Blog roundup
Yesterday, Treehugger alerted us to the newest ethical social network, Razoo. These are online havens specifically for those who wish to do good in the world, be it through encouraging greener lives, raising awareness and money for charity or simply "promote social good".
This last quote came from the mission statement of Razoo. This is a network devoted to making a difference by starting discussions about everything from sustainability and water to AIDS and homlessness, through human rights and education. And that's just a fraction of the topics. By promoting discussion and swapping tips and ideas, the entrepreneurs behind Razoo hope to inspire ideas that just might save the world (or, rather, us). And it's certainly not the only sight with lofty ideals. Just take a look at the many different ways in which social networks are encouraging us to fight the good environmental fight...
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Arts & information
If you didn't catch Black Gold during its cinema run, it's now available to buy on DVD, with extras including interviews and reports on progress made following the release of the film.
Juxtaposing consumers willing to pay £3 for elaborate coffee drinks, against the plight of farmers who are barely paid enough to not be called slaves, Black Gold draws attention to the fat profit margins of corporations like Starbucks and how little it would take to remedy the situation. Fair trade beans are readily available for about £4 per kilo, which, speaking from experience, is enough to easily make a month's breakfast lattes in a home coffee machine.
To coincide with the DVD launch, the independent team of filmmakers behind Black Gold have re-vamped their website.
Arts & information
Heads up, shopaholics: if you're looking for another online store boasting green credentials, Smartly Green opened its doors this week with oodles of respected and well known names on board. You'll find all kinds of objects of desire here, from clothes and accessories to mobile phones and toys.
Now, seeing as almost every high street store I can think of seems to be represented here (including a smattering from Arcadia and Tesco) I can't comment on how ethical site is.
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Arts & information
As if the recent voting scandal wasn't enough to shake ITV to its foundations, disaster has now struck producers of its celeb humiliation series I'm a celebrity, get me out of here, amid reports of environmental contamination on location in Australia.
Under what are being described as 'mysterious circumstances', the 'jungle' site (located in balmy New South Wales) has become contaminated with a toxic insecticide. The Department of Environment and Climate Change officials have advised people to stay away from the water, and banned fishing and swimming. Quite a blow for the makers of the series which see Z-listers regularly undergoing the horror of immersing their hair extensions in the jungle's pools and swamps.
I have to admit that this is one environmental disaster I feel ambivalent about.....
Green gadgets
Nothing is real until it's been immortalised in Sim City (or the Simpsons) and climate change has now had a namecheck in both. I think we can call that progress!
More specifically, Sim City Societies, the latest edition of the world-domination game that's been a hit since 1989, has made energy saving and carbon reduction an important goal for players, allowing them to build their own windfarms and make other renewable energy choices to reduce Sim City's carbon footprint.
The game does not force players to power their cities any specific way, but allows them to make choices, each of which come with advantages and disadvantages.
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Arts & information
I liked this book from moment I read the name of its first chapter: "Oh no, not another bloody polar bear". The approach that author George Marshall has chosen to take is not to lecture, blind with science or scaremonger; it's aimed at tackling the very real problems of disbelief, boredom and apathy that overcome many people when they hear the phrase 'climate change'.
In Carbon Detox, which is available to by from 30th October, you'll find this attitude prevails throughout the book. Whilst others offer endless tips on making small changes and patting yourself on the back for your efforts, this one admits that making minor changes, like recycling plastic bags, can sometimes be an excuse for doing nothing. It encourages you to look at your personality, work out what changes you are best equipped to make, and apply these on a daily basis.
Arts & information
Professor Chris Ripley, new director of the Science Museum, has revealed plans for a £6 million exhibit showing people exactly how global warming has already affected the planet, and what implications it could hold for the future. Ripley is at pains to stress that the purpose of the exhibition is not to promote a particular course of action, but to allow people to "come to their own conclusions" about which policies should be put in place in response to global warming.
The exhibition is not due to open until 2009, but, in the meantime, a small trial run exhibition opens next week in the Science museum's Wellcome wing, focussing in particular on the role of biofuels in cutting levels of carbon emission.
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