The Green Village News for July, 2009
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
Sunday, July 12th, 2009
At a time when allotment waiting lists are as long as your arm and people are looking for different ways to get their own bit of ‘The Good Life’ by growing their own veg, National Trust has come up with the perfect solution. Window boxes.
With 600 acres of window box space across the UK, National Trust have launched a new campaign that aims to spread the word about using this potentially valuable space to provide fresh vegetables and herbs for the kitchen. There are many options available for growing in small spaces, with some varieties of lettuce being particularly good for growing in pots, especially varieties you can cut to come again; tumbling tomatoes that grow well in hanging baskets or window boxes providing fresh cherry tomatoes through the summer, and even beetroot. If you don’t fancy growing vegetables, there are plenty of varieties of herbs that you could try your hand at.
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Tags: container gardening, Grow Your Own, herbs, national trust, vegetables, window boxes
Posted in Companies and Organisations, Food and Farming, Green Family, Green Living, Green Planet, Grow Your Own, Self-Sufficiency | No Comments
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
Saturday, July 4th, 2009
At an event organised by nine organisations looking to make people’s feelings about the importance of acting against climate change known, more than 1000 people joined hands to make a ‘Mili-band’ around Kingsnorth power station.
Organisations responsible for making the event a success include Oxfam, RSPB, NUS, People and Plant and Greenpeace, and it is hoped that both Climate Secretary Ed Miliband and owners of the Kingsnorth power station, E-on, will heed the call from those making their protest against the proposal for a new coal fired power plant at the site, as Ed Miliband will shortly be making the decision about whether to allow the new development to go ahead.
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Tags: coal, coal fired power stations, coal power station, ed miliband, greenpeace, kingsnorth, mili-band, oxfam
Posted in Companies and Organisations, Environmental Impact, Environmental Politics, Events and Courses, Green Leisure and Tourism, Green Living, Green Planet | No Comments
