October 18th, 2009
Green Thing is a not-for-profit charity established to encourage people to lead greener lives. All profits go to the Green Thing Trust.
In their mission to cut down on waste they have come up with the intriguing idea of Glove Love. This requires lost, lonely, single gloves that have lost their partners, but are still looking for companionship. Gloves are sent in, washed, named and matched up with a new mate.
These ‘new couples’ are then sold for £5 (plus VAT and postage), sent to their owners with new identities and a love letter, hopefully to live happily ever after. Green Thing then ask the new owner to upload a picture of themselves wearing the gloves so that they can prove to the original owners that their gloves did indeed find true love.
The Ambassadors Theatre, First Group, The Natural History Museum and an increasing number of super models such as Lauren Budd support and donate to the charity, but obviously gloves are welcome from everywhere and anywhere.
Tags: glove love, Green Thing, Recycling | Posted in Life Change, environment
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October 7th, 2009
Team Green Britain is an online organisation which encourages people to join and participate in making Britain greener.
Currently their focus is on the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. They intend to show the world that Britain is winning the war against climate change.
Team Green Britain is supported by EDF Energy, The Eden Project, London 2012 and Global Action Plan.
The general idea is for everyone to get involved, even if it is only in a very small way, for example; being more aware of carbon footprints, switching off lights, appliances etc… and understanding that with a very small, but continual effort, a difference can be made. Then and very importantly, passing this message on to friends, relatives, neighbours and colleagues. Small steps maybe, but slowly spreading this message will hopefully educate people and social groups, bringing with it a sense of ‘community’ and the joint desire to improve the environment.
This approach may initially appear naïve, but imagine the impact if thousands upon thousands joined in, purely by word of mouth! Click Here to find out more
Tags: 2012, EDF Energy, Global Action Plan, London 2012, Olympic, Paralympic, Team Green Britain, The Eden Project | Posted in 2012, Climate Change, Events, Life Change, environment
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September 30th, 2009
Eco groups say they are ‘recycling’ empty buildings to save the planet. Welcome to the new face of recycling – squatting with a purpose.
This is a craze which is rapidly spreading all over the country, vacant buildings and unused land are being ‘rescued’ by squatters and turned into ecologically sustainable communities.
An example of this is The Spike in south London, an old Dept of Transport building; it was transformed by eco warriors and artists from a crack den into a community centre, with a well-being clinic and yoga classes. Another community have set up at Kew Bridge; it has 15 full-time residents who live on produce or food found on ‘skip-runs’; sound systems, drink and drugs are banned as they alienate people.
Although these groups attract the stereotypical squatter they are also joined by graduates, activists and young professionals. As a result they are well informed on their rights and manage to research their next locations via tip-offs on Google Earth. The groups are insistent that they only ever intend to make use of the property or land while it is vacant and not prevent any development projects.
Is this an acceptable way to beat the housing crisis and/or the credit crunch?
Tags: development, ecologically sustainable communities, housing crisis, Recycling, squatting | Posted in Life Change, Recycling, Self sufficiency
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September 3rd, 2009
This is brilliant! Finally an environmental grassroots movement that gets everyone involved, engaged and empowered to actually do something, no matter how small, to effect climate change and make a difference. Finally a reasonable time scale, not some distant date 10:10 and finally, some Action!
It’s a shame that the people are having to lead the government by the nose on an issue as critical as climate change, especially when they are supposed to have our best interests at heart, but perhaps I am being naive. Ken Livingstone phrased it neatly when he reflected that many of the Labour party “are afraid of losing a Daily Mail reader in Chipping Sodbury.”
10:10 is all about individuals and institutions making a difference by making a personal vow to cut carbon emissions by 10% in 2010, be it turning down the heating, eating less mass produced meat, using the car less and the bike more, whatever it takes. I personally take my hat off to Franny Armstrong and everyone involved in getting this campaign off the ground.
Join up now and add your voice to the thousands calling for change!
Tags: 10:10, 10:10 launch, Climate Change, Franny Armstrong, Tate Modern | Posted in Climate Change, Life Change, News, Sustainable Energy
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August 31st, 2009
In a bid to reduce Britain’s dependency on fossil fuels such as coal, gas and oil the government has introduced its Renewable Energy Strategy.
Heavily weighed down by its promise to reduce CO2 emissions by 34% by 2020 and 80% by 2050, the government is poised to invest £100 billion into a renewable energy infrastructure, including 7,000 wind turbines by 2020.
All well and good, but the increased cost to the consumer could result in many households facing fuel poverty. It is anticipated that bills will have to rise by 20% to pay for this investment. The average household currently pays approximately £1,150 a year for electricity and gas, the cost of converting to renewable energy and modernising Britain’s power stations could add another £230 to this.
Too bitter a pill to swallow? Then be aware that in all likelihood, as things stand our energy prices will increase anyway, so it’s crucial to make a positive change before it’s too late.
Tags: Climate Change, CO2 Emissions, energy prices, expensive energy, fossil fuels, renewable energy | Posted in Climate Change, Life Change, Sustainability, Sustainable Energy
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August 27th, 2009
‘Changing the World One Gift at a Time’
This is the tag-line of an online organisation called Freecycle. It is their aim to keep as much of our reusable junk/throwaways out of landfill sites, items can include anything from old china to furniture, to electronic equipment.
It is an ingenious idea, you simply post on your local site the ‘gift’ you would like to offer or the ‘gift’ you would like to receive and the matching up is done for you. It’s a grassroots and entirely nonprofit movement of people who are giving (& getting) stuff for free in their own towns.
‘Everything posted must be free, legal and appropriate for all ages.’
The environmental benefits are numerous, so if you are interested check out freecycle.org for your local site.
Tags: freecycle, landfills, recycle, recyling, reuse | Posted in Life Change, Self sufficiency
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August 10th, 2009
As if there wasn’t enough guilt associated with being a parent, now we have the added dilemma of whether or not to do the ‘green’ thing with nappies, but sadly we don’t seem know what that is!
Many environmentally conscious parents do the perceived ‘right thing’ by use towelling nappies, but according to a recent report by the Environment Agency, ‘using cloth nappies has no significant advantage where reducing the environmental impact of disposable nappies is concerned.’
Indisputably, cloth nappies reduce landfill; disposable nappies in the UK contribute 400,000 tonnes of waste a year! However when you compare this to the energy and water required to wash reusable nappies, their ‘green’ qualifications disappear completely.
So the obvious solution would be ‘green’ disposable nappies, is there such a thing? Well apparently there is – Seventh Generation Chlorine Free Nappies. They have been designed to be thinner, than but just as efficient as traditional nappies. The environmental advantage of chlorine-free nappies is that they reduce the amount of dioxins that pollute the air, water and soil, which has to be a good thing.
If anyone has any other suggestions we’d love to hear them…
Tags: disposible nappies, energy resources, green nappies, landfill, reusable, towelling nappies | Posted in Climate Change, Life Change
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