PETpla.net Insider 01+02 / 2012

imprint EDITORIAL PUBLISHER Alexander Büchler, Managing Director HEAD OFFICE heidelberg business media GmbH Häusserstr. 36 69115 Heidelberg, Germany phone: +49(0)6221-65108-0 fax: +49(0)6221-65108-28 [email protected] EDITORIAL Doris Fischer f [email protected] Michael Maruschke Ruari McCallion Ilona Trotter Wolfgang von Schroeter Anthony Withers MEDIA CONSULTANTS Ute Andrä [email protected] Martina Hischmann [email protected] Ursula Wachter [email protected] phone: +49(0)6221-65108-0 fax: +49(0)6221-65108-28 France, Italy, Spain, UK Elisabeth Maria Köpke phone: +49(0)6201-878925 fax: +49(0)6201-878926 [email protected] LAYOUT AND PREPRESS Exprim Kommunikationsdesign Matthias Gaumann | www.exprim.de READER SERVICES Kay Krüger [email protected] PRINT Chroma Druck & Verlag GmbH Werkstraße 25 67354 Römerberg Germany WWW www.petpla.net | in dia.petpla.net PETplanet insider ISSN 1438-9459 is published 10 times a year. This publication is sent to qualified subscribers (1-year subscription 149 EUR, 2-year subscription 289 EUR, Young professionals’ sub- scription 99 EUR. Magazines will be dispatched to you by airmail). Not to be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher. Note: The fact that product names may not be identified as trade marks is not an indication that such names are not registered trademarks. 3 PET planet insider Vol. 13 No. 01+02/12 www.petpla.net EDITORIAL EDITORIAL dear readers Emerald Christmas Tree 2011 Christmas may be well and truly over but I couldn’t resist a last backward glance at the festivities and in particular a stunning Christmas tree designed by Jolanta Smidtiene of Kaunas, Lithuania. 14 metres tall, fashioned from over 32,000 green plastic bottles, and containing 40,000 lights, the Christmas tree dominated the main square of this Lithuanian city. (http://www.tdg.lt/news/news-74/). “Each of us believed in miracles in childhood. But when we grew up we realised that we can create miracles by ourselves from the simplest of things. Of course, we don‘t have the power to turn water into wine. That’s what we expect from God. But still we are rewarded with many opportunities: imagination, diligence, love, dreams and the ability to create an environment which is full of creative things. The biggest miracle occurs when the ordinary is transformed into some- thing better, something beautiful. All of this is the message of Christmas - miracle and hope. To manufacture this year’s Christmas tree we used green plastic bottles, because plastic is lightweight, transparent, easy to cut or con- nect to other materials. After two months of working, we finally made the Christmas tree, which stands 14m high: it is lit from the inside, creating a green glow that fills the town square. The tree is created by arranging giant orbs that decrease in size as the tree grows taller. The thousands of green bottles are placed with the nozzles facing out, and then fixed into place with the zip ties. The largest orbs, which sit on the ground, are over 1.5m in diameter.” Perhaps it is a challenge for us all to see things sometimes from a different angle and to do what we can to use things that are generally accepted as not so good for ends which are good. Perhaps in the same way as Jolanta Smidtiene has succeeded in creating a shining emerald from bottles. With this thought I wish you a good start to 2012. Yours Alexander Büchler