NEWS RELEASE
Great tasting and Green East Green is a UK first
At Adnams we believe in doing the right thing – not just because it makes us feel good, but because it makes business sense. From investment in our eco-distribution centre and energy efficient brewhouse, through to our lightweight bottle and Environmental Action Group we believe that Adnams is at the forefront of the environmental agenda.
Rather than sitting back basking in the glory of our award-winning efforts, we will continue to push ourselves and explore opportunities to further reduce our carbon footprint. Our eventual aim is to become carbon neutral, only when we have made all the practical changes possible will we offset the remaining carbon. And only then will we use Gold Standard accredited schemes.
Adnams latest project is East Green – the UK's first carbon neutral beer. A beer with all the fantastic quality and taste Adnams is famous for.
It is light golden beer with subtle citrus and grassy hop aromas, dry and refreshing with well-balanced bitterness with 4.3% abv. and has a retail price of £ 1.79 for a 500ml bottle.
East Green is carbon neutral because it uses high yielding barley, grown and malted in East Anglia. In addition to that English Boadicea Hops are naturally aphid-resistant, reducing need for pesticides. Furthermore the is Adnams' energy efficient brewhouse,
Adnams' lightweight beer bottle and the tiny amounts of remaining CO2 will be offset.
While not all Adnams beer is carbon neutral Adnams Bitter, Broadside and Explorer have a lower than average carbon footprint due to the savings the company has made in production of the bottle, the reliance on local raw materials and our energy-efficient brewhouse. East Green is the first that will be offset with Climate Care.
Source: Adnams Breweries
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East Green – the first carbon neutral beer from the coast
Exclusion of the poorer folks
by Michael Smith (Veshengro)
The greatest problem, in my opinion, with eco-friendly products, goods and services, as well as taking things for recycling, etc., is that the costs of most of those things puts them well beyond the reach of the poorer strata of society.
Let us not even talk about the poor in countries not as “rich” as the USA, the UK and Western Europe in general, or Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
It is nigh on impossible for those that do not have a car, for instance, to bring glass, cans and such to the recycling centers and there is also no real incentive for anyone to do so in the UK. If there be payment on the other end for bringing in the glass bottles and jars, the cans, and what-have-you, as there is in the USA, as an example, then just maybe but. Nor do many of those poorer people in the Western societies have a way to, say, compost food waste, without incurring the cost of, for example, buying an indoor composting unit. Then again, if they do not have a means to compost food waste they more than likely also do not have a way to make use of such compost produced.
Other eco goods and services are also, basically, unfordable to those in the lower and poorer strata of society in our developed world, e.g. the working class and even the lower middle class. Now, with the “credit crunch” biting this is going to be even more so the case.
While there are things that we all, I know, can do without it costing us really anything, the so-called green habits and the green mindset (we shall talk about that in due course – the mindset, that is), others are just well out of reach of those groups; financially that is, for those that are on a low and fixed income.
All of us can turn off the lights in the house when they are not in use and not needed. Does the landing light really need to be on when no one is using the landing and everyone is in the lounge? Or the lights on the stairs when no one is going up or down them? Same with any other light in any other location. If you do not need it then turn it off. It saves money aside from emissions and whatever else and is therefore good for wallet and Mother Earth.
The same is true as regards to turning down the thermostat of the heating by a couple of degrees to say 18 Celsius. This alone makes a great saving for oneself as well as for the Earth. Who needs to have the heating on in the house at 25 Celsius or even higher. That's fine for a sauna but for the living room and even bedrooms it is not funny.
Turning off appliances instead of leaving them on standby is another thing we all, rich and poor alike can do and it will make us just a little richer if we do, due to the savings that we can make. The same is true for turning off or unplugging that charger for this or that device. When nothing is being charged by them what are they doing turned on. They still are running even then and are wasting, needlessly, electricity, and, in the end, you money.
On the goods side, however, and the side of green services, it is a definitely appears to be a class thing as most products and services are well out of reach of those on the lower rungs of the income ladder.
If we do not wish environmental and eco concerns and the execution of same to be a class thing, and possible only to those with the financial means to do so then we must, by needs, make things more affordable and also, and this very important, be enablers of those on the lower level so that they can be, as I am sure they would with to, part in this endeavour to help this our Planet, and in the end humankind, to survive.
So far it definitely is still a class thing, however, when, as I said, it comes to green goods and services and those in the poorer strata of our society are not able to fully participate in this and thereby are also unable to reap any financial benefits from this, such as cost reductions in electricity and heating usage, though using energy efficient light bulbs (still rather expensive compared to the incandescent Edison bulb) and other such things.
I do know that CFLs have come done in cost considerably over the last number of years but to someone who has to turn a penny over a couple of times before they can think of spending same such CFLs are still rather pricey compared to the Edison bulb that can be had for 10% of the cost. And, I must say, I have, although I use a fair number of CFLs, have not found the incandescent ones to have a short lifespan. I have bulbs running here that have been here for years and years. That is how those that have to live within rather limited means look at things. While they wish to do their part, if they but could, they have to look how to feed their families rather than as to whether they can save a little money by buying CFLs that are lot more expensive than are the old style bulbs. The problem is that, in due course, they will no longer be able to by the Edison bulb (at least not in the UK, and also not in the USA, so I understand) while the CFLs will not come done to the level of the Edison bulbs in cost, of that I am sure. So, we are forcing people to go green even though they cannot, maybe, actually afford it.
Reliable wind-up flashlights too have come down in price and some are cheaper now that are good ordinary battery powered torches, but “Energy Star” white goods, for example, are those that are the most expensive, it would seem, and someone who has to watch the money, so to speak, will hardly pay double for “Energy Star” when they can get the same type of appliance without that rating at a much lower price. Personally, I must say that I cannot and do not blame them.
The same is also true for many recycled goods. Those are the most expensive on the market often. In some instances you can now even get money for old rope, as long as you can dress it up as “recycled” in a crafts item.
Trying to be “green” is not being made easy, that is for sure, to those of the poorer sections of society in the developed world. As I indicated before, I do not even want to talk about and make mention of those (poor) living in the developing world; that part of our planet that was once referred to as “Third World”. Most people there do not stand a chance even in that respect.
It is a disgrace also that recycled goods produced by such poor people in the Third Wold countries, such as Africa, India, the Philippines, South America, etc. often in small crafts co-ops, and such, are being sold in the countries of the developed world at horrendous prices when the producers and makers only get a very tiny proportion of that in return for what they do.
Those buying “green”, and this includes those buying such goods, always want to also be seen as ethical shoppers. If that is so then we must vote with our pocketbooks in such instances and look for the products elsewhere and maybe buy them, if we so much want them, from those producers and makers that sell direct or via agents who do not charge the world for the products but just a percentage.
In conclusion, my question is, to a degree, how do we enable the poorer strata of our society to be able to be a part in this? If we do not, then we will leave them in the cold, literally even, maybe, and if it comes to the forced introduction, as we can see in the UK already, of this or that, such as the fact that no more incandescent light bulbs will be allowed to be sold and used, and also that people will be forced, as in legally forced, to insulate their roofs, install energy efficient glazing, and other such measures, then those that can least afford it will first of all see it as a definite class thing and secondly they will rather resent it all, instead of getting enthused about all things “green”.
© M Smith (Veshengro), June 2008
Ascension – Funky, Affordable & Ethical
NEWS RELEASE
Good for the planet and good for your pocket, Ascension heralds a new era of guilt-free shopping.
Aimed at a younger market than Adili’s online retail site, Ascension is a casual urban label that’s hard to beat on price or ethics. Organic cotton printed Ts start at £19, organic cotton hoodies at £38 and organic cotton jeans at £45.
Ascension values sustainability and ethics, as much as styling and cut. Producing positive fashion; garments made with care for both people and planet, that consumers love the look of and feel good about buying.
The T’s are made from Soil Association approved organic cotton. The eco friendly dyes are Oeko–Tex 100 approved, they are manufactured solely using sustainable solar and wind energy in fair wear foundation audited factories in India and the inks are approved by the Soil Association. And if that’s not enough, the carbon footprint of the T’s is 90% reduced. The denim is made from SKAL certified organic cotton in a fairly traded low pollutant factory in Bulgaria. Adili aims to further improve the ethics of Ascension garments and is working towards a Fairtrade certified denim range for 2009.
The recycling of a brand and a philosophy
Adili has recycled the Ascension brand. Not just with updated graphics and new designs, but also by redefining the brand values and revamping the website - Adili is set for Ascension to take on the high street. “Ascension was originally created to help fund Indian orphanages, but the label faltered, finding it hard as many ethical labels do, to secure an environmentally friendly, reliable, fair trade supply chain and to keep the clothes at the price they needed to be for their market. We have essentially recycled and relaunched the brand. Keeping true to its principles and using our contacts and knowledge of the market, we have been able to produce great clothes with high ethical standards that are the same price as the high street.” Adam Smith, CEO Adili.com
Keeping with the original philosophy of Ascension, Adili will continue to donate 10% of gross profit to the Life Association charity which provides a long-term supply of safe clean water, concrete buildings and education for some 150 children and 80 orphans in India.
Ascension aims to develop the Life Association charity scheme across India, with the next focus being a fishing village that was devastated in the tsunami.
Adili will be wholesaling the Ascension brand throughout the UK
www.ascensionclothing.co.uk available from www.adili.com
Ascension is the first of many exciting projects to be launched by Adili.com. Over the past year Adili has been sourcing ethical supply chains and will be launching their first own-label ranges starting with key menswear pieces on 30th June, a capsule collection of women's knitwear for AW08 and a womenswear range for SS09.
New on Adili.com for A/W08 - A collection of exciting fashion labels and exclusive ranges including: Noir, Wildlife Works, Eco Boudoir, Sika and Numanu, will help you embrace eco chic as it gets colder.
Adili also stock a rapidly expanding selection of ethical beauty and homeware products including eco makeup by Suki launching in July 2008.
Source: The Spring Consultancy
Honeywell Takes the Guesswork Out of Green With its Renewable Energy Scorecard
NEWS RELEASE
Selection Tool Helps Organizations Find the Right Technology to Maximize Environmental Impact and Economic Return
PHOENIX, AZ: As more organizations look to reduce their environmental impact, the interest in renewable energy technology has reached an all-time high. According to a recent report from the Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century, renewable energy use is growing much faster than 10 percent per year throughout the world. The generation capacity from solar photovoltaic systems alone was up 56 percent last year compared to 2006.
The challenge, however, comes with choosing the renewable technology that is good for the environment as well as the bottom line. A number of location-specific variables come into play - fuel availability, heating and cooling loads, utility rates, and rebates and tax incentives - making it difficult to identify the green solution that will deliver the greatest return on investment.
Honeywell (NYSE: HON) has announced on June 18, 2008, that it has developed a first-of-its-kind selection tool that quickly provides customers with the data to make an informed buying decision. Unveiled at the annual Honeywell Users Group for Buildings conference, the Renewable Energy Scorecard™ analyzes the variables for any given location to pinpoint the technology with the most significant environmental and economic drivers.
“Popular technology such as wind or solar power are often the default options for renewable energy, yet in some case they offer little if any economical return,” said Devin Castleton, Energy Group consulting analyst at Frost & Sullivan. “The Honeywell Scorecard is a unique tool that can help lead organizations directly to the technologies that offer the strongest economic drivers right away, providing an optimum advantage for organizations who are not only motivated by environmental stewardship but also by economic value.”
The tool looks at six proven renewable technologies, including solar, wind, biomass and geothermal. And it provides a simple payback for each. So it not only highlights the renewable resource with the greatest potential, but also provides an accurate financial forecast derived from calculating tax implications, rebates, subsidies and other incentives.
The Renewable Energy Scorecard is the output of a sophisticated energy profiling model built on a database that contains extensive information on each of the factors that influence the viability of the various technologies. This database provides Honeywell and its customers with an accurate vision and analysis of renewable energy at any location in North America.
“The Renewable Energy Scorecard is a data-driven solution to a complex issue,” said Kent Anson, vice president of global energy for Honeywell Building Solutions. “It’s important that environmental stewardship makes good business sense too. The Scorecard takes the guesswork out of the equation.”
The Renewable Energy Scorecard is part of an ongoing effort at Honeywell to help its customers maximize the use of renewable technologies and cut energy costs. Over the past three years, for example, Honeywell has helped a variety of customers - from colleges and hospitals to cities and the federal government - install biomass thermal and solar photovoltaic technology.
These projects are expected to reduce annual carbon emissions by 21 million pounds and nitrous oxide emissions by 187,000 pounds. According to figures from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, this is equivalent to removing more than 6,500 cars from the road or planting 8,100 acres of trees. The switch to a renewable energy source also is expected to help these customers trim millions from their utility bills.
Honeywell is a global leader in energy services, working with organizations to conserve energy, optimize building operations and leverage renewable energy sources. It was one of four energy services companies selected at the outset of the Clinton Climate Initiative to help the world’s largest cities reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. This work has extended to the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment and other groups.
Since the 1980s, Honeywell has completed more than 5,000 energy-efficiency projects in facilities across the globe. It also has helped 5 million homeowners decrease their energy use through our work with utilities. Combined, this work is expected to deliver more than $5 billion in energy and operational savings.
Through demand-and supply-side improvements, Honeywell helps customers save 15 to 25 percent of their energy bill on average. These projects are often done through performance contracts, which allow organizations to pay for facility improvements and upgrades through the energy savings they generate. The savings are guaranteed by Honeywell so the work does not impact operating budgets. This and other funding mechanisms like power purchase agreements (PPAs) help remove the financial barriers many organizations face when looking to implement green initiatives.
“From project development to financing, we can help customers every step of the way, making the process as quick and easy as possible,” Anson said.
Nearly 50 percent of Honeywell’s product portfolio company-wide is linked to energy efficiency. The company estimates the global economy could operate on 10 to 25 percent less energy by using today’s existing Honeywell technologies.
For additional information on Honeywell, please visit www.honeywell.com.
For more information about Building Solutions, access www.honeywell.com/buildingsolutions.
Fourteen ways to save water in your garden
by Michael Smith (Veshengro)
It is important, especially nowadays, that we all protect our precious water sources and water resources by using water wisely. This does bot mean, however, that you have to let your yard and garden dry up completely. The trick is to know when to water and how much water to use on the plants and also and especially as well as what to plant and when. The following tips will help you water less often and more effectively.
Please also remember that everything that you put in or on your plants and lawn to make them grow is also going to find its way either onto your skin or into your vegetables, and the excess will go into the groundwater.
Chemicals do not all decompose into meaningless neutral entities. On the contrary rather. If you have not done so already, it might be advisable to make a change t to organic or natural fertilizers and insecticides. They are safer to handle, safer for your pets and safer for your kids, plus they don't contaminate the groundwater.
Read the rest here...
TERBERG ONE PASS FOOD WASTE AND RECYCLING SOLUTION
NEWS RELEASE - Sunday, 15 June 2008
The Kerbsider® Combi TD offers exceptional quality, robust build and safety features that come as standard with all Terberg products together with some new introductions, the control system is canBUS based to offer easy diagnostics and configuration changes and both the Kerbsider® body and Combi TD unit are offered with underbody weighing.
Efficient kerbside recycling is offered via the Kerbsider® body but the vehicle also has a leak-proof Combi TD unit that sits between the cab and Kerbsider® body.
The Combi TD unit has been developed specifically for the collection of food/kitchen waste and is therefore constructed from aluminum which assists with payloads and guards against corrosive organic fluids. The Combi TD is fully sealed and is designed to collect loose or bagged food waste in accordance with the requirements of the ABP EC regulation no. 1774/2002. The Combi TD container is mounted into a robust steel frame and is specially designed such that it rotates to discharge its load through its roof opening, this allows tipping into a number of containers including ‘roll-on, roll-off’ skips.
Loading the vehicle could not be easier, various options are available to suit the required operation which include the Kerbsider®-style lifter fitted as shown which can handle wheeled bins up to 240L as well as loose waste, other lifter options include a TLL360 and TLL1280 bin lift version, both available with removable, lightweight aluminium pannier options to give trough loading functionality when required.
Available in three different volume configurations, 2.5, 3 and 3.6 cubic metres, the product has been designed with flexibility in mind to assist with the rigors of today’s recycling collection demands. A typical expected food waste payload for the 2.5 cubic metre version of the Combi TD unit shown is 1750Kgs.
Terberg Matec UK Ltd. now offer one of the widest ranges of BioWaste collection solutions in the UK, providing solutions for private and public organizations wishing to collect food/kitchen and ABP materials. For more information check out the website at http://www.terberg.co.uk
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Small farms best for environment
by Michael Smith (Veshengro)
Small-scale, not industrial farming, is the answer to food shortages and climate change, so organic farmers are arguing.
In meeting at the Organic World Congress, the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements IFOAM - www.ifoam.org - has criticized a recent UN food summit for advocating chemical fertilizers and genetically modified (GM) crops rather than organic solutions to tackle world hunger.
This shows that where the UN stands on this issue, we can clearly see here, and as to who is backing certain groups within the UN; in this case, quite obvious, the likes of Monsanto and others of that industry.
The World Bank says an extra 100 million people worldwide could go hungry as a result of the sharp rise in the price of food staples in the last year.
And at the same time the rich countries of the world, including busybodies such as the UN, advocate the creation and production of bio-fuels from food crops. If that makes sense then I don't know what the world is coming to.
At the UN food summit in Rome this month, the World Bank pledged $1.2 billion in grants to help with the food crisis.
"The $1.2 billion the World Bank says will solve the food crisis in Africa is a $1.2 billion subsidy to the chemical industry," Vandana Shiva, an Indian physics professor and environmental activist, said, speaking at the Organic World Congress in Modena.
"Countries are made dependent on chemical fertilizers when their prices have tripled in the last year due to rising oil prices," she said. "I say to governments: spend a quarter of that on organic farming and you've solved your problems."
Industrial farming is based on planting a single crop on vast surfaces and heavy use of chemical fertilizers, a process that used 10 times more energy than it produced. The rest turns into waste as greenhouse gases, chemical runoffs and pesticide residues in our food.
In contrast, organic farms could increase output by 10 times by growing many different species of plants at the same time, which helps to retain soil and water. On a one-acre farm in India they can grow 250 species of plants.
The UN's Food and Agriculture Organization Director General Jacques Diouf said in December 2007 there was no reason to believe that organic agriculture could substitute conventional farming systems in ensuring the world's food security.
"You cannot feed six billion people today and nine billion in 2050 without judicious use of chemical fertilizers”, he said.
You cannot? If people begin to live more sensibly and if we do not waste growing space for the creation of bio-fuels and especially not food crops then maybe we can actually do that.
Vandana Shiva has begun a civil disobedience campaign in India against the patenting of natural seeds, particularly of crops that resist flooding and drought and can better withstand climate change.
"We need this worldwide”, she said. “Seeds are for everyone.”
The patenting of seeds is also a rather evil idea, in this writer's opinion, as by doing so, that is to say by patenting this or that seed, seeds will then only be available, legally, via the likes of Monsanto and their ilk.
A quarter of all greenhouse gases are emitted by industrially farmed crops and livestock, according to IFOAM. This proportion rises to 40 percent when the emissions caused by transporting commodities around the world are included.
Members of the IFOAM also criticized the production of fuel from grains, citing a US university study that it took 1.3 gallons of fossil fuel to make 1 gallon of ethanol from corn. Which can only be said to be bonkers. How can anyone claim that bio-fuels then will remove our dependence on non-renewable fossil fuels?
We can but wonder as to what the agenda here really is... food for thought for sure.
M Smith (Veshengro), June 2008
ECO LAUNCHES CAMPAIGN TO TURN CHISWICK GREEN
Eco, Chiswick’s green hub, has launched a campaign for shops, businesses and locals to make Chiswick the first “eco village” in London.
Located in the heart of Chiswick’s commercial district and founded by Colin and Livia Firth, Nicola Guiggioli and Ivo Coulson, Eco is a retail shop and consultancy that helps homeowners, businesses and schools make green living a reality.
With this initiative, Eco aims to galvanize the local community around a few key green issues, asking local residents and customers to support participating businesses that:
- ban the use of plastic bags and replace them with sustainable alternatives
- campaign local council for better commercial recycling provision
- switch to a green energy supplier
Source: Eco Age Ltd
Poorest children hit by climate change
by Michael Smith (Veshengro)
The world's poorest and most vulnerable children are, according to a new report from UNICEF UK, being hit hardest by the impact of climate change.
Published exactly 10 years after the UK signed the Kyoto Protocol, “Our Climate, Our Children, Our Responsibility” calles for immediate action from Government to make children a priority in the climate change agenda.
It describes how children, especially in Africa and Asia, face increased violence and disease, and scarcer food and clean water, causing up to an extra 160,000 deaths a year.
The report says that climate change is threatening achievement of the UN's Millennium Development Goals relating to children.
David Bull, UNICEF UK's executive director, said that those who have contributed least to climate change, that is to say the world's poorest children, are the ones that are suffering the most.
According to the report, climate change could cause an additional 40,000 to 160,000 child deaths per year in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa through increased poverty.
Temperature increases of two degrees Celsius could put an extra 30m-200m people at risk of hunger, and childhood diseases such as malaria will spread to new areas.
UNICEF called on Government to ensure CO2 emissions are slashed by at least 80% by 2050 and urged the Department for International Development to make the effect of climate change on children a mainstream issue.
The organisation also urged businesses in the UK to substantially reduce emissions and contribute to the costs of mitigating and adapting to climate change.
"Many more children could die," David Bull, UNICEF UK's executive director, said, “and it is clear that a failure to address climate change is a failure to protect children."
The talk about temperature rising is here again and no one even, so it seems, wants to acknowledge, though the chairman of the IPCC did so publicly, the findings from a major study in Australia that states that the temperatures have not been rising, not even by a fraction, ever since 2002 and have, in fact, plateaued out.
Why we are still being painted the “if temperatures rise by x degrees Celsius” and such does beat me.
Regardless of whether the temperatures are going to be rising, which they are not, so it would appear, the impact will be there. The ice will continue to melt because it is warmer than it was decades ago and that also will change the climate elsewhere.
The UK public is being urged to join UNICEF's campaign to increase the 2050 emissions reduction target and include aviation and shipping in the Climate Change Bill.
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has also warned that up to a billion people could lose their homes as a result of climate change within the next 50 years when he said that rising sea levels or food and water shortages could force millions from the their homes.
Those rising sea leaves and food shortages will come about even if the temperatures are not rising any further and, if they indeed have plateaued out as the Australian study suggests and the head of the IPCC has admitted also, as the climate is warmer than it was decades ago and therefore the melt will continue and what else such melt and this cycling climate change of the Earth will bring with it further the Gods only know.
Personally, like many experts as well, I have my doubts that we can alter the course of this by reducing CO2 output and all such, though I am sure it will not hurt to do so and to reduce our impact on the planet a little more. Ideally more than just a little. The problem is though that we must prepared to deal with the changes and growing foods for bio-fuel rather than to feed the hungry is rather vile in the extreme.
Maybe we need to get off our dependence on oil based fuels and find a better source, including the burning of waste wood, and wood generated from tree cutting operations by councils and such, which so often is left to go to waste, as well as by a program, that could be envisaged for the UK, of the total eradication of the Dutch Elm Disease problem. It can be done with will and foresight. The wood generated in such a way, which needs to be disposed off in a sanitary way by burning, could fire micro generating power stations for many decades to come. In the end there would be no more Dutch Elm Disease and by that time we may have found another source with which to fire the generators.
Reduction of our oil use is another important must. And how do we do that?
The answer to that, I believe, may be the subject of another article.
© M Smith (Veshengro), June 2008
