Ethical & green gifts
Want to make sure you don't get the requisite garish pair of socks and large box of non-vegan chocolates for Christmas this year? Fed up with people forgetting your birthday? You could do a lot worse than making your way to the award-winning Natural Collection website. Once you're there, you can browse the fabulous range of products and make yourself a Gift List filled with deeply desirable eco-friendly treats.
With goodies ranging from beautiful items of fairly traded jewellery to handy and affordable eco-gadgets, and from eco-friendly baby accessories to green accessories for the office or study, I defy anyone not to find something they want on this site. Start securing yourself a Cool Yule now, and ward off the mouldy old Quality Street and the nasty socks before they're even a twinkle in the mother-in-law's eye!
Green News
British Telecom today unveiled plans to meet a quarter of its electricity needs using wind turbines by the year 2016. BT already reduced its carbon emissions by 60 per cent between 1996 and 2006, and it is estimated that the use of turbines will cut BT's C02 emissions by a further 500,000 tonnes. The project is set to be the largest corporate wind power initiative outside the energy sector. The cost of the project will be in the region of £250 million.
BT has applied for planning permission to build test masts at Goonhilly Satellite Earth Station in Cornwall, Wideford Hill Radio Station in Orkney and Scousburgh Radio Station in Shetland. It is hoped that 100MW of energy will already be being produced by turbines by 2012.
Related: Turbulence for home wind turbines | Visit a wind farm | Wind turbines in your back yard | How to build a wind turbine | Renewable energy versus the environment
Despite the fact that it is a signatory of the 1959 Antarctic treaty, which stipulates that no new claims shall be made over any land in the Arctic, the Foreign Office has revealed that Britain has made plans to extend its rights to oil, gas and mineral exploitation up to 350 miles offshore into the Southern ocean. A good proportion of the resources which Britain plans to extract from the Antarctic are yet to reach levels shallow enough for them to be mined, but fears nevertheless abound regarding the possibly detrimental impact which Britain's proposed move will have on the environment.
This proposal comes at the same time as WWF are calling for areas of the Antarctic to be turned into marine reserves in order to protect endangered species.
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What can I do?
If you're finding your daily grind unsatisfying, and you long to get up every morning with saving the world on your mind as well as paying the bills, then this guide could well provide you with some food for thought. 'The Ethical Careers Guide' offers a range of advice on different careers, as well as fascinating case studies of people in positions ranging from a Campaigns Officer in a charity to a social worker working for a local council.
I was given a copy of this book by a friend after I left university. I'd decided my next step was to find some voluntary work - with the eventual aim of doing some paid work for a charity - and I definitely found the book useful in terms of inspiring me in my quest. In particular, I think the fact that it includes a large number of case studies makes things sound a little less daunting, as the case studies make you feel as if you're having an informal chat with someone rather than reading a 'guide' per se.
Green News
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.
Ethical & green gifts
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.
Home & Garden
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
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