Here’s an interesting story from the BBC. It’s pretty clear that the supermarkets reject fruit that doesn’t look good enough, but I suspect that this doesn’t have to do with the EU requirements. They want the best looking fruit so it sells better. So will these changes actually mean that funny shaped carrots end up in supermarkets (where most of us shop)? I suspect not, but at least nobody will have this particular excuse.
In yesterday evening’s sweltering heat (it hit 30.4 celsius in St James’s Park at one point in the day), the Conservative Party launched their Climate Campaign. It might have been better called a ‘global warming’ campaign given the heat of the Century Club’s roof terrace. I’m sure Nigel Lawson would have preferred that (he reckons the phrase ‘climate change’ is deliberately misleading). The message from the Conservatives: we need action on the climate right now.
While the full details of what this means may not have been apparent last night, there were a few key things: no to coal power stations unless they have carbon capture technology (from the outset), no to a 3rd runway at Heathrow, and the protection of our rainforests. On the last point, given we don’t have any of our own, I assume that this is more of an international aid, trade and diplomacy idea.
George Osborne, the Shadow Chancellor, spoke about environmental improvements being good for business, not a costly and negative thing. This was then swiftly backed up by Paul Kelly, External Affairs and Corporate Responsibility Director at ASDA, who said that meeting their green goals (energy efficiency, waste reduction, etc) will save them as much as £25m a year. In other words, there are plenty of reasons why this is a good thing for business (in ASDA’s case 25 million of them). The supermarket retailers seem to have ‘got’ this, and hopefully more businesses will make the move and follow suit.
Seeing as it looks like we have a tube strike starting in London this evening, we thought we’d share a few ideas to get round more easily.
Bike
Hop on your bike and you’re completely free of relying on someone else’s timetable. If you really want one though, you could consider using a BikeTube. This was set up by the London Cycling Campaign to help encourage people to travel to work by bike. Basically, a bike tube is a bunch of cyclists following a commuting route together.
Walk
Why not walk? It’s certainly more pleasant than a tube journey. This may or may not be practical for you, but you could be surprised by how close some things are for you. Many people end up confused by the tube map and place things further or nearer in their heads than they really are. A scheme called Legible London has been set up to help overcome these misconceptions. You’ve probably seen a few of them round - on the map is a circular zone showing everything within a 5 minute walk (and another zone with places 15 minutes walk away). You may be surprised by how close things really are.
If you don’t want to go looking for one of those, try going to Walkit. This is a brilliant site which helps map a walking route for you and tells you how long it is likely to take you, whether you choose to walk slow or fast. It’s a pretty handy site.
If you don’t like either of those, go to TfL’s website and they have a ‘plan your alternative journey’ search function up and ready!
The nice folks at Method sent us a free bottle of their toilet cleaner, Bowl Patrol. Thought we should make that clear in case you think that changes what we say about their product. Incidentally, it doesn’t. If we thought the product was bad, we’d probably write a bad review and send them an apologetic email (or maybe not write the review at all - either way, any opinions we publish are always our own).
Method’s toilet cleaner uses natural lactic acid instead of the regular harmful chemicals you find in toilet cleaners. I’m reliably informed by Method that they harvest the lactic acid from children hung upside down.* I suggested that this might not be the most efficient way of doing things, but I believe its more in keeping with their ethical policy.**
The first thing you notice about the product is that it’s in a simply stunning container. It just looks great: curvy and suggestive, simple and yet arresting. The next thing you notice is that there’s no lid - it’s just a nice twist design. This makes the product pretty easy to use.
Once squirted into the toilet, Bowl Patrol seems to do the trick. I’ve used a couple of the other eco brands and found Method’s to deliver the most satisfying results so far. That’s, ultimately, the most important thing: there’s no use buying eco friendly stuff that doesn’t work very well. You could end up using twice the amount or just end up wasting it. To really compare, I’ll need to try it on some hardened limescale (where I’ve had poor results from other brands), but right now I don’t have any.
Method’s active ingredient is lactic acid, which you’ll be familiar with if you’ve ever had muscle cramp. Of course, this comes from plants (not children). I can’t tell you what all the other brands use as their active ingredients, but do know that some use citric acid. So far, on an entirely unscientific basis, I’ve not found those to be quite as good.
Fragrance wise, I like the Bowl Patrol more than the Ecover version. However, one of the team here asked whether if contained synthetic perfumes. The answer is ‘yes’ - it has both natural and synthetic fragrance, but Method say that its ingredients must all have been shown to be non-toxic, non-allergenic, non-irritating and also biodegradable. So most people shouldn’t worry too much about that.
Method has around 15 products that are Cradle-to-Cradle Silver Certified, but unfortunately, Bowl Patrol isn’t one of them. Of course, none of its competitors are either. Further, you may wonder whether that’s something to rely on or not (see our previous post).
Click here for a list of the ingredients in Bowl Patrol.
* This may not be true.
** Also extremely unlikely to be true.
Where to find it:
You can find Bowl Patrol at the Method Shop on BigGreenSmile.
Method Products are also available at Ethical Superstore.
I’m always slightly conflicted when I find out that people we revere are not all they are made out to be. On the one hand, I’m a stickler for finding out as much about things as possible, so I’m almost always skeptical about things I hear. On the other hand, you need heros and role models. Where would we be without those?
I think the first time it happened was when I found out that Ben Johnson had been caught cheating with drugs in the 1988 Olympics. I would have been 10 years old and just starting to enjoy sprinting. I can still remember watching the final, and the deflated feeling of realising he had cheated. I’m sure we can all think of other examples of our heroes disappointing us.
To be fair, for sports starts it’s not their fault. At least, it’s not their fault that they are heroes. They’re just off doing what they want, maybe cutting a corner here or there to get there - but they’re doing it for themselves. They don’t really care that we respect and revere them over others. But then other people are different.
Think about the MP expenses scandal that’s going on right now. These guys should know better. They are role models and in the public eye - it’s one thing to think that they’re pinching from the public purse, but more disappointing is that we want them to have a certain level of integrity, and they’ve failed us. Unlike, say, our sporting idols, these guys know that we expect that, and yet can’t live up to it.
So, you wonder, what on earth does this have to do with green living? (notice I didn’t say ‘ethical’ living). Well today, I was shown an article about William McDonough, co-author of ‘Cradle to Cradle: remaking the way we make things’. Along with Michael Braungart, he was responsible for helping to popularise a vision of a society which uses closed loop manufacturing. For many, this is a real way to tackle environmental issues whilst maintaining an increase in quality of life. Now, I’ve never met or heard Bill McDonough speak, but I have heard Michael Braungart. Braungart was hugely inspirational and entertaining - he made me want to go out and do things better. So, I’ve always figured that McDonough must be pretty special for Braungart to have partnered with him. Well, Fast Company’s article is worth reading - the title is ‘Green Guru Gone Wrong” - it’s a story of self promotion and greed from a visionary leader, and it shows we always have to cast a critical eye at environmental claims, regardless of who is making them. One person commenting on the article said he deserves our thanks not our scrutiny - I disagree. I think he deserves both (just like some of those MPs).
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