Latest Green News

Happy New Year everyone! All the best to you all for the coming year

Lots of little pieces of news to pass on to you today.

According to the Red Cross, the number of global disasters has soared by 60% in the past 10 years. Between 1997 and 2006 there were 6,806 disasters, affecting over 1.2m people.

The amount of Arctic sea ice at the end of the summer was half the level of what it was four years ago, raising fears that it could disappear by 2012.

A new process called PDX uses 40% less energy in the manufacture of beer. It uses steam to speed up the brewing process.

Bob Gedolf has strongly supported the use of nuclear power as the only viable alternative to fossil fuels for our energy demands.

New York’s taxis are to to be forced to achieve at least 25mpg if bought after October 2008, and 30mpg if bought in 2009. Whether this will just mean older and older taxis on the streets will remain to be seen.

The UK Government has announced plans to build 7,000 wind turbines along Britain’s coast which would supply one third of the country’s electricity needs by 2020.

Organic turkey sales will top £1m at Marks and Spencer alone in the UK over the Christmas period.

Researchers from the World Land Trust warn that growing biofuel crops could harm the environment as up to nine times the carbon dioxide will be released. This is because biofuel crops are oftne grown on land that is burnt and reclaimed from tropical forests.

Two New Environment Sites

Sharing the love is errr always one of my rules to live by so thought I’d mention two new environment sites that might be of interest to you.

 

First up is Green Guys Global. The brother site of Green Girls Global, it’s a blog made up of a group of editors from around the blogosphere - including myself and Joel. Building on the success of the girls, the guys hope to entertain and inform and build relationships as we go along. It’s probably better to let the site speak for itself, there’s some good stuff on there even though it’s only been going a week.

And the second site is smartplanet.com. Edited by our friend Adam Vaughan who used to be known as The Green Guy and was at New Consumer, the site is full of news and interviews already even though it was only recenty launched as well. Worth a look and a comment or two I reckon.

 

 

Latest Green News

The head of the World Trade Organisation Pascal Lamy has claimed that the proliferation of agreements on “green” and other product standards between large western retailers and consumer groups is likely to spark a new row with developing countries that fear new barriers to their exports. Lamy also said that new and tougher standards could offset the benefits of removing tariff barriers for developing countries.

Director of the Soil Association Patrick Holden revealed a 22% rise in the UK organic food and drink market over the past year. He notes that sales through organic box schemes, farm shops and at the farm gate have increased by 53% - double the volume sold through supermarkets.

Wal-Mart revealed plans to cut costs by measuring and reducing greenhouse gas emissions throughout its chain supply. The retailer said that it will ask its more than 60,000 suppliers to measure and report their greenhouse gas emissions. The company will then use the data to cut costs, by comparing similar companies to identify which are less efficient. Wal-Mart has formed a partnership with the Carbon Disclosure Project as part of a plan to get its suppliers to manage their greenhouse gas emissions better.

Philips has announced plans to invest €1bn in developing environmental technologies in an attempt to boost its revenues from green products. Chief executive Gerard Kleisterlee has told staff that he wants the company to derive 30% of its revenues from green technologies by 2012.

Sainsbury’s has announced that it will launch a new campaign to boost its environmental and social credentials. The Different Values campaign, which will use press advertising and a new series of television adverts featuring Jamie Oliver, comes in response to rival supermarkets’ recent attempts to promote their ethical awareness.

The Times reported that a series of surveys on consumers’ social and environmental attitudes have revealed that eighty per cent of customers say that they are not given enough environmental information to make informed choices about electrical products. While it is estimated that household appliances become on average 2% more energy efficient every year, the fall has been more than offset by the increasing number of electrical items in homes. The Energy Saving Trust says that the average number of electrical goods in British households has risen from 17 in the 1970s to 42 now.

The once niche market for environmentally-friendly car insurance is on the rise, as rising environmental awareness amongst consumers has led to a surge in demand for ‘green’ products. Insurers offering such products include The Cooperative Group, Norwich Union, Royal & SunAlliance and Ibuyeco, with other eco-friendly products, such as hybrid cars and carbon offset air travel schemes, also rising to prominence. However, carbon offsetting has come under fire from critics, sparking a debate over whether the practice is actually environmentally beneficial.

The Daily Telegraph reported that designer Katharine Hamnett has announced that she will terminate a deal to supply organic and fair trade clothing to Tesco stating that she is “incredibly disappointed” that the retailer had broken promises to roll out her Choose Love range and promote it in store. “I was initially really excited about the tie-up because I thought we could increase demand for ethical products. But I’ve come to the conclusion that [Tesco] simply wants to appear ethical, rather than make a full commitment to the range” she said.

Latest Environmental News

The Evening Standard reported that Londoners are being asked to back a ban on plastic shopping bags. A major debate between councillors and MPs is under way on how to reduce the estimated 1.6b bags used in the capital each year. Alternative plans for a city-wide levy of about £0.10 per bag are also being considered, with the cash used to fund improved recycling facilities.

The News of the World reports that staff at the first green Marks and Spencer store will wear fleeces made from recycled plastic bottles. The store in Bournemouth will also only use renewable energy, cutting carbon emissions by 92%.

The Guardian reported on the vision of high street retailers, who claim that a green revolution can be driven from the shop floor. However, the article looks at the inconsistencies in some of the more notable corporate policies, and even claims that whilst Marks & Spencer is leading the industry in selling fashionable fair trade cotton T-shirts, possibly fashion itself is the very antithesis of a sustainable approach.

Royal Mail has acquired 140 double deck trailers, estimating that they will lead to a 20% reduction in the carbon emissions and road miles covering this element of the UK-based group’s operation. The trailers can handle 50% more mail than Royal Mail’s normal single deckers and can each hold around 100,000 items of mail.

Environmentally-friendly funerals are becoming increasingly popular with more than a third of people saying they would like a green send-off, a survey showed. Around 34% of people said they would like an eco-funeral, more than double the 15% of people who said they would like to have a traditional service, according to Post Office Financial Services.

The Liberal Democrats stated that companies should face fines if they fail to meet new legal targets for cutting down on packaging. They will call for a new scheme to ask customers to pay a refundable deposit if they take a plastic carrier bag. The MPs will also call for a new national body to be established to help trading standards prosecute companies who flout guidelines on packaging.

Latest Green News

Lots more green news and information for you.

A service will be launched in October 2007 that will vows to reduce business mail costs, along with reducing the impact of sending letters in terms of carbon emissions. The Viapost service entails letters being e-mailed by customers to distribution hubs around the UK, where they will be printed out, inserted into envelopes and sorted, prior to being delivered to the recipients by Royal Mail distribution centres in the respective area. The Viapost regional hubs will be much nearer to the 70 access points run by Royal Mail that deal with post for final delivery and as a result will cut by up to 60% carbon emissions related to sending letters.

Ethical investment funds are beating their mainstream rivals hands-down, a survey from financial information group Moneyfacts suggests. Over the past year the average UK ethical fund has grown by 18.3%, against 13.7% returned by non-ethical funds.

Sales of organic and free-range eggs have outstripped sales of eggs from battery hens for the first time, the Soil Association disclosed, underlining the trend for ethically sourced produce. But the association added that soaring grain prices were reducing the incentive for British farmers to switch to organic cereal production.

Marks & Spencer announced that it is building two new branches which will be powered by windmill. A wind turbine development funded by the company in Aberdeenshire will generate enough energy for a large branch in Pollock, Glasgow, which will produce 95% less carbon dioxide thanother stores of the same size, and one in Galashiels in the Scottish Borders. Both stores are due to open in October.

The Financial Times reported on the trend for retailers to publicise ethical initiatives. Known as the ‘30:3 phenomenon’ because 30% of interviewees told researchers that they thought about workers’ and animals’ rights and the state of the planet when they decided what to buy, but that sales figures show that only 3% actually act on the thoughts.

The Independent on Sunday reported that the success of organic vegetable box schemes and farmers’ markets have enabled farmers to stop supplying supermarkets and operate exclusively through box and mail-order schemes. Sales of organic products through box schemes rose 50% last year to £146m.

Tesco’s recent attempt to present itself as a force for environmental good has been challenged by development charity Christian Aid, which says Tesco’s carbon footprint does not include the emissions caused by shoppers driving to and from its stores or those incurred by its suppliers. The true impact on the environment could be up to 12 times higher than Tesco’s initial estimation. Campaigners from the charity will meet Tesco representatives to urge the company to reassess its carbon footprint, which stands at 4.13m tonnes of CO2 equivalent.

Tesco chief executive Sir Terry Leahy said he was ready to raise prices to deliver a ‘revolution in green consumption’. He was speaking as the company pledged £25m for a sustainable consumption institute at Manchester University, which will investigate issues from the impact of cleaner technologies and recycling to ways of encouraging consumers to adapt to more sustainable lifestyles.

Marks & Spencer has invited the public to return plastic hangers to their stores for recycling.

Life Goggles Goes Global

Life Goggles already has writers in the UK and New Zealand, though from today it moves even more global!

I (Joel) am emigrating to America today(!), and via a 3 week holiday to New Zealand and Australia, will therefore be writing about green issues and the latest green news from the US. I hope to update you on my trip too

Simon, who is currently in the UK, will be returning to his native Melbourne, Australia and will continue writing about music and green issues from there.

Of course Adam (and Trish) will still be writing about global issues from a UK perspective, and Mark and Pete will be chipping in every so often. Last, but not least, Kev will still be in New Zealand and bringing his unique point of view to us.

Here’s to world domination!

Even Friends of The Earth Use Plastic Bottles!

This is taken from a BBC News report a couple of weeks ago and shows a guy from Friends of the Earth (Michael Warhurst, waste and resources campaigner) being interviewed about recycling and there’s a plastic bottle in the background! True, the production team may have put it there to show the sort of things that need recycling but I think it more highlights the fact that it’s very hard to get away from plastic if even someone as environmentally conscious as him uses them.

The story was about ‘pay-as-you-throw’ schemes which personally I don’t think will ever work, although they showed somewhere in Holland where it does so no doubt it’ll be brought into the UK soon, but how it works in a block of flats I don’t know.

If you’re interested in the video, go to http://news.bbc.co.uk/ and in the search box at the top type in “pay as you throw” and it’s the first result in the audio and video search from 22 August. Sorry I haven’t got a direct link!

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