So, I was in the woods today of Whole Foods Kensington and popped in to stock up on some ethical treats. Sadly - and please excuse the consecutive negative posts - the UK staff clearly don't have the training and knowledge of their US counterparts that were parachuted in for the launch I attended. Case in point: asked if I needed any help in the health & beauty section, I said I did, and that I was looking for a certified organic face moisturiser (welcome to my world). The anonymous lass directed me to some Jason stuff which wasn't organic, let alone certified organic.
I belatedly got round to watching Black Gold - that documentary by two Brit brothers on the inequalities of coffee. I really wanted to like it, because it has an ethical awareness message at its heart, but, but... it's just not very good.
Last night I nipped along to the Ashden Awards ceremony. Here's a lo-fi 9 minute video I recorded of Al Gore giving out the sustainable energy awards. If you're after a list of the winners, continue reading.
I've just tried the government's much-trumpeted carbon calculator. Previously, my footprint's been estimated at anywhere from 1 to 7 tonnes of carbon - the UK average is 11 - depending on the calculator. So the prospect of an authoritative one pushed my buttons. The long and short is that the gov's effort is extremely pretty, and would be extremely user-friendly if it wasn't sooooooo slow. The problem is an evil little spinning wind turbine - like the Mac spinning wheel of death - that pops up at stages of the calculator. It's meant to indicate 'please wait, site thinking' but doesn't actually spell that out.
I'm doing a spot of guest blogging over at the Ethical Weddings Blog on recycled suits and other eco and fair wedding malarkey. As friends will know, I'm getting hitched next month. It's a pretty low key affair, so has a relatively small environmental impact. So far, our green touches include Priuses for transport, exhortations for people to use public transport, a ring made from recycled gold and a conflict-free diamond, plus lots of vegetarian food.
The good people at Arena Flowers, stockists of socially and environmentally-friendly flora, are offering you 10 per cent off as a thegreenguy reader. Just enter the code greenguy at Arena's checkout. It's worth noting the flowers aren't Fairtrade Foundation-certifed - unlike some of the bouquets you may have seen at your local Sainsburys' - but recognised by the Fair Flowers Fair Plants scheme. Its website is a bit hazy about the concrete standards for growers, so I've dropped FFFP an email to find out exactly what badge means in real life. 25th June update: one week on and no reply from FFFP. Doesn't bode too well, does it?
That's pretty much the nub of a piece I've written for today's Guardian after a month of living with three of the 'real-time' electricity meters. If you're useless at turning off standby or always overfill the kettle, it may be worth a read.
I've just reluctantly returned the keys to my loan electric car for the weekend, NICE's Mega City. Tomorrow brings cheer, however, as I'll be driving the whizziest, latest version of its rival, the long-standing G-Wiz. For a proper comparison of the two, and a round-up of cash-saving bonuses like no congestion charge, keep an eye on Newconsumer.tv. In the meantime, please let me know if you've tried either, and read on for my initial brain-dump thoughts on the Mega City.
Do we need another Freecycle? That's the question I kept asking myself tonight at the glitzy, Bloomberg-hosted, B-list celeb-spotted preview launch of MySkip.com (pictured left). The basic idea is sound enough. It's a listings site for stuff that would end up in landfill, and the pros over Freecycle are that it's slicker, has photo uploading, you can send entries via mobile phone and it also caters for the commercial and construction sectors in addition to individuals (or does Freecycle do that already?). However, the presentation at tonight's 'preview launch' - the proper site ain't live 'til autumn - was bad, bordering on farcical.
A press release just landed in my inbox lauding Dell's new Zero Carbon Initiative. It's brilliant to see Dell putting climate change at the top of its agenda and its plan has good stuff - building 'the greenest PC', asking its suppliers to report their CO2 output and more. The company also has a great recycling record, with free worldwide schemes in place already. Now for the rant. I've got to knock the company's emphasis on carbon offsetting, which Friends of the Earth dismisses as a smokescreen and is pretty much the verdict I've come round to (I've changed my tune on that). Dell's Plant a Tree scheme, which just went live in the UK, is particularly lame. Why? Because the onus is on the punter - you and me - to pay for the offsetting. Besides, how far will £1 for a notebook and £3 for a desktop actually go on tree-planting? Yes, it's better than nowt, but it's also a distraction from energy efficiency improvements and serious carbon-cutting. It's cheap PR, not serious change.
So, I was in the woods today of Whole Foods Kensington and popped in to stock up on some ethical treats. Sadly - and please excuse the consecutive negative posts - the UK staff clearly don't have the training and knowledge of their US counterparts that were parachuted in for the launch I attended. Case in point: asked if I needed any help in the health & beauty section, I said I did, and that I was looking for a certified organic face moisturiser (welcome to my world). The anonymous lass directed me to some Jason stuff which wasn't organic, let alone certified organic. 
