Eco Friendly Shopping
In 2012 the Centre for Retail Research issued a report on Retail Ethics and Green Retailing*. One of their key findings was that “Green Retailers need Green Customers”. Essentially it doesn’t matter whether retailers choose to go green for ethical reasons, for operational reasons or to gain a commercial advantage; their efforts will be in […]
Leasing zero-emission vehicles
The Department of Energy & Climate Change’s recent report on tackling climate change identified which it calls the “energy efficiency paradox” in business. Noting that business seems to require a higher level of pay-back than domestic adopters, the report says that “organisations use economic arguments in their thinking about energy efficiency but these are set […]
Taking the PV road
Photovoltaic cells, or PV, may be a comparatively new form of power generation but it has already attracted its fair share of myths. One of these is that the further north you are within the UK, the less it is worth investing in PV. That the myth has arrived is understandable, that the myth persists […]
Cleaning and greening waste water
We can’t get away from the fact that man, in common with other mammals, produces vast quantities of bodily waste. Left lying around and untreated this waste will spread diseases such as diarrhoea and cholera, some of which can prove fatal. In fact we only have to look at a single incident to see how […]
Hair today, compost tomorrow
Every journey may start with a single step but one Scottish hairdresser has taken a giant leap forward in showing just how eco-friendly a hair salon can be. With hair dryers blasting out warm air, endless cups of coffee on the go and a high water usage, not to mention all those hair dye chemicals, […]
FIAT QUBO MULTIJET
FIAT QUBO 1.3 16V MULTIJET 95 TREKKING That Professor Rubik’s a clever fellow. I’m a fan of the snake, but his cube is one of the best selling toys of all time. Fiat never took his gem as the starting point for their Qubo, but it too is a six-sided puzzle of sorts. This is […]
Adopting an energy efficient strategy
The Energy Efficient Deployment Office (EEDO), part of the Department of Energy and Climate Change, has issued an Energy Efficiency Strategy for the UK. Designed to “maximise the benefits of existing policy and to realise the wider energy efficiency potential across the UK economy” the strategy aims to meet the Government’s perception of energy efficiency […]
Water, Water Everywhere
Northern Ireland’s environment minister, Alex Attwood, has urged all of the ministers within the executive to take collective responsibility for climate change measures. Responding to a written question, Mr Attwood said that Northern Ireland is already experiencing an increased incidence of flash flooding as a result of climate change and that there will be an […]
A new hope for climate change
The US Presidential campaigns covered a wide range of issues but, much to the consternation of environmentalists, there was a marked lack of commitment in respect of climate change. Now, perhaps thanks to Superstorm Sandy, climate change is very much back on the US agenda. It is usual for any victory speech to be greeted […]
Are breeding programmes the answer to ash ‘die back’?
A recent, Swedish study in the Scandinavian Journal of Forest Research has revealed crucial information for horticulturalists in the UK, and in Northern and Central Europe, in their battles against the aggressive attacks of the Chalara fraxinea fungus (otherwise known as ash dieback disease) on mature forest areas. Results from the study are far reaching, encouraging governments to invest in ash […]