bemoreeco

More must be done to attract young people to careers within the energy industry, it has been claimed.

Zoe Robinson, ethical development manager at Warren Evans, said that the government and private sector must work in partnership to provide opportunities within the sector for school leavers and the long-term unemployed.

She added: “The UK can only be world leaders in the green energy revolution if we have world-leading skills.”

The comments come after energy firm Centrica warned of an emerging skills gap as many undergraduates are shunning employment opportunities in the industries that will contribute to low carbon growth.

One in four parents that took part in the survey said they would not actively encourage their children to enter the science, technology and energy sectors.

Ms Robinson warned that with the government cuts taking place in the Department of Energy and Climate Change, the coalition will have to “find new ways of delivering the green agenda”.

“While the public can do its part, the government’s responsibilities to deliver on this agenda will obviously not be met by telling us all to switch off our TVs,” she added.

>>> Please read the full article here

Less than one in two primary school children now walk to school.

In the three years to 1991 the proportion of children aged five to 10 walking to school in Britain was 62 per cent, but this has now dropped to 48 per cent according to figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

By contrast, the proportion of children travelling to school by car has increased from 27 to 43 per cent.

The move from walking to travelling by car is only partly explained by the fact that the average length of a trip to school has increased for primary school children from 1.3 miles in 1995–97 to 1.6 miles in 2008.

Less walking makes roads ‘safer’ and more dangerous

The fact that many children are now driven to school may go some way to explaining the improvements in British road casualty figures. Road deaths on British roads have fallen below 3,000 for the first time since records began in 1926.

A spokesperson for the Environmental Transport Association (ETA) said: “There may be fewer casualties, but if people switch from walking to cars, high levels of traffic makes streets feel dangerous and puts more people off cycling and walking”

“The increasing number of vehicles on British roads and its effect on the travel habits of children continues a vicious cycle – the more traffic there is, the more likely children are to be ferried to school by car.”

>>> Read the full article here

The holidays are nearly over and it is now time to make sure that you have all your kids ‘back to school’ gear ready.

So the team at BeMoreEco have gone through its post archive and have come up with a few post that you may find helpfull.

• The Ultimate Round-Up Of Green Back-To-School Advice
• Eco Shopping Guide Going Back to School
• How to Set Up an Environmentally Friendly, Green Classroom
• Top 10 eco, green and fun websites for kids

In the first-ever green think tank for children in the UK, manufacturers and retailers have been urged to do away with unnecessary packaging on games and toys.

The message came the youngsters attending the summit sponsored by British Gas, called Our Planet, Our Say. The event saw the launch of a new schoolchildren’s eco-group that represents more than 9,500 schools.

The think tank, made up of 20 of the schoolchildren chosen as the “greenest”, spent a day at Closed Loop Recycling plant in East London. Members discussed recycling issues and the part recycling plays in climate change and energy usage.

By the time the group concluded its discussions, it identified three policies to tackle energy wastage that it felt should be supported by the UK government.

All of the children involved agreed that new games and toys should be sold either with no packaging materials or have packaging significantly reduced. In addition, they urged soft drink companies to begin using only clear plastic bottles, which would reduce the energy required in bottle manufacturing and recycling.

The government was also advised to introduce more recycling bins and facilities in city centre, parks and other public spaces.

For more information on this article please visit www.clickgreen.org.uk.

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.

If you love The Mupperts then you will love this advert they did in the 80’s. Kermit, Fozzie and even Miss Piggy lend a hand to help the earth in this NWF short film from the 1980s.

There are a lot of kids in the team at BeMoreEco so we like making sure that we post relevant articles which you eco parents may find useful.

These are our favourtites so far;

• Top 10 eco, green and fun websites for kids
  
• Recycling With Kids
• Green your kid’s lunchbox
• Top 10 Best Eco-Themed Movies for Kids
• How to Set Up an Environmentally Friendly, Green Classroom
• The Ultimate Round-Up Of Green Back-To-School Advice

Greenfest 2009 taking place on Sunday 14 June by the river in Hammersmith. 

Greenfest 2009 will be both a lovely way to spend an afternoon beside the river, and a chance to discover some stuff about the environment, cycling and the local community.

There will be a lot of environment and community groups for you to meet. Over 30 groups have already signed up to come. We will list these soon as soon as we have more information.

The Greenfest team encourages the groups to be involving, and many have things for kids to do. Also there are attractions like Kite Studios encouraging the creativity of kids. They have some selected stalls where for example you can buy herbs, sustainable outdoor furniture and hard to find things. Also a few delicious food stalls.

Greenfest organisers encourage you to come by bike. For those who do not ride regularly, you will be able to see if you can still ride, and you can try out child trailers and child seats courtesy Go Pedal and DutchBaby.

The music line up includes Havana Good Time, Sean Taylor, Rocket Number 9, Taxi Pata Pata.

Sunday 14th June 2009 1 – 5pm in Furnivall Gardens by the river in Hammersmith W6 9DJ

Going green is everywhere now and can seem pretty overwhelming at times. With so much information out there it can be hard to know where to start.

You don’t need to go green overnight; take small steps!

Recycling can be a good first step, and it’s also a great way to teach kids about waste.

There are a lot of good resources out there to help you show your kids why we recycle. One site featuring a lot of great information is Kids Recycle. It’s geared toward schools but parents will find the information helpful as well.

One good idea to help kids get involved comes from an episode of Jon & Kate Plus 8 where Sara Snow visits. She took big buckets and had the two older girls use chalkboard paint to label the sides of the bins, designating which items go in which bins for recycling. She then made it into a sort of game, asking all the kids to go around the house and find the recyclable items.

Recyclezone is another website that can be helpful. The site has a wealth of games and activities to teach kids about recycling.

As for resources for parents, Earth911.com is a great site to find out where you can recycle different items. Just enter the item and your location and it will do all the guess work for you.

Recycling is becoming easier all the time. Most towns have curbside pick-up, so be sure to check with your city to see if they offer this convenient service. If not, ask about a drop-off locations. It’s a bit more work, but it’s definitely worth it in the end.

Recycling is one small step everyone can take to help our environment. Once you take your first step, the next will be even easier.

An original post for 5 Minutes For Going Green  - Written by Lisa (Retro Housewife Goes Green).

Read more about Lisa’s quest to be more green at Retro Housewife Goes Green.

“If I had influence with the good fairy who is supposed to preside over the christening of all children, I should ask that her gift to each child in the world be a sense of wonder so indestructible that it would last throughout life.” 

-Rachel Carson

As a society we are becoming aware of the benefits of unstructured play in nature to a child’s social and emotional development. Instead of being told—as I was—to “go outside and play,” children are spending more time indoors and at scheduled social events.

Here is a list of some organisations which provide insight and ideas and rescources for greening our children:

• Children & Nature Network (C&NN)
• GREENHOUR.ORG, 
• KaBOOM! i
• The Sierra Club’s Building Bridges to the Outdoors Project 
• Take A Child Outside Week i

For the full detailed breakdown of these excellent organisations read the full article at SuperEco

Source; Super Eco