We need more Bedzeds (Nov09)
Bedzed – Beddington Zero Energy Design William Steel, Generation Green Think Tank member Did you know that cats give off about 10 watts of heat and dogs about 15 watts. I suspect that a friend of mine with a Great Dane gets as much heat from his as a human though – roughly […]
Amsterdam declaration – Club of Rome conference (Nov09)
Club of Rome conference delegates Gorbachev looking a bit grim, arriving at Club of Rome conference Gorbachev was the most high profile speaker but others on the platform included the former Dutch Prime Minister Ruud Lubbers, a former Chilean President, as well as leading lights from the environmental world, such as Jim Hansen, Gunter […]
The Age of Stupid film (Oct09)
I’ve just watched this film at a screening in the nearby village of South Petherton. The village hall was jam packed, although I was one of the few who had taken along my children. At the beginning we were warned of bad language in the film but actually all that I noticed was someone swearing […]
Generation Green visit recycling plant (Jun09)
I was impressed by the passion, enthusiasm and knowledge of many of the children who are participating in the Generation Green youth think tank, sponsored by British Gas. Age 7-14 we met at Dagenham docks to have a look around the Closed Loop recycling plant. They were told all about recycling plastic bottles and were […]
Pig heaven (Jun09)
A friend of mine called Sarah has bought three not so little piglets. They’re only 9 weeks old but already quite porky. They’re also rather endearing and very friendly – snuffling and snorting around their wooded enclosure. One of the piglets has been nick-named ‘rotavator’ because he seems to be particularly good at turning over […]
M&S Packaging fact sheets for consumers (Dec08)
Public concern about over-packaging so often misses the point that we should be looking at how to reduce the environmental impact of producing, distributing, storing, selling and consuming food, rather than the amount of packaging waste we have to throw away. Consider the fact that overall the carbon emissions from wasted packaging is one tenth […]
Wasting heat through open doors (Nov08)
This week I had a meeting with the Carbon Trust, a government-funded organisation that helps businesses move towards a low carbon economy. They offer advice on saving energy, so I thought it was rather ironic that the doors of the large office block where I went were wide open – letting the heat out and […]
Good riddance to US car companies (Nov08)
I sat next to a chap from Citicorp Bank for Sunday lunch at a pub last weekend. His company was apparently waiting to hear about the $20 billion cash injection from the US government. But he was more struck by the news about America’s car giants and their approach to getting a government bail out. […]
Car Troubles – Ford Ka Troubles (Aug08)
I’ve had a couple of prangs in my car recently. First, someone in a four-wheel drive reversed into me. They were trying to turn around because a lorry was blocking the road and they didn’t notice me nestled behind in my Audi A3. There wasn’t a lot of damage but the really boring thing was […]
Flying is not much fun (Apr08)
I wonder if the chaos at Terminal 5 may actually be doing us all a favour. For two reasons. The first is that it reinforces the fact that flying is not much fun. It means lots of waiting, ghastly airports and lost bags – or fear of losing them. The second reason is that it seems […]