How Tamsin Omond first caught our eco-eye was way back before discovering her book, film, academic success or even, to be honest, her name. It was, instead, The Climate Rush group that initially introduced us to the young eco-warrior: a face within a crowd of ecologically concerned activists looking to achieve much more than promises.

“Deeds Not Words” was what was seen to be put in action.

First off it was an artistic echo that rallied support as The Climate Rush group dressed up and back in time, mimicking the Suffragettes who brought about success and reform in their own terms one hundred years before the fresh-faced Omond made her way to Parliament Square, toting banners. Then, it was a rabble of realists, putting in the leg-work and pedalling through London, in peaceful protest. What followed were picnics at Heathrow, tours through the South West and sunsets on Westminster Abbey.

Seen from under the sinister spotlight of the national press, the concentrated desk-lamps of a huge online following, as well as her band of faithfuls attending candle lit parades, it was clear – whichever way one looked at it – that there was something refreshingly illuminating about Omond.

And there still is. Now her latest move follows on through a clear trajectory towards achieving those very same goals when she first set out with The Climate Rush group – an impassioned rush for change. Only now Omond has adapted her approach:

“It has to be time for something new. I’m sick of being told Britain is ‘broken’. I want to play a part in fixing it. That is why I am standing for Parliament on behalf of The Commons.”

Running for local elections in her home constituency Hampstead and Kilburn, Omond has committed herself to figure-heading a community approach to modern day politics that has until now left most of us feeling lacklustre and lost. Backed by a campaign directive known as The Commons, Omond’s transparency is appealingly enforced by a genuine concern for society.

Indeed, as was the case in the past for the eco-activist, we can expect to see the same of her future: not preaching from the political soap-box but taking its structures apart, laying the material she has to hand out flat and inviting “Come one, Come all” to have their say. Just take at look at her social network manifesto.

Already echoing her own history of success, there is a sort of artistic integrity that holds Omond’s campaign together. It is not the traditional patena of affairs, that’s true. And this might be enough to scare the average voter away. But these are not average times. In fact, they are the opposite. As political deadlines sit in waiting on the monthly calender, so too does an environmental, social and individual calender exist.

Through the hard work of supporting organisations such as The Commons, the integral drive of Omond herself, and the warm support she receives along the way, the key decisions – as Omond would surely advocate – are ultimately made with action. So without further delay, click here to see how you can use your support.

Posted under Articles, Climate, EcoWarriors

If someone turned around in the middle of the street and proclaimed “I can predict the future!” it wouldn’t be too strange to see the majority of people desperately avoiding eye-contact, and moving along. It’s also pretty fair to say that even when we watch the weekly weather forecast, there’s a growing cloud of doubt at the backs of our minds. But if, say, somebody had designed a format of questions which will help you achieve an evaluation that considers both cause and effect for one given project, and from the findings gives a report which reveals its prediction – do we listen?

Science may be the greatest form of rhetoric our generation has ever known; but are we really listening? It’s hard to say. Everyday a broadsheet will print new findings which support the need for renewable energy and the threats posed by climate change. But more often than not, the destruction of the earth is no longer a gripping subject, and the page is turned.

Could we need a more practical solution to slot in the tool-belt of everyday life? It’s possible. An environmental impact assessment (EIA) will have most of us switching off as fast as we can switch on the TV. But, ignoring its drab name, there is a certain tangible quality to EIA-thinking.

EIA is an exactly-what-it-says-on-the-tin strategy tool designed for decision makers to see straight to the centre of their current concerns. It considers the possible impact – be it positive or negative – that a project may have on its, or other, environments. Considering natural, social and economic variables, the assessment aids decision makers by helping them decide whether to proceed with a given project, after outlining its total forecasted environmental impact.

Doesn’t that sound like something we need as a general public and as individuals: the capability of foresight based on our actions before they happen. It sounds like such a simple request, but imagine if the Government released a leaflet detailing the ways in which we could categorically assess our own individual projects of being a civilian – and the effects that may, or may not, have on the environment.

Despite the thought of it sounding a little too close to a George Orwell novel, the practical side of it is something all of us should consider at some point.

Throughout Europe the E.U. has set out a mixture of guidelines and mandatory procedures to help assess environmental impact. Granted these have been put in place to mitigate damages caused to the environment by European industry; but some of the key sections in an EIA, such as; description of the project; a list of considered alternatives; description of the significant effects on the environment; and mitigation, all exist to help users see clearly the impact their actions will have on the environment.

Now, of course, this example is based only on conjecture, or, at best, a woolly paradigm. But in a modern age confounded by headlines, threats, and pre-packaged solutions, perhaps a EIA-thought is something socially refreshing that we could really do with taking a look at. Just consider some of the actions and services we take for granted right now – food, transport, electricity – an EIA might reveal a way in which we could simply do a little more by wasting a little less.

Posted under Articles, EcoWarriors

What is it to be environmentally aware these days? It seems that there is no such direct answer. A few years ago recycling, using public transport and buying Organic would’ve qualified you as an environmentalist in most UK homes. Nowadays, as the threats of Climate Change become ever more apparent, we can see that all our day-to-day actions have ramifications.

This little revelation, as obvious as it is, has shocked most of us into not only considering our own activities within an ecological world but also valuing the work of others. And it’s true: almost everything has a Green edge. That is, from your next door neighbour down the road, to the top-end business corporations, everybody can see that it pays to be Green. Businesses sink or sail under this gust of fresh air. And consumers too – having built themselves the supermarket ceremony of digesting the back of product packets in order to contents-check what it really is they’re buying – recognise the relevant eco-activities and are impressed by governed Green Seals of approval.

And so it seems that to be environmentally aware today is to question the effects you’ll have on tomorrow. Whether we choose to see the worth in this new culture is entirely up to us. But it is up to us. Questioning the real ‘value’ of our everyday products and services is key. And sometimes the simplest changes are right in front of our noses. Did you know that switching energy tariffs is a sure way to support the shift we need away from fossil fuel consumption? It’s true: as a result of growing concern over the earth’s finite fossil fuel resources, energy companies have designed green energy tariffs to meet the demands of an ever-emergent environmentally aware market.

Did you also know that it costs just as much to change energy tariffs from your traditional ‘grey’ suppliers to a ‘green’ one; but now with the added bonus that next time you switch-on you’ll be safe in the knowledge that you are minimising the carbon impact on our environment whilst encouraging others to source their power from renewables too.

It’s a cyclical pattern: the consumer demands that at least a portion of their energy is sourced from renewable sources (solar power, wind farms, water turbines etc); power suppliers recognise this demand and align their business service accordingly, investing in the generation of ‘clean’ energy; other competing firms notice this developing market and bustle for market space, creating further services, again making further investments into renewable sources, and attempting to under-cut the prices of the leading tariffs. This cycle repeats and renews itself until the market is fully developed to meet all the needs of its Green market. And why? Simply because we ‘read the back of the packaging’ and made the quick calculation for whether or not it is sustainable.

Isn’t that brilliant? And it doesn’t have to stop there: checking your tariff (which you can do now by clicking the ecotricty link below) is the perfect place to start questioning the services you have in place right now. Just as scanning the ingredients of the food we put into our bodies has become instinctive, so will our ways of valuing, or, if you like, ‘calculating’ the sum of our day-to-day activities for tomorrow: this will become a second nature we can all invest our pride in.

Posted under Articles, Climate, EcoWarriors

A Hindu theologian, living in Brecon, Wales, has discovered possibly one of the simplest ways to carve our domestic carbon footprint down to its bare essentials. Akhandadhi Das, through his study of Hinduism and the religion’s focus on the symbiotic relationship between mankind and the cow, has began to advocate a life without meat as a cause to help decrease the carbon emissions created by UK markets driving intense beef farming.

Mr Das, who found Hinduism in his adult life, has taken an economic edge to his new found enlightenment: “I’ve been following Hinduism all my adult life and over the years have got very much involved in environmental projects, both here in the UK and in India. My big interest at the moment is the Food Chain. As far as I can see, there is one single thing that each one of us can do that would make a huge impact to our planet, to our carbon footprint, to changing Climate Change, and that is go vegetarian.”

One of several religious representatives who attended the Faith in the Environment conference hosted by BBC Wales in November 2009, Mr Das is firm in his belief that vegetarianism is the right step but not for ethical reasons:

“The reason is that the meat industry is responsible for more green house gases than all of the transport systems of the planet. It’s destroying the rain forest – two acres disappear every second – given over to temporary grazing and production of soya to feed animals fattening them for beef. This can’t be sustained, even for the handful of people on the planet eating that never mind the rest of the population properly.”

He continues. “What we need is a holistic approach to the food chain. That, I think, is summarised in the Hindu which really incorporates the symbiotic relationship that humans have with cows. The cow produces the miracle food milk, eats grass that grows freely all over the place; the bull ploughs the land, provides draft, and is the power and the bread-winner. If humans concentrated on their relationship with the cow and the bull, they would enrich the earth with manure; improving the soil, improving productivity and, actually, we could happily feed the planet in a way that is not exploitative either of the earth and the animals.”

Mr Das’ studies are rooted in the Hindu concept ‘Ahimsa’ which translates to ‘non-violence’. The concept itself goes beyond the obvious state of not being violent to each other, it practises a reciprocal relationship with man and his surroundings in an attempt to achieve Harmony with his Environment.

According to reports in 2006 by the Livestock, Environment and Development Initiative, the livestock industry is currently one of the largest contributors to environmental degradation worldwide. Its impact on the planet includes; air and water pollution, land degradation, climate change, and an increasing loss of biodiversity. Mr Das’ approach to vegetarianism is one that should be expanded on with regards to the ineffective and inefficient infrastructures that today hold our meat markets in place.

For more information on this subject and to see Mr Das’ interview in full, click here or visit the BBC website.

Posted under Articles, Climate, EcoWarriors

Last night at 10pm on More4, End Of The Line, a film concerning the effects, ramifications and responsibilities of overfishing the world’s oceans, was screened for the first time to a national audience outside the safety of the cinema. The country at large were able to switch on and tune in to one of this year’s most gratuitous and violent collections of images. It wasn’t a Quentin Tarrantino flick, or a some of Martin Scorsese uber violence – no, the directors of End Of The Line consists of an investigative journalist and a former tuna farmer turned whistle blower.

Charlie Clover, ex-journalist come documentary maker, confronts a gamut of politicians, fisherman, enforcement officials, scientists and many more, including celebrity restaurant owners, over their bad habits and naive goings-on.

The film itself was a great success: a hit at the Sundance Festival, where it premiered its release; one of two films to be shown at 10 Downing Street; and now making it to terrestrial television for a widening reception of onlookers – marks only the surface of its achievements.

In June 2009, high street food shop Pret a Manger stopped selling tuna sandwiches after its CEO was disturbed by the film’s hard-hitting picture. Julian Metcalfe, Pret founder, also removed the bluefin tuna content of his sushi boxes sold in Pret’s sister company Itsu. The Daily Mail reported Metcalfe’s reaction after seeing the film:

“We no longer sell the tuna and cucumber sandwich at Pret. We do an Alaskan salmon, which is sustainable. Both my companies will do everything they can to speed up the process by which we only buy sustainable fish.

“Itsu is just about to sign a deal which provides only pole and line (fish) and traces each delivery to each boat. Neither Itsu or Pret would touch bluefin tuna.”

It is remarkable to see the reaction that simple awareness is able to provoke in even the most commercially concerned viewers. Celebrity chef Tom Aikens said this about the film:

“Using Clover’s superb research and some stunning cinematography, the film brings home the point, perhaps with even greater impact than the book, that we cannot continue fishing in the way we do. It is simply unsustainable – so much so that some scientists predict a total collapse of pretty much all our fish stocks within the next 40 years.

“I can’t call the End Of The Line easy viewing – I found it shocking, in fact – but it is compelling, and essential for anyone who cares about the state of our oceans. The good news is that the film is not merely a tolling bell. Clover offers genuine, practical solutions which could turn the tide.”

It is with this level of interpretation that the film truly succeeds, and after its screening last night to a national audience we hope to see a second wave of understanding reach Clover’s intended shores. There is much to be learnt about the fishing industry’s secret habits, but Clover and his team have brought together a true case for why we must change not only the way we fish our oceans but the way we buy our fish too.

Posted under Articles, EcoWarriors

Following their weekend demonstration at the Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station, Nottinghamshire, which saw approximately 60 arrests take place, protesters who once collaborated underneath the banner the Great Climate Rush have since returned to their own eco-stations. The three groups – Climate Camp, Climate Rush and Plane Stupid – experienced a heavy-handed reception on Saturday. As over a 1,000 demonstrators joined forces on the power station site to highlight the need to change the UK’s energy infrastructure, the majority of the nation remain in the dark over who these ecowarriors really are. So, here at EcoSwitch we thought to help shed some light on the three organisations involved.

The Climate Camp

Like most activist groups, the Climate Camp consists of a network of volunteers eager to bring change and positive action to tackle the threats of climate change and muzzle the snarl of the UK’s carbon coughing.

“The people putting on the Camp for Climate Action are all volunteers, lots of us learning how to do it as we go along. We’re a pretty diverse bunch – teachers, nurses, students, couriers, plumbers, graphic designers, doctors, youth workers, lawyers, carpenters, campaigners, artists, carers and many, many more.”

The group’s rudiments lay in a protest in August 2006 which saw 600 demonstrators gather at the site of the UK’s ‘biggest single source of carbon dioxide’, Drax coal-fired power station in West Yorkshire for ten days of learning and sustainable living. After igniting the social movement they were looking for, numbers grew and grew. And in 2007, two thousand people joined a weeklong camp at Heathrow airport to hamper BAA’s attempt to establish a third runway.

“Every Camp for Climate Action event weaves four key themes: education, direct action, sustainable living, and building a movement to effectively tackle climate change both resisting climate crimes and developing sustainable solutions.”

For further information on the Climate Camp, click here to keep up with their current events.

The Climate Rush

Headed by Tamsin Omond, this group known predominantly as the Climate Rush Suffragettes, have been increasingly active over the last year or so. “Deeds Not Words” forms the character of their ethos, one that doesn’t want to wait for political sidestepping and is taking protesting to creative and influential heights. Apart from dumping poop on Jeremy Clarkson’s doorstep – an act below the banner, ‘this is what you’re landing us in’ – the group has executed protests with a joyful, spirited occurrence but with a sharp eye to detail.

“Climate Rush is inspired by the actions of the Suffragettes 100 years ago, who showed that peaceful civil disobedience could inspire positive change. We are a diverse group of women and men who are determined to raise awareness of the biggest threat facing humanity today – that of Climate Change.”

A picnic on Heathrow’s runway, scaling the rooftops of Westminster and a tour of England’s SouthWest eco- do’s and dont’s, are just some of the events organised and carried by Climate Rush.

“Our government acknowledges the huge problems we face from Climate Change, but carries on with business as usual. We demand DEEDS NOT WORDS because individual choice alone cannot curb CO2 emissions if we are to stop runaway global warming.”

For further information on the Climate Rush, click here to keep up with their current events.

Plane Stupid

Another one of Omond’s brainchilds, Plane Stupid are a non violent group who take direct action against aviation expansion. Or more expressively put, Plane Stupid are “bringing the aviation industry back down to earth”. Formed in 2005 in opposition against the aviation industry and its associated high-emission count, the group are unafraid to take action where their lobbying and safe, strategic planning has been before them.

“So far we’ve occupied Stansted, East Midlands, and Aberdeen airports; shut down easyJet and BAA’s headquarters; stopped private jets at Biggin Hill, London City and Edinburgh airports; sat atop the House of Commons and the Scottish Parliament; supported the Camp for Climate Action at Heathrow; worked with local residents to defend their homes from bulldozers; exposed a corporate spy and chucked green custard over Peter Mandelson.”

The organisation is spread throughout the country, with smaller groups based in larger cities all across the UK.

“We’d love the network to expand, and can offer support and training for anyone wanting to start a new group. Call us and we’ll talk you through how to track down like minded people in your area, or get your existing friends discussing how they might want to take action.”

For further information on Plane Stupid, click here to keep up with their current events.

Posted under Articles, EcoWarriors

It has stirred the hearts of thousands worldwide, changed the way the food industry sells its fish, and is the first major feature documentary film revealing the true impacts and growing threats of overfishing on the world’s oceans. The End Of The Line premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in the World Cinema Documentary Competition in January 2009 but its campaigns still continue to discover and secure new found depths.

Dubbed ‘The inconvenient truth about the ocean’ by The Economist, The End Of The Line does have an affect of disgruntling even the most eco-conscious of its watchers. But why?

Fish have been a global must have on the food menus of the world for hundreds of years, but it is only over the past decade or so that we are truly discovering the effects of our appetites. The film explores firsthand the imminent extinction of species of fish such as bluefin tuna, which has only been brought on recently due to an increased demand for foodstuffs like sushi; it also examines the changing shapes of the ocean’s marine life and ecology; and considers the world without fish on the menu, and the implications that would lead to mass starvation.

Filmed on locations across the world, investigative reporter Charles Clover and ex-tuna farmer turned whistleblower Roberto Mielgo, together confront politicians, fishery enforcement officials and explore the lost traditions of indigenous fisherman and the theories of the world’s leading marine scientists.

Two years in the making, The End Of The Line is beautifully shot with a crystal acuteness that penetrates deep to the heart of overfishing, shattering the illusions that hold it in place. The film itself is shocking. As much as it is eye-opening there is still a sense of guilt that pervades each scene: a lack of knowledge; an innocent support for illegal markets; a disconnection which is preventing change. All these and more float naively on the surfaces of overfishing, unaware of the ominous depths below.

Is the end of seafood imminent? Scientists in the film predict that we could see the end of most seafood by 2048, if we continue fishing at the scale we are right now. The film details the responsibility of consumers who innocently buy endangered fish, fisherman who break regulated quotas and the fishing industry that turns a blind eye to looming threats.

A Must See. The End Of The Line has inspired a global campaign which has gathered the attention of leading international environmental organisations (such as WWF and Green Peace) to help demand better, more sustainable marine policies. The film is terrifyingly educational, intelligent and stirs clarity in some of the murkier pockets of oceanography. It has already achieved a lot since its release - for instance, it has provoked reactions from leading food retailers such as Pret a manger to remove a selection of their sandwiches, as well as being one of only two films to be shown at 10 Downing Street.

The film is being shown tonight (20th October 10pm, on More4) so ensure you can make a screening, and really set your sights on the main feature.

Posted under Articles, EcoWarriors, Events

Green activists are not usually equated with terrorist activity. In fact, they are more often given the opposite treatment; the stereotype of the middle-aged, middle class, university lecturer in spectacles buying organic produce and making sure to recycle, is hardly intimidating. Nor is the equally unrepresentative archetypal student-cum-hippie, who presumably is destined to morph into the university lecturer type, much of a threatening depiction of a protester.

Indeed, though their have certainly been clashes between police and environmental groups in the UK, environmental protests largely get by swimmingly and without violence, at least in the mainstream press.

Reports that the terrorism act has been quoted in the detention of a environmental protester leaving the country, then, might seem surprising. But nonetheless, The Independent reported as follows:

“Terror legislation was used to stop a British climate change activist from travelling to Denmark, it has emerged. Chris Kitchen, 31, said he was prevented from crossing the border on Tuesday at about 5pm when the coach he was travelling on stopped at the Folkestone terminal of the Channel Tunnel.

Mr Kitchen told the Guardian that police officers boarded the coach and, after checking all passengers’ passports, took him and another climate activist to be interviewed under schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act 2000, a clause which enables border officials to stop and search individuals to determine if they are connected to terrorism. He was asked what he intended to do in Copenhagen and also about his family, work and past political activity. Mr Kitchen said he pointed out that anti-terrorist legislation did not apply to environmental activists but said the officer replied that terrorism ‘could mean a lot of things‘ “.

This invocation of the Terrorism Act, a legislation that has generated its fair share of criticism, skepticism and fear, is worrying indeed; those who would argue that the Terrorism Act is tautological – what the police define as terrorism, is terrorism – have certainly seen their assertions proved right on this occasion.

Kitchen spoke out himself on the dubious use of the legislation:

“The use of anti-terrorist legislation like this is another example of political policing, of the government harassing and intimidating people practising their hard earned democratic rights…We are going to Copenhagen to take part in Climate Justice Action because we want to protest against false solutions like carbon trading and to build a global movement for effective, socially just solutions. People who are practising civil disobedience on climate change in the face of ineffectual government action are certainly not terrorists, and I am sure that their actions will be vindicated by history“.

For environmental activism it is a strange case of a government who seems to support reduction of carbon emissions and promotion of sustainability, but that distrusts – and is perhaps fearful of – those activists and thinkers who have struggled over many decades to bring such concepts to light.

In terms of protest in general, and on a wider level the generation of new ideas, the use of the Terrorism Act in such a way is very distressing indeed.

Posted under Articles, EcoWarriors

Note: the purpose of this article is not to side, endorse or support the ‘project’ in a for or against capacity but instead attempt to breakdown the convoluted explanations into a more user friendly language in order to encourage participation with the isolated subject of The Venus Project within its thematic whole.

The Rudiments of The Venus Project

The Venus Project is the brainchild of Jacque Fresco – author, lecturer, futurist, industrial designer and social engineer. It is an organisation which promotes a sociological model based on fundamental ideals and the practical, unprohibited use of sustainable ‘earth-found’ resources that, together, seeks to enhance the quality of human life on our planet through a visualisation of corresponding equilibriums, strategies, overriding frameworks and sets of ‘unavoidable’ changes of which society as a whole is expected to undertake.

To understand the theory and practises of the Venus Project one needs to take a closer look at its ‘vision’. The Venus Project organises and centres itself around a model of a Resource Based Economy. This model is best understood outside of the Venus Project itself and inside its own domain of Natural Resource Economics (NRE). NRE is a working economic framework unconcerned with any type of mere monetary systematics and is therefore a subfield to contemporary models in primary operation today. That being, our principle usage of economics in a public understanding has come to be best acknowledged through terms such as Consumerism, Capitalism and the like. So when we think of NRE we are not thinking of what our current working system has in place (i.e. a consumerist society), we should perceive it rather as a structural, supplementary or supportive frame.

Natural Resource Economics & The Arguement of Resource Based Economy

NRE is still preoccupied with supply and demand as any economic equilibrium will be, but its ‘allocation’ is not one of Goods and Services. The NRE allocation is instead concerned with the Earth’s natural resources. And one of the central objectives of NRE is, quite significantly, to better understand the role, rammifications and responsibilities of extracting natural resources for use in the economy. By understanding the full effects of using the Earth’s natural resources in our current system NRE is able to provide problem solving hypotheses in order to develop sustainable methods of monitoring and managing resources in order to ensure their availability for future generations to come.
This also includes the technological development of regenerational tools to work with, for and alongside the rhythms of the Earth’s changing ecosystems. Biofuels, Biomass, Geothermal, Hydro power, Solar power, Tidal power, Wave power and Wind power are just the some of the most advanced and viable solutions we are able to implement on a national, or even global scale.

However, the argument which is driving the vision of the Venus Project is based upon a belief that due to our current economic position we are unable, or perhaps even unwilling, to further these advancements as long lasting, equitable solutions. The Venus Project would argue that in a model where almost every societal application is reliant on a network of monetary systems and consumerist cycles, why would sustainable products be brought into the fore to benefit social and environmental consideration – which would disrupt the current economic standpoint – when the economic powers that be hold tightly on to the keys of opportunity?

This is indeed a very rhetorical application of their theories; however, in short, the Venus Project states that the world has changed physically over hundreds and hundreds of years, but the human species has ceased to change with it. And why? The answer is one easily anticipated: money.

The Venus Project’s understanding of a Resource Based Economy is not one of it being a supportive or supplementary framework like the NRE, it is instead an independent economic system: an island of its own away from profitability. The Zeitgeist Movement, which pitches the ideas of the Venus Project, in its academically styled film The Zeitgeist Movement: Orientation Presentation, defines a resource based economy as such:

“A resource based economy utilises existing resources rather than commerce. All goods and services are available without the use of currency, credit, barter or any form of debt or servitude.”

Founder of the Venus Project Jacque Fresco is firm in a corresponding belief that the monetary systems – along with its association of labouring, salary driven, competitive tendencies – has been outmoded by a new economic model that has been prohibited from existence. And it is this prohibition that needs to be addressed.

So What Now?

However literally you take the films, documentational findings and supporting literature from those behind the Venus Project; for now, it is only the vision which addresses the problem as a whole. It is only this conception that both theory and practise aim towards through a Utopian application of Resource Based Economic theory. What is significant to note is not the Venus Project as a set solution or even, as they would like it to be perceived, as an alternative way of living. Instead, what the movement does bring to light is the continual reminder of Alternatives as a general field. Something the human race has been most successful in adopting throughout its evolution, and something that the human mind will have to confront when looking for new definitions of the terms Value and Worth in view of a more sustainable world.

Posted under Articles, EcoWarriors

The Green Energy suppliers Ecotricity have taken care to make sure that they are as actively interested in environmental developments as a company in their field should be, with their related blog, Zero Carbonista. A blog designed to keep abreast of changes in environmental issues and environmental activism, its aim – in its own words – as follows:

“This blog is about answers to the big questions – how will we keep the lights on, what kind of cars will we drive (will we drive?) and how will we feed ourselves – in a post oil world, and a world where we can’t afford to keep burning things and throwing things away. Energy, Transport and Food are the three big issues.

It’s about ideas and policies, innovation and change, engineering our way out of this mess we’re in – it’s about the next Industrial Revolution and the journey to a low impact lifestyle, Zero carbon living if you like.

It’s a place to comment on the news, to share ideas, get feedback – all that kind of stuff. I hope it will become a forum where these things that need to be talked about, get talked about and through that get acted on“.

Tying the Ecotricity aim of providing green energy efficiently and easily to people across the UK, with a wider political-environmental context, the Zero Carbonista blog is maintained by the same man who set up Ecotricity itself: Dale Vince. His passion for environmental activism is released through Zero Carbonista, allowing him to keep the business brain firmly within the Ecotricity framework.

The two, though, are certainly not mutually exclusive, as Vince himself explains in his reasons for setting up the Zero Carbonista blog:

“Truthfully, I’ve been concerned about the sustainability of life since I was a kid. In the early 90’s I was living on a hill, in an ex military vehicle I called home, using a small windmill to power the lights and stuff. I’d spent the previous ten years or so living ‘on the road’ searching for an alternative way to live. I was what the media would call a ‘new age traveller’. That’s when I was inspired to ‘drop in’ and promote the use of large-scale wind energy – to bring change to the electricity industry. That was the start of this long journey. The idea for Ecotricity – of selling green electricity to people, came about a few years later – it was about getting a fair price for wind power, to enable more to be built. And so Ecotricity started in 1995. Green electricity was a totally new idea back then. It just didn’t exist, as a choice, before Ecotricity“.

An admirable perspective indeed, and long may it continue.

Posted under Articles, EcoWarriors