Posts Tagged ‘carbon footprint’
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#1 Green Britain day - 5 easy steps for reducing your fashion footprint
2 million tonnes of clothes are bought in the UK every year, of which 1.2 million tonnes is dumped in landfill sites! The average Brit throws away 30kg of clothing and textiles which is very much down to the availability of cheap throwaway fashion.
So what’s the problem?In the UK the clothing and textiles sector was responsible for:
~3.1 million tonnes of GHG emissions
~1.5-2.0 million tonnes of waste
70 million tonnes of water waste
10 x more energy than producing steel or glassAlso, when these materials end up in landfill, some synthetic materials don’t decompose and some which do degrade release methane which is 21 x more powerful than CO2.
If everyone in the UK bought one reclaimed woollen garment a year, it would save an average of 371 million gallons of water – the average UK reservoir holds about 300 gallons!
5 easy steps for reducing your fashion footprint…
1. Choose eco labels - many shops have organic clothing, green, Fairtrade collections and upcycled collections which use old fabrics to create new fashion. There are also many UK based designers supporting local businesses and which save energy by being UK-made, e.g. People Tree, Beyond Skin and Izzy Lane.
2. Take your old clothes to one of the 6,000 recycling banks in the UK – this is easy yet only 25% of the banks are being used to their full capacity and only 16% of clothes are recycled! The clothes are taken to homeless, charity shops or sold in developing countries.
3. Shop in charity shops – Fed up of seeing everyone wearing the same dress as you? Full of vintage glamour at bargain prices, charity shops are ideal for that unique piece that will set you apart - and you will be raising money for charity! Over 70% of the world’s population uses second hand clothes so why not do it!?
4. Swapping and swishing –host your own party or swap online from one of the many websites out there.TheBigWardrobe has 30,000 members and pieces from Stella McCartney, Marc Jacobs and Topshop.
5. Customise your wardrobe – as Vivienne Westwood advised everyone watching her on Jonathon Ross:
“Do it yourself, take the tablecloth if its beautiful… put things together yourself, don’t spend money, just take what you can find, take your old things and keep on wearing them, don’t buy much fashion but if you do buy it, choose really well, wear it for a long time until it drops of your back and it will get more wonderful…forget buying all of these new clothes…buy less and choose well”
It is very easy to associate eco fashion with “hippies” however this shouldn’t be the case. London fashion week saw designers such as Izzy Lane and Amana take part in the “Estethica” initiative which is now in its 7th season.
The government have also outlined a sustainable clothing roadmap which is a voluntary clothing industry initiative to improve the environmental and ethical performance of clothing to hopefully make green fashion choices second-nature.
Read #2 Green Britain Day- 6 easy steps to reduce your travel footprintRead #3 Green Britain Day- 4 easy steps to reduce your food footprint
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Algae powerhouses to provide future biofuels
By Nick AbbottThe not-for-profit government funded charity, The Carbon Trust, recently revealed that a team of 70 scientists from 11 of Britain’s leading research universities will join to compete in a global race to produce revolutionary and alternative algae biofuels.
Algae have the ability to act as environmentally friendly miniature “biofuel factories”. They can produce high levels of natural oils from solar energy which can then be used to produce biodiesel.
With the cost of oil reaching a recent high of $140 per barrel, and the recent formation of the UK climate change act which made plans to reduce carbon emissions by at least 80% by 2050, this new research into alternative carbon-neutral fuels arrives at an important time.
Current predictions suggest that, per year, 70 billion litres of fossil fuel (coal, oil, and gas) used for road transport and flights could be replaced by algae biofuels by 2030. This will save 160 million tonnes of CO2 emissions per year.
Algae are able to produce up to 10x more oil for biofuel production per hectare of land when compared to current agricultural crop choices. The current problem is reducing the overall cost of the process by increasing the algae oil production, finding the most efficient method of large scale algae growth and the best method of harvesting the essential oils.
The University of Sheffield, who hold the important task of choosing the correct algal strain and maximising the production of oil from the algae, are a cornerstone to the success of the Algae Biofuels Challenge. “We aim to develop a set of experimental techniques that allow the identification of suitable algal strains capable of producing high levels of natural oils and happy to be grown in large outdoor ponds” said a spokesman and lead researcher at the university. Other researchers are developing the best methods of large scale algae growth and looking at how to harvest the natural oils produced by the algae.
This mammoth project, if successful, would require algae ponds to be built which would cover a land mass larger than Wales. The final production ponds are likely to be overseas to maximise natural resources available. Mid-western USA or Western Australia, where open land is abundant and long hours of sunlight common which is key to algae growth, are likely locations
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This week is Energy Saving Week!
19th- 25th October is Energy Saving Week! – With a new theme running each year, the time has come for energy saving week to encourage people to reduce their waste!
The project has recruited 50 families within the UK who will be unveiling all as they are monitored throughout the week by undercover reporters who will be video recording all of their bad environmental habits! By committing to this project the households will help us identify how energy is wasted at home so we can act on it. By reducing the energy we waste, not only can we improve our environmental impact…we can also save money!
Today’s focus will be on insulation; how to make your home warmer whilst using less energy – certainly useful for the cold weather we have been having! For more information about this week, to view the household videos or to see how much energy you can save with an interactive clock follow this link …
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Archant London Environmental Awards!
There is an exciting opportunity to win an Archant London Environmental Award – If you know a school, business, household, community group, individual or Climate Squad volunteer who has made an outstanding contribution towards caring for their environment, then put them forward for an award before the deadline on the 23rd October 2009! Alternatively, you could be the environmental champion yourself! There will be 8 environmental awards, one from each of the 8 entry categories. These include:
• The Best Recycling Project
• Young Environmentalist of the Year (U18)
• Best Environmental School
• Best Environmental University/College
• Environmental Business of the Year
• Most Environmental Household
• Best Environmental Project
• Environmentalist of the Year (Over 18s)
A requirement for entry is that you must live across London, Essex or Kent. This is a great way for you to show your efforts towards going green, and be rewarded for them. Winners will be announced on the 20th November 2009!
If you would like to enter yourself or someone you know follow this link… http://www.london24.com/businessawards/EnvironmentalOnlineEntryForm.aspx
Good Luck!
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Ancient Tree Hunt near London - October 17th!
We’re looking for 3 young people in London to join us and our partners at Trees for Cities on an exciting part-time conservation project starting on Saturday, October 17. The Woodland Trust’s Ancient Tree Hunt is all about recording important woodland information to create a comprehensive living database of ancient trees – the first step towards cherishing them.
In terms of cutting carbon, preserving existing trees is better rather than clearing them to plant new ones as saplings, and so, you’ll be helping to tackle climate change as an Ancient Tree Hunter!
The first event will be taking place in Windsor Great Park, a site especially picked for both its uniqueness and number of interesting trees on it.
In addition to the training you’ll receive on how to record ancient trees, there will also be photography workshops from Edward Parker – a world renowned photographer and author, who has a special interest in ancient trees too.
Not long after the event, you will be able to attend Climate Squad’s dedicated Community Leader training course over a weekend in London, enabling you to start work on your six-month carbon reduction project.
There are a limited number of spaces to take part – so register now through this link http://climatesquad.org.uk/events/22 !
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Work in progress
The Climate Squad project is almost ready for full launch! We’re now at the heart of the matter, finalizing the different phases through which the volunteers will be supported to take action in their journey to become active players in the fight to tackle climate change.
The Steering Group met for the first time on 20th July, with the next meeting scheduled for 26th August. There are still places available on this group, so anyone interested in joining is encouraged to apply by sending a brief email expressing their interest to climate.squad@globalactionplan.org.uk.
The Climate Squad social networking site is undergoing its last revisions, and the official launch is set for the last week of August. Once registered on the site, volunteers will be given the opportunity to create their own profile and get in touch with each other, sharing interests and giving birth to a dynamic and lively Climate Squad volunteering community.
Following the launch of the website, the Sustainable Community Leaders training course (15th-17th of September) will kick-start the Climate Squad events, forming the basis upon which many of the volunteering activities will be built. During the accredited course, the leaders will be trained on how to co-ordinate part-time community projects to reduce carbon emissions, thus enabling them to lead an initiative, promote events, organize activities and involve the rest of the community. If you are interested in becoming a Community Leader please email us at climate.squad@globalactionplan.org.uk and we will send you application details.
The chance to make a difference on climate change lies in your hands. By joining the Climate Squad community you’ll have the chance to join others and take advantage of it!
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Project Dirt
Once again, the volume of bright, enthusiastic people taking action against climate change rises to the surface when “Project Dirt” are faced by a miserable “MrGlum” who calls into Project Dirt stating that there’s no point trying to combat climate change! We all know this is not true, and the latest video by Project Dirt show us how we can help, and with our help how we can generate large positive impacts on our environment!
“Project Dirt” is an active community linking community projects and likeminded people, giving them the opportunity to take part in a number and diverse range of projects in their local area. With alarming facts such as “bees have had a 75% decline over the past 100 years”, they promote a local project to Devonshire Road which aims to protect the local bee population.
The video blog also shows the impressive Clapham tree house which produces as much electricity as it consumes, and a group of Wandle trust volunteers cleaning up to 4 tonnes of rubbish out of the river Wandle every month! These are merely a handful of the exciting 131 environmental projects “Project Dirt” have for you to get involved with! If you would like more information on how to get involved with the projects and show “MrGlum” that climate change is not all doom and gloom, follow this link… http://www.projectdirt.com/
If you are interested in climate change volunteering opportunities or would like to try something new, exciting and different keep a look out on www.climatesquad.org.uk for new opportunities that will be launched along with our new website at the end of August! Or why not register your interest now!
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Looking for a career in websites but need experience?
Vinspired.com is looking for two web-savvy volunteers to help us test an exciting new website we’re building for the Climate Squad project.
As a tester, you’ll spend a week following test scripts to make sure the site works. You’ll report any problems you find, using a bug tracking system. You’ll be based in v’s offices in Westminster, London, and will work with digital agency Made by Many, the brains behind Amnesty’s Protect the Human site.
The ideal candidates will be aged 16-25, passionate about all things digital, and able to work with minimal supervision. The positions would suit an IT undergraduate or someone with some experience of developing websites.
We’ll need you from Wednesday 22 July to Friday 24 July, and from Monday 27 to Tuesday 28 July. We can pay reasonable transport costs and a lunch allowance.
To apply, email us telling us about any relevant experience and the reasons why you’d like to get involved. Please attach a CV.
To find out more check here.
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One Million Feet to Copenhagen
Would you like to go to Copenhagen but don’t know how to get your voice heard?
Just send your feet and let them leave your footprint!Footprint Friends have launched their new campaign to give young people the chance to make a symbolic participation to the forthcoming UN Climate Change Conference to be held this December: “One Million Feet to Copenhagen”. It is an invitation to 10-18 year olds to paint their feet, take a picture of their own masterpiece and send it to Footprint Friends, in order to create a colourful and visually-impacting artwork.
The so called “Book of Dreams” (the final composition produced from these pictures and the eco-poems that young people are also invited to write to express their feelings about the environment) will then be presented at the conference, to highlight the awareness surrounding the summit and to show how much young people really care about this crucial moment.
To find out more check Footprint Friends website
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Logicity
Us Climate Squad team members love a good game or quiz (as you may have noticed!) and this is undoubtedly the best one that has come our way.
The National Energy Foundation have come up with an amazing virtual metropolis, Logicity, where you begin in the year 2066. After having a chance to look around the city and see the effects of climate change you are transported back to the current day where you can make simple changes to the way the citizens of Logicity live their lives, scoring points for your energy efficiency. You can then return to Logicity in 2066 and see the results of the undemanding changes you made in the current day - a great demonstration of how easy it is to halt the negative effects of climate change.
But don’t take my word for it, see for yourself! Check out www.logicity.co.uk/ and see if you can beat the high scores.
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