Archive for November, 2008

Christmas at Marks and Spencer

November 4, 2008 · Filed under Ethical and Green Christmas · Tagged , ,


A while ago we reported how Marks and Spence had implemented Plan A- their environmental policy. 12 months on and M&S are doing really well with their plans. If you have been into their stores you will notice that they now have bags for life and are charging 5p for each plastic bag you need. By doing this they have managed to cut down on their plastic bag usage which is great for the environment.

Marks and Spencer’s CO2 emissions have also been reduced by 55 000 tonnes in the last 12 years. They are supporting farmers who are investing in renewable energy and have opened 3 eco-stores! Marks and Spencer’s are setting a great example to other high street stores.

So if you want to support the environment take a look at the M&S Christmas shop. They are currently offering free delivery on orders over £30. Included in the Christmas store are their Christmas hampers which make a great present. As always M&S lingerie makes an excellent present. With Fairtrade cotton now being sold and more support for suppliers M&S clothing make a great green present.

Worried about the credit crunch? At the moment M&S are offering 3 for the price of 2 on Christmas gifts. What are you waiting for?

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As Lewis Hamilton becomes F1 World Champion can the sport ever hope to go green?

November 2, 2008 · Filed under Carbon Dioxide emissions, carbon footprint, CO2 emissions, reduce carbon footprint · Tagged , , , ,

Firstly congratulations to Lewis Hamilton on his great achievement.  Despite not being a fan of F1 it was a great race.  Seeing how much fuel the cars use and being sponsored by companies such as Shell it made Ethical and Green wonder about how green the sport could ever be and what effect this would have on driving as a whole.

It has been estimated that 20 cars emit around 9,150 kg of carbon emissions per race which is quite staggering!  So that’s the cars.  What about all the lighting, power cables, tourists who travel from all over the world….When you add it up the carbon emissions of an F1 race are HUGE!!

We all know that a huge amount of money is invested into F1 so if they go green the investment into new technologies could benefit us all.  Max Mosley, president of the International Automobile Federation is keen for the sport to cut down on it’s carbon footprint and this season F1 cars had to have some biofuel in their tanks.  Practice laps have also been dropped to stop wasting fuel.  This is great but what next?

Well next season clean technology systems to harvest kinetic energy from deceleration and to capture heat from machines engines will become mandatory. Hotels in cities where the races are held should also stand up and be counted.  For example the Singapore Freeport skylounge at the Fullerton Hotel built a solar canopy to offset half the energy it used to entertain its 250 guests during the Singapore Grand Prix.  Wouldn’t it be great if other hotels took part in this.

It’s great to see that F1 racing is taking onboard it’s responsibilities to the planet.  However, in a sport where efficiency isn’t a priority it will be interesting to see how the proposed changes to the sport will be received by the makers of the cars.

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