The Green Village News for the ‘Environmental Impact’ Category
Wednesday, August 19th, 2009
The NHS has the biggest carbon footprint of the whole UK public sector, emitting over 18 million tonnes of CO2 per year. In an effort to help reduce costs, save lives and help reduce the carbon emissions of the organisation, a handbook providing guidance to key decision-makers in the NHS has been issued along with a letter from the President of UK Faculty of Public Health, Professor Alan Maryon-Davis, the Director of the NHS Sustainable Development Unit, David Pencheon, the Chief Executive of the NHS, David Nicholson, and the Chief Executive of the NHS Confederation, Steve Barnett.
The handbook, ‘Sustaining a Healthy Future – Taking action on climate change (with a special focus on the NHS)’ outlines a number of motives for the health authority to put measures in place to reduce the huge levels of greenhouse gases emitted every year. As well as making a significant contribution towards the government’s targets for reduced levels of carbon emissions by 2020, the organisation is also facing up to their responsibility to act to prevent serious effects of climate change caused by global warming that would inevitably affect the world’s poorest nations with most impact.
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Tags: carbon emissions, carbon footprint, climate change, nhs
Posted in Companies and Organisations, Environmental Impact, Green Living, Green Planet, Health and Wellbeing | No Comments
Tuesday, August 18th, 2009
Climate change film ‘The Age of Stupid’ will see Pete Postlethwaite posing the question of why we didn’t do something to save ourselves to Australia and New Zealand at tomorrow’s premiere. The premiere will be the follow on from the low carbon example set by the UK premiere in March which set a Guiness world record for the largest simultaneous film premiere with people watching the live link-up with London from cinemas across the UK.
The premiere will see the return of the green carpet for celebrities to walk up, and will have a number of guest speakers including the head of Greenpeace in Australia, a Senator and there is even the chance that the Australian Prime Minister may join the event by telephone. In addition to this, there will be a satellite link to a boat in the Arctic where explorer Eric Phillips will be on board waiting to join in discussions, a video message from some children in Copenhagen will pass on their message to world leaders, and viewers will be able to send text messages to question the director and producer team, Franny Armstrong and Lizzie Gillett after the film.
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Tags: age of stupid, australia, climate change, film, film premiere, franny armstrong, lizzie gillett, new zealand, solar cinema
Posted in Environmental Impact, Environmental Politics, Events and Courses, Green Family, Green Leisure and Tourism, Green Living, Green Planet | 1 Comment
Wednesday, July 29th, 2009
Charity Christian Aid is looking to put together a team of 50 cyclists of all levels of cycling ability to take part in a bike ride from London setting off on 9th December 2009. The group will arrive in Copenhagen in time for the start of the Climate Change Summit to join the thousands of climate protesters hoping to get their voices heard for decisive action to be taken in the fight against climate change.
The 140 mile journey will take place between 9th and 16th December with participants covering between 25 and 60 miles per day. The journey will take the cyclists through the English countryside to Harwich where the party will board a ferry. Following this, the route will continue through the Danish Islands until the riders reach Copenhagen itself. They will then get the opportunity to spend two days enjoying the city before returning to the UK.
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Tags: christian aid, climate change, copenhagen, cycling, cyclists, protest, rally
Posted in Companies and Organisations, Environmental Impact, Green Leisure and Tourism, Green Living, Green Planet, Transport and Travel | 1 Comment
Saturday, July 25th, 2009
Swindon is set to be the location of the UK’s next eco housing development if the plans submitted by presenter of the self-build TV show Grand Designs are approved. The proposal is for a development of sustainable housing, which would be called ‘The Triangle’ to be built on a brownfield site, made up of 2.5 storey terraces which would provide 42 homes.
The properties would include a range of energy efficiency boosting features designed to reduce their energy consumption of water demand, which in turn will reduce the home’s carbon footprints and running costs. These features include rainwater harvesting systems, tertiary glazing and environmentally friendly roofing, with plans to future-proof the properties to enable future fittings of solar PV and solar thermal panels at a later date.
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Tags: eco, eco development, eco homes, energy efficient housing, greensquare, hab, kevin mccloud, low carbon living, swindon, westlea housing
Posted in Eco Home, Environmental Impact, Green Living, Green Planet, Sustainable Development | No Comments
Tuesday, July 21st, 2009
Transport Secretary Andrew Adonis has announced government plans to improve the green credentials of the UK’s transport networks. Through the introduction of a number of new ambitious schemes, it is hoped that the carbon emissions caused by transportation within the UK can be significantly reduced.
Transport is currently responsible for causing 21% of the UK’s total carbon emissions, and as a result, Lord Adonis has identified this as a key area for helping Britain meet its targets for cutting emissions by 80% by 2050. The government will achieve this by investing in public transport, such as improving train services and further electrification of the rail network, investing in low carbon vehicles and, something which Adonis says is close to his own heart, ensuring a greater provision of bicycle storage facilities at railway stations to encourage greater transport integration through a promise of £5 million worth of investment.
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Tags: andrew adonis, buses, carbon emissions, climate change, eco-driving, green transport, greenhouse gases, low emissions, pollution, public transport, trains
Posted in Environmental Impact, Environmental Politics, Green Planet, Transport and Travel | No Comments
Sunday, July 19th, 2009
Back in February Gordon Brown threatened supermarkets that unless they took action to reduce the amount of carrier bags given away, currently 1 billion bags every year of which many are shipped off to landfill after a single use, the government would pass legislation forcing supermarkets to act.
The threat paid off, as carrier bag usage has been reduced by 48% across the UK in May 2009 compared to the amount of bags used in May 2006, meaning a reduction of 420 million fewer carrier bags in total. However with a target of 50% set by British Retail Consortium members, the Welsh Assembly, Scottish Parliament, Northern Ireland Department of the Environment and Defra in 2008, this is still 2% short of their original aim.
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Tags: bag for life, brc, carrier bags, plastic bags, pollution, supermarkets
Posted in Companies and Organisations, Environmental Impact, Ethical shopping, Green Family, Green Living, Green Planet, Recycling and Waste | No Comments
Monday, July 13th, 2009
City of York Council has submitted proposals for sustainable development of the former British Sugar site, currently owned by Associated British Foods. The bid for £60 million of government funding would secure the use of part of the site of the former factory to build 60 eco homes, and would put York on the map as home of one of the most environmentally friendly developments to be built in the next two to three years.
If the proposal is accepted, the complex of eco homes would showcase a number of environmentally friendly features and technologies designed to minimise their carbon footprints and limit the amount of carbon emissions they produce. As well as being built to incorporate high energy and water efficiency standards, the homes would be built from locally sourced and recycled materials, therefore cutting down on transportation costs for building materials and also supporting the local economy, as well as reducing the demand for virgin materials and cutting the amount going to landfill.
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Tags: allotment, carbon neutral housing, eco development, low impact living, recycling, sustainable housing
Posted in Eco Home, Environmental Impact, Environmental Politics, Green Living, Green Planet, Sustainable Development | 1 Comment
Saturday, July 11th, 2009
Yesterday, French owned energy company EDF launched Green Britain Day, supported by a number of prominent British athletes and HRH Prince of Wales. Green Britain Day is a day that they say in their TV adverts is a day for people to join together to do something do reduce our carbon footprints and join the fight against climate change. But not everybody has been convinced that EDF’s motives are pure.
Dale Vince, founder of Ecotricity, renewable energy pioneers and serious investors in wind power generation, has accused EDF of greenwashing. In an article published in the Guardian online yesterday he said,
“The campaign itself has laudable aims, fighting climate change and making Britain a greener place. Who could argue with that? But look for any substance and you won’t find it. It’s all recycled and gimmicky. And it’s a distraction. Green Britain is a serious goal, it requires a vision underpinned by real policies, a suite of joined up actions that we can all get behind – with meaningful outcomes. It’s a mission not a PR opportunity.”
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Tags: dale vince, ecotricity, edf, green britain day, greenwash, team green britain
Posted in Companies and Organisations, Energy and Resources, Environmental Impact, Green Planet | 1 Comment
Friday, July 10th, 2009
Deforestation has long been known to be a crime against the planet and of serious detriment to the environment. Rainforests that have covered the land for thousands of years are being eaten into every day with little or no regard for the consequences once this valuable carbon sink has been destroyed in order to feed the developed world’s hunger for consumer products.
New schemes are now being put into place however to try and help launch regeneration of the lost rainforests in countries such as Ghana where the area of rainforest remaining has been significantly reduced by the uncompromising greed for the forest’s wood. Hundreds of tree seedlings are being grown and the world’s worst polluters can purchase trees to be planted where deforestation has occurred in order to offset some of their business’s carbon emissions.
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Tags: carbon offsetting, carbon sink, climate change, deforestation, rainforest, rainforest destruction
Posted in Conservation and Wildlife, Environmental Impact, Green Planet | No Comments
Sunday, July 5th, 2009
After three years of campaigning for stronger commitments in reducing carbon emissions, Stop Climate Chaos Scotland’s work has paid off. On 24th June the Scottish Parliament announced that Scotland would be implementing its own Climate Bill; one that gives a stronger commitment to cutting CO2 emissions than any other act around the world.
The Scottish Climate Change Bill will see commitments to reduce emissions by at least 42% by 2020, a significant difference to the 34% reduction target set by the UK government last year, and additionally commits Scotland to have cut greenhouse gas emissions by 80% compared to 1990 levels by 2050, which is in line with current UK targets.
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Tags: carbon emissions, climate change, greenhouse gases, scotland, scottish parliament, stop climate chaos scotland
Posted in Companies and Organisations, Environmental Impact, Environmental Politics, Green Planet | No Comments
