In what is believed to be the first move of this kind taken by a local council, St Albans City and District council have transformed a 1950s semi-detached house into an ecohome and opened it to visitors. The house's impressive range of energy-saving features includes a 1 kw wind turbine, solar thermal roof panels and a 4,700-litre rainwater-recycling tank.
The project has been awarded the Green Apple award for Environmental Best Practise by The Green Organisation. The Green Organisation is an independent company which seeks to recognise and confirm environmentally-aware practices in business and government. They state their aim as being to provide a service which operates not as an 'environmental watchdog' scheme, as so many other organisations do, but rather as a more positively focused, reward scheme system.
The contractor, Borras, also won a Considerate Constructor award for its successful use of so many recycled demolition materials in the creation of the house.
The government has pledged to almost completely eradicate the use of conventional light bulbs by 2012, with the phasing out process beginning in earnest next year. The move, which was announced at the end of last month by environment minister Hilary Benn, is said to have the potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than six million tonnes a year.
The government is also at pains to stress that, despite that fact that energy-saving light bulbs cost more to buy than their non-energy-saving counterparts, their use will ultimately save homeowners money, as they last up to 12 times as long as normal light bulbs and use nearly 80% less electricity. Just replacing one conventional light bulb with an energy-saving equivalent could save a household £7 a year.
If you've got plans to redecorate your house, but don't want to alter the world, or your own lungs, in the process, then Ecos Organic Paints might be the answer. Most paints currently on the market are laced with nasty substances like formaldehyde and lead. Ecos produces the only range of guaranteed non-toxic paints in the world, for people who don't want to contribute to global warming or risk their health just for the sake of changing the colour of their walls. Ecos paints don't contain of the any animal products like bone or tallow fatty alcohol which are often found in other paints, either, so you can rest assured you're making a completely ethical choice when you buy them.
You can order a brochure or buy paint through the Ecos Organic Paints website.
Related: Earthboom: Paint the planet green with Oliver Heath
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.
A list of countries which ranks their relative environmental impacts, from most environmentally friendly to least, has just been released. The list was created by US environmental economist Matthew Kahn, using the United Nations' 2006 Human Development Index and the 2005 Environmental Sustainability Index. Factors taken into consideration included renewable energy use, greenhouse gas emissions and conservation efforts. General quality of life was also looked at, with things like levels of education, employment and health swaying final results as well as environmental concerns.
According to the list, Finland is the most environmentally friendly country. Ethiopia was judged to be the least environmentally friendly. In general, Scandinavian countries came out on top, and countries in Asia featured nearer the bottom of the list.
In a bid to shake its image as an evil, money-grabbing multinational, and show that it cares, the world's largest retailer, Walmart, has launched a campaign to become a more environmentally friendly company. Plans are in place to improve waste reduction and energy efficiency measures across all its stores, factories and transportation vehicles. It has even launched a website, Walmart Green, where it showcases the energy efficient appliances, recycled furniture and organic cotton clothes and bedding that it now sells.
Critics are saying, however, that simply going green is not enough to win Walmart the status of an ethical company, and that they are using it as a diversion tactic to draw attention away from the fact that they refuse to improve conditions and wages for their workers.
The country's greenest house has just been sold at a profit of £625,000. Aaron and Raphaella Curtis, who have a whopping eight children, made the brave move of acquiring a site next to a partially demolished viaduct, and creating their own eco home. The move was initially greeted with scepticism by their friends - the same friends who are now eating their words in the face of the extremely lucrative sale which the Curtis family has just made.
The building's walls are made of recycled material, and it uses solar panels and a condensing gas boiler. The materials were all locally sourced to eliminate the need for transporting them over large distances. The house has won a sustainability prize from the Royal Institute of British Architects, and it was named Norwich and Peterborough Eco-house of the Year.
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