Effortless Environmentalism

Blog Action Day Post - Fight Climate Change

2009-10-15T08:06:00.000-07:00

Well here it is. Blog Action Day 2009. As I sit here in my 6th day of some sort of mild but persistent flu I am still thinking about the environment. This post will likely be short as I'm not feeling well but I have to do something. This is my mantra. Do something. You have to do SOMETHING. Do something.

Amazing that my last post was about joining Transition Town Brixton in South London (UK)as, 10 months later, I find my self a member of Sustainable Streatham (just down the road from Brixton) This might be the biggest step I've taken so far. Feels a bit like coming out of the Environmental closet. I discovered Sustainable Streatham when I was attending an event at Transition Town Brixton. I'm still a member of Transition Town Brixton but I hope that Sustainable Streatham will become a transition town eventually. If it doesn't, not matter. The objectives are the same.

If you're not sure what Transition Towns is you should look into it. It's been described as one of the most important movements of our times and it's just incredible. I first discovered it when I started this blog. It started in Totnes and there were lots in small towns within a year or two of the movement starting, but now it's all over London as well (which I honestly didn't think would be possible). An incredible idea run by inspiring citizens. Check it out and start your own. Sustainable Streatham is likely to be turning into a Transition Town Streatham in the future but that's up to the members.

Our official launch is tomorrow and Saturday at The White Lion Pub in Streatham, South London! Whoo hoo! We're for real.

Final message before I crawl back into bed.

Do something everyone. Do something. The collection of our small actions creates big change.

Thanks for reading.

David

I've joined Transition Towns Brixton!

2009-02-08T09:58:00.000-08:00

"Once you have glimpsed the world as it might be, as it ought to be, as it’s going to be (however that vision appears to you), it is impossible to live compliant and complacent anymore in the world as it is."

-Victoria Stafford

I've joined Transition Towns Brixton. I discovered Transition Towns when I first did research for this environmental blog. Transition Towns are in the links on the side over there: http://www.transitiontowns.org/

I'm really excited! Time to take the next step and create change beyond my own personal actions and the eco-footprint of my home!Transition towns is a global movement that started in small town England. The goal is to transition your town or city to one which is low carbon and environmentally sustainable. It's amazing how the movement has gone global. It has spread on the initiative and power of those who simply care and are determined to do something about the problems we face.I've discovered a great blog: If you want to join or discover any information check this out. http://transitionculture.org/

Goodbye Economics, Hello Quality of life

2009-02-01T12:53:00.000-08:00

Just in case the last post sounded like the rantings of a madman here is an article from The Toronto Star from Toronto Canada which illustrates just what I was talking about. Although I've put a lot of deep thought into this it only takes some common sense to see quite clearly that GDP is a false prophet. It is completely misleading and drives us towards socities which are measured as economically healthy and yet contain poor qualities of life. We need a new measurement and it has to take the environment into account. When we destroy our industries by eliminating our resources we destroy the very means of our survival in a quest for "advancement." It's insane.

http://www.thestar.com/News/GlobalVoices/article/574754

A better way to track economy's health

'Genuine Progress Indicator' recognizes that when it comes to economic activity, money isn't everything

Jan 26, 2009 04:30 AM
Craig and Marc Kielburger
It’s about time we start doing a little more to rev up the economy.
Here are some suggestions. Get a divorce. Drive over the speed limit possibly resulting in a collision on a major freeway. Sink an oil tanker so we can clean up the mess.
Not the most desirable actions for our social welfare, but in the sometimes-weird world of economics, economists will be cheering.
No offense meant to any of the economists we know, but how on earth is this helping? As the global financial crisis leads us down the road to recession, the gross domestic product is our guide. Recession is defined as two consecutive quarters of negative growth in GDP – and the economic activity wrought by car accidents and natural disasters are contributors to that all-important number.
You see, when GDP says it tallies the total market value of all goods and services produced within the country, it means everything. But, when it tries to measure our economic health and well-being, the number falls short.
Introduced in World War II to measure how much of the economy could be put towards wartime production, GDP quickly developed into our primary economic indicator. But that was never its original purpose.
Simon Kuznets, the economist who helped standardize the measurement, said in 1962, "Distinctions must be kept in mind between quantity and quality of growth."
Unfortunately, we didn’t heed his warning – a warning that could have prevented our current mess.
As industry has grown, so have the problems surrounding it. Unbridled consumerism at home and the two-dollar-a-day wages overseas both contribute to a nation’s GDP. A forest of trees contributes nothing. Clear-cut that forest and the economy swings into high gear.
"Some of the expenditures don’t make anyone better off or even keep our current welfare in tact," says John Talberth, Director of the Sustainability Indicators Program at Redefining Progress. "But there are also benefits that aren’t included in GDP – parenting, housework, volunteers. Those are our quality of life."
Other indicators do take these socially-positive actions into account. Those indicators tell a different story. The Genuine Progress Indicator broadens its scope to account for the societal costs of some monetary transactions and the benefits of some non-monetary transactions.
"In a nutshell, it gives a dollar amount to beneficial activities that wouldn’t be recorded in GDP," says Talberth. "It also puts a negative cost on things like environmental degradation, the time we spend commuting and loss of our natural resources."
It also puts a dollar value on accumulated debt and borrowing – factors that have been leading causes in the current financial meltdown.
"GPI realized that the more we borrow, the less sustainable it is," says Talberth. "You can’t borrow forever."
When those figures are calculated, the two indicators show very different routes to recession.
GDP per capita has more than doubled in the United States since the 1950s as many Americans live the dream of a television, two cars and a house in the suburbs. When GPI takes into account the environmental costs and the debt families have accumulated to pay for that dream, the indicator has dropped 45 per cent since the 1970s.
As Kuznets said, there’s a distinction between quantity and quality. Had we heeded his warning, we could be in a very different spot on the economic map.
Obviously, no economist is cheering for oil spills. We know some wonderful economists who recognize that a stay-at-home mom is contributing more to the economy than a building another prison. So why are we letting these monetary transactions be the primary definition of our progress?
We all know that money isn’t everything. By going beyond our gross domestic product, maybe we can start solving our gross domestic problems.

The End of Economics and What it Will Do for You!

2008-10-28T10:13:00.000-07:00

The time to end economics is NOW!

What? End economics?

That's right I said it.

"But isn't economics important?" you may ask.

Well...what is economics?

Economics is a human construct developed by brainy mathematical people to study money. That's my definition anyway. Dictionary.com defines economics as: the science that deals with the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services, or the material welfare of humankind.

I missed out the part about the "welfare of human kind." I'm not so surprised as the "welfare of human kind" doesn't actually factor into traditional economics. See that's the problem with allowing brainy mathematical people to rule the world. Anyone that good at math has GOT to have a corresponding emotional and empathy deficit. Either that or its just a conincidence that all my math teachers have been quite cold fish.

Consider the fact that modern economies MUST expand in order to be considered healthy. The entire economic system on which we live and which we depend on for survival is built upon the theory that never ending expansion is the key to our health and well being. Unfortunately we have a finite number of resources on this planet. The more we expand and use them up, the more scarce and expensive they come and the more unstable our economies become - which leads catastrophic economic meltdown like....

...a complete lack of credit and the failure of the world's financial system.

But that would never happen. Would it?

I was recently on treehugger.com and noticed an interview with David Suzuki under the radio links. David Suzuki is Canada's premier environmentalist. Listen to what he has to say at the following link.

http://ads.treehugger.com/thtv_files/audio/TH%20Radio/Podcasts/TH%20Radio%2024.mp3

Consider this: If the concept of never ending expansion of economic activity (ie. use of resources expands on a never ending scale) is impossible then we MUST go through recession and economic hard times every few years or decades and, perhaps, massive depressions every 70 - 100 years or so.

Now, with the current financial crisis at hand, we have the chance to fix this fatally flawed model and to save ourselves and our planet. I mean, massive changes are going to be made to our economic models and the way we define wealth as a result of this so let's get it right. This means that you will have a more secure future, be able to make more money long term, will live in a less polluted world, enjoy greater health, and a more positive outlook for your children. It all boils down to sustainability. Economists have created an unsustainable system which only measures money and it's exchange as the basis for our well being. It's time we factored our resources, our health, our quality of life, and the legacy we leave behind for our children into the equation. How do we do this?

Listen to David Suzuki and come back another day for some ideas

Next up: GDP - Gross Domestic Product or Gosh Darn Problem?

The Most Terrifying Video You'll Ever See & The Manpollo Project

2007-12-16T05:50:00.001-08:00

Watch this video folks. It could change your life.

The Most Terrifying Video You Will Ever See
There is now a link to this video and the follow up videos that were posted on YouTube in the upper right hand corner of this blog.

The Manpollo Project
The Manpollo Project is a simple to follow index of the follow up videos to The Most Terrifying Video You Will Ever See. It's useful because when you're on YouTube the videos don't appear in the correct order and you have to keep searching for them. It was created by someone other than the original person who posted on YouTube under the name Manpollo Project after the name of one of the videos in the series.

Take your time and watch them all over the next few days or weeks. If it does nothing more than improve your ability to think critically and to understand the nature of science then it has served its purpose. Very impressive and mind expanding stuff.

Here's the Effortless thing you can do. Email it or send it to friends. Spread the word. Now THAT'S easy.

Who Knew Gore Could be so Inspirational

2007-12-14T13:01:00.000-08:00

Here's an article about Al Gore at the climate conference in Bali. Seems I'm not the only one to draw the line between the inaction on climate change and the inaction on Nazism in WWII.

Gore Urges Climate-Change Action Regardless of U.S.

By Kim Chipman and Gemma Daley

Dec. 13 (Bloomberg) -- Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore urged countries to aggressively move ahead on a new global climate change treaty in the face of opposition from his home country.

Nations pushing to set tough new mandatory limits on global warming pollution must ``find the grace to navigate around this enormous obstacle,'' Gore told delegates on the Indonesian island of Bali at United Nations-sponsored talks on climate change.

Gore's criticism of the U.S. received applause from delegates. The Bush administration's refusal to accept specific emissions-reduction targets is spurring division at the UN talks, with the European Union and China insisting on targets. The Bali meeting is aimed at starting negotiations for a climate accord to replace the Kyoto Protocol, which runs out in 2012.

``I'm not an official of the U.S. and not bound by official niceties,'' said Gore, 59, who earlier this week received a Nobel Peace Prize for his work on raising awareness of climate change. ``I'm going to speak an inconvenient truth: my own country --the U.S. -- is principally responsible for obstructing progress here in Bali.''

Gore urged delegates to move past their anger at the U.S. and forge ahead with the understanding that Bush will be leaving office in almost a year. A new administration, whether Democrat or Republican, probably will embrace more climate-friendly policies, he said.

`Blank Space'

``Do all of the difficult work that needs to be done and save a large, open, blank space in your document and put a footnote by it,'' Gore said. Negotiators should write: ``This doc is incomplete, but we are going to move forward anyway.''

Gore also stressed that mandatory emissions targets must be part of a climate treaty that takes effect in 2010, two years before the current pact expires.

``We can't afford to wait another five years to replace Kyoto,'' Gore said, adding that some scientists say the world may have less than 10 years to start curbing emissions to avoid the most devastating effects of climate change.

Gore cited recent floods throughout Africa, fires in the U.S., droughts in Australia and ``massive flooding'' in Mexico, unexpected melting in Antarctica and the disappearing polar ice cap as signs of what he calls a ``planetary emergency.''

``That phrase still sounds shrill to some ears but it's deadly accurate,'' Gore said. ``These and other challenges are getting more difficult to ignore.''

Climate Research

More than a century of climate change research, including this year's findings of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which shared this year's Nobel Peace Prize with Gore, says that the burning of fossil fuels through cars, power plants and other human activities is causing the world's temperatures and sea levels to rise.

The IPCC said earlier this year that humans are very likely contributing to climate change, and the planet's warming emissions must peak in 2015 and then begin to decline to avoid large scale, irreversible climate shifts.

``Why haven't we yet reacted?'' Gore asked. He later compared what he considers the passivity of some nations in the face of the ``climate crisis'' to world leaders in 1938 who didn't take seriously the threat of German Nazi leader Adolf Hitler.

Gore's appearance at the UN climate talks put him back in a familiar arena. As former President Bill Clinton's vice president, Gore spearheaded efforts to persuade countries to reach agreement on the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, which came close to collapsing several times.

Gore's Influence

``When Gore came to Kyoto as vice president, he gave a speech that turned the negotiations around,'' David Doniger, former head of climate policy at the Environmental Protection Agency during the Clinton administration, said in an interview after Gore's speech today.

``He also did a lot of work in the back rooms that turned the negotiations around, and I think he's doing that again,'' said Doniger, now policy director of the Climate Center at the Natural Resources Defense Council. ``I'm sure he's working face- to-face in the back rooms to give people the fortitude and the courage to do this.''

The UN meeting, which is set to end tomorrow, has attracted politicians including Democratic Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who spoke in Bali today.

Shifting Attitudes

Like Gore, Bloomberg stressed the shifting attitudes in the U.S. toward climate change, exemplified by legislation in Congress to cap national carbon emissions. The climate bill was approved by a Senate committee last week.

``The fact that our Congress is seriously debating cap-and- trade legislation shows just how far America has come in just the last year,'' Bloomberg said in a speech at a Bali event sponsored by Environmental Defense, a New York-based advocacy group.

Bloomberg called for ``robust public debate'' on caps and a tax on all U.S. oil, natural gas and coal producers to encourage reduced use of fuels that contribute the most to air pollution and global warming. Bloomberg is the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg News.

To contact the reporter on this story: Kim Chipman in Nusa Dua, Indonesia, at kchipman@bloomberg.net .

Last Updated: December 13, 2007 11:55 EST

Do Something!

2007-12-14T12:45:00.000-08:00

An Great Article from the London Times

From The Times

November 8, 2007

Wake up and smell the smoke of disaster

Camilla Cavendish; Why are we so cool about climate change?

A collective groan in the office when I mutter that I might write about the UN's “state of the planet” report. What a turn-off: gloomy stats about mankind changing the weather, and destroying species and forests.

Environmentalists may get off on climate porn, but most people just turn away. “If it was really so bad, they'd do something,” says one colleague, without specifying who “they” are. The human tendency to convince yourself that everything is OK, because no one else is worried, is deeply ingrained.

Psychologists studied this phenomenon after the 1964 murder of Kitty Genovese. She was repeatedly attacked, outside her New York flat, by a stranger over the space of half an hour. Witness to that event were 38 people who stood at their windows but did not even dial for help. They just peered into the dark, listening to her screams, until she died.

John Darley and Bibb Latané later ran a series of experiments that confirmed that the more people who witness an event the less responsible any one of them feels. We assume that someone else is better qualified to respond. We are afraid to be the only one to make a fuss. “Social etiquette” trumps common sense.

Our tendency to shrug off responsibility seems to hold true even when we ourselves are in danger. Darley and Latané asked a series of college students to sit in a room and fill out a questionnaire. When smoke started to pour into the room through a vent, the others, all actors, ignored it and went on writing calmly. Ninety per cent of subjects copied the actors, even when the smoke became so thick that they could barely see and were coughing. But subjects who were alone in the room, under the same conditions, almost all reported the smoke as an emergency. That is an astonishing finding - that the inaction of other people can make us underestimate threats to our own safety.

In the past few weeks we have been told, by reputable sources, that the oceans are warming faster than anyone predicted. That species are becoming extinct a hundred times faster than fossils record. That fresh water supplies, critical to food production, are under strain. That we are approaching tipping points that may make climate change irreversible. This stuff makes me feel pretty desperate. I would think that other people would worry too. But then I go to the office, and to friends' houses, and no one mentions it. Nor do the politicians.

I am not claiming that there is a conspiracy of silence about environmental issues. On the contrary, some people argue there is too much noise. In most British offices, as the wisps come up the vent, the influence of the media probably means that there is more than one person looking concerned. But not a critical mass. When Darley and Latané put three non-actors in the room, they were more likely to call for help. But still only a third did.

It is human nature to wait for someone else to go first. So despite the noise from green groups, we look for get-out clauses. We blame India and China, or big corporations. People who write cheques to save cute monkeys from extinction also buy soap and margarine made from palm oil, whose production is devastating the tropical forests where the monkeys live. People who buy cloth shopping bags to reduce waste then fill them with water in plastic bottles that are shipped to China to be burnt. The part of our brain that is programmed to imitate dominates the part cued to self-preservation — especially when the threats are complex and long-term.

Could we send the herd in the other direction? Maybe. Ten years after Darley and Latané defined the bystander effect, another professor taught his pupils to overcome it. Arthur Beaman showed students films of the smoke experiment. He explained the psychology. And in future those students were, apparently, almost twice as likely as others to react to help other people.

Given the importance that companies and governments apparently place on environmental issues, it is astonishing how little attention has been paid to the psychological aspects.

Two years ago a small study for the Sustainable Development Commission found that UK households that generated their own energy, through solar power, wind turbines or air source heat pumps, became more likely to conserve energy. They would buy A-rated appliances and turn things off.

This didn't just apply to rich eco-fanatics: it applied equally to social housing tenants. Irrespective of whether they had chosen it or not, the process of generating their own energy seems to have given many people an “emotional connection”, says the study. The visibility of the solar panels or wind turbines made them proud to be pioneers.

In January I counted a Toyota Prius hybrid car on almost every one of the rich streets in a part of London just east of my house. Yesterday I did another count. They seemed to have spawned into two or three. That is the power of imitation, for people who can afford it. But how do you get other people to imitate behaviour that is less visible: buying less, travelling less or changing their electricity supplier? The answers must surely lie in social etiquette. If we are programmed to act like lemmings, then we must give some people incentives to break out and publicise their activities. Opinion- formers need to make visible changes in their own behaviour, which they have notably failed to do.

But the smoke is coming up through the vent. If enough people start talking about the smoke, perhaps others will start to see it too. And if enough people act, the rest may follow. For that, it seems, is human nature.

Kill Standby Drainage With this Handy Device

2007-12-09T06:14:00.000-08:00

I've discovered a great new store called Nigel's Eco Store - www.nigelsecostore.com

Direct link to the product is: http://nigelsecostore.com/acatalog/OneClick_IntelliPlug.html

On it I discovered this lovely little device. Granted its not sexy but what it does is quite exciting! You can get it elsewhere but here they explain what it is, how it works and, perhaps most importantly, that is recommended by the Energy Saving Trust. I've already recommended this organisation so I trust that this device does what it says it does. Also it was a good deal cheaper than some other similar devices I've seen out there.

Here's the description:

Plug your desktop computer into the master socket on the IntelliPlug, and your peripheral devices (printer, monitor, scanner, etc) into the other sockets and when you turn your computer on (or off), the IntelliPlug detects this and turns everything else on (or off) - saving you the hassle, and most importantly, stopping you from leaving them on standby.

Leaving appliances on standby wastes a huge amount of energy, making the IntelliPlug a great tool for helping you to live a more eco-friendly life.
It will also work with your hi-fi amplifier and separates (CD player, tuner etc).
Recommended by the Energy Saving Trust, it has received a number of excellent reviews.
Specification:
- - this unit will automatically determine the on and off power level of any desktop computer or hi-fi audio visual amplifier to automatically power peripheral equipment, only when in use.
- Lowest standby power of 0.4 of a watt saving an average 35 watts per hour depending on the number of connected peripherals.
- Reaction time 5 seconds.
- Maximum Power 13 amps.
This product can pay for itself in less than a year of use.
PLEASE NOTE: NOT SUITABLE FOR LAPTOPS

Groovy Green

2007-12-08T09:12:00.000-08:00

I found a really great blog called Groovy Green. Check out this blog. It's got some really good stuff on it including a posting on the 4 day work week. The 5 day work week is only 70 years old! Anyway, not only would this be great in terms quality of life but it could help save the environment as well! Sounds good to me!

It's got great articles, but more importantly, it aims helps gives book reviews, product review, product suggestions along with great education.

Interesting with effortless ideas for saving the planet! I like it!

http://groovygreen.com/

At the Risk of Sounding Controversial...

2007-11-21T15:06:00.000-08:00

I wrote this blog the day after seeing a play about the Holocaust. I was so upset about this thought I had while watching the play that I wrote a blog entry about it on my phone while on a train ride to Wiltshire the next day. I didn't post it because I thought I'd sound like a raving mad man. I opened it and read it and decided to post it. It's not dispassionate and it might be controversial or a turn off but I stand behind it.

Written: 03/05/2007

A Disturbing Connection

I went and saw THE INVESTIGATION last night. The original script was "written" by Peter Weiss and staged in 1963. It's transcripts taken from the Frankfurt trials which was a trial just like the Nuremburg trials. The play was produced just a year after the trial. The original play is 5 hours long! This production was done by a Rwandan theatre company who are, obviously dealing with their own genocide. It was cut down to 90 minutes. The production was powerful simply because of the text and the people involved but was actually poorly acted and staged. I know the script well because I was involved in a series of stagings of it last year.

One of the maddening things about the testimony is that no one will take responsibility for what was happening. "I was following orders", "I didn't make the decisions", "I was just doing my job" and all the common reasons were endless. Meanwhile these people were collectively engaged in the destruction of their own society, the world around them and, of course, the extermination of millions of people.

I've become slightly obsessed with environmental issues lately and it occurred to me there’s a direct link between the kind of thinking that enabled the Nazis and the kind of thinking that is increasingly enabling the destruction of our societies and our planet. This planet is becoming more inhospitable to humans and other species living on it. Collectively humans (but especially those in developed nations) are directly responsible and the message has been broadcast for decades. Most maddeningly, however, the majority of the population does little to change things.

As for economic concerns I propose this: The environment IS the economy. Look around your room right now and find something not made from natural resources. Next time you go outside find something not made from natural resources. Multiply everything you see by your neighbourhood, then by your city a, then by your country and then by all the cities in the world. That's a lot of stuff that’s come out of the planet.

It's running out. It's getting harder to find resources, food and energy.

Do something. Make small changes. They'll have big effects. The encouraging thing is that the solutions already exist. They fall into categories that include Sustainable, Ethical, Environmental, Green, Eco, and Fair Trade. I'm excited and fired up because I've found it's easier than you think (or maybe I thought).

Just do something.

Switch to Green Power - The Biggest Step You Can Take is Probably the Easiest

2007-11-17T06:40:00.000-08:00

Change this

to THIS

Fight Climate Change With Your Energy Bill!

Sorting out how to switch to green power in the UK is actually easy as some of the biggest suppliers have zero C02 emission energy. In Canada it's a little trickier but not much.

This is such an obvious way to reduce C02 emissions it's hard to believe more people aren't doing it. I read in the newspaper in London that British Gas and Electricity had created a 100% green energy option but had only had a few hundred customers sign up this year. I scratched my head and wondered how much they'd publicised this option. Probably very little. I put this down to the simple fact that most people don't know the option exists. If they do they assume it will be more expensive, complicated or unreliable. It might be a bit of a pain to switch your energy supplier folks but do it once and go carbon neutral forever!

Green Suppliers in Britain Ethiscore rating (out of 20)

Ecotricity New Energy Plus [E]	14.5
GE 100 electricity tariff [E]	14.5
Ecotricity electricity	13.5
GE 10 Electricity tariff	13.5
N.Ireland Eco Energy green tariff [E]	13.5
RSPB/Scottish & Southern electricity [E]	12.5
EDF Electricity green tariff	8.5
Scottish Power Green/H2O electricity	8.5
Powergen 'Go Green' dual fuel tariff	8
Juice green energy tariff	5.5

Use Which? (see link under orgainsations) to calculate your tariff.

Green Energy Suppliers in Canada

As mentioned it's a little trickier in Canada as there are less green suppliers and you may actually end up paying a bit more. You won't have to do get another hook up or install anything with any of these companies. You just sign up with them and get your power from the grid as per usual. Your power won't be interrupted during the switch.

Here's the thing though: In Ontario power is subsidised by tax dollars. When you hear that price has been "capped" it means that once the cost goes above certain level then tax dollars pay the extra amount. So your energy may be capped at 5.5 cents per kilowatt hour but taxes dollars are, in effect, subsidising energy usage. By switching to a green provider you're freeing up tax dollars for other things like health care and social services. The government should also be lobbied to move subsidies from C02 producing sources to green sources.

Here are some Green Power suppliers for you in Canada.

ONTARIO:

Bullfrog - Great option. N
Electricity Choices - Great calculator to show cost vs. C02 saved

Alberta:

Enmax - 100% wind power

I'll be updating this with more information shortly. If you have any companies to recommend please do so!

Energy Saving Trust - Not as Boring as it Sounds

2007-11-11T11:52:00.000-08:00

http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/

This is a great site with all kinds of practical and easy to implement suggestions. The site is obviously British but the energy tips are applicable to all. Great site.

Click on the "What can I do Today?" tab for a great list of tips and easy interactive demonstrations. Check the links on the left for:
*I love the "How Effecient is Your Home?" link. It pulls up a graphic of a house that you click on and it shows you areas where you lose heat, energy and tells you how much money and CO2 you would save by making a change.
*The REALLY simple stuff is under "Cheap and Simple Tips."
*There's a list of the "Top Energy Saving Measures."

Check out all the great information on your impact on climate, environmental products, home improvements, and even how to generate your own renewable energy (and get grants for it!).

Have I mentioned that most of these measures will SAVE you money. Once again...with sustainability everyone's a winner.

Transisition Towns

2007-11-05T13:54:00.001-08:00

I just realized this doesn't fall under the label "effortless" but it's a fantastic initiative. If it doesn't fall under "effortless environmentalism" then it surely falls under "Good News for a Change" Transition Towns is a charity that assists towns in transforming into sustainable communities.

Here's their explanation from their website:

What is a Transition Town (or village / city / forest / island)?

A Transition Initiative is a community that is unleashing its own latent collective genius to look Peak Oil and Climate Change squarely in the eye and to discover and implement ways to address this BIG question:

"for all those aspects of life that this community needs in order to sustain

itself and thrive, how do we significantly increase resilience (to mitigate

the effects of Peak Oil) and drastically reduce carbon emissions (to

mitigate the effects of Climate Change)?"

The resulting coordinated range of projects across all these areas of life leads to a collectively designed energy descent pathway.

The community also recognises two crucial points:

that we used immense amounts of creativity, ingenuity and adaptability on the way up the energy upslope, and that there's no reason for us not to do the same on the downslope
if we collectively plan and act early enough there's every likelihood that we can create a way of living that's significantly more connected, more vibrant and more in touch with our environment than the oil-addicted treadmill that we find ourselves on today.

They've created 20 towns in the UK, Ireland and Australia. Great resource and support for towns that want to change.

Ethical Consumer Magazine and Website

2007-11-04T04:30:00.000-08:00

www.ethicalconsumer.org

The parent company of Ethiscore - which I previously talked about on this blog - are a fantastic organisation that researches companies business practices. They research the operations of companies then recommend them based on their actions AND quality and price.

As they say on their website:

20 years of independent research into the social and environmental records of companies.

Discover the truth about the brands and products we buy, from baby food to broadband, washing machines to wine.

Learn about alternative products from more ethical companies, what to avoid and what are the Best Buys.

Once again you can find quality products, good value, and ethical conduct. Everyone wins again!

Due to the fact that no funding comes from advertising there is a yearly fee to subscribe.

Ethiscore

2007-11-03T02:40:00.000-07:00

www.ethiscore.org

A friend of mine advised me to avoid overuse of the term "ethical" on this blog if I wanted to reach more than just those who had already converted to the environmental cause. The environmental cynic would supposedly be turned off by talking about ethical companies as shopping ethically is, I assume, so hard to do. After all most companies out source to third world nations for labour, engage in harmful pollution, and put the bottom line ahead of everything else.

I used to agree, however, I'm finding out there's a lot of great changes going on out there and a lot of opportunity to use companies that are more ethical and environmentally friendly. The more consumers change their spending habits the more companies will change their ways.

Which brings me to Ethiscore.

Here's a great organisation that researches and ranks companies based on their ethical conduct. It researches companies practices in the following areas.

Environment (Environmental Reporting, Nuclear Power, Climate Change, Pollution & Toxics, Habitats & Resources)

People (Human Rights, Workers' Rights, Supply Chain Policy, Irresponsible Marketing, Armaments)

Animals (Animal Testing, Factory Farming, Other Animal Rights)

Politics (Political Activity, Boycott Call, Genetic Engineering, Anti-Social Finance, Company Ethos)

Product Sustainability (Organic, Fairtrade, Positive Environmental Features, Other Sustainability)

So now you can find out which companies are the most ethical and take it from there. My plan is to look at companies ethical and environmental policies and then look at price and service. If the price is way too high then I just won't use them. If there service is not good then I won't use it either. I'm certain I'll end up using a company that has better ethical and environmental practices than if I hadn't looked into it though.

As mentioned earlier on this blog I signed up for a Smile bank account based on the fact they have a great ethical policy, great rates, lower fees and great customer service. According to Ethiscore.org they rate a 7 out of 20 which is surprisingly low. The highest bank was Norwich & Peterborough internet banking and they rated just 13.5 out of 20. I could hang my head and give up or I could note that Lloyds TSB (my former bank) ranks a shocking 2.5 out of 20. In fact most of the big banks rank 4.5 or under. Go to http://www.ethiscore.org/ to see the rankings.

Ethiscore is a consumer funded organisation so there is a fee to join. 15 pounds gets you a years subscription.

Abel and Cole

2007-11-02T09:38:00.000-07:00

http://www.abel-cole.co.uk

Organic produce delivered to your door. This highly ethical company also has unbelievable customer service.

They have a large selection of items beyond fruit and vegetables. They also have organic meat, beer, wine, environmentally safe cleaning products, recipes, and a plethora of other great stuff.

They have a mandate to source as much as they can locally and even plan their delivery routes based on the most efficient routes so as to reduce CO2.

They've won customer service awards and have scored 14th on the list of best companies to work for in the UK.

The Farmers Choice Initiative
They also have a charitable initiative wherein they generate funding for schools and support local farmers. Here's some info from their site. I hope to set this up with my school shortly.

The Farmer's Choice has been designed to raise maximum funds for minimum effort (sounds "effortless" to me)
Selling just 50 bags per week will raise around £3,000 per year for your school and takes just one person under an hour per week
25% of what parents and teachers spend on their fresh organic produce goes straight to the school
Not only are you helping your school, you are also helping local British growers, as we give them 40% of the bag price

Great company, great services, helps the environment, helps education... did I mention great company? I like them.

Ethical Superstore

2007-11-01T08:30:00.000-07:00

An online store with a HUGE range of products. One of the best things I noticed as I was surfing the site was a solar powered charger for electronic devices like phones and ipods. Great idea on so many levels.

First it's obviously portable so you can make sure your phone/ipod doesn't run out of juice.

Secondly why not use it at home and save on electricity? There's a huge issue coming up about products on standby and products that chargers that continue to suck electricity despite the battery being fully charged. In fact, California has just passed the "Vampire Slayer Act" (seriously!) to combat this kind of thing.

What's Standby?

Anything that displays a clock or any other information when you turn it off is still using electricity. Many TVs and computers don't fully power down when turned off.
Estimates of energy used from products on standby range from 10% - 30% of your energy bill!!!

The only knock I have on The Ethical Superstore is they seem to be expensive.

Anita Roddick - Founder of The Body Shop

2007-10-30T02:27:00.000-07:00

The mandate of this blog is to keep things short sweet and simple - not to post articles but I couldn't resist this. I pulled this quote off a post on The Lazy Environmentalist. Anita Roddick who founded The Body Shop and died September 10 of this year summed up what the ethos of this blog perfectly.

The Body Shop has been under fire for not following through on their environmental commitments but I found out that after Roddick took the company public she was eventually fired by the board of her own company when the environmental policies that made the company so inspirational and successful got in the way of maximum profit.

Anyway here's the quote.

Tragically, she died yesterday aged just 64 from a brain hemorhage. A truly remarkable activist, environmental campaigner and ethical entrepreneur, here are some of her own inspirational words...

I believe in businesses where you engage in creative thinking, and where you form some of your deepest relationships. If it isn't about the production of the human spirit, we are in big trouble. I didn't go to business school, didn't care about financial stuff and the stock market. I want to work for a company that contributes to and is part of the community. I want something not just to invest in. I want something to believe in. If I can't do something for the public good, what the hell am I doing? Consumers have not been told effectively enough that they have huge power and that purchasing and shopping involve a moral choice. If I had learned more about business ahead of time, I would have been shaped into believing that it was only about finances and quality management.

If you are an activist, you bring the activism of your life into your business, or if you love creative art, you can bring that in. If you do things well, do them better. Be daring, be first, be different, be just. If you think you're too small to have an impact, try going to bed with a mosquito. Look at the Quakers - they were excellent business people that never lied, never stole; they cared for their employees and the community which gave them the wealth. They never took more money out than they put back in.

Nobody talks of entrepreneurship as survival, but that's exactly what it is and what nurtures creative thinking. One of the interesting things is once we started to get smarter and understand the issues more, and when we realized that we were going to be a real voice, then we ventured out with an extraordinary social justice agenda.

The Body Shop Foundation is run by our staff and supports social activism and environmental activism. We don't tend to support big agencies. There is no scientific answer for success. You can't define it. You've simply got to live it and do it.

Vigilante consumers are working with human rights groups, environmental groups - the grass roots movement - and are definitely challenging corporations. We have been creating a whole range of publications for developing the activist. All knowledge should be shaped into action and we have been proselytizing that for many years. We turned all the shops into action stations to educate the public on certain issues such as human rights. We were all social activists, and the activism sort of transferred itself into a new environmental movement.

When you run an entrepreneurial business, you have hurry sickness - you don't look back, you advance and consolidate. But it is such fun.

Years ago nobody was elected on the economic ticket. It was either the education platform, or it was health or it was other issues. It is only recently that economic values have superceded every other human value.

It's a bummer.

If I Had to Recommend One Film and One Book...

2007-10-29T14:50:00.000-07:00

The Film:

An Inconvenient Truth

An Inconvenient Truth changed my entire perspective on Global Warming and the environment. I've transformed somehow from a city boy who cares a toss for trees to one who is seriously concerned and determined to get active on the environment. I'm not a nature loving person at all. I'm concerned for the state of the planet and the very real possibility it may become uninhabitable to humans and most other species in the near future. I'm sure the cockroaches will be fine but the rest of us are in trouble. So to that end check out:

www.aninconvienenttruth.co.uk

There will be those who want to split hairs and dispute minor facts in the movie but he's right and the big picture is accurate. In my opinion this is the most important movie ever made.

The Book:
Good News For a Change by David Suzuki and Holly Dressel

This book is incredible. I'm sure there are thousands if not millions of people out there who are concerned about Global Warming and environmental issues but are overwhelmed by the number of problems they are presented with that lack solutions. This book gives hope and inspires by talking about real issues that have been solve and how this has been done. If these strategies work in one place they can work anywhere. It stresses what Gore says at the end of An Inconvient Truth. The answers are out there. They already exist. We just need to implment them. An absolute must read.

USwitch

2007-10-29T14:05:00.000-07:00

Another price comparison site that's fantastic. The difference with this one is you can actually sort products by their "green" factor. I'm currently using it to switch my electricity and gas to the best and most economical green energy.

Which?

2007-10-29T12:45:00.000-07:00

Which is a consumer organization which compares products and recommends BEST BUYS based on many factors. They include bang for the buck and they do all kinds of environmental assessments and battle for consumer rights.

They do all kinds of testing...I just wish I had the job of the guy on the left there.

They have no affiliation with any company and accept no advertising so there is a fee to be a member but it's well worth it as the support saves you money. They have campaigns which result in increased consumer and employee rights as well.

Great organization.

David Suzuki.com

2007-10-29T12:23:00.000-07:00

David Suzuki is Canada's foremost Environmentalist.

His site offers 10 easy things you can do to help fix the environment and they're all easy, practical, and beneficial to your pocket book as well as the environment. One of the suggestions was go one day a week without eating meat. I read this several years ago and did it off and on. This tiny first step lead to me becoming a Vegetarian about 7 weeks ago.

Anyway check out the 10 things you can do list. Forget going veggie. The rest of the stuff is easy man and I mean EASY!

http://www.davidsuzuki.org/Climate_Change/What_You_Can_Do/at_home.asp

These steps can be taken in any country - not just Canada.

Give Or Take

2007-10-29T11:57:00.000-07:00

I've discovered a company called Give or Take.com which is really great. I've been looking around and there are a whole bunch of sites offering cash back on purchases through their sites. Basically they take a percentage of the commission that they are paid and give it back to you as a cash back on your purchase. You can then claim the cash or put it towards other purchases.

Give or Take gives you the option to put some, none, or all of your cash back reward towards charities. They also give 100% of their commissions back and not just a percentage.

I've sent an enquiry asking them how they are funded if they give all their commissions away but they're recommended by The Gaurdian, have won some awards, and are getting some good press. I'll keep you posted on the reply to my question.

Ethical Mobile Companies

2007-10-27T03:26:00.000-07:00

I was recently in the market for a mobile phone and I decided to do some research on which mobile companies were the most ethical. The companies I researched were: Virgin, Orange, O2, Vodaphone, and T-mobile - which are the biggest in the UK.

And the winner is: 02.
See www.http://www.02.com/cr/resource2006/energy_and_co2.asp

Here are the rankings:

1. 02
2. Virgin
3. Vodafone
4. Tie: Orange and T-mobile

Reasons for Rankings

The criteria I used was simple:

1. First and foremost the policy should be easy to find, clearly worded. I spent A LOT of time looking for these things. Most customers will not look at all unless it's clearly visible on the page.
2. The policy should be clearly worded and easy to understand for the average person.
4. The policy should be specific. ie. " "Will reduce carbon emissions by 40% by 2011" as Vodafone states and not something vague like "effectively manage natural resource impact." After all, what on earth does that mean?
5. I should believe the company is actually following through on it's commitments.

O2

1. No hiding their intentions here.
2. Their corporate responsibility is clearly visible on their main site at www.02.com - in fact it was the reason I started looking at the other companies and comparing them to 02.
3. Their ethical policy is front and centre on their page and appears to be front and centre in their business operations.
4. They are part of the Carbon Trust (www.carbontrust.co.uk) which is a private company set up by the government set to help companies reduce their carbon footprint.
5. They have actual reports on their carbon emissions and plans to reduce them.

VIRGIN

1. The policy was a bit more difficult to find but all you have to do is click on "about us" and you can download a pdf that is interactive, easy to understand and informative.
2. The believability factor is enhanced by Virgin's great publicity department. I've very aware that they're giving billions to aid in Africa. A quick search on the internet and I found this information:

- Pledged an estimated $3 billion for research to find eco-friendly fuels.
- Announced the development of Virgin Fuel, which is alleged to be clean-burning.
- In 2006 Branson pleged to invest all profit from his Virgin Group airline and train businesses over the next decade -- an estimated $3 billion -- to fight global warming and promote alternative energy.

Vodafone

1. Front and centre on www.vodafone.com is the corporate responsibility policy.
2. Clear goals set and good environmental policy.
3. The only drawback is the site tends to be overly wordy and a bit business speaky which might deter many customers from looking into it.
4. Vodafone is the the company that is most often found in the portfolios of ethical investors. They must know something!

Orange and T-mobile

1. Both have ethical policys but both were a bit more difficult to find.
2. T-mobile has specific goals that are immediately accessible and well laid out. Orange actually seems to be doing good things but they're vague and finding specifics required a lot of digging.
3. I have no idea how much either of these companies are actually following through on their commitments.

So which phone company did I sign up with. Just to prove that I am, in fact human, the sad truth is T-mobile. Being new to the UK I actually hadn't heard of them when I started researching. I walked into a store and they were SO far ahead in terms of pricing and the phone I would get I couldn't believe it. Since then their customer service has been OUTSTANDING. I've had a few problems and called them up to get fast service, friendly and helpful people and my issues resolved. I was going to go with 02 originally but the price of T-mobile blew them out of the water. They do seem to have a good ethical policy I just hope they're actually following through on it.

Canadians Rejoice! Ethical Banking is Available to You!

2007-10-22T11:17:00.000-07:00

I didn't think there was anything similar to Smile in Canada but a brief search has pulled one up!

Citizens Bank is an ethical online bank with similar ethical goals to smile. They've also committed to go Carbon Neutral by 2010 which I don't think Smile has.

I called Citizens Bank and spoke to a lovely customer service agent named Rahima (hope I spelled that right!). I asked a few questions about the information on their website and found out:

1. A $1000.00 overdraft is standard with all accounts (presuming you have at least decent credit I assume).
2. $8 a month gives you unlimited debit card purchases and transactions, free cheques, unlimited monthly payments.
3. If you keep $1000.00 in your account there is no monthly fee.
4. They pay higher interest than most banks and charge lower interest on loans as they're branchless.

I'll do a rate comparison shortly.

If you switch your banking to these ethical companies and more and more people so the same do you think the big banks will notice? Do you think they'll change? Create a ripple effect!

Check out this great post on Sew Green. (The link to the Blog is also on my sidebar)

http://sewgreen.blogspot.com/2007/04/ethical-banking.html

Banking? Did you say ethical banking??

2007-10-22T03:58:00.000-07:00

Sites:
www.smile.co.uk
www.thecooperativebank.co.uk

After a year of absolutely...what's the word...shit service from Lloyds TSB I decided to look for another bank. I went to an online bank called SMILE because my room mate said they have great service and give you a 500 pound overdraft for free. I discovered some really exciting stuff once I got on their website though!

They have an unbelievable ethical policy. This means when investing they won't invest in:
1. Companies or governments that fail to uphold human rights as well as companies with links to oppressive regimes.
2. Are involved in the arms trade
3. Use unfair trade practices
4. Use and develop genetically modified goods
5. Have the extraction of fossil fuels as their core business (read: oil companies).
6. Harm animals.

MORE IMPORTANTLY THOUGH THIS MEANS THEY INVEST IN:

1. Companies that support human rights and governments.
2. Use fair trade practices.
3. Provide renewable energy resources and are involved in recycling and waste reduction.
4. Use natural unmodified goods.
5. Find ways to test products without harming animals.

Smile is part of The Co-operative Bank so I went and checked out their website. Turns out their mortgage holders contributed 250,000 pounds to combat climate change.

So this company fits perfectly into the mandate of this blog. Simply by switching your mortgage to another company you can combat climate change. You can take money away from harmful companies and governments and support positive global impact by simply banking with another bank.

Now I know what you're thinking: "Surely the rates and service are terrible. I'll be paying more for the account, paying higher interest, and getting lower interest on my money. Fortunately the rates of interest they pay are higher than many banks, the fees are lower, and the service is better.

Smile boasts that 90% of their customers would recommend the bank to their friends.

Addendum

Excerpt from an article from The Ethical Investor

Ethics benefit bank
Ethics continue to be an important
influence on the profits enjoyed by The
Co-operative Bank. Over a third of the
bank’s £132 million profits in 2004 were
directly attributable to its ethical and
sustainability policies. The equivalent
figure in the previous year was 29%.
The bank arrives at these figures each
year by asking its customers what
value they attach to its ethical policies.
This year’s increase is largely the result
of ‘an increasing number of loan and
savings account customers joining and
staying for ethical reasons’.
Disclosure law comes into force

Freecycle

2007-10-22T03:55:00.000-07:00

site: www.freecycle.org

I'm sorry...did you say free?

I've just discovered there's a huge network called "Freecycle" which, ostensibly, was set up to reduce the amount of waste that goes into landfills. It was started in Tuscon Arizona and has spread all across the world. It's simply a yahoo group in which people post messages with items they are giving away for free.

How it works:

1. Go to: www.freecycle.org
2. Type in your city or area.
3. Go to that areas group and join. (If you have a Yahoo account already then you can just log in)
4. Read messages, contact community members, pick up stuff.

There's no cost for the site.

I know what you're thinking! "Well obviously it's all junk that know one wants, it's old, it's broken, or something is wrong with it." You'd be amazed actually. We got a REFRIGERATOR that is not very old and in perfect condition!

Pros
1. Tons of free products!
2. It feels good. I swear!
3. Reduces landfill waste.
4. Saves resources. Did you know we're currently consuming at the rate of 4 planets? That's not good.
4. Find affordable goods.
5. Move unwanted goods with little to no hassle.

Cons:
1. It is obviously quite random so you may have to be patient if you're looking for something specific.
2. If you don't have a car it can be difficult to pick things up.
3. You're not sure what you're getting until you actually see it. It's free though so what's the real risk?
4. Areas with higher density populations will have more goods available.

The motivations for people's generosity are probably pretty complex but a lot of people probably do it for the environmental reasons. Others may just want to move things. Say you have a desk - as I did when I was moving from Toronto and you can't get rid of it. Put it on Freecycle and someone will come take it away. There's all kinds of stuff in your house I'm sure you'd be happy just to get rid of.

The only rule is your first post must be an offer. This doesn't mean you can't get stuff it just means you can't post a "Wanted" ad to request items until you offer something.

Let's stop this:

and get free stuff along the way!