Archive for October, 2007
October 9, 2007 · Filed under Carbon Dioxide emissions, CO2 emissions, Companies going green, Global Cool · Tagged carbon footprint, climate change, CO2 emissions, Global Cool, royal family, Tony Blair
As I mentioned earlier, Scarlett Johanssen is on the green bandwagon. She is helping put ‘Global Cool’ in the headlines. What is Global Cool I hear you ask. Well it’s a charity that is looking to get us to reduce our personal CO2 emissions by a tonne. In fact they want to get a whopping billion of us to do it!! They’ll even give you a CO2 workout card giving you ideas on how to reduce your CO2 footprint.
In their own words Global Cool ‘is a ten-year campaign to inspire one billion people to save a planet. Over the next ten years, we will be partnering with the biggest names in entertainment to spread our message and achieve one goal: inspire one billion people to each reduce their personal CO2 emissions by one tonne.
This small reduction X a billion people working together is not only a huge political mandate for change; it will also buy us time to develop long-term, sustainable solutions to the way we produce and consume energy, and eventually defeat global warming.‘
Global Cool is being endorsed by some big names including Tony Blair and Prince Charles. It is also amongst London’s top 1000 most influential players so it must be doing something right. Why not sign up yourself? Ethical and Green will keep you up to date with how we are doing….
We strongly recommend you check out their website by clicking on the link http://www.globalcool.org
Take some responsibility for your planet and help save it by reducing your CO2 emissions.
October 9, 2007 · Filed under Uncategorized · Tagged Bill Gates, ecorazzi, green celebrities, leo diCaprio, Scarlet Johanssen
This is really just a bit of fun! I’ve been talking about how being green/ethical is fashionable at the moment and let’s face it if there’s a bandwagon to jump on there are some celebrities who will do it. Any idea who the top ten ‘green’ celebrities are??
According to an article by HippyShopper the 10 celebrities who worry the most about the environment are as follows:
1. Leo DiCaprio
2. Heather Mills-McCartney
3. Sheryl Crow
4. Scarlet Johanssen
5. Arnold Schwarzenegger
6. Bill Gates
7. Sienna Miller
8. Fearne Cotton ??
9. Chris Martin
10. Jeremy Clarkson (a joke I’m told!)
They left out the obvious ones such as Al Gore, Sting, Bob Geldof to name but a few. I’m not sure these guys would have been on my list or in that order but there we go.
Considering we live in such a celebrity focussed society let’s hope that their endorsement will have a positive effect on the environment. Apparently the watching of ‘green’ celebs is called ecorazzi! You learn something new every day……
October 8, 2007 · Filed under Ethical Finance, green money, socially responsible investing · Tagged charity credit cards, ehtical credit cards, Ethical Finance, ethical funds, green credit cards, green funds, green money
1984 saw the arrival of the first UK Ethical Fund. An ethical fund invests in companies that give something back to the community. This can be in the form of creating a product that is of benefit to members of the community such as hearing aids for the deaf or that puts money back into the community.
Green funds on the other hand invest in products, services or processes that help the environment. Beware, a green fund may also invest in companies that are not ‘ethical.’ If you are unsure it’s best to consult a financial advisor and stipulate what exactly you are looking for.
As I’ve mentioned before, green and ethical funds are on the up. However, if you are looking to invest your money it’s good to way up the pros and cons of soley investing in one particular type of fund. The Co-operative Bank give lots of useful information so take a look at their site for more info.
Over the last few months so called ‘green’ and ‘charity’ credit cards have taken a beating from some financial advisors. Some people feel that the rates you get from a green/charitable credit card are not as good as those from ‘normal’ credit cards and that you would be better off taking a ‘normal’ deal and having a monthly direct debit to charity. What are other people’s thoughts on this? Would be good to have your opinions………..
Over the next few weeks I’ll take a look at who are offering ethical and green funds and what the benefits are. If you have any tips feel free to post a comment.
October 8, 2007 · Filed under Companies going green, Ethical Finance · Tagged ethical avertising, ethical junction, green consumers
Today I came across an article published in the Idependent called ‘Ethical Promotion: The future is green as adland cleans up its act.’ It would appear that advertising agencies have now jumped on the bandwagon….
So what actually is ‘ethical advertising?’ According to the article ‘By thoroughly vetting potential clients, they argue, it’s possible to make sure they only take on companies and causes whose moral, social and/or environmental values they share.‘ So there we have it. At the forefront of this campagin is Ethical Junction who are ‘an online network of businesses that are “positively screened” to ensure they meet strict standards relating to diversity, employment practices and environmental sustainability.’
Ethical Junction have recently announced Ethical Ads that will allow business to advertise for a flat fee on their website. This will mean that big companies such as the Cooperative Bank will pay the same as your local farmer who sells organic veg. This is excellent news for small companies who need to get off the ground. It also allows the consumer to be safe in the knowledge that the companies on the site have already been screened. I might just take a look myself!
The article also looks at a few other companies who are beginning to ‘go green.’ Check out the article for yourself at http://news.independent.co.uk/media/article3013288.ece.
October 4, 2007 · Filed under Carbon Dioxide emissions, CO2 emissions, Companies going green · Tagged AlgaeLink, biofuel, Carbon Dioxide emissions, carbon footprint, CO2 emissions
As I have mentioned before some of our carbon emissions come from fuel. In fact our cars give out one fifth of the UK’s greenhouse gases. Not to mention the noxious fumes that pollute our lungs. So what can we do to reduce the impact of our cars? Clearly the biggest impact would be having less cars on the road. If this isn’t possbile then there are several ways we can ‘clean up’ our cars.
Over the last few years as climate change has come to the fore, car companies have been doing their bit to make sure their cars limit their CO2 emissions. Most car dealers now will show you how green their cars are. There is also a lower road tax band for the cars that have the lowest carbon emissions. If you are thinking of buying a new car it is worth looking into. I’ll try and add some more information on this soon….
Most of us know about electric cars and the associated problems with these. However a Dutch firm are about to release the next form of biofuel produced by farming algae. The company is called AlgaeLink and is part of Bioking. The fuel works using ‘photobioreactors.’ It is said to produce as much as 70% oil which is 25 times more oil than rape seed. Soy, palm and corn also produce oil that can be used as biofuel. Other advantages are, as the company points out ‘short production cycle of one year, algae’s ability to grow in harsh conditions and the fact it just needs water, sunlight and nutrients to get going.’
So AlgaeLink appear to be on to something…Watch this space to see how it gets on. According to the company Boeing are aleady interested but we’ll have to see where this interest leads…….
October 3, 2007 · Filed under Carbon Dioxide emissions, CO2 emissions · Tagged Carbon Dioxide emissions, CO2 emissions
Part of the growing political agenda on climate change includes the possibility of ‘carbon rationing.’ In essence this means rationing the amount of carbon emissions per head. If we take an example of airtravel this could mean that we are limited to a certain number of flights a year where the distance we travel would be taken into account.
There are however some intersting obstancles to the fairness of this policy. Firstly, as I’ve noted in a previous post our individual carbon footprint comprises more than heat, light, transport and electricity. Therefore how can rationing take into account our carbon emissions made from shopping etc? It is feasible that theses could exceed a the Co2 emissions from a flight.
The next issue is that of population growth. If carbon emissions are worked out per head it could be a benefit to have a larger family which is not what we need in an already overcrowded planet.
In Britain we cause an average 10.92 tonnes of carbon emissions a year. Fertilisers are said to be the largest source of CO2 emissions in agriculture. So if we can reduce the carbon footprint of the clothing industry, who use agriculture to make man-made fibres and then transport all over the world, we will be doing well! The way we can do this is by using more natural and organic fibres and reducing the miles the clothing travels.
October 3, 2007 · Filed under calculate carbon footprint, Carbon Dioxide emissions, CO2 emissions · Tagged Carbon Dioxide emissions, carbon footprint, CO2 emissions
Research has shown that in the UK our biggest carbon emissions come from home energy (such as heating and electrics) and travel (road and rail.) Other emissions come from the production and transportation of the products we buy, be this food or constructing our homes. Ways we can reduce these emissions are by recycling products and use companies who are socially responsible. We’ll be bringing you information on the top companies to opt for over the coming weeks. See our ‘companies going green’ category for more information.
You can also find ways to reduce your carbon footprint on our ‘top tips for reducing CO2 emissions.’
For now why don’t you take the Ethical Footprint Quiz at www.myfootprint.org to calculate your own carbon footprint. Or check out what Global Cool are about by reading our article here.
October 2, 2007 · Filed under Companies going green · Tagged energy efficiency, green campaign, MTV
You may have guessed from the title but our friends at MTV have launched a campaign to get us to ‘Switch.’ They’ll be showing adverts encouraging people all over the world to ‘use what you’ve got.’ The adverts will ask us to switch off lights and unplug out mobile phone chargers as well as leaving the car at home. MTV has an audiance of 1.5 billion viewers which you have to admit is pretty impressive. According to Bill Roedy, vice chairman of MTV Worldwide ‘If less than 1% of MTV’s potential viewers around the world switched to three energy-efficient light bulbs, it would be equivalent to taking 100,000 cars off the road.’ Wow!
In true MTV style celebrities such as Enrique Inglesias and Shaggy will be asking us to turn the thermostat down by one degree etc…Maybe one of them will one day end up writing a song about it!!
So there we have it. It may seem like a simple campaign but if we all do our bit we could literally help save the world (from global warming at least!) We may have to skip over the fact that MTV was borne in one of the countries who is the biggest polluter….
October 2, 2007 · Filed under green credit cards · Tagged charity, credit cards, ethical credit cards, green credit cards
Recently I was looking to change my credit card so that when I was spending money on it I could be reassured that some of it was going to a good cause. The cynical amongst you are probably thinking well why not just donate straight to charity in the first place, is this just to ease your conscience as you spend money on objects you don’t really need. In response I would say truthfully that there is probably an element of my thought processes in there but anything that enhances shopping has to be good!! Also some of the deals I looked at seemed pretty good. At the end of the day if I would be spending on a card anyway and if it can help others and the planet then great.
So, choosing a green/ethical credit card can be a minefield. There are cards that help the planet, those that help Africa and most major charities even have their own card now. Over the next few weeks I’ll post a summary of some of the deals I found when I was looking. It will be up to you which one (if any) you go for. It would also be good to get some comments on the pros and cons of ethical credit cards.
October 2, 2007 · Filed under Carbon Dioxide emissions · Tagged Carbon Dioxide emissions, carbon footprint, carbon neutral, CO2 emissions, Coldplay
Everyone has heard about global warming but what is the cause? Well it’s all down to carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Burning fossil fuels such as coal and gas cause carbon dioxide to be emitted into the atmosphere. In turn this causes the Earth’s atmosphere to change and warm up, hence the term greenhouse effect because the heat becomes trapped. This is what causes climate change and the melting of ice in the Antartic. It’s also why our weather is becoming more erratic.
The way to combat this is to stamp out your carbon footprint. Our carbon footprint is left by our everyday carbon emissions such as using electricity, driving cars and taking flights. However, if we reduce our carbon emissions equal to those that we use we can get rid of our carbon footprint. This is why bands such as Coldplay are planting trees when they go on tour. Their carbon emissions are high due to travelling by plane all over the planet and they use amazing amounts of electricity to put on their shows, By planting trees, which absorb CO2 they are reducing their overall footprint.
More information can be found at CarbonFund.
