diff --git a/zengine/log.py b/zengine/log.py
index <HASH>..<HASH> 100644
--- a/zengine/log.py
+++ b/zengine/log.py
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ from zengine.config import settings
 def getlogger():
     # create logger
     logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
-    logger.setLevel(logging.INFO)
+    logger.setLevel(logging.DEBUG if settings.DEBUG else logging.INFO)
 
     # create console handler and set level to debug
     if settings.LOG_HANDLER == 'file':
diff --git a/zengine/settings.py b/zengine/settings.py
index <HASH>..<HASH> 100644
--- a/zengine/settings.py
+++ b/zengine/settings.py
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ DEFAULT_CACHE_EXPIRE_TIME = 99999999  # seconds
 
 # workflows that dosen't require logged in user
 ANONYMOUS_WORKFLOWS = ['login', 'login.']
-
+DEBUG = os.environ.get('DEBUG', True)
 # PYOKO SETTINGS
 DEFAULT_BUCKET_TYPE = os.environ.get('DEFAULT_BUCKET_TYPE', 'zengine_models')
 RIAK_SERVER = os.environ.get('RIAK_SERVER', 'localhost')
added DEBUG setting to settings.py with True as the default value.
 currently only affects the logging level