Sustainable | News & Views

Eco Picture of The Day – July 2010 Top 10 Eco Pic’s

Below we have listed the Eco Pic of The Day July Top 10 Eco Pic’s.

Click the link to see the picture;

1 - The Great Pacific Garbage Patch

2 - Plastic bottle catamaran crosses Australian finish line

3 - Scrapped taxis in India

4 - Ecover factory recycle bins

5 - Dead whale found pinned to alaska cruise ship

6 - Creating art out of plastic debris

7 - Heathrow Terminal 1 recycling bins

8 - Fight for your right to clean air emissions equality

9 - Ecover orginal advertising

10 - Dead Oystercatcher killed by plastic waste

Harsh winter ‘leads to honey bee decline’

The last winter was the coldest the UK has experienced in 30 years and the harsh climate has now proved to have been particularly damaging to honey bees.

According to the British Beekeepers’ Association, around 17 per cent of the country’s population of the insects was lost to the cold.

However, there was some good news for bees, as in the last three years the number of hives has doubled to 80,000.

The association said the figures showed a “small” but “encouraging improvement” as it was revealed that the winter had a less damaging impact on bee populations than in previous years.

President Martin Smith said: “It shows our honeybees are slowly moving out of intensive care, but they are still not healthy enough.”

Many eco products make use of honey in their ingredients, including beauty lotions and potions.

Last year, the Telegraph reported that the Public Accounts Committee had estimated £200 million-worth of crops could be lost if bee numbers continue to decline.

>>> Please read the full article here

Boris to announce major green economy investment at BASELondon

Mayor of London Boris Johnson is to announce a major investment boost for London’s ‘green’ economy at BASELondon tomorrow May 27th, 9.30am at ExCeL. On the morning of the conference, the Mayor will be joined by Andreas J Goss, CEO of Siemens plc, and Sir Robin Wales, Mayor of Newham, in announcing major new plans to boost London’s share of the growing global low carbon economy.

Boris Johnson will then deliver BASELondon’s opening keynote speech, at 10am in the ExCeL conference centre, outlining his vision to make London the world’s leading low carbon centre, stimulating thousands of job opportunities in green goods and services, and creating innovative low carbon enterprise.

BASELondon is a day-long event where business and the public sector meet to crystalise the opportunities inherent in London’s transformation to a low carbon economy. Other keynote and panel speakers include Tim Smit, founder of The Eden Project, Lord Browne, formerly CEO of BP, Ian Marchant, CEO of Scottish and Southern Energy, President Jose Maria Figueres, chairman of the Carbon War Room and former president of Costa Rica, and, by video, Mayor Bloomberg of New York City.

To register as a delegate to BASE go to www.baselondonshow.co.uk.
The delegate rate is £350 and the local authority and public servant rate is £250 which provides access to all keynotes, breakour briefing sessions and the exhibition.

>>> For more information click here

The Observer Ethical Awards: Shortlist Announced

After a hotly contested debate the shortlist for The 2010 Observer Ethical awards, in association with Ecover, is announced today. Now in their fifth year the awards pay tribute to those that have an innovative way of looking at ethical issues and those who create practical solutions to these problems. In previous years the awards have attracted a diverse selection of winners from famous figures such as Ken Livingstone and David Attenborough to community projects such as Ethical Kids winners, Lomeshaye Marsh Local Nature Reserve and Stockbridge Junior Rangers.

A record number of entries was whittled down in the last round by the esteemed panel of judges that included Colin Firth, actor; Ben Fogle, TV presenter; Sue Perkins, comedian; Kate Humble, TV presenter and Ben Okri, author, and was chaired by Lucy Siegle, ethical living correspondent, The Observer.

The full shortlist

Those selected by The Observer readers:

Best Local Retailer:
Infinity Foods Shop & Bakery
Local Roots and Wellie Boots
Growing Communities

Best Online Retailer:
Riverford Organic
Abel & Cole Ltd
Frugi

Politician of the year:
Caroline Lucas
David Cameron
Ed Miliband

Campaigner of the year:
Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall
Joanna Lumley
Jamie Oliver

Those selected by the judging panel:

Ecover Ethical Kids award:
Charlton Manor Primary School
The Green Team
The Recyclists

Jupiter Big Idea award:
The Wool Packaging Company Ltd (WoolCool).
Aquamarine Power
Resomation Limited

Ethical Business award:
Bettys & Taylors of Harrogate
Ecotricity
B & Q

Fashion and Accessories sponsored by Marie Claire:
Antiform – ReMade in Leeds
From Somewhere
Pachacuti

Conservation award sponsored by National Grid:
Echoes of Blackburn Meadows
Blue Ventures Community-Based Marine Conservation
Pestival

Grassroots Project:
Project Dirt
Liftshare
Abundance

For more information on The Observer Ethical awards and the shortlist visit: www.observer.co.uk/ethicalawards.

The winners will be announced at a ceremony, hosted by Colin Firth and Lucy Siegle, in June at a location in London.

>>> Please read the full article here

£250bn tar sands money enough may transform renewables sector

Billions spent developing the Canadian tar sands over the next 15 years could be instead be used to support projects that could secure long-term clean energy supplies for the UK.

A report published yesterday (March 15th) from the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) argued that the £250 billion to be spent to be spent producing oil from the Canadian tar sands could also fund projects to accelerate the UK’s transition to a low carbon economy.

According to the authors, the money could ‘transform’ the UK’s power sector, with £264 billion being enough to make the UK meet its target of 15 per cent renewable energy by 2020.

The study also highlighted that the tar sands project is not guaranteed to bring in huge revenues.

“Companies that make big investments in tar sands risk big future losses by focusing on a business area that is only profitable if emitting carbon is cheap, oil prices are stable at a high level, and there is a large market for the oil produced,” claim the report’s authors.

“It has been conservatively estimated that £35.5 billion of UK pension assets are
invested in shares in UK oil and gas.”

Last month, Shell announced that it will continue producing upwards of an additional 100,000 barrels a day from tar sands, despite international protests from activists and environmental groups.

>>> Please read the article here

London drives sustainable fashion

A number of leading brands and sustainable clothing organisations including Levis Strauss and the Ethical Fashion Forum have signed up to the UK-government-backed Sustainable Clothing Action Plan (SCAP).

Speaking at the sustainable clothing conference at London Fashion Week, Environment Minister Dan Norris announced a number of new signatories to SCAP who would be joining the 40 companies such as Tesco, Marks & Spencer, Sainsbury‚Äôs and Oxfam that have already in pledged to improve the environmental and ethical aspects of their supply chains. New signatories this year include: British Retail Consortium, Ethical Fashion Forum, Forum for the Future, Levis Strauss, MADE-BY, Cotton Made in Africa, RSPCA, Society of Dyers and Colourists.

I’m delighted to be here amongst the industry front runners on sustainable clothing, Norris said. Because of your participation, the Action Plan and wider Clothing Roadmap initiative is progressing as planned and we are as committed as ever to working with the sector on improving the environmental and ethical footprint of fashion.
SCAP covers a broad range of commitments to make fashion more sustainable throughout its whole lifecycle, from design, to raw material selection, to production, through to retail and disposal.

Initiatives so far have seen Asda, Marks & Spencer, Tesco and Sainsbury are focus on green factories, reducing the impacts of clothing packaging, increasing their ranges of Fair Trade and Organic, increasing take back and recovery of unwanted clothing, supply chain traceability and increasing consumer messaging on low impact clothing washing practices.

In addition, the UK Department for International Development ( DFID ), as a Sustainable Clothing Roadmap stakeholder, has launched The Responsible and Accountable Garment Sector ( RAGS ) initiative to help clothing manufacturers improve working conditions for their producers in developing countries.

The RAGS fund will make £3.5 million available over three years for bids from organisations who want to make the clothing business more ethical and contribute more strongly to development in poor countries.

Read the full article at ecotextile.com

MoreEco at UKAware 2010

The team at MoreEco have increased their support for UKAware 2010 by securing a stand at the event. Therefore if you have any questions please come and visits us. Taking place on 16th and 17th April 2010, in Olympia Two, London, UK Aware is the UK’s only green and ethical lifestyle exhibition.

Also we have secured discounted tickets for this excellent Green Event. What’s more, the organisers will be donating all profits to charity!

Click here to buy tickets now and save £9.00.

Click here for more Event information.

Battery Recycling

30,000 tonnes of portable batteries enter the UK market each year.

New EU rules have come into force that require some stores selling batteries to provide in-store recycling bins. Anyone selling more than 32kg a year – equivalent to one pack of four AA batteries a day – must comply as part of targets on cutting landfill.

The UK currently recycles only 3% of portable batteries, but the aim is to raise that figure to 45% by 2016. Battery maker Varta warned that a lack of awareness among consumers could hamper the scheme’s success.

An estimated 30,000 tonnes of batteries – from those in electrical goods like torches, to rechargeable ones in mobile phones – enter the UK market each year.

At present, 97% eventually end up in landfill sites, where they can leak toxic chemicals into the soil.
The EU Batteries Directive aims to tackle that problem and cut carbon emissions by reducing the need for new batteries to be made from scratch.

All the evidence shows home collections of recyclables produce the best results

Environment Secretary Hilary Benn said: “This new legislation will make it easier for consumers to do the right thing whilst ensuring retailers fulfil their part of the bargain.”

But Vince Armitage, divisional vice-president of Varta, said he was concerned. ”The directive places the responsibility of meeting its stringent collection and recycling targets on the manufacturer, but it relies on the co-operation of consumers and retailers to make it work,” he said. ”However, a lack of promotion means that awareness of the directive among these key groups is low.
“This gives us great concern that, as a nation, we are setting ourselves up to fail before we even begin.” Varta estimates that just meeting the 10% target will cost manufacturers £3m.

Bob Gordon, from the British Retail Consortium, said retailers were ready for the new requirements, but called for a “comprehensive and continuing” government information campaign to raise awareness among consumers. He also said shops should not be the only route for collection, adding: “We need an infrastructure to develop which includes workplaces, schools, community centres and kerbside collection.

Read the full article at: bbc.co.uk/news

2 for 1 Events

One Life Live now takes place at The Vitality Show, giving you access to 2 shows for the price of 1!

The Vitality Show, sponsored by Simplyhealth, is the UK’s largest event for health, beauty and wellbeing. With dozens of interactive features, expert filled theatres and hundreds of exhibitors offering expert advice, The Vitality Show is the ultimate girls’ day out.

Visit the hair salon, get pampered in the day spa, join in a free fitness class or listen to seminars from top health and beauty insiders – a day at The Vitality Show with One Life Live will leave you feeling relaxed, refreshed and enlightened.

>>> Link

Green and Black’s to go 100% Fairtrade

Move will make Green & Black’s the world’s leading manufacturer of organic Fairtrade chocolate green-and-blacks

The company’s Maya Gold chocolate was the first official Fairtrade product to go on sale in Britain 15 years ago. Its extended range of chocolate bar and beverage products in the UK will start to carry the distinctive blue and green Fairtrade logo from late 2010, and it is hoped that full conversion of the entire chocolate bar and beverage range in more than 30 countries will be achieved by the end of 2011.

The Fairtrade market, which now covers products from developing countries ranging from chocolate and coffee to cotton, was worth £22m in 1999, according to a recent survey from the Co-op. Last year, sales of Fairtrade products grew to £635m and the Co-operative is predicting it could break the £1bn barrier in 2010.

The Fairtrade funding, approximately £300,000 a year, received by farmers in the Dominican Republic will be spent on sustainability initiatives which will include improving quality, yields and education, which in turn will increase income for farmers, ensure the cocoa industry becomes more sustainable and secure the supply of high-quality organic cocoa beans to support the brand’s international growth.

Dominic Lowe, managing director of Green & Black’s, said: “We buy quality, organic Trinitario cocoa beans from co-operatives in the Dominican Republic, and have done so for 10 years. Up until now we have committed US $500,000 in local initiatives to improve quality and availability, but we wanted to do more to support farmers.”
The Fairtrade Foundation (UK) executive director, Harriet Lamb, commented: “This newest commitment to Fairtrade will enable producers to benefit themselves, scale up their businesses and invest in their communities, not just now but for the future.”

See the whole article at theguardian.co.uk