Robin Hood Tax July 22, 2011

A tax on banks that would give billions to tackle poverty and climate change, here and abroad.
This tax on the financial sector has the power to raise hundreds of billions every year globally. It could give a vital boost to the NHS, our schools, and the fight against child poverty in the UK – as well as tackling poverty and climate change around the world.

Not complicated. Just brilliant.

http://robinhoodtax.org/

Primark is the new Prada… but June 10, 2011

Because clothes are so cheap & because Primark is the new Prada, we have started buying more clothes than ever before. Women’s clothes in Britain rose by 21% between 2001 & 2005 alone, to about £24 billion, spurred by lower prices, and the fact that stores now bring new stock to the shop floor every month rather than every season.

We love the fact that we can now buy armfuls of clothes – several outfits – for the same price we used to pay for a single item.

It’s no coincidence that the minimum wage of garment workers in Bangladesh halved in real terms during  the 1990s. Machinists in Bangladesh are receiving as little as £8 per month to produce cheap clothes for British consumers – that’s a third of the minimum living wage.

How to get the most out of your wardrobe

1. Give you’re wardrobe an airing, swap the things you wear most frequently for ones you’ve forgotten about, and wait for the compliments.

2. Face up to the fact that there are items you are never, ever going to wear again.

3. If you find clothes that you really don’t want, but that you think someone else you know might like, organise a clothes swapping – or swishing – party. It is important to invite friends who you know might like your cast-offs but also remember to invite friends whose style you admire. You never know what they might bring!

4. Divide your cast-offs into separate piles for charity, customising, alterations and repairs.

5. If you have good clothes that you would like to sell, you can’t put them on eBay or there are some really good clothes exchanges that will give you a good price for them.

6. Old clothes that aren’t good enough to sell can be given to your favourite charity (although we are getting rid of so many clothes now that charity shops are getting very picky).

7. Alternatively, put your discarded clothes in a bag & post them in a textile recycling bin like Traid’s.

8. And if you want some fun (and a lovely warm feeling inside) it’s worth joining your local freecycle community or whatismineisyours. You never know what your neighboughs might like, or what they might give away.

This article was taken from Green is the New Black by Tamsin Blanchard.

Mine’s a green beer! April 20, 2011

‘Mine’s a green beer!’ Sounds gross? But there has been a recent boom in green booze! And it’s not just organic, you can now get vegan beers and solar powered breweries.

 10 tips for green beer….

1. Drink organic brews means you can expect the barley and hops to be organically grown: no pesticides, no artificial fertilizers, no chemical preservatives; just fresh, non-toxic ingredients.
2. Support green beer companies such as Pale Ale, Sierra Nevada or Anderson Brewery which powers its breweries with solar power.
3. Drink beer from draught instead of from bottles as the resource savings from the packaging make draught beer around 68% lower impact than bottled beer.
4. Recycle your bottles, cans, and other packaging – an aluminium can will likely be recycled and back on the shelves within 60 days . Ten tonnes of recycled glass saves 5 tonnes of sand, 1.8 tonnes of soda ash and 1.7 tonnes of limestone.
5. Reuse the bottle caps, as many programs won’t accept them, so, you’ll have to get creative in order to prevent undue waste.
6. Try vegan and vegetarian beers, such as Green Man Beer. Plenty of beers contain traces of animal products such as gelatin, made from animal tissue, or isinglass, from fish bladders, which are used as an agent to clarify beers.
7. Drink local, and walk to the pub, helps reduce emission from shipping and from you getting to and from your local.
8. Take a growler to your local brewery and fill it up with fresh draught beer. This cuts out bottle waste and recycling hassles.
9. Opt for paper free bottles and go for those that have the labelling printed right on the bottle.
10. Don’t use disposable cups when serving beer, as they cause unnecessary waste and are not usually not recyclable.

Read the original article I stole this from here.

Freecycle at work November 1, 2010

Everyone knows about Freecycle – but do you now about Freecycle at work?

You up Freecycle at work through http://quickbase.intuit.com/freecycle

This will then mean that your staff can post items and see if other people in the office would like to have them.

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You can also set up Freecycle at work through http://quickbase.intuit.com/freecycle This will then mean that your staff can post items and see if other people in the office would like to have them.

• You can also set up Freecycle at work through http://quickbase.intuit.com/freecycle This will then mean that your staff can post items and see if other people in the office would like to have them.

Be Positive+ (sorry guys!) Recycle your Batteries September 7, 2010

Batteries contain lots of harmful checmicals suchs as lead, mercury, cadmium, zinc, manganese and lithium. It can therefore be damaging to the environment to bury them in landfills and burning batteries can pollute the atmosphere.

At the moment only 3% of batteries are recycled in the UK (Belgium recycles over 50% – One more thing we’re not very good at then!). This means that around 600 million batteries – the equivalent weight of 110 Jumbo Jets – are sent to landfill sites every year.

The average household uses 21 batteries a year, all of which could be recycled.

The UK aims to recycle 25 per cent of its batteries by 2012, rising to at least 45 per cent in 2016. The UK government has therefore set up a scheme in place to increase battery recycling and reduce the number of batteries going to landfill. This means that you can get free battery recycling bins to put around the office and then the bins will be collected on a regular basis for free.

They collect alkaline batteries, rechargeable batteries, laptop batteries, mobile phone batteries, watch batteries… pretty much every type of household battery

To order your own battery boxes contact: Rabbit Recycling

T: 0845 337 3343 www.rabbittrecycling.co.uk

H2Oil June 10, 2010

Aha another film about the Canadian Tar sands… H2Oil but this time talking about the water issues.

Crude oil produced from the oil sands is the dirtiest oil in the world. It uses a lot of energy and a lot of water and leave a very large environmental footprint compared to all other forms of oil extraction. The process of oil sands extraction uses up to 4 barrels of fresh water to produce one barrel of crude oil.

H2Oil follows a voyage of discovery, heartbreak and politicization in the stories of those attempting to defend water in Alberta against tar sands expansion. Unlikely alliances are built and lives are changed as they come up against the largest industrial project in human history.

Watch trailer HERE and find screenings HERE.

Too scared to cycle? June 5, 2010

If you live in London you can book a free two-hour personal training session near you (normally £70) by calling 020 7231 6005 or email bookings@cycletraining.co.uk (mention ‘London Cycle Challenge’ when booking).

There are also a series of guided cycle rides for businesses. These rides will help you feel more confident about cycling to work. Email smartertravel@tfl.gov.uk for more details.

Dirty Oil June 2, 2010

There is a new documentary coming out called Dirty Oil which goes deep behind-the-scenes into the strip-mined world of Northern Alberta, Canada.

It is a David and Goliath battle between the First Nation communities and environmentalists fighting against the Governments of Alberta and Canada, as well as the world’s largest multinational oil corporations in a bid to stop tar sands expansion.

Here, vast and toxic oil sands supply the U.S. with the majority of its oil. Told through the eyes of scientists, “big oil” officials, politicians, doctors, environmentalists, and aboriginal citizens directly effected by “the largest industrial project on the planet today”, the filmmakers journey to both sides of the border to uncover the emotional and irreversible toll this “black gold rush” is taking on our planet.

Watch the trailer HERE or click HERE for screenings.

Canadian Tar sands emit on average three times more CO₂ than conventional oil production.

I saw a movie, and the world collapsed December 9, 2009

Jessica Rayburn and G.R. Mantard have collaborated to create a new comic on climate change.

To mark the crucial UN climate summit in Copenhagen, they have published the comic online with free access to all.

‘I saw a movie, and the world collapsed’ tells G.R. Mantard’s own story of how he was inspired by climate change film Age of Stupid to calculate his carbon footprint and learn how to reduce it.

The story personally engages with the reader to communicate the science, the policy and the personal dilemmas. It climaxes by showing how low-carbon living is positive and enjoyable, and urges the reader to take action at personal, community and political level.

http://abenmaler.dk/climate.html

Feeding of the 5000 December 7, 2009

You are cordially invited to a free lunch for up to 5000 people.

On the 16th December a free lunch made from delicious ingredients that would otherwise have been wasted will be prepared for 5000 people. Our aim is to highlight the ease of cutting the unimaginable levels of food waste in the UK and internationally. Find out more

http://feeding5k.org

Trafalgar Square, London

Wednesday 16th December

12 noon – 2pm