bemoreeco

Equa are sponsoring a fantastic ethical fashion show at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London on Sunday 9th November.

The show is part of the V&A’s Conscious Style day, an event to explore the growing popularity of ethical fashion, with swishing, styling workshops, talks and the fashion show, all taking place in the V&A’s new Sackler Centre for education.

The fashion show will feature high street and one-off pieces by labels such as Noir, Del Forte, People Tree, Stuart & Brown, Amana and Wildlifeworks.

All events are free. No prior booking is required; some events will be ticketed on the day as numbers may be limited. Tickets for the fashion show available from 1pm. For the full programme visit Conscious Style at www.vam.ac.uk/events.

>>> Please read the full article here

>>> For more information on green events click here

The Global Green awards reward companies which have made contributions to environmentally friendly or sustainable business practices, consumers can find out about the green business practices of previous winners or follow this year’s awards on Twitter, Facebook and MySpace.

The Global Green awards, previously the Green Awards, are awarded to companies within the media and marketing industries which have undertaken creative work demonstrating the importance of corporate social responsibility, sustainable development and undertaking ethical business practices.

2010, the fifth year of the awards, is the first year in which all the categories in the Green Awards have been open to entries from around the world. Award categories include Best Green educational product, best green international campaign, best green product innovation and best green packaging.

The Green Awards are designed to drive others towards the sustainability agenda by celebrating environmentally friendly practices. Consumers can inform themselves of more environmentally friendly product choices by following past winners and their ecologically friendly products or campaigns on the Green Awards Website.

Examples of past winners include chocolate company Cadbury, which won the best green packaging awards in 2008 for their ‘eco-eggs’ – chocolate eggs wrapped with the minimum amount of packaging and using recycled material; and multinational mobile phone company O2, which received an award in 2006, for reducing packaging.

The competition officially opens on Monday, July 19, when entry forms are made available for any companies wishing to be considered for an award. Though entrants cannot be viewed by members of the public until the shortlist is announced in mid-October, the awards can be followed through social networking sites Facebook, Twitter and MySpace; more information can also be found about past winners at www.greenawards.com. The awards ceremony will take place in London later this year.

Previously this year the winners of the European Business awards for the Environment were announced on June 2. The awards have four categories, products, international co-operation, management and process, rewarding companies that pioneer green practices.

www.twitter.com/greenawards

>>> Please read the full article here

Charlotte Methven celebrated buying British last weekend in You Magazine from the Mail on Sunday. It featured one of MoreEco’s favourite brands, Natural Empathy as an up and coming British Brand and highlighted their hand and body lotion and indulgence natural candle. To celebrate this they’re offering £2 from every online sale of Beautifully British products as a donation to the Help for Heroes charity.

The article discusses the notion of ‘rediscovering the idea of buying British to support our economy and see how great small British brands can be’ – a concept MoreEco supports whole heartedly. So if you fancy taking a look at the article please click here and let us know what you think!

Thanks
The MoreEco Team

>>> See the article here

>>> Check out Natural Empathy’s page here

After a hotly contested debate the shortlist for The 2010 Observer Ethical awards, in association with Ecover, is announced today. Now in their fifth year the awards pay tribute to those that have an innovative way of looking at ethical issues and those who create practical solutions to these problems. In previous years the awards have attracted a diverse selection of winners from famous figures such as Ken Livingstone and David Attenborough to community projects such as Ethical Kids winners, Lomeshaye Marsh Local Nature Reserve and Stockbridge Junior Rangers.

A record number of entries was whittled down in the last round by the esteemed panel of judges that included Colin Firth, actor; Ben Fogle, TV presenter; Sue Perkins, comedian; Kate Humble, TV presenter and Ben Okri, author, and was chaired by Lucy Siegle, ethical living correspondent, The Observer.

The full shortlist

Those selected by The Observer readers:

Best Local Retailer:
Infinity Foods Shop & Bakery
Local Roots and Wellie Boots
Growing Communities

Best Online Retailer:
Riverford Organic
Abel & Cole Ltd
Frugi

Politician of the year:
Caroline Lucas
David Cameron
Ed Miliband

Campaigner of the year:
Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall
Joanna Lumley
Jamie Oliver

Those selected by the judging panel:

Ecover Ethical Kids award:
Charlton Manor Primary School
The Green Team
The Recyclists

Jupiter Big Idea award:
The Wool Packaging Company Ltd (WoolCool).
Aquamarine Power
Resomation Limited

Ethical Business award:
Bettys & Taylors of Harrogate
Ecotricity
B & Q

Fashion and Accessories sponsored by Marie Claire:
Antiform – ReMade in Leeds
From Somewhere
Pachacuti

Conservation award sponsored by National Grid:
Echoes of Blackburn Meadows
Blue Ventures Community-Based Marine Conservation
Pestival

Grassroots Project:
Project Dirt
Liftshare
Abundance

For more information on The Observer Ethical awards and the shortlist visit: www.observer.co.uk/ethicalawards.

The winners will be announced at a ceremony, hosted by Colin Firth and Lucy Siegle, in June at a location in London.

>>> Please read the full article here

The government yesterday (March 3rd) announced the winners of the UK heats of a Europe-wide competition to produce the most innovative solutions to pressing environmental problems.

Among the successful companies were the Coal Authority, for its minewater treatment scheme; Nuphalt Ltd for its infrared road repair system; Agfa Graphics for its profess efficiency and Toyota UK for its success in reducing carbon emissions.

Dan Morris, the environment minister, revealed the UK representatives at a ceremony at the Royal Society yesterday.

“All of our winners have shown great innovation and invention with new products, processes and systems which provide improved environmental performance and importantly, value for money for their customers,” Mr Morris said.

All will go on to compete at the European Business Awards for the Environment, the entrants of which will revealed after the panel meeting concludes on March 12th.

The UK has so far won at least one award in each round since 1994 and has more entries overall than any other European nation.

>>> Take a look at the government award site here

>>> Please read the full article here

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.

Whitley Award donated by The Friends of The WFN to Jittin Ritthirat for Community-led conservation of Thailand’s Elephants in populated monsoon forest, West Thailand. Jittin Ritthirat (Thailand) is leading efforts in Salakpra (a backdrop for the De Niro film, The Deer Hunter) to reduce conflicts between wild elephants and domestic cattle over access to water and grazing, and restore Thailand’s oldest nature reserve as a national treasure, tourist magnet and example to others.

Earlier on this Year my son, Nils aged 7, took part in the latest Young Writers competition ‘My First Acrostic’. This competition is used as an introduction to poetry and creative writing, that children find both inspiring and fun.

Nils’s first acrostic was about why we should recycle.

My wife and I were delighted to be inform that Nils’s Recycle poem had been selected for publication. Therefore to celebrate the start of ‘WRAP’s Recycle Week’ I thought that my first post for Recycle Now readers should be this poem. So here it is;

WHY RECYCLE by Nils (7)

Why should we recycle?

How can you help the environment?

You can be recycling

Recycling is good

Every day reuse

Cycle to school

You must throw waste in a recycling bin

Carry your bottles to the bottle bank

Learn to put litter in the bin

Each of us must be responsible.

Don’t forget you can now go to the Recycle Now website to make your pledge.

The Observer Ethical Awards in association with Ecover

Five months since the launch of The Observer Ethical Awards, sponsored by Ecover, back in January the winners of the various categories including the Ecover Ethical Kids award were officially announced on Wednesday night at a glamorous awards ceremony held in London.

The prestigious awards and this year didn’t fail to impress the judges with hundreds upon hundreds of entries from people all over the UK. The Awards looks to highlight those individuals and companies that have gone the extra green mile here in the UK whether it be a local retailer, youth community group or business.

Colin Firth, Deborah Meaden, Rick Edwards and Ken Livingstone were all on the judging panel.

The winners were:

• Lifetime Achievement Award: David Attenborough, broadcaster and naturalist, has spent his life devoted to the natural environment. Watch the interview here.

• Ethical Garden: Lower Shaw Farm, based Swindon and is an environmentally friendly place where adults and children can enjoy a range of activities all year around.

• Big Idea Award: Naturespaint, is a totally natural paint product that comes in a powder form.

• Grassroots Campaigner of the year: Rob Hopkins. Watch the interview here.

• Ethical Fashion: People Tree, Safia Minney (To celebrate you can enjoy 30% OFF People Tree is you shop via MoreEco)

• Campaigner: Peter Tatchell, has campaigned for over 30 years for sexual freedom and human rights.

• Best Local Retailer: Warren Evans, who creates unique, handmade beds and bedroom furniture.

• Online Retailer: Good Energy Shop, is a website that selects suppliers for their energy saving credentials making it less confusing for buyers to make the right choice.
• Politician: Caroline Lucas, leader of the Green party, has firmly established herself as progressive and decisive figure in the climate change campaign.

• Conservation Award, Sponsored by National Grid: Fighting to Save West Thurrock Marshes, a charity devoted to the conservation of invertebrates.

• Ethical Business Award, Sponsored by Triodos Bank: Riverford Organic Vegetables, mission is to bring organic, seasonal vegetables to your door.

• Ecover Ethical Kids Award: Lomeshaye Marsh Local Nature Reserve and Stockbridge Junior Ranger
  • Lomeshaye Marsh local nature reserve is a small nature reserve in Lancashire that is looked after and developed by a local special needs school. Watch the interview here.
  • The Stockbridge Junior Rangers are a group of young people 8-14 years old from the Stockbridge Village estate in Knowlsey, Liverpool, that look after their local environment.

Would you like to make a difference?

To buy Ecover Products online visit the MoreEco who list the best Eco Shopping sites and be part of the 5% of families safeguarding 1/2 million Olympic swimming pools worth of water.

Also MoreEco, the Eco Shopping reward site, will donate £1 for each person who sign up using the offer code ‘wateraid’.

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>