Fight Climate Change

Going green and offsetting carbon is something you may have thought about – a number of companies will do this for you, or for example like IBuyeco you can pay extra for the priviledge. The Offset Shop is another shopping site that wants to help you offset your carbon – but is it any good?

According to the site’s blurb “TheOffsetShop.co.uk pledge to purchase 1kg of Carbon Offset for every £5 spent as a direct result of visiting any store from our website”. Basically if you shop through their shopping facility, they earn on sales, and will then use some of their commissions to be spent on carbon offsetting. It’s a nice sentiment, but Sadly Fight Climate Change is unimpressed!

Firstly, it’s just a standard shopping site with nothing special to write about. For example there’s no indication of products that are specially eco-friendly, low carbon or provided by a store that is undertaking environmental steps to improve their business. For example Currys could be highlighted as they offer consumers the option to recycle their appliances versus another electrical store that didn’t. Shops like Even Greener and Natural Collection are not even mentioned!

Another issue with TheOffSetShop is there’s no way to track your own offset. This site could be so much better if you could see what you’ve bought, how much was generated for the site and then how much was offered in terms of offsetting. The good news is that there is some indication of how much carbon has been bought by the site as a result of sales through this service (3600kgs Carbon Offset Purchased) but surely this should be a bigger feature of the site? How much was bought last month? The month before? If visitors could register, see there own contribution vs that of the whole userbase then that could well encourage others to take part in this venture.

However, there’s a more serious issue to consider before you race off and shop through this site!

The 3600kgs is offset from £18,000 worth of sales (based on 1kg for every £5 spent). The cost of the 3.6tonnes is just £27 (from their own certificate). That represents barely 0.2% of the total amount spent on the site! Even if we assume the site is generating just 1% profit from these sales – £27 paid to CO2 offsetting vs £153 profit is perhaps a little on the low side!

Addendum: After speaking to TheOffSetShop (and correcting some rather dodgy maths) it’s obvious that they are trying to provide a service to allow people to help offset CO2 emissions. Hopefully in time, and as they become more successful, they’ll be able to donate more of the income from consumers to the cause.

We’d never heard of Recoup until a competition offering copies of their latest CD appeared on Friends of the Earth. Recoup’s CDs come in a case that is made from an inside-out crisp packet and a sleeve of recycled cardboard. You can read an interview with lead singer Pieter Theron at FOE.

Remind You by Recoup Theron quite rightly points out “If a small band can come up with a concept like this, big corporations should be able to come up with some fantastic solutions”.

However, Theron’s wish is actually already reality! Sony BMG have recently launched a range of Carbon Neutral CDs. These are descibed as a “great value series of 22 titles packaged in 100% biodegradable & certified carbon neutral packaging”. The CDs also “feature tips for consumers to reduce their contribution to global warming”. Amongst the titles are Bob Dylan – Blonde on Blonde, Clash – The Clash, ELO – Out of the Blue, Fugees – The Score, Groove Armada – Vertigo, Leftfield – Leftism, Manic Street Preachers – Everything Must Go, Range Against the Machine, Stone Roses, and Westlife – Turnaround.

Top ice cream makers Ben & Jerry are one company who are taking the effect of climate change very seriously. And now they’re offering a young person from the UK the chance to go to Climate College There’s one place in their Climate Change College up for grabs to a UK candidate. You’ll receive business mentoring and financial support to help realise your eco-ambition.

The Climate Change College consists of a 9 month business mentoring programme (worth €21,000 per participant, including e-learning modules, a 3-day workshop in London and a 2-week Arctic trip) and a €7,000 monetary grant to launch your climate change project! The purpose of the Climate Change College is to help you develop the skills and contacts to build your project.

If you feel that you’re a suitable candidate for this post then apply online, outlining details of your climate change project. The closing date for applications is October 24th. Good luck!

If you’re looking to buy new products (either for yourself or as gift ideas) to help Fight Climate Change then Nigel’s Eco Store is well worth a visit. They have just about every gadget and gizmo you can imagine that would be useful to save energy and that’s also environmentally friendly. You’ll find recycled products, organic good, and eco friendly gifts too.

Amongst the best sellers are the Sun Jar Solar Light, Tefal Quick Cup and the EcoBalls Laundry Kit !

Go green with Nigel. You’ll find eco laundry balls, eco kettles, solar chargers, standby savers, recycling bins, recycled goods and much more. Free delivery is available on orders over £75

Our Verdict
This is a very good site, not only full of excellent products, but useful information too. For example Nigel tells you how to enjoy a Green Christmas as well as offering for sale energy saving Christmas lights! The site is easy to navigate, and prices are reasonable too – they compare very favourably with bigger online stores.

Sky have launched a new campaign to highlight what they’re doing to help the environment. The advert features Cool Cat, a cartoon character that was created by the Hollywood animator Richard Bazley who has previously worked on Who Framed Roger Rabbit. The music in the advert is Three Dog Night’s Joy To The World (it’s the first track on The Collection album). However, it’s a catchy tune and we expect that ringtones and music download releases to follow! You can also buy the track from iTunes.

According to their Bigger Picture website, Sky have made their Sky+ and HD boxes so they know when they’re not being watched and put themselves to sleep. This cuts down on energy consumption and also saves you money too.

You can also see the advert in full at the Bigger Picture site (note to Sky, get more coverage for your ad by putting it on Skycast or Youtube!).