Fábulas em conserva

In the North of Portugal there is light and life coming from the sea.

God it´s always there...

...and the sardines are blessed. 

Cans of love and kindness for all of you.

Our home

The Secret Life of Things

International research shows that by using a life cycle approach, exploring the impacts of each stage a product goes through, designers can make informed decisions that lead to more socially and environmentally responsible products with lower carbon impacts. 


Life Pscycle-ology takes a humorous look at the life story of an unhappy mobile phone, who seeks therapy after his owner dumps him in favour of a new model:

Some mobile phone facts:

• There are more than 4 billion mobile phone users worldwide 
• Less than 1 percent of the millions of cell phones retired and discarded annually are recycled 
• A global consumer survey released by Nokia reveals that only 3% of the total mobile phone users recycle their phones 
• Over 3 billion people globally own mobiles: if each of them returned one phone for recycling, over 240,000 tons of raw materials could be saved. The carbon emissions saved from this would be the equivalent to taking 4 million cars off the road 
• Nokia conducted a study which found that between 65-80% of a phone can be recycled and roughly 18,500 homes could be powered for a year with the energy wasted by old phones being thrown away instead of being recycled 

I have always this preoccupation:
What happens to an obsolete mobile phone?
Where is it going to die?
I'm curious about this secret life.
Sometime ago it happened to me: I didn't know what to do with my old mobile phone.
I wanted to deliver it somewhere, to give it to recycle. But it was not easy.
At least in Portugal, where I was asking in electric devices shops, and nobody could tell me where to deliver it.
I have a higher environmental conscious, since I'm working on these kind of issues, but for ordinary people, I can't imagine the normal procedure.
This kind of electronic waste is a huge problem. Especially by the fact that the resources to produce them have a high environmental and social costs.

I met up with a king

I met up with the king
He confessed his body was burning
I met up with the king
His body had begun to rot
And he said don't think less of me
I'm still the same man I used to be


But no one believed him
No one believed him


I once knew a pretty girl
And she was in love with the world
And she loved a young man
Who loved her body but never saw her mind
He took everything she had kept
And then he took everything else that was left


But no one believed her
No one believed her


I feel just like the king
As I fall on the muddy ground
I feel just like you gal
There's people thinking
They know something now
Well I don't know anything at all
And we mean nothing to history
Well thank God


So tell me do you believe me?
Do you believe me?
I bet you don't
I bet you won't

Magic from the sky

One day you wake up and everything is white. 

A strong light is coming from the ground.

I'ts magic.

Everything that was once dark turns white.

And you feel to walk, to go, to touch, to feel. 

Was here someone before?

You know your path, it's always there. 

You just need to follow the steps.
You will never be lost again.

I think I love you too!

A Fábula do costume

Portugal é um dos países onde mais peixe se consome a nível mundial, e é o país da União Europeia com o maior consumo anual por pessoa: 56 kg, quando a média da UE é 23 kg.

A extensa costa, a grande tradição pesqueira e os hábitos culinários são algumas das razões que podem explicar a preferência dos portugueses por pescado. Mas, com um consumo tão grande de peixe, vem também uma elevada responsabilidade para Portugal quanto à exploração dos recursos marinhos.

O peixe é um dos últimos produtos selvagens utilizado na alimentação. Os animais alimentam-se e crescem de acordo com os seus ciclos de vida, no ambiente natural, e sem produtos químicos que suportem o seu crescimento.
Para além disso, o peixe é uma fonte de proteína animal de excelente qualidade nutricional. Para continuarmos a ter peixe no prato é preciso gerir a pesca e definir as formas sustentáveis de produzir peixe a longo prazo.

Há duas formas essenciais para atingir a sustentabilidade: por um lado, precisamos de uma forte política, que limite a exploração acima das capacidades dos ecossistemas; por outro lado, precisamos de consumidores informados, conscientes e responsáveis, que saibam as consequências das suas escolhas.

Mais aqui.

How do you choose?

Consumers wield considerable power over the market in fish and seafood products, thanks to their buying power. 
For this reason, the Commission has launched a major public awareness campaign aimed particularly at consumers, as part of its drive to make European fisheries more sustainable through a reform of the Common Fisheries Policy.

How can consumers influence fishing practices?
We have seen it happen. For example, in the UK, there is a major movement, backed by a large number of people, famous chefs, celebrities, retailers and big supermarkets, to promote all types of fish, not just the best-known, like cod or haddock, but other, less known species. This has led to an increase in the demand for different species in the UK, up 30 % in a year. This type of movement is present also in other Member States. So you see, consumers can bring about change. This has given fishermen an incentive not to discard – throwing fish back in the sea – but to land and sell all catches. This is the way we need to go. When
a consumer goes to the supermarket and chooses a product, he or she is using the ‘power of the fork’.


How can fishermen adapt to meet the changing demand?
We will help them to better know the market, so that they fish in response to consumer demand. They should not catch fish and throw them back in the sea. That is unacceptable. They can fish when they know they will be able to sell their catch for a good price. We are going to introduce an observatory for prices across Europe to help fishermen. We will also provide funding to help with storage and processing, for example. Fishermen can also give additional information on fishing techniques or practices, to inform consumers and add value to their product, while at the same time contributing to sustainability. We need to ensure that our coastal areas can survive.


in European Comission Publication, 2011. Fisheries and Aquaculture in Europe

It is a very good job for the CFP reform, start working with the consumers.
The fishermen are not the only responsible for the sea problems.
And the European fish still waiting for a reform.