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Save 60% on UKAware Tickets.
The team at MoreEco have increased their support for UKAware 2010 by securing a stand at the event. Therefore if you have any questions please come and visits us. Taking place on 16th and 17th April 2010, in Olympia Two, London, UK Aware is the UK’s only green and ethical lifestyle exhibition.

Also we have secured discounted tickets for this excellent Green Event.

Click here to buy tickets now and save £9.00.

Click here for more Event information.

This top ten list was carried out by Nick Aster at  Triplepundit. The results from their orginal poll are posted below. (You can see the entire list at the bottom of the original post, as well as the great conversations the nomination process produced).

Before you  get too excited about the ranking,  we  want to emphasize that there was nothing scientific about this process and its real purpose was as much to provoke conversation as it was to give recognition to some of our most enlightened business leaders.

Yvon Chouinard, Patagonia (Owner/Founder) (30%, 407 Votes) - Though not technically a CEO, Yvon Chouinard ran away with the top spot according to readers. Patagonia’s “Let my people go surfing” philosophy has enamored the company among those who strive to create an ideal working environment where employees thrive and get more productive at the same time. Patagonia’s environmental ethic is second to none, having helped found 1% for the planet and revolutionizing supply chain transparency with their Footprint Chronicles, among many other things.

George Siemon, Organic Valley Company (21%, 281 Votes) – Organic Valley is not a company we’ve had closely on our radar, but evidently a lot of readers did. The company formed out of a farmers coop in 1988 and has grown since then to encompass over 1,300 farms of varying types and half a billion dollars in sales. Siemon himself was one of the founding farmers in the cooperative.

Mick Bremans, Ecover (20%, 271 Votes)  - Recognized by Time Magazine as one of 2008’s heroes of the planet, Mick Bremans has been running Belgium’s Ecover company since 1993. 3p’s Jen Boynton and I had the privilege of visiting Ecover’s headquarters last summer and can vouch for an impressively sustainable operation as well as a refreshing and open philosophy on work and life.

Jeffrey Hollender (Former CEO), Seventh Generation (16%, 225 Votes) – Another legend in the cleaning products space is Jeffrey Hollender, whose excellent personal blog, Inspired Protagonist, reveals as much about him as the philosophy and culture that makes up the company. Like Ecover, Seventh Generation was built from day one on the principals of environmental sustainability and on revolutionizing the toxic cleaning products industry to great success.

Jan Blittersdorf, NRG Systems (15%, 198 Votes) – Another Vermont company, NRG Systems has been making measurement systems for the wind energy industry since 1982. The company’s headquarters runs entirely on solar power, wind and wood pellets.

BethAnn Lederer, Working Wonders (13%, 182 Votes) – BethAnn Lederer has built Working Wonders into one of the larger resources for green interior design material and products for the home and workplace. Her company was another nomination that came from under the radar for us and we’ll look forward to learning more about her.

John Mackey, Whole Foods (9%, 129 Votes) – Despite recent conflicts about Mackey’s stance on health care and other issues, he remains a household name in the world of sustainable business. You have to have built an empire to earn his level of controversy, but there’s no question that Whole Foods’ ascent has pushed other retailers and the mainstream public toward more organic, more healthy eating.

Jeff Lebesch and Kim Jordan, New Belgium Brewery (8%, 111 Votes) – Mmm beer. In addition to producing excellent brews, New Belgium Brewery has almost single handedly brought downtown Ft. Collins, Colorado to life – a tall order in the suburban sprawl of the front range. With a wind powered brewery, most employees biking to work, and a corporate structure that includes the Four Principals of Sustainability, New Belgium bleeds green. Also, the Tour de Fat bicycle event is as fun as a company sponsored party can be.

Eric Schmidt, Google (7%, 101 Votes) – Google’s slogan, “Don’t Be Evil”, has more or less been followed even if it’s meant to be tongue in cheek. From green buildings & data centers, to donating millions to worthy causes, to standing up to the Chinese government, Google earns a prominent position on this list. Not manufacturing anything physical might make embracing sustainability an easier task, but Google’s inclusion on the top ten is still well earned.

Ray Anderson (Former CEO), Interface Carpet (7%, 90 Votes) – Ray Anderson is so well known among sustainable business types, we often speak of a “Ray Anderson moment” as being the moment when a CEO has an epiphany about his or her company’s impact on the world and the fact that, most likely, there are a lot of negative externalities wrapped up in it. Some might wonder how he didn’t earn the number one spot, but perhaps the fact that he’s number 10 speaks volumes about how much progress others have made.

A US-led initiative called the Copenhagen Accord has formed the centre-piece of a deal at UN climate talks in Copenhagen, despite some countries’ opposition. Below is an explanation of the main points in the agreement.

1. Legal Status - The Accord, reached between the US, China, India, Brazil and South Africa, contains no reference to a legally binding agreement, as some developing countries and climate activists wanted. Neither is there a deadline for transforming it into a binding deal, though UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said it needed to be turned into a legally binding treaty next year.

The accord was merely “recognised” by the 193 nations at the Copenhagen summit, rather than approved, which would have required unanimous support. It is not clear whether it is a formal UN deal.

2. Temperature Rise –  The text recognises the need to limit global temperatures rising no more than 2C (3.6F) above pre- industrial levels. The language in the text shows that 2C is not a formal target, just that the group “recognises the scientific view that” the temperature increase should be held below this figure. However, the accord does not identify a year by which carbon emissions should peak, a position resisted by some richer developing nations. Countries are asked to spell out by 1 February next year their pledges for curbing carbon emissions by 2020. The deal does not spell out penalties for any country that fails to meet its promise.

3. Financial Aid - The deal promises to deliver $30bn (£18.5bn) of aid for developing nations over the next three years. It outlines a goal of providing $100bn a year by 2020 to help poor countries cope with the impacts of climate change. The accord says the rich countries will jointly mobilise the $100bn, drawing on a variety of sources: “public and private, bilateral and multilateral, including alternative sources of finance.”

A green climate fund will also be established under the deal. It will support projects in developing countries related to mitigation, adaptation, “capacity building” and technology transfer.

4. Emissions Transparency - The pledges of rich countries will come under “rigorous, robust and transparent” scrutiny under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). In the accord, developing countries will submit national reports on their emissions pledges under a method “that will ensure that national sovereignty is respected.”

Pledges on climate mitigation measures seeking international support will be recorded in a registry.

5. Review of Progress - The implementation of the Copenhagen Accord will be reviewed by 2015. This will take place about a year- and-a-half after the next scientific assessment of the global climate by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). However, if, in 2015, delegates wanted to adopt a new, lower target on global average temperature, such as 1.5C rather than 2C, it would be too late.

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Copenhagen Summit Summary

Between the 7th and 18th December the MoreEco Team have posting news, videos, pictures summaries from COP15, the United Nations Climate Change Conference which is taking place at Bella Center in Copenhagen.

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A Copenhagen Accord it is

Day 12 Summary

Day 11 Summary

Important Climate Change Websites

COP15 – Latest Videos – The Cube, Kids from Age of Stupid and The Limos

Day 10 Summary

Day 9 Summary

Climate Change Skeptics

This is About Us

Day 8 Summary

Talks in Chaos

COP15 – More Video’s

Weekend Summary

Day 5 Summary

Day 4 Summary

COP15 – More Pictures

Day 3 Summary

Andy Cato Blogs for Act on Copenhagen

Day 2 Summary

Day 1 Summary

The Impact of Global Temperature Rise – Interactive Map

COP15 – Pictures

Company drivers who choose electric cars are to be exempt from benefit in kind (BiK) tax for five years from April 2012. Electric cars currently attract a tax rate of 9 per cent. The exemption was announced the weel as part of the Pre-Budget report given by Alistair Darling.

The Chancellor is keen to increase the number of electric cars used by company drivers. At present, only 50 of the 1.1 million company cars in Britain are electric.Employers will also receive inducements to switch to electric vehicles. National Insurance contributions on company cars paid by employers will be reduced by £480 per car per year.

A motorist driving an electric car pays already pays no vehicle excise duty (road tax), no congestion charges and no fuel tax because no petrol is used.The tax rate exemption will coincide with the launch of the world’s first mass production car, the Nissan Leaf, as well as four models from Renault.

A spokesperson for the Environmental Transport Association (ETA) said: “Tax breaks are a useful means of promoting electric cars in their early days, but if the uptake is significant they will not be financially or environmentally sustainable.”

>>>Source; Environmental Transport Association (ETA)

>>>Earn £8 MoreEco cash back when you join ETA’s Ethical Breakdown Service. Join the drive for greener motoring.

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On 2nd December Bags of Change is co-hosting an Eco Christmas shopping event with guest speaker Zac Goldsmith, champion of independent retailers, plus organic wine and nibbles and a special Eco Christmas raffle.

Come and have a glass of wine and a browse. What better way to do your Christmas shopping?

Goodies will include: our beautiful organic cotton Bags of Change; stylish vegan shoes and accessories from Bourgeois Boheme; Voodoo Blue’s fairly traded sisal and soapstone products from Kenya; Bam’s bamboo eco clothing for men and women; Plant Your Tree gift cards, organic T-shirts and towels and more from One Green Earth and Green Sisters; eco Christmas trees from Treecycle; English knits from The North Circular; plus more sustainable stocking fillers from the Sea Shepherd marine conservation charity.

Wednesday 2nd December 2009, from 6.30pm to 9pm at the Bourgeois Boheme Showroom, Hydrex House, Garden Road, Richmond TW9 4NR.

Map. – Free parking on Orchard and Garden Road – 5-minute walk from North Sheen station – Walk or bus R68, 419 or 190 from Richmond Station

It’s the 35th National Tree Week (25th November – 6th December). First mounted in 1975, National Tree Week is UK’s largest tree celebration annually launching the start of the winter tree planting season.

National Tree Week is a great chance for communities to do something positive for their local treescape. It is time to get out the tree planting boots, wield a spade and Grow Your Own; trees for food crops, trees for fuel sources, trees for wildlife, trees for biodiversity and, not least, trees for future generations.

The Tree Council is encouraging everyone to think about sustainability and remember, particularly, that as well as planting to harvest fruit such as apples, plums and pears, there are many trees that have edible seeds – sweet chestnuts, hazel, walnut and many others that we may not care for, but that help feed birds through the winter.

Traditional British orchards have become a nationally scarce resource over the last 50 years and Britain now imports nearly twice as many apples from abroad as are grown here. By planting a traditional apple or pear variety, in particular, you can benefit from free food for years to come and help preserve some of the wonderful native varieties that are peculiar to different parts of the UK.

“It is a tragedy that we import hundreds of thousands of tonnes of apples from abroad when we can grow better varieties, throughout Britain, even in small back gardens.” commented Pauline Buchanan-Black, Director-General of the Tree Council.

“Planting an apple tree in your own garden can provide fantastic free food for you and your family for decades ahead. With literally thousands of apple varieties to choose from, and special root-stocks to ensure they don’t outgrow the space in your garden, they are the perfect tree to plant this National Tree Week.”

There will be thousands of organised events throughout Britain this autumn to celebrate National Tree Week. They are planned by The Tree Council’s Tree Wardens, member organisations and supporters though anyone who wants to take part can also think about doing something positive by planting a tree in their own garden.

If you wish to support of National Tree Week visit The Tree Council website or you can buy trees ready for planting and earn cash back from the following MoreEco Retailers.

Tree2mydoor - 8% Eco Shopping Cash Back – To celebrate Tree2mydoor are offering customers a recession busting HALF PRICE NATIVE TREES OFFER. They are offering customers a massive 50% discount for all native tree gift orders placed over a 6 day period during National Tree Week from Wednesday the 25th of November through to Monday the 30th of November. Saving you over £12 per native tree! Hurry – this offer is limited to the first 500 customers.

BeMoreEco has signed up to 10:10 - an ambitious project to unite every sector of British society behind one simple idea: that by working together we can achieve a 10% cut in the UK’s carbon emissions in 2010.

By signing up to 10:10 you commit to support the national drive to reduce Britain’s emissions steeply in 2010. That means urging your staff, suppliers and customers to sign up to cut their own emissions by 10%, helping to distribute our tags, and doing everything you can to reduce your own operational emissions

HOW CAN THE UK CUT 10%?

The simplest way to tackle your 10% cut is to use the 10:10 10 point checklist below;