Announcements
If you didn't know yet, today is the first ever Green Britain Day. Started to try and get Britain greener by the 2012 Olympics, there will be events around our fair country to raise awareness of environmental issues and to convince us to make a change.
It all kicks off with a concert at The Eden Project headlined by Paul Weller, and featuring Brit award winning Florence and the Machine. For more information on tickets visit the Eden Project website.
Visit the Team Britain website for tips and idea for getting greener, from throwing a clothes swapping party, to hosting a neighborhood lunch. For more information on the events happening today go here.
Green News
I most know Natalia Imbruglia for being a singer (and sometimes an actress) but it seems she's also a campaigner for environamental issues! She's teamed up with Ecover to make the film below about the importance of water cycles.
Natalie said: "There's often an abundance of water in the UK, so it's easy to forget the very real issues of water shortage and pollution in other parts of the world. The video is a great way to learn more and offers some really simple tips on how we can all make a difference.
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Please visit Natalie's guest spot on Water Aid's site, where you can also order a free watercare pack to find out how hard your money can work to solve problems of safe water and sanitation in Ethiopia
Green News
Michael Jackson was always a big fan of 'healing the world' so it may not come as a big surprise to hear that that the singer was on the verge of releasing a new song that warned about climate change before his sad death on Friday.
The as yet unnamed song, which the singer was said to have been composing two days before his death, is just part of a library of 'secret tunes', now set to be released posthumously.
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Carbon Neutral Living
Emily Cummins is an inventor with a focus on helping the environment. This wouldn't be so unique if it wasn't for the fact that she is only 21, and has been inventing since the age of four when her grandad gave her a hammer.
Starting by taking things apart and rebuilding them with her grandad - who she describes as an 'inspiration' - in his shed, Emily progressed and won a barrage of awards and competitions at school for inventions such as a toothpaste dispenser that minimises waste, which she came up with at just 15 years old. She went on to become Cosmopolitan's Ultimate Save-The-Planet Pioneer in 2008.
Currently in her 3rd year of university at Leeds, she studies part time so she can work on her inventions, and dedicate time to inspiring young people.
Emily's best known invention is the sustainable fridge, (pictured with her) which she also produced at school, and is set to change lives in the third world, as it is used to hold medicines. Emily is currently working on a second generation version that is intended for commercial use.
Emily believes that all new inventions should be green. She says "This concept - to maintain the quality while neutralising the damage to the environment - must be extended to all the other appliances we can't seem to function without such as TVs, cookers, dishwashers, computers, even cars."
"Just like Trevor Baylis's wind-up radio, the key is to creating quality green alternatives to the items which people have come to rely on."
If you think you have a great idea for a green invention, she suggests you check out N powers 'Bright Ideas competition' on their website, where you can also check out some great tips for getting more energy efficient.
Green News
Paul Ridden writes: Following a successful trial at its depot in Northampton, a Sainsbury's store car park in Gloucester is getting ready to start producing enough energy to power the store's tills. The power will be generated by the action of cars rolling over kinetic plates, which have been positioned underneath road surfaces. The impressive 30kW per hour of energy produced by the plates should be more than enough to keep the tills running.
As a car rolls over the road surface, the plates produce a sort of pumping action (similar to that used by Formula 1 racing cars to turn braking energy into speed) which then drives a generator. The store in Gloucester also benefits from rainwater recycling to flush the lavs, solar panels and the cold air from the fridges is used to keep customers cool while they pay for their goods at the checkouts.
With Tesco about to install electric car charging ports at its stores in Kensington and Vauxhall, it looks like being eco-friendly will feature heavily in future trips to the supermarket!
Green News
I've seen people use all kinds of tactics to try and lure people into the joys of vegetarianism from shoving pictures of slaughterhouses in their buger-filled faces to just going on and on about how much great veggie food there is and the health benefits of avoiding animal products. But I've got to admire Sir Paul McCartney for trying to establish a weekly day of vegetarianism with his plan for 'meat-free Monday'.
What's his beef?
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Green News
Overfishing is a subject we're all dimly aware of, but for those who enjoy eating our finned friends, it can be easy to forget about this troubling issue when a tasty meal is on the cards.
A new film called The End of the Line aims to wake us up to the effects of our love affair with fish as food, by revealing the impact of over-fishing on our oceans. In the film we see firsthand the effects of our changing diet on species like blue fin tuna, which are facing extinction due to Westerners' growing appetite for sushi, the impact on marine life resulting in huge overpopulation of jellyfish; and the profound implications of a future world with no fish that would bring certain mass starvation. It's enough to put you off your fish supper...
The film has been put together by a team of experts, and Stephen Fry is a bit of a fan, claiming on Twitter that he was 'staggered by its brilliance'. Read on to find out how to see a special screening of the film this Monday
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