73 Search Results for "eco"
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Food for Thought Food for Thought
- From: RobLyons
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Description:
Whilst I don't subscribe to Vegetarian or Vegan dogmas (after all this world wouldn't have the societies it has without us meat eaters) there is some not so surprising evidence to show some benefits in the Eco world for a few changes in how we live.
On a personal note you might be interested to know there's some payoffs for your health. Compared to meat eaters, vegetarians have lower rates of diabetes, heart disease, certain cancers, and obesity.
On an environmental note though, did you know livestock accounts for 18% of the world's greenhouse gas emissions and 8% of water use - and a meatless diet is 50% more effective at cutting CO2 than switching from a standard car to a hybrid. No prizes for guessing where some of those emissions come from directly.
As I said I don't subscribe to giving up meat all together, but you could try for a happy medium - go meatless at least once a week for a substantial effect on environmental and health benefits. Eating a sustainably raised beef burger might be better for the environment, but occasionally NOT having that burger you crave for can be even better.
If only we could get the USA to reduce the standard size of a meal (be it burger or steak). That would be an interesting project.
- Blog post
- 3 months ago
- Views: 44
- Not yet rated
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Volcano in Iceland Volcano in Iceland
- From: RobLyons
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Description:
Maybe not a direct issue with being eco friendly, but what happend with the Volcano in Iceland (Eyjafjallajokull) proves a point about how dependent on mother nature we are. We all know the obviously direct effects on air flights through europe, but there's plenty of economic knock-on effects where for example, business bound by delivery agreements are going to get penalised for not delivering on time. And I'm sure we've only just touched the tip of the economic iceberg on that one.
BUT then there's the awe inspiring side of what actually goes on when a volcano erupts. I'm in two minds about wanting to be there at the moment, but someone put a load of pictures together and even made it a screensaver.
You won't believe how incredibly these pictures are, and they're even asking for more images if you have them.http://yourownscreensaver.com/screensavers/free-screensavers/alternative/257-volcanic-events
Oh... and I'm impressed if you can pronounce "Eyjafjallajokull" as I'm still having problems with Reykjavik.
- Blog post
- 5 months ago
- Views: 71
- Not yet rated
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Eco home...? Eco home...?
- From: RobLyons
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Description:
Whilst surfing the net (as you do) I came across this site, which I thought was "quite good!"
http://www.simondale.net/house/index.htm
- Blog post
- 1 year ago
- Views: 256
- Not yet rated
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Eco Cars Eco Cars
- From: adeymoore
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Description:
Being half of Click4Carbon, we knew we had to get rid of the polluting Land Rover Discovery we had.
Yesterday we got a Volvo C30 drivE.
The most environmentally friendly diesel production car in the world.
In UK, cars are taxed on the amount of CO2 emissions, the Land Rover made us pay £400 per year and got an average of 32 mpg.
The Volvo cost us just £35 per year to tax and we can get upto 76.3 mpg !!!!! Massive saving both environmentally AND financially.
- Blog post
- 1 year ago
- Views: 324
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Buy Eco Friendly Knickers! Buy Eco Friendly Knickers!
- From: JohnRussell
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Description:
It all began as a student project - but now GreenKnickers looks set to stay.
The undies which are kind to the planet, have proved so popular that the zero carbon pants have sold out and a new wedding range is to be launched.
Sarah Lucy Smith came up with the idea for her final project while doing the Eco Design course at Goldsmiths university.
She then teamed up with her school friend Rose Cleary-Southwood, and GreenKnickers was born.
Sarah said: "We started GreenKnickers to prove that ethical can be funny, beautiful and sexy.
"The fabrics are so gorgeous, and super-duper green.They're selling extremely well.
"Some customers say they're the comfiest knickers they've ever worn."
The knickers are made from environmentally friendly fabrics, like organic cotton, hemp and silk. Goods from abroad are shipped by sea and staff travel by bike.
Each pair arrives in a box made from recycled paper and printed with organic vegetable based inks.
The global warming knickers are printed with thermo-chromic inks, and change colour as they warm up.
There is also a range of cycling smalls with removable padding to encourage people to reduce their carbon footprint.
At the moment GreenKnickers operates online, but Sarah said: "If the business continues to be successful I would love to open up a boutique."
Around 80% of the wholesale value goes to the suppliers.
But at a cost of up to £25-a-pair, plus £3 postage and packaging, you will have to pay the price to do your bit.
- Blog post
- 1 year ago
- Views: 328
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Landfill and Easter! Landfill and Easter!
- From: adeymoore
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Description:
What's the most egregious offender in the matter of excess packaging? There are some who think it's the Easter egg, spewing waste plastic and foil into our landfill.
What is an Easter egg?
Is it a chocolate egg, perhaps accompanied by some mini chocolate bars or truffles?
Or is it a combination of the items above with gaudily coloured, glossy card, a plastic box and shiny foil, all jumbled into one seductive whole.
That's the issue that the giants of the confectionery industry have been wrestling with for the last few years.
On the one hand there are voices from the environmental lobby that single out the Easter egg as quite the most outrageous piece of overpackaging in the realm of retail. On the other there are consumers whose eye needs to be drawn to products that make them feel like they want to give them as a gift.
Jo Swinson, Lib Dem MP for Dunbartonshire East, has been campaigning against excess packaging for several years.
"Easter eggs are obviously one of the worst examples of excessive packaging you can find. It is going to taste the same whatever box it comes in. It doesn't make any sense to pay for excess packaging."
Boxing cleverer
Last year she named and shamed various overpackaged eggs including one from Nestle. This year the confectionery giants have seen which way the wind is blowing.
Nestle has eliminated many of the plastic inserts - used to hold the egg in place and protect it - from its boxes and reduced the amount of cardboard used.
BIG REDUCTIONS
- Cadbury's: Treasure eggs which have no box, other eggs' carton sizes cut by 25%
- Nestle: Many plastic inserts removed, packaging reduced 30%
- Mars: Carton weight reduced 42%, plastic insert weight reduced 35%
- M&S: Packaging reduced 30%
Mars is using print ads to trumpet its reduced packaging, and Cadbury's is shrinking boxes, having also introduced its Treasure Eggs range that don't come in a box.But Ms Swinson says the confectionery giants still have some way to go and that further reductions in box size are required.
Andy Dawe, from waste and recycling action group WRAP, says it is important to remember that there is a functional element to egg packaging.
If packaging prolongs the shelf life of an egg, then waste is avoided. If packaging stops eggs being damaged in transit, then again waste is avoided.
"But one of the biggest concerns for consumers is when they can't recycle the packaging that is presented to them."
Bulky boxes
What you can and can't recycle varies from borough to borough, but there will be many people unable to recycle plastic inserts and even the foil on the egg can probably only be recycled by about 50% of households.
Then there is the environmental cost of transporting bulky egg boxes containing, well, very little egg.
"You are paying to transport air," says Ms Swinson. "There is still a lot of empty space in them."
But it hasn't always been this way.
Robert Opie, curator of the Museum of Brands, Packaging and Advertising in London, and author of Sweet Memories has been in a position to chart the history of Easter egg packaging.
"In the 1920s smaller eggs might be wrapped in foil and then brought to the shop in a sturdy wooden box that would then act as a display, but there would be other larger, fancier eggs [in their own boxes]."
By the 1950s the use of light bulb style card boxes became widespread for eggs, Mr Opie says, before in the 1960s and 1970s eggs started on their journey to today's flamboyant boxes.
"Cartons became increasingly more complicated, more gifty, more wonderful, more voluminous."
But of course, Easter egg packaging cannot be stripped down totally. The logical conclusion from an environmental perspective would be an egg in a brown paper bag, or perhaps no egg at all.
"You have to bear in mind what you are giving somebody is not just a hollow egg, it is a gift," says Mr Opie. "The packaging is as much a part of the gift as the egg itself.
"Why not just give somebody a bar of chocolate of the same weight? We like the difference in texture. It has a different kind of crunch moment."
So assuming that Easter egg packaging is a compromise between attractive design and minimal environmental impact, how green can it be?
St Asaph-based product design consultancy Design Reality, which recently completely Easter egg packaging design work for Duc d'O, a Belgian chocolatier, tackled the idea.
"There are several factors that should be considered when designing such a product," Mr Evans says. "These include consumer expectations and needs, durability and strength in order to avoid damage to the fragile egg, its practicality in terms of palletisation and shelf stacking, an attractive graphical appearance and structural design, and an increasing desire of the consumer to purchase a product that is either ecologically sourced, or able to be recycled."
Design Reality's hypothetical Eco Egg would attempt to minimise the amount of material wasted.
"This involved creating a simple-sided pyramid that would fold up around the egg, with built in tabs to secure the egg inside," says Mr Evans. "The pyramid would be tied together at the top with a ribbon, thereby negating the requirement for gluing or tabs that would complicate the assembly process. The design would not require an inner plastic shell either.
"This design would inherently present a novel element to its 'unwrapping', intended to delight and surprise the consumer.
"Its four-sided pyramidal shape would also tessellate, fitting together into a pallet or shelf either by slotting together 'side by side', or using a simple punched cardboard sheet that would separate the different layers of pyramids on the shelf."
Hence, fewer lorry journeys and less fuel used.
- Blog post
- 1 year ago
- Views: 315
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Funny ECO Cartoon for Today Funny ECO Cartoon for Today
- From: JohnRussell
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Description:
Hope you enjoy xxx
- Blog post
- 1 year ago
- Views: 294
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Self Sufficient Cartoon Self Sufficient Cartoon
- From: JohnRussell
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Description:Funny ECO Cartoon about being self sufficient
- 1 year ago
- Views: 474
- Not yet rated
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ECO 'Carpet' Made From Pebbles ECO 'Carpet' Made From Pebbles!
- From: ClaireRussell
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Description:
A revolution in flooring in the UK is helping to breathe new life into the traditional spring clean, maintaining a fresh, bright and clutter free feel in the home. Barefoot Living has introduced a new range of seamless floors, with what are described as “unique qualities” to keep homes in great shape – whatever the time of year.These include Hote Rocks, a floor comprising of marble pebbles, brought to life in a clear resin finish, which creates a unique, foot massaging finish. Underfloor heating, which can be installed beneath the surface, gives out warmth that is retained by the marble for hours.
The result is a seamless, slip resistant surface that brings the beauty and harmony – and the strength and durability – of nature underfoot, suitable for all areas of the home, including conservatories and the surrounds of indoor pools.
Andrea Hall, Barefoot Living’s senior designer says: “Hot Rocks stimulates the freedom of barefoot living. It is the perfect choice to create a sanctuary in the home, enhancing health and well-being, restoring balance and taking away the stresses of the day.
“The floor provides a great platform to clear a home of clutter, and then – crucially – maintain that standard. Its ‘cleanability’ means Hot Rocks maintains its great fresh feel long after its installation. Because there are no fibres, no dirt gets trapped – and dust mites and odours are given the brush off.”
- Blog post
- 1 year ago
- Views: 278
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ECO Flooring ECO Flooring
- From: ClaireRussell
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Description:Barefoot Living: ECO Flooring
- 1 year ago
- Views: 207
- Not yet rated
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Dot Eco Domain Name Dot Eco Domain Name
- From: adeymoore
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Description:
Al Gore won a Nobel Prize in 2007 for his environmental work
The former US vice president, Al Gore, is backing the creation of a new green .eco domain name.Dot Eco applied to create the domain which would then be used to host sites supporting environmental causes.
"This is a truly exciting opportunity for the environmental movement and for the internet as a whole," said Mr Gore.
Dot Eco plans to apply to ICANN - the regulatory body that oversees domain names - for the creation of .eco later in 2009.
Al Gore, who won a Nobel Peace Prize in 2007 for his campaign on climate change and an Oscar for his film An Inconvenient Truth - a documentary about global warming - is the co-founder and chair of the Alliance for Climate Protection.
Dot Eco said it had entered into an "integrated partnership" with Gore's group to secure the .eco domain.
"We fully support Dot Eco in its efforts to secure the .eco top level domain through the ICANN application and look forward to working with them to promote .eco," said Mr Gore.
The firm said proceeds from the registration would be used to fund research on climate change and other environmental issues.
- Blog post
- 1 year ago
- Views: 208
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Jodie Kidd: ECO 10 Challenge Jodie Kidd: ECO 10 Challenge
- From: JohnRussell
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Description:
Model Jodie Kidd posed with a grass-covered car to challenge drivers to go green.
Kidd launched the Total Eco 10 challenge which is asking drivers to take simple steps to reduce fuel consumption and the UK's carbon emissions.
Motorists are being asked to use advanced fuels and fuel economy lubricants, make sure their vehicle is well maintained and keep tyre pressure at the optimum level.
These steps could reduce fuel consumption by 10% and reduce each driver's carbon dioxide (CO2) by at least 400kg a year.
Total launched the campaign following a study which revealed that more than a third of drivers (39%) feel guilty about the impact their car has on the environment.
Kidd said: "We are bombarded with so much 'green' advice that it can be confusing and whilst many are concerned about the effect we have on the environment, most of us are not prepared or simply can't give up our car.
"Firstly it is impractical and secondly, if you are a car enthusiast like me, driving gives a great deal of enjoyment.
"This programme offers a way forward, to carry on driving, whilst reducing environmental impact and alleviating the guilt factor."
Total says the campaign could reduce the UK's CO2 emissions by 17.2 million tonnes by March 2010, the equivalent of 27,023 return flights to New York.
- Blog post
- 1 year ago
- Views: 162
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Jodie Kidd: ECO 10 Challenge Jodie Kidd: ECO 10 Challenge
- From: JohnRussell
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Description:Kidd launched the Total Eco 10 challenge which is asking drivers to take simple steps to reduce fuel consumption and the UK's carbon emissions.
- 1 year ago
- Views: 222
- Not yet rated
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I want clothes for Christmas! I want clothes for Christmas!
- From: JohnRussell
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Description:
Other than a large diamond ring this what I typically hear from Claire during the build up to Christmas.
And, did you know that there are some fantastic eco alternatives for even the most fashion conscious consumer?
EDUN for example was launched in spring 2005 by U2 lead singer Bono and his wife Ali Hewson. They work on the premise of trade, not aid, as their range of clothes is currently produced in India, Peru, Tunisia, Kenya, Uganda, Lesotho, Mauritius and Madagascar.
They work on a 'micro-level' to help build the skill sets of factories, whilst bringing them up to the highest standards of fair wages and good working conditions.
What about GreenFibres which is a Devonshire (UK) based company who push ecological standards throughout their range. They offer one of the most comprehensive range of eco products in their field - anything from clothes, beds, bathrobes and hairbrushes!
These are just 2 fantastic examples and if your loved one is eco-minded they will really appreciate the careful thought and consideration you have put into choosing their presents.
You can always search for more eco friendly fashion companies via our search engine.
I just hope that Claire doesn't read this blog otherwise it will give the game away!
Take care x
- Blog post
- 2 years ago
- Views: 281
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Christmas Trees: Real or Fake! Christmas Trees: Real or Fake!
- From: JohnRussell
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Description:
What is more eco friendly - a real Christmas Tree or an Artificial / Fake one?
The National Christmas Tree Association have produced an interesting chart which demonstrates the benefits of real trees.
Read on ... You will be surprised ... As with everything there is always a debate and we would welcome your views in this respect.
Real Trees Artificial Trees PLACE OF ORIGIN - United States & Canada
- 85% from China
METHOD OF PRODUCTION - farming
- factory
- planting takes place Jan-May
- raw materials sent to factory & assembled into final product
- estimated 40-45 million trees planted in 2008 in North America
- product is shipped to U.S. then distributed to stores
- estimated 446 million trees growing on farms in U.S.
- number of factories unknown
- tree farms support complex eco-systems
- factories only consume natural resources
COMPONENTS - plant tissue
- plastics and metals
- 100% biodegradable
- non-biodegradable
PVC FREE? - Yes
- No
LEAD FREE? - Yes
- No (lead is used in the process of making PVC plastic)
CARBON NEUTRAL? - Yes
- No
- trees absorb carbon dioxide
- plastic is a petroleum byproduct
- when decomposing, carbon, nitrogen and other elements are released into soil
CHEMICALS? - No
- Yes
- Scientists have measured cut Christmas trees for chemical residue and not found any significant amounts
- PVC itself is a dangerous chemical
- Many different bugs, fungi and parasites can attack and kill trees, so farmers may use pesticides to keep consumers' trees healthy and alive until harvest
- Manufacture of PVC creates and disperses dioxins, the most toxic man-made chemical known
- Most pesticides are ground applied
- Released into air or water, dioxins enter the food chain, where they accumulate in fatty tissues of animals and humans, a potential risk for causing cancer, damaging immune functions and impairing children's development
- Herbicides are used to suppress, not kill off, weeds to prevent soil erosion
- If someone tells you “there are chemicals on cut Christmas trees” they are wrong
DISPOSAL - Recycled
- Landfill
- Used trees can be recycled in a variety of ways
- Fake trees can’t be recycled and end up in landfills
- Decomposing trees add nutrients back into the earth
- All of the accumulated fake trees are a burden to the environment indefinitely
RENEWABLE RESOURCE? - Yes
- No
- New trees are planted every year
- Petroleum, used to make plastic, is a non-renewable resource, as are metals
ECO-FRIENDLY? - Yes
- No
- Blog post
- 2 years ago
- Views: 369