bemoreeco

The team at Eco Design Fair are returning this year with three more events. The purpose of these events is to promote and sell products that contain an element of sustainable design, or/and are ethically produced.

These dates are;

• Eco Design Summer Fair West – On Saturday 20th - Westbourne Grove Church, London W11 2RW
• Eco Design Summer Fair East – On Saturday 27th June & Sunday 28th - The Old Truman Brewery,   London E1 6QL
• Recycling Party Special - Friday 26th June 2009 - The Old Truman Brewery,   London E1 6QL

To help combat the problem of the country’s declining bumblebee population, the Bumblebee Conservation Trust wants us to use more traditional native plants in our gardens. These include bluebells, rosemary, geraniums and honeysuckle, which bumblebees prefer to the more exotic imports that many gardeners are favouring at the moment.

WRAP Recycle Week will take place between 22nd and 28th July and it is to get involved during Recycle Week.

In support of recycle week the teams at BemoreEco and MoreEco will be blogging their recycling exploits each day.

Click here to visit our recycling page to see what we have been up to during the week.

We can all help by doing anything from re-using our carrier bags to recycling old electrical items – remembering to put as much of our recycling out, reducing our food waste and home composting of course! However you choose to waste less, it’s easy, it helps the environment and you might even save money in the process.

Everyone’s invited to join in!

To show how much we can all contribute as individuals, the team at Recycle Now have  put together a list of easy-to-achieve pledges which include:

I pledge to…

• recycle all my cartons
• recycle all my glass
• recycle all my newspapers and magazines
• sort and recycle my old electrical items
• re-use my carrier bags
• use my leftovers to make delicious lunches
• choose peat-free compost
• recycle drinks bottles and cans when I am out and about
• look out for the new ‘Recycle’ packaging labels
• home-compost my kitchen and garden waste
• go waste free for a day
• donate/recycle my unwanted clothes

From early June you’ll be able to make your pledge on the special Recycle Week ‘home page’.

You’ll receive details about the positive effect your pledge will have on the environment, plus hints and tips on how to make a difference. And at the end of the week, we’ll tell you how much we’ve achieved together.

So, why not join us this June and let’s all waste less less this Recycle Week...

Also as bonus if you sign up to MoreEco during Recycling week we will give you an extra 100 joining points. Use offer code ‘recyclenow’.

I though that this ‘Dustbot’ robot was an April Fool gag, but then I realised that we are in May and therefore it must be real. Check out this video by BBC report Duncan Kennedy.

However, to summaries, the Dustbot, form Tuscany, Italy, is believed to be the world’s first robot that comes to take away rubbish from your house when you want it. The Dustbot can be summoned to your address through a mobile phone any time of the day. The robot works with a combination of GPS navigation and with a gyroscope to keep it upright. There are also a number of sensors on the machine so it does not bump into anything.

Dustbot’s inventors say they hope it will put an end to fixed times for rubbish collection and they say it is designed to work in tightly packed urban areas where large refuse trucks find it difficult to operate. A number of local authorities from around the world have already expressed an interest in it.

Louise Gray from the Telegraph writing that Ten Danson predicts that a new film about the overfishing of the oceans will turn ordinary consumers into activists against eating endangered species of fish.

Described as the “Inconvenient Truth of the Oceans”, the End of the Line warns that if overfishing continues, there will be no more seafood by 2048 – threatening many areas of the world with starvation. In the new film former Daily Telegraph journalist Charles Clover confronts the politicians who have failed to stop overfishing and the celebrity restaurateurs who continue to serve endangered species like bluefin tuna.

At one point it is revealed that restaurant chain Nobu, whose customers have included Brad Pitt and Kate Moss, has repeatedly refused to stop serving bluefin although it now advises diners the dish is “environmentally challenged”.

Ted Danson, the Cheers actor and founder of Oceana, the largest international group focused solely on ocean conservation, predicted the film will make ordinary people so angry they will be turned into activists against non sustainably-sourced fish.

The film, selected for the 2009 Sundance Film Festival, features indigenous fishermen, top scientists and campaigners all around the world, from the coasts of Senegal to the Tokyo fish market and Senegal.

Mr Danson said more people need to be made aware of the threat of overfishing. “This is not the environmental alarmist. We, conceivably could fish out our oceans in the next 40 or 50 years,” he said. “This is science.”

The End of the Line will premiered at cinemas across the UK on World Ocean Day on the 8th June.

One of Boris Johnson’s missions as Mayor of London is to get more people out of their cars and on to their bike. Howeve, last Friday, London Mayor, Boris Johnson, was it a near miss accident with a Lorry while out cycling in London. 

If you the above  watches CCTV footage of the mayor’s last outing on his own bicycle is likely to be put off for life. During the morning Johnson headed out in London with transport minister Lord Adonis and Kulveer Ranger, his director of transport, to look at potential sites for new cycle “super highways”. The routes are part of his plan for a “cycling revolution” in the capital. Round a corner peddled the mayor and the minister, enjoying the ride, until a large lorry overtook them.

In what is being described as the mayor’s “near-death experience”, the lorry’s back door then suddenly flew open, dragged a parked car into the street and smashed into another – just feet from Johnson, Adonis and Ranger.

A CCTV camera which caught the drama obscures the cyclists during the collision until 30 seconds later a figure that is unmistakably Johnson emerges, helmet in hand, scratching his head and lucky to be alive.

An aide to the mayor said: “It was pretty awful. They were shaken up and Boris was shocked. But it makes the case even more for his super highways.”

A study on recycling suggests Britons are the worst in Europe when it comes to recycling electrical equipment.

Computer manufacturer Dell found that fewer than half of UK residents regularly recycled old hardware, compared with more than 80% of Germans. Within the UK, the Welsh are the worst when it comes to recycling technology; almost 20% have never done so. It is thought the UK creates enough electrical waste each year to fill Wembley Stadium six times over.

Environmental consultant Tony Juniper said that lack of awareness was a serious issue. “Governments in every country need to make the disposal of old electrical equipment as accessible and commonplace as recycling old paper, plastics and glass,” said the former Friends of the Earth director.

In early May, mobile operator 02 looked at what electrical equipment was inside a typical home. It found that there was an average of 2.4 TVs, 1.6 computers, 2.4 games consoles, 3 mobile phones, and 2.2 MP3 players.

PERCENTAGE WHO DO NOT RECYCLE E-WASTE (by Dell)

• Wales: 19%
• North-West England 17%
• North-East England 15%
• East Midlands 15%
• London 13%
• Scotland 13%
• East of England 11%
• South-West England 11%
• West Midlands 10%
• South-East England 9%
• Northern Ireland 7%

Source & Full Article – BBCNews

Now in its second year, The Sunday Times Best Green Companies awards, sets out to identify and celebrate the achievements of British businesses that are striving to improve their environmental performance.

The Sunday Times Best Green Companies Award is unique. They are the first to have both a robust methodology to measure corporate environmental performance and a survey of company employees to find out whether the company standards and procedures are executed all the way down to the shop floor.

Below we have listed the top 10 Sundays Times Best Green Companies.

1 Forster

Walking and cycling holidays take on a new meaning at Forster. For every journey to and from work that is made by foot or bike, employees earn five minutes’ holiday, which can add up to a total of 2½ extra days a year.

The company helps budding walkers and cyclists find route maps, has organised cycle confidence sessions, and helps them link up with colleagues who live locally. A quarter of staff are reaping the rewards of these initiatives, which not only cut emissions, but also have health benefits.

A top green score of 98% shows that people at Forster don’t associate being green with beards and sandals. They believe the organisation is getting better at protecting the environment (another 98% result) and receive regular communication on green issues (88%).

2 The National Magazine Company

3 Willmott Dixon Group Construction

4 Skanska UK Construction

5 Infinis Power generation

6 Milliken Contract Manufacturing

7 BT Group Telecommunications

8 The Environment Agency

9 MediaCom

10 Hain Celestial UK

For a full list of the top 60 Best Green Companies <click here>

Expert Dr Chris Brace reveals ten essential tips to increase your fuel economy – and reduce your bills.

Being a better driver doesn’t just revolve around foot-to-the-floor performance, lightning reactions and death-defying cornering speeds. Smoothness, anticipation, and a little bit of plain old-fashioned courtesy can get you a long way – especially when it comes to improving your car’s fuel economy. Journalists from motoring magazine V-ZINE spent a day with Dr Chris Brace, senior lecturer in Automotive Engineering at Bath University’s Powertrain and Vehicle Research Centre to brush up on economy driving. By the end of it, they’d recorded a 50 percent improvement in the economy of their Alfa Romeo Brera 2.4 JTDM.

Now it’s your turn to share Dr Brace’s ten-point driving plan.

1. Treat your car to some TLC - ’You should have your car regularly serviced and carry out maintenance checks of your own. Fresh oil will better lubricate the engine, while the correct tyre pressures ensure optimum rolling resistance for your rubber.’

2. Lighten up - ’You may carry your life around with you in the boot of your car, but you’d be better off leaving it at home. The heavier the car, the harder the engine has to work, so a 15 percent weight increase will see economy fall by the same amount.’

3. Starting and idling - ’People are tempted to leave their car to warm at idle before a journey, but it’s better for the engine and economy if you warm it up on the move. And when you come to a halt again, switching the engine off at the traffic lights saves you wasting fuel. Around a litre an hour is burned at idle.’

4. Smooth mover - ’When you’re driving, smoothness with the controls is key to making your fuel go further. Acceleration should be measured and progressive and you should aim to stay within the engine’s peak torque band – typically 1,500 to 2,500rpm in a diesel and 2,000 to 3,000rpm in a petrol-powered car. Another tip is to avoid coasting in neutral. It’s a common misconception that this saves fuel, but actually modern engines don’t consume fuel when coasting in gear.’

5. Slippery customer - ’Think about how long designers and aerodynamicists spend trying to make a car’s body cut smoothly through the air. By opening your window or sunroof, or piling bikes and boxes onto the roof, you’re ruining all that hard work. And it can heavily impact on the car’s economy.’

6. No drain = no pain - ’As a rule, anything that puts a drain on the battery will put a drain on your economy – for example, air conditioning or lights ablaze. But worse still is a battery in poor condition with relatively little charge. If the alternator is busy working away trying to charge the battery, it places a drain on the engine which hits the economy.’

7. Timing is everything - ’Driving in heavy stop-start traffic is going to hurt. So if you’re a commuter and can possibly avoid the rush hours, you’ll really notice the improvement in fuel consumption. Needless to say though, that’s easier said than done!’

8. Open your eyes  -’Looking ahead and anticipating obstacles is key to cutting your fuel bills. Find the path of least resistance and keep plenty of space around you. That way, you can dictate your own pace and always react calmly and in a measured fashion to changes ahead. Roundabouts and traffic light junctions are prime examples of where you should be aiming to maintain momentum. And when driving across country, try and maintain a steady, composed pace which eliminates the need for constant braking and acceleration.’

9. No need for speed - ’The speed limits are there for everyone’s safety, but those who flaunt them are not only endangering theirs and others’ lives, they are consuming more fuel. Stick to the limits.’

10. The fuel rule - ’Cheap, non-branded fuel may perform poorly, so try and search out a mainstream supermarket or fuel company before filling up. High performance ‘super-type’ petrol and diesel fuels such as Shell V-Power can burn more efficiently and improve your engine’s economy, but shop around for the lowest price first or you won’t feel the benefit!’

This article originally appeared in issue four of V-ZINE, the motoring magazine that is distributed exclusively to the members of the Shell V-Power Club, Shell’s premium loyalty scheme dedicated to Shell V-Power customers.