I think this might just be the most pointless 'eco gadget' ever produced. If you're as perplexed as I was by this specimen, allow me to explain: the device is intended for displaying grown-up toys and figurines, rotating them through 360 degrees so you can witness the full horror of their naffness from all angles. And it's, er, powered by the sun.
Still, if geeks are going to insist on sharing their plastic girlfriend-substitutes with the rest of the world electronically, I guess we can be grateful they're not draining the national grid in the process! [Via Gizmodo]
HarperCollins - publishers of such literary treats as ‘A Long Way Gone’ by Ishmael Beah and ‘The God of Small Things’ by Arundhati Roy - has announced that it is to use Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified paper for all its publications.
It is estimated that the wood and paper industries are contributing to mass deforestation, where every two seconds sees the loss of ancient forests that can be as big as a football pitch. The Forest Stewardship Council works to reduce this figure by working with local communities to supply sustainable wood from forests that are managed with respect for the environment, wildlife and the local population.
Josephine Cox, whose paperback “The Loner” is one of the first to be published on FSC paper, is pleased to be a part of a creative industry that is taking the environment seriously. “I’m delighted that my book is being printed on environmentally-friendly paper. I think we all need to do our bit to help the environment.”
Paul Mitchell already has good ethical points for not testing any of their products on animals, but now they have taken their ethical commitments to a new level. Check out their website, Head For Change,which looks organic, feels ethical and puts its ‘people’ and ‘planet’ sections before its products, literally. They now have a new partnership with American Forests, an international non-profit organisation that preserves and grows a healthier environment through trees. Sales of Paul Mitchell’s Tea Tree range will fund the planting of enough trees throughout America and Europe to offset all carbon emissions from the brand’s manufacture and distribution. In addition, a portion of the sales will fund American Forests Global ReLeaf and WildLeaf programmes to further preserve our natural resources on a global scale. The AF parternership is in addition to other non-profit eco organizations that the company already sponsors.
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Here’s a company jumping on the green bandwagon to shift their products in quite a convincing way. Servis claim their dishwashers are green because they use much less water than washing up by hand. According to them, washing dishes by hand uses 45 litres of water whilst an average dishwasher only uses between 12 and 16 litres per wash. Their Servis M4705 dishwasher uses an average 14 litres. The company also claims that another benefit of a machine is superior washing performance due to high temperatures used by dishwashers. Well, that claim jars with ecogeeks because that means heavy use on electricity – although admittedly you also have to heat the hot water to handwash too. This is especially if you have a hot water cylinder, which means that you often have to heat an entire tank just to do the dishes in the summer. The Servis does come with a rapid 30°C wash programme, which would certainly add green points to the machine argument. It’s a tough call to decide which is actually more eco friendly, but certainly gives a lot of food for thought. Let us know your opinion.
Servis M4705 Dishwasher - Energy rating: A, wash Performance: A, drying Efficiency: B and priced at around £249.
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Here's an interesting twist on the statistics we're being bombarded with by companies making claims about their greenness: according to research by Ipsos MORI, 80% of Britons think that companies pretend to be ethical just to sell more products, compared to just over two-thirds in 2005.
The survey was carried out for SEE Potential, a new ethical label. It’s another one of these ethical stamps which we’re supposed to recognise on a product’s packaging to make us feel easier that what we are buying is good to the people who make it and to the environment. SEE ask companies 35 very basic questions about the human rights and environmental considerations that go into making a product. If a company meets the criteria, and can provide evidence of ethical behaviour if SEE request it, they get the stamp. All of this comes at a fee to the company for the privaledge of putting a stamp on their product which will hopefully convince customers that the product is ethical. Does this work?
Related stories: Gareth Kane on marketing, labels and greenwash | New Future Friendly label
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Last week, I attended a briefing on the new Future Friendly label, which will soon be appearing on products that have in some way been declared 'good for the environment'.
In principle, the labels are a good idea, as they are all about encouraging consumers to take personal responsibility for the environment on the level of small actions anyone can take on a daily basis. There are lots of ways this is undoubtedly a good thing: if everyone made the tiny effort of not leaving appliances on standby, we'd collectively save the equivalent output of two and a half power stations a year. Small actions count.
But many have expressed scepticism at the introduction of these labels, not least because the labeled products' claims to greenness are in many cases, pretty flimsy...
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The green trend is growing and according to a new Norwich Union study, 68% of Brits do it out of guilt and to “keep up with the Joneses.” A significant 56% consider unethical living to be a social taboo equivalent to drink driving and a whopping 90% admit to telling green fibs, pretending to live more ethical lifestyles and feeling obliged to live more ethically. Quite a number (20%) don’t know how to go about being greener, and 53% say they refuse to alter their lifestyles because of an amalgamation of confusion, lack of time, or objections to being told what to do.
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