Fight Climate Change

John Lewis are the latest store to jump on the eco bandwagon with a brand new eco-friendly department just opened at their online store. They’re split up into Energy-efficient, Fairly-trade, Organic, Recycling, Sustainable and Eco-friendly. There’s a wide range of products including the PowerPlus Rhino Wind Up Radio, Tefal Quick Cup Water Heater, Owl Wireless Electricity Monitor, E-Cloth Mop System and the Domotec Steam Mop.

And here’s what you’ll find in each department:

1. Energy-efficient – Invest in the latest appliances and gadgets to cut down on energy consumption.
2. Organic – Sustainable options to reduce your exposure to complex man-made chemicals.
3. Fairly-traded – Help communities in need to grow and prosper.
4. Sustainable – Choose products that have been sourced responsibly.
5. Recycling – Encouraging ‘new from old’ and reducing waste.

Whilst this is an admirable stance from John Lewis, if you are looking for eco-friendly and sustainable products then it’s well worth looking at the smaller retailers like Nigel’s Eco Store and Ethical Superstore for latest offers and bargains.

Everyone else has a green eco environmentally friendly save the planet-esque website, so it’s not surprise that The BBC has joined the throng with an imaginatively titled BBC Green website! It’s free to join (and if you register before the end of May you could win a trip to Paris by Eurostar) and contains the usual news and features on being eco-friendly, reducing your carbon footprint and learning how to be green.

BBC Green is not funded by the licence payer, and it shows as there’s big block adverts at every opportunity. These can be distracting and unsightly and this may put off users.

In terms of climate change news and issues there’s very little information. This is actually a good thing! The information provided is clear, easy to follow and useful without a doomsday scenario attached to emphasise why it’s a good idea to try and be less wasteful and more eco-aware.

There’s perhaps nothing spectacularly new at BBC Green but it’s early days and with The BBC behind the venture it should improve over time. Repositioning the adverts to be less intrusive would be a good start.

Whilst the world watches the Olympic Torch processions across the globe, one burning question has got lost amongst the daily images of the Tibet protests and that’s “what is the carbon footprint” of the torch. This beacon of a united world is touring Europe, America, Africa, Australia before spending 3 months around China – that’s some distance!

At a time when we’re all being encouraged to cut down on our CO2 emissions, travel and unnecessary energy waste, we have an Olympic and media entourage circumnavigating the earth with a propane/butane flame – the same gas used in your soon to be outlawed patio heater!

According to The Guardian (who in turn quote Atmosfair.de) “the total distance travelled by the torch will be responsible for 52 tonnes of carbon dioxide – the same as the lifestyle-related emissions of five Britons over the course of a whole year”.

However those 52 tonnes are dwarfed by the 55,000 tonnes quoted by Wired.com. They take into account the whole entourage and estimate that £11million of CO2 will be emitted once the flame reaches it’s destination for the Beijing Olympics.

The good news though is that the London 2012 committee are already looking for ways to have a carbon neutral Olympic Flame as they hope to have the greenest games to date (The BBC). There’s no information about the torch procession for 2012 though, but the easiest way to make that carbon neutral (and controversy free) is simply not to have one!

In 2007 Earth Hour took place in Sydney – hundreds of homes and businesses switched off their lights in a symbolic gesture to highlight the issue of climate change. In 2008 Earth Hour is going global. Major cities across the world on March 29th at 8pm local time will switch off their lights for one hour to promote energy saving and a united global effort to fight climate change. However, a quick look at the cities taking part (YouTube) suggests that the event isn’t that appealing.

Only 24 cities in Denmark, Australia, USA, Thailand, Philippines, Israel, New Zealand, Fiji, Ireland and Canada are signed up as official partners and whilst the official site Earth Hour claims nearly 200,000 people have signed up – it does seem quite a poor response to the event?

If Dublin is taking part why not London?

The good news is that some UK towns and cities are involved including Bournemouth, Brighton, Hove and Southampton. The event is supported by The WWF.

However all action, no matter how small, is positive, but Fight Climate Change wonders why the event hasn’t been embraced worldwide? Perhaps it’s because very little national media attention given to Earth Hour or perhaps people just don’t believe that sitting in the dark or by candle light for an hour will have any significant impact on the world’s climate?

Switching off your PC when you’re not using is one of the many ways you can cut down on energy use (and your bills) but often, especially in an office environment, it’s not always that convenient. However, with an ecobutton you can power down your PC whenever you take a break with just one click.

The ecobutton is available to buy right now from the excellent Nigel’s Eco Store for £14.99. By clicking the button your PC will power down, click again and it will restart from the exact same point you left it.

The main advantage of the ecobutton is that it’s a one click process and perhaps is quicker to work than restart options. The ecobutton is a clever little gadget, but £14.99 does seem a little bit expensive and perhaps may not attract individual buyers. It has won Promotional Gift Awards and perhaps as a corporate freebie it has more scope – especially in the office environment when computers are left on for long periods of time.