thegreenguy

Closed for holiday - back soon

I'm off to Greece this weekend for a fortnight, so the blog'll be a little quiet. For anyone wondering - we are flying and we had to go to Greece anyway for family reasons. We worked out an itninerary (via Man in Seat 61) for doing the whole shebang by train and boat, which involved a brilliant-sounding Transylvanian section. Sadly, it also involved manically rushing around and spending only one night in every city. I've given up on carbon offsetting, but I'll be doing some DIY offsetting this autumn by properly insulating our new house.

I'm off to Big Green Gathering - any recommendations?

I'm off today for my inaugural visit to The Big Green Gathering. Any recommedations for must-see talks, people or acts? I confess we're travelling by car, though it is a car club one, plus there are four of us and enough camping equipment inside to open our own Millets store. If all goes according to plan, I'll be posting some photos of the festival over at Newconsumer.com this weekend. [Photo: gavinandrewstewart]

Offsetting my London-NYC flight

Flying, eh? Once an unadulderated indulgence of free peanuts and beer, now a morally dubious mode of transport that accounts for 2 per cent of CO2 emissions globally and is growing fast. I've just returned from a London Heathrow to New York JFK trip for work, and have been checking out the ways I can do a tiny bit of good for the environment - and, if I'm being honest - offset my guilt a fraction too. There's a round-up of the ways you can 'offset' - make an attempt to cancel out - your flight's greenhouse gases after the click-through. [Photo by Orangeacid]

Green your flight for £20 with Welsh tree-planting

I'm flying to New York for work later in the month so I've been scoping out the carbon offsetting options - including this Treeflights Welsh tree nursery, pictured. As the company's main man Ru points out, it takes ages for trees to grow and remove your CO2 so it doesn't exactly make you 'carbon neutral', but it's better than nowt if you've got to fly. Treeflights suggests you plant a tree per single flight - see what they've done with the name? - at a cost of £10 (20 dollars or 15 Euros). Unlike some similar schemes, you can actually go and visit the the forest in mid-Wales whenever you like. Treeflights.com

Virgin Trains pops cherry with Fairtrade brews

Old tidings for seasoned commuters, but hot news for occasional train travellers like me: alongside life-size balloons of Richard Branson and in-seat entertainment, Virgin Trains now sells 100 per cent Fairtrade hot drinks. Apparently the coffees, teas and hot chocs were switched way back in March for Fairtrade Fortnight. The £1.69 hot chocolate still tastes like low-grade watery Cadbury's gloop, but, hey, at least the people who picked the cacao trees got paid a living wage.

More Th>n slashes insurance for hybrids

I know, I know, I'm a tad behind the times on this. Still, good news is always worth regurgitating. More Th>n, the insurance outfit, is offering discounts to anyone with a hybrid car such as Leonardo Di Caprio's favourite, the Toyota Prius (pictured). The deal is that hybird drivers will have their motor classified two levels lower than usual, thus saving - very, very roughly - £100 a year. On top, of course, of the petrol savings from owning a car with incredibly high MPG. [Guardian nib] [More Th>n press release]

Bamboo skateboard rides into shops

Despite the fact I was one of those kids who had a board but could only use it by sitting on my bum, I can still appreciate this new eco-friendly  skateboard from Lush. The Bahari's made entirely from bamboo, which, as pandas know, grows back incredibly quickly: making it far more planet-friendly than chopping the maple usually employed for boards. The Bahari's £150 over at UK firm, Lush Longboards. [thanks to Frazz at Stuff]

Reviewed: Ethical Travel Guide

This little volume turned up last week, extolling the joys and eco benefits of picking an 'ethical' holiday. It's a good read, even if the typography and style is a touch redolent of a 1970s' guide-book, explaining what an ethical holiday's about - having a knees-up without hammering people or planet - and comprehensively listing places to stay by country.

Eco cab firm drives into west London

London's Hammermsith is a bit of a dive: a mish-mash of transport interchanges with the M4 roaring overhead and a distinct lack of good pubs. I know, I lived there. Things are on the up though, judging by the arrival of Greentomatocars, a green minicab firm that only drives Priuses, Toyota's ingenious hybrid electric-petrol car with an awesomely economic 55MPG. Best of all, the co's pledging not to charge more than other upmarket minicabs. It's available in West London now, but the firm plans to rolls out across London sharpish.

Ethical travel guide hits shelves

Interesting post in yesterday's Guardian from Polly Pattullo who, incidentally, has a new 'ethical travel' book out today. That'd be the £15 one on the right, available from here. I'm going to nab a copy and run a review soon but, in the meantime, there's a round-up of eco holiday options after the link.