the other day. It should be noted that forest and field burning is the single biggest factor behind climate change.

I learnt from the professor, that this annual burning will eventually result in the death of the forest. It takes three years for young trees to become fire resistant. Annual burning does not allow any new growth. So what can be done? It transpires that the only way is to bribe the local people. This is done by making a donation to the local village head which is sufficient to hire local people to monitor fires and extinguish them. Throwing a few parties at the end of the dry season is also a good idea as is re-instating ancient traditions such as tree worship.

Wish us luck in our negotiations with the village head!

A report published today argues that the ownership cost of cars over their lifetime should be publicized as part of the sales material given to potential buyers. A Range Rover will cost you £35,000 over 10 years if you drive an average of 12,000 miles a year. The corresponding cost for a diesel Peugeot 307 is £11,000. The idea is, that if you know the real cost of ownership then you will opt for the greener option.

As an online provider of photo frames we face a similar dilemma. All too often the cost is only considered at face value and we concede our frames are not the cheapest on the market. Our competitors mainly sell mass produced cheap products that are unlikely to still be sitting on on your mantle piece for too long. So consider what you get when you buy one of our frames:

• Buying online means you don’t waste time on the high street, or the cost of fuel in getting there! Consider how much your time is worth. £10 an hour? £100 an hour?
• Our products are both original and high quality (just take a look at our product reviews on Amazon). I suspect they’ll still be framing your favourite photos in 10 year time. So consider the cost as being £1+ a year. Not bad value!
• We plant a tree for every frame sold. Consider the value of that! Some offset providers sell trees for over £10 a go! One tree is enough to offset 0.3% of your C02 emissions for life! Buy 300 and your carbon neutral from now on!

This Easter how about hatching a tree? In keeping with the theme of this special time, why not help our planet rise from the environmental disaster we are responsible for? I am not sure chocolate eggs are the answer. Each of our frames comes with a certificate that represents our commitment to plant a tree for every frame sold.

Now that spring will soon be in the air, how about one of our nature themed photo frames? Not only are all of our frames made of natural materials (plantation wood, silk and mulberry paper) some of our frames incorporate floral and fauna imagery too. All of our mulberry frames are patterned with either floral or animal designs and some of our plantation wood frames have carved leaf and flower designs or imagery etched on metal.

Okay, I am not expecting anyone to fly out to Thailand with a pair of wellies and a shovel. What we are looking for are business partners who would be interested in stocking and selling our photo frames. We’ll do the tree planting for you! (remember we plant 1 tree for every frame we sell). Ideally we would like quality distributors using non-web selling channels. We believe we have the web covered through our partnership with Amazon and our own Google ranking (we are now number 7 in the world on Google for keywords “photo frames”. I can tell you it was a hard slog getting there!).

Our ideal partner might be a department store looking for high quality “eco” merchandise or even an airline, looking for an original way to offset emissions (our mulberry frames are very light!  - and our silk frames are amazing quality). We’re also interested in ethical shops and photography shops.

So if you’re looking for a hit product with a conscience please e-mail at richard@e-photoframes.co.uk .

e-photoframes commits to planting a tree for every frame we sell. Of course it is one thing planting them, it another ensuring that they grow to maturity. Part of our commitment is to make sure that happens.

Of late I have been tackling horrendous  forest fires near to where I live and where some of our tree planting is taking place.  It has convinced me that for now we will only plant on private land. We are fortunate to have access to 3 acres of land which will support thousands of trees but is protected. For now at least, I’ll be avoiding public land which would have served the community but is likely to have fallen fowl of deliberate burning.