Welcome to our Eco News section... Environmental, green and ethical - news from our listed companies, plus topical national & international articles from around the globe ........ December 2007
The EPIC Centre
The Lincolnshire Agricultural Society, are proud to announce the launch of The EPIC Centre, the UK’s largest green built Conference & Event Centre housed on the Lincolnshire Showground.
The EPIC Centre has been built to the highest environmental standards and upon completion will be a full service venue capable of professionally hosting conferences and social events for up to 1200 guests.
The £7 million conference & event centre operates over 1800M2 of unobstructed exhibit space on the ‘greenest of available technologies’ and sits on 274 acres of prime event property.
The EPIC Centre has announced that it is to host their 1st Signature Event - the 1st Annual Sustainable Living Exhibition, as a feature attraction at the 2-day Lincolnshire Agricultural Show.
The Sustainable Living Exhibition will focus on the environmentally aware consumer, as well as educating the novice consumer on ECO products, their availability, practicality, cost, savings and the necessity for their usage - and with the 2008 LAS Show attendance expected to reach over 65,000, this showcasing opportunity is an Eco Retailers dream.
Policymakers from across the globe are assembling in Bali throughout the first two weeks in December for crucial climate change talks.
The Conference, hosted by the Government of Indonesia, is taking place at the Bali International Convention Centre and brings together representatives of over 180 countries together with observers from intergovernmental and nongovernmental organizations, and the media.
Many of the member organisations from Stop Climate Chaos, the coalition behind the I Count campaign, will be at the UN hosted talks and will be keeping the world up to date on what's really going on, with Greenpeace, running a 24-hour news feed from Bali with the best of the blogs.
To mark the UN Climate Change talks, a series of demonstrations will be taking place across the globe on Saturday 8th December to call on urgent action from world leaders.
There are three rallies happening in the UK, in Belfast, Glasgow and London.
The London leg of the National Climate March - Global Day of Action will kick off with acycle protest, leaving from Lincoln’s Inn Fields in Holborn at 10am.
Cyclists will ride to Westminster via two stop-off points for speeches en route.
At the Bali Conference itself, Al Gore will be speaking about the need for a visionary treaty to be completed, ratified and brought into effect everywhere in the world by 2010.
The United States is reported to be behind moves to drop tough targets for greenhouse gas emissions cuts, according to Reuters.
The news agency has quoted delegates at the climate change conference in Bali saying the US is pushing for specific targets for 2020 to be removed from any new agreement.
Delegates at the conference are meeting to try and fix emissions cuts by rich nations of 25-40 per cent below 1990 levels by 2020.
However, the US said goals for 2020 should be negotiated over the next two years rather than fixed in advance. The US has previously refused to sign up to the Kyoto agreement, which set targets for emissions cuts up until 2012.
Meanwhile, the UK Government is planning a major offshore wind power drive in a bid to reduce the UK’s reliance on fossil fuels.
The Government is planning to identify sites in British waters for enough wind farms to produce 25 gigawatts of electricity by 2020, which could make Britain's off-shore wind industry twice the size of any other country.
Friends of the earth welcomed the initiative and said it would make Britain a “world leader in wind power”.
Britain's National parks - enjoyed by 100 million visitors a year - must undergo a conservation revolution if they are to meet the challenges of climate change and the introduction of new farming practices.
This is the stark warning of leading environmentalist Adrian Phillips, who has warned the National Parks Societies that our most precious landscapes will have to adapt in the near future. Phillips wants planners to encourage small renewable energy projects, such as wind turbines, hydroelectric schemes and solar water heaters. He warned that new planning laws will have to be introduced to make new buildings carbon-neutral and the parks entirely so.
Traditional farming would be wound down in marginal areas while some landscapes should be 're-wilded' to absorb more water and reduce flooding downstream. Peat bogs, which can store carbon, must be conserved and restored.
A former director-general of the Countryside Commission, which was subsumed into the Countryside Agency in 1999, Phillips worked for the World Conservation Union and is a professor of countryside and environmental planning at Cardiff University. He is also a trustee of the National Trust and sits on a plethora of crucial bodies.
He said: 'The impact of climate change in national parks is going to be even greater than anyone has foreseen. No one is arguing that we get rid of national parks. Far from it. But the forces are so large that the traditional approach is not enough.'
Method's pioneering product range has been available in the UK for a little while now, but did you know that it is also produced in the UK in 100% post recycled plastic bottle that is also 100% recyclable?
The cleaning products for the home are non-toxic, biodegradable, naturally-derived and never tested on animals, and are the first cleaning range to list all the ingredients that they use on the products.
The range includes all purpose, bathroom & specialist cleaners, foaming hand washes, washing up liquid and even soy candles.
Method started manufacturing in the UK soon after their arrival in 2006, and already produce 75% of the line here. They're experimenting with new technology, with the first 100% recycled plastic bottle, which is already launched with the Go Naked line and soon in the hand washes.
They're not in every store (yet!), but are working to grow to more and more places in the UK. We encourage you to pester your local store manage to brighten up their cleaning aisle with a little Method!
Now available in John Lewis, Waitrose, Tesco’s, Sainsbury’s and Ocado.com.
"I really try to be as 'green' as possible in my everyday life but I simply can't do without my car. And I like it to be clean" says Helen Andrews, founder of Eco Car Shop
. But washing a car with the traditional bucket and sponge method wastes over 10 litres of water and a hose around 180 litres. Domestic water is also treated before and after use, and heating water accounts for a lot of the energy used in homes, so the more water used, the more energy is needed, contributing to climate change. But that's not the end of the story, ingredients in car washing products include detergents and chemicals that are simply washed down the drain and into the eco-system.
The answer? Eco Touch, a waterless car 'wash' and polish that is non-toxic, biodegradable and petrochemical-free. The user simply sprays the plant-based formula onto the car, letting the natural ingredients loosen and encapsulate dirt particles. Microfibre towels then lift the dirt and buff the formula to a deep shine.
To find out more about cleaning cars without water and to order Eco Touch go to www.ecocarshop.co.uk
Green City Day Event - Sheffield
An exciting new event with a Green theme is set to take place in Sheffield during the month of May 2008. The event called Green City Day is intended to be an interactive showcase of healthy, environmental and ethical practises aimed at the general public. The project is a partnership between Green City Action and the Parks and Countryside department of Sheffield City Council, with additional support from the Streetforce department of Sheffield City Council and a marketing campaign from the Sheffield Newspapers Group.
Green City Action has been producing a wide variety of successful family orientated events in the Sheffield area for over nine years now. One of which has been our local Burngreave community based Environment Day. This event has grown steadily over the last four years from 300 plus people on the first event to over 3,000 this year, and attendance throughout the events last year was over 30,000 people. The proposed Green City Day event will attract numbers of 20,000 plus over two days in a centrally located park in the city.
The show will be set up to engage all members of the family with the following attractions with a huge traders/exhibitors market of services and goods for sale, activities and workshops such as making hanging baskets, bird boxes, composting, woodworking and wicker weaving, and many more, garden display competitions and house décor presentations, sports and healthy pursuits activities and classes, whole food, vegan, organic & continental food stalls, a huge green maze for the kids circus skills and arts and crafts, bio fuels for the home, car and workplace and animal and nature displays
Green City Action are now looking for traders, workshops, activity groups, exhibitors and gardeners etc. to bring this event to fruition.
Yorkshire photographer and artist, Jason Elliott, has taken a tongue-in-cheek look into the future with a series of images of what the Calder Valley may look like after a few years of Climate Change.
Jason will be exhibiting many of these images at the Alternative Technology Centre throughout December and January, and a selection of signed and numbered prints will be available in the Green Shop there.
A variety of scenes have been transformed by tropical vegetation and exotic wild animals making the familiar seem strangely unfamiliar. From tropical storms over the Co-op to parrots flying down New Road… expect the unexpected.
“I wanted to draw attention to the fact that Climate Change is happening, but to get the message across in a more light-hearted way than we are used to. It’s an extremely serious issue, particularly in areas like ours that can be prone to flooding, but it's good to engage people in a way that doesn’t make them feel they are being preached to” said the artist.
Jason is currently working on scenes from other parts of Calderdale and new images are being regularly added so check back often.
Ethika has a company mission that sets out ultimately to eliminate poverty in Pakistan by empowering women to work directly in trade and encouraging community regeneration, providing undergraduates with a career progression and allocating 25% of all profits on garments sold to the orphans and earthquake victims in Pakistan.
'I am a mother myself so the children’s courage, and peoples pragmatism, to get up and go whatever their circumstances really touched me. I aim that Ethika will provide that hope for them.’ says Rubana Ahmad, Ethika's Director.
Ethika prides its collection on unique short run production that have an eclectic mix of design but original hand sewn charms. This is real craftsmanship in every sense of the word. Every single garment created is a genuine work of art, a bespoke piece. The styling is contemporary in true East meets West culture and there is a strong use of embroidery appliqué, cutwork, beading and hand embroidery as well as exquisite block printing design throughout the entire collection. Garments are made with community trade chiffons, satin, silks and brocade fabric from Pakistan.
And for the next two weeks only, Ethika are offering a 10% Discount off your first purchase plus free postage and packaging and free returns. www.ethikaboutique.com
Rich nations must do more on climate change: Prince Charles
The world's 'haves' must do more to combat climate change, Prince Charles and a former World Bank chief economist wrote in separate comment pieces published on Friday.
The articles came ahead of a key UN conference gathering some 190 countries in Bali, Indonesia, from December 3-14, with the aim of setting a strategy for negotiations to beef up action against climate change post-2012.
Writing in the Financial Times, Prince Charles said those "fortunate to have lived in the developed world since the Second World War have grown up assuming that standards of living will continue to rise generation by generation."
"But climate change will not only halt this process, it will reverse it -- and most probably forever. There is no doubt that the fate of our civilisation hangs in the balance."
The prince noted that a communique signed by the heads of more than 150 major international companies showed they believed "that the industrialised countries will have to bear much greater cuts than developing nations."
Meanwhile, in a comment piece published in The Guardian, Nicholas Stern -- who authored a major British government report last year that estimated the effects of climate change at a fifth of worldwide gross domestic product if nothing is done -- echoed Prince Charles.
Stern described climate change as the result of "the greatest market failure the world has seen", but added that "necessary commitments are increasingly being demonstrated by political action and elections around the world."
The Vegan Coast to Coast Challenge 2008 - raising money for St. Francis Animal Welfare
In May 2008 Gemma and Ben, two Southampton vegans, will be embarking on a 190 mile sponsored walk from Robin Hood’s Bay on the East coast of Britain to St. Bee’s Head on the West. The route passes through the North Yorkshire Moors, Yorkshire Dales and Lake District, and features 16,300 feet of elevation. Whilst it's usually completed in around 2 weeks, they are aiming to reach the end in 8 days.
They are undertaking this challenge to raise money for St. Francis Animal Welfare (registered charity number 263172), which takes in both domestic and wild animals and looks after them until they can be placed with loving homes or released back into the wild. It is their policy to never put a healthy animal down. Please see their website www.sfaw.co.uk for more information on the charity.
They are trying to raise enough funds so that St Francis can kit out a 'nursery' room ready for all the orphaned baby animals that tend to get brought in around spring time, so that they will not have to turn any away. Through this event they are also hoping to raise awareness of veganism and prove that the vegan diet can provide all the nutrition needed for optimal fitness.
If you would like to support them in this challenge, please visit their website www.vegancoast2coast.co.uk - Every penny raised will go directly to St. Francis Animal Welfare and enable them to care for many sick, injured or unwanted animals in need of help.
Jo Wood Organics
Maker of organic skin care and beauty products, Jo Wood Organics introduces a new lifestyle category to the collection, launching with Natural Soy Wax candles.
The unique organic fragrances are available in a natural soy wax base and have a 40 hour burn time, and are beautifully etched with an art deco design.
Available in two signature organic fragrances, Usiku is deeply aromatic, organically fragranced, and has a contrasting combination of sensuous smoky, earthy and spicy aromas to evoke the senses. Light this candle at night to help warm your spirit.
Amka is a luxurious, organically fragranced, soy wax candle to brighten the spirits with its aroma therapeutic properties.
To view the complete range of body and bath oils, body lotions and soy wax candles visit www.jowoodorganics.com. The last day for orders before Christmas is Monday 17th December.
What's The Worst That Could Happen?
Our friends at Ethical Junction have guided us to this You Tube video.
It's not the usual short take, but is an interesting presentation about Global Warming, with an important message & argument for and against the different paths humanity can follow.
It's just over 9 minutes long, so take a seat and ponder the possibilities.
The Government has given the go-ahead for the biggest biomass plant in the world to be built on the South coast of Wales.
The 350-megawatt wood chip-fuelled electricity generating plant will cost £400 million to set up and will be sited in the industrial town of Port Talbot.
Environmental groups oppose the project because of its location with Greenpeace expressing concern that wood would be transported over the Atlantic Ocean. The exact source of the wood to be used has not been made clear. There has also been a local campaign against the proposal, with 7,000 people signing a petition. However, announcing the approval for the project, Business Secretary John Hutton said the plant would produce enough energy to power half the homes in Wales.
“It joins eight major renewables projects already given the green light in the past 12 months alone and is another important step towards the low carbon economy envisaged by the Prime Minister,” said Mr Hutton.
The plant is expected to contribute about 70 percent of the Welsh Assembly's 2010 renewable energy target, and have a 25-year lifetime. It will create around 150 new jobs. Environmental groups also said they were disappointed the plant would only be producing electricity and not heating as other similar plants do. www.theecologist.org
