Living with the environment in mind is not all that easy; the infrastructures under which people in the UK live and work mean that often, thinking about doing things the green way means going against the grain, and so a lot of seemingly simple everyday tasks require a great deal of preparation and thought. As prime examples, look at the amount of waste that is recycled by the consumer; often, such products could be produced in a more environmentally sound way by the manufacturer. The same goes for clothing, and cosmetic products; often the very fabric or chemical used to create the product is inherently anti-environment.

Many companies, then, are beginning to specialise purely in providing Eco-friendly products, in one industry, so that ethical consumers have one place they can go, in which they come to know and trust.

One such company, Honesty Cosmetics, provides ethical beauty products that are sourced from natural and organic ingredients. Its customer’s, then, know that when they shop with Honesty Cosmetics, they’re cutting out that problem.

Honesty Cosmetics – How, When, and Why

Unlike some companies ins field, Honesty Cosmetics as a relatively long history. Its website states tha Honesty cosmetics was founded in 1984, and has been,

Manufacturing cruelty free skin and hair products for over 20 years. Right from the start our ethics were the guiding force of the company. Today our products are endorsed by The Vegan Society, BUAV Humane Cosmetics Standard, the Ethical Company Organisation ‘Good Shopping Guide’ and the Nature-watch Trust Compassionate Shopping Guide.

That history, propagated since its conception, has lead to a flourishing and successful business, in which,
All products offered through Honesty are suitable for vegetarians, vegans or anyone wishing to avoid animal products and come from companies who adhere to compassionate policies. Items are always selected for their quality and animal/environmentally friendly features, and we are increasingly adding products with organic ingredients. We deal mainly with smaller businesses whose products are not widely available in the High Street, with the aim of providing the choice and service to make ethical shopping easy and enjoyable.

Like a number of companies, then, Honesty Cosmetics are making things simpler for the environmentally conscious consumer, and with their long standing history, they are one of the top providers within their niche sector.

The Honesty Cosmetics Product Range

Within this framework, Honesty Cosmetics stocks shampoo, soaps, shower gel, and skin care products. Further, it provides ranges of household items and accessories, and there are also sections for men and children.

All of its products are available for purchase through its website, making buying ethically easy and efficient.

Visit their website, Honest Cosmetics, for more information, a list of their products, and a place to buy safely and securely.

Posted under Articles, Companies

Tucked modestly away in two of London’s most enjoyable stop-offs, bringing an authentic mix of colour and vibrancy to the often greyed streets of the capital. Residing in Covent Garden and South Bank, respectively, the partnership, formed by Jo Lawbuary and Purnendu Roy, offer a delightful array of products. Anything from a vintage silk sari, or the much toted ultimate party plates (made form leaves, no less!), to a complete itemised wedding list can all be found through the store. The possibilities are endless! And what’s more, when you purchase a Ganesha product you can be happy in the knowledge that it has come under the eyes of former editor for BAFTS (British Association for Fair Trade Shops) – Jo Lawbuary herself.

Upon walking into the store it strikes you (and this is to be taken without pretension) that this is no ordinary high-street shop. The assortment and layering of colour is the first clue that sets Ganesha aside from the typical We Sell It, You Buy It stop-and-shop. With an outline and atmosphere typical to that of an Indian sari shop, the shelves and centre pieces are both charming and distinctly interesting in their clutter. And it is this authenticity which is again presented to us by the Fair Trade ambassador’s online-site (www.ganesha.co.uk).

It soon becomes apparent as you click-on that there is much more to simply sourcing, endorsing and selling for Ganesha. As you navigate your way through the photographs, press reports and news coverage; links to other fair trade suppliers, as well as their tailored fair trade and environmental policy, the products themselves almost disappear from sight. Instead, what is left is the impression that there is a true ’cause’ at work.

 It seems here that the time old truism prevention is better than cure is at play. Not only is the improvement of living standards and the increase of wages in India headed at the top of their fair trade policy, but there are more community-based initiatives also set up – such as microfinance schemes. Trade unions and member associations are also a concerned factor. There is really a lot going on behind the scenes of this London storefront. What is most impressive about Ganesha is their approach to alternative trading as a realistic and viable solution; to not only support suffering economies but to harvest ecological alternatives and supply them here in Britain.

In modern day business it is an easy act to promote an ‘ethical’ or ‘green’ business-policy, that, to the stakeholder’s utter innocence, has gathered in a much broader and loyal band of regulars than years before. And it’s just as easy to spot a fake. But, it is even easier to celebrate a case of the ‘real deal’. See for yourself: drop-in and speak with one of the on-hand staff, or instead log-on to Ganesha’s website for further details and product information – there’s is a guarantee you won’t be disappointed in.

Posted under Articles, Eco Reviews, Lifestyle & Fashion

This article will try to draw parallels between economy and ecology, beyond the shared prefix. Wish me luck.

Unfulfilled Christmas wish lists have become commonplace (this is ancient of course, many children wish for peace on earth without a sliver of a chance of getting it). The allusion relevant here are that some countries in the Western world, for two consecutive years, did not break Christmas retail sales records, something we have been strongly encouraged to do to keep the wheels turning. This could be due to a combination of economic sluggishness and consumer awareness of environmental impact consumption. True enough, it has often been the American consumer in particular that cushioned economic slumps. Not so this time around.

The $825bn Obama stimulus package is intended to jump start a severely damaged economy and much of the countries around the globe, unable to cope by themselves, are now hoping to enjoy spin-off effects. The UK is suddenly, but perhaps not so surprisingly, prophesised to be the worst hit of the large economies. Apparently, the fantasy mortgages in Britain were even more irresponsible (some exceeding the already inflated value of the property).

Reality: our wallets are emptying faster than we can fill them. This is pretty much what is happening on a planetary level; on September 23rd 2008 we had spent more resources than the planet regenerates in one year. That meant we had a 267 to 365 days ratio, adding up to a 98 day deficit. Or a 40% overshoot which equals 1.4 planets. Ecological debt day is happening earlier every year: in 1990 it was early December, in the year 2000 it happened on the 1st of November. The first year we entered planetary debt was 1986 and since it has been accelerating. [Source: Global Footprint Network]

Each year, Global Footprint Network calculates humanity’s Ecological Footprint (its demand on cropland, pasture, forests and fisheries), and compares this with global bio capacity, the ability of these ecosystems to generate resources and absorb waste. Ecological Footprint accounting can be used to determine the exact date we, as a global community, begin living beyond the means of what the planet can regenerate in a calendar year.*

2007 could perhaps be labelled Climate Change year, with the discussion reaching the top of the global agenda billboard, making Al Gore arguably more useful as a renegade than he would have been as president, regardless of his ulterior motives or the means used -remember the private jet hoping as well paid key note speaker at conferences, talk show appearances and high profile book signings.

Studies have shown that we would need 1.4 earths to sustain our current average rate of consumption. In the midst of a northern hemisphere cold spell we got a sneak preview of the future, with negative growth figures in much of Europe and everything from record costs of heating (or even present the eastern/central European shortage of natural gas).

Just like any company, nature has a budget — it can only produce so many resources and absorb so much waste every year. The problem is, our demand for nature’s services is exceeding what it can provide.*

A way to describe our basic attitude could be a fear of speeding ticket mentality that stipulates that if we see uniforms, we slow down. If, on the other hand, we know there will be no consequences, we press down on the accelerator. In view of a multi-lateral predicament, a profound change in habits is bound to occur due to the economics of necessity and scarcity. Metaphorically, we see more police on traffic duty. With the crisis deepening, we are offered an opportunity. For some of us this means easy cynical gains through day trading stock market investment for others adjusting to a less criminal lifestyle. Ecoswitch.

* Global Footprint Network Website, click here.

Posted under Climate, Money & Finance

For more than a century, internal combustion engine cars have throned as a symbol of personal freedom, fashioned after an American post-war ideal born out of the wealth of cheap oil. Even in the face of the environmental consequences such as air pollution, climate change, peak oil and having our habitat poisoned by thronged highways filled with suburban sprawl commuters, we have continued to buy into this ideal. Therefore, instead of trying to amend the root of a problem which stems from overuse of finite resources for our comfort and enjoyment, we are now trying to find alternatives that will permit us to continue down this ultimately failed path. One of the proffered substitutes is hydrogen, not in itself a source but a carrier of energy.

Honda is readying their hydrogen clean car flagship the for small scale market introduction in… 2010. Too few, too late. The fact that it is happening at a ridiculously slow pace adds to the fuel-cell-as-silver-bullet-charade interpretation. Michael Graham Richard, in the Treehugger Blog article on the FCX, says:

While fuel cell hydrogen cars are impressive technological marvels and we can dream about a world where most transportation only emits water, we should be realistic about the obstacles that need to be overcome before that world is a reality.*

First of all, try to imagine the time it will take to replace all the cars already out there. Secondly, the most common and sensible objection to this technology is the enormous investment required, in both money and energy, to set up an infrastructure for large scale production and widespread distribution of hydrogen. The electric car manufacturing competitors have, with plug-in EVs are mass produced (which is happening right now) and widely accepted(which is coming), an already up and running grid. (Ecotricity’s founder Dale Vince is having a wind powered car built by a team from Lotus. It could have been a vehicle literally propulsed by wind using sails, but it is, logically, his company’s wind turbines providing the fuel. Electricity. He could have had the turbines power hydrogen production plants but that feels, in all honesty, pretty stupid.) Another thing in favor of the EV scenario is that, even if it represents a staggering amount of work and financial investment, conventional cars could actually be ‘upgraded’ by changing the combustion engine to an electric motor. A similar hydrogen ‘upgrade’ is technically all but impossible, mainly due to security issues.

In an interview published in the Wall Street Journal, Honda Motor Co. Chief Executive Takeo Fukui explains why his company is neglecting EVs in favour of hybrids and hydrogen cars:

We feel the practical feasibility of the electric vehicle is very limited. The biggest issue is driving distance. The other issue is the recharging time. The FCX Clarity can be recharged in one minute. With the electric vehicle, it can take several hours. However, this is not to deny the possibility of battery electric vehicles. It’s very useful for vehicles with restricted applications, like golf carts.**

This comment is not in tune with reality. Much of our future transportation is liable to be restricted in any case and if there are no hydrogen fuelling stations in place, the recharging time of the FCX is irrelevant. In reference to the argument that hydrogen cars would allow us the same amount of independence that its gasoline ancestor have it must be said that it is encouraging an unsustainable way of life. When Fukui is asked what went wrong with Honda’s hybrid the Insight which was introduced in the US before the Toyota Prius, he say:

Well, I don’t think anything was wrong. Our intention was not to try to make Insight a mass seller. The significance of the Insight was that at the time, we wanted to establish the best record for fuel efficiency, and we did.**

The research the went into bringing forth record breaking hybrid was not dropped. Why it was not more aggresively pursued is a mystery, Toyota’s best seller came along and became synonomous with green cars. Is the Clarity another in Insight or is it smoke screen? Fukui continues, ‘We have to make strategic choices. The hybrid will be the core product, and after that comes fuel cell and clean diesel.’

The intention with this article was to make a critical analysis of the actual car. What remains is criticism. Not of the car as such -which is to all appearance an engineering masterpiece- but of hydrogen cars in general. For a long time, the industry has promised but not delivered and there is, in January 2009, too much still to be solved and not enough clarity. Sorry Honda.

As EcoSwitch is not able to offer any truly convincing arguments for full scale hydrogen car technology as a solution, look for them here. Best of luck.

.

* Blog article ‘Top Gear LOVES Honda’s Hydrogen Car, But…’ by Mike Graham Richard on Treehugger.com, read it here.

** Article ‘Honda CEO Vies For Green Mantle’ by John Murphy in Wall Street Journal Online, read it here.

Leif Ahnland leif ahnland

Posted under Cars & Transport, Companies

With carbon footprints, environment and sustainability permeating every public discourse, our medias are awash with terminology that everyone seems to take for granted. But behind innocent abbreviations, the practical application of units, theories and concepts is strangely elusive. It could be a good idea to clarify some of them. First one out, kWh.

Kilowatt Hour. It is the measure used to determine the electricity consumption for much of what we do, from omelet cooking to online chatting. We use them, we pay for them, we talk about them. In order to really know what a kilowatt hour is, we can try and translate them into a more concrete illustration of kWh per basic, everyday human activity. For example, here is what you can do with 1 kilowatt-hour: shave 1200 times with electric shavers (> 3 years), dry your hair 15 times, watch TV for four evenings, listen to 15 CDs, use a small refrigerator for 24 hours, microwave 20 meals, make 250 holes with a power drill, enjoy four evenings of light with 60 W incandescent bulbs or bask in 20 evenings of light with 11 W compact fluorescent light bulbs. As clear as this may appear; the length of your hair, what you consider a TV night, what you microwave and if you you go to bed at 9pm or 1am will influence heavily on the actual electricity spending. For what it is worth, it shows that such a mundane and seemingly irrelevant thing as cutting your hair can be environmentally friendly. Will the next governmental regulation be nationwide mandatory crew cuts for all? And, in these harsh times, we have to remember that this would create a lot of green collar jobs in hair dressing. Going green can be so simple at times, what are we waiting for?

More seriously, listing things where numbers become actions is a good way of understanding our impact. Using a 60 Watt light bulb for one hour consumes 0.06 kilowatt hours of electricity. Using a 60 Watt light bulb for one thousand hours -the typical life time for an incandescent light bulb- consumes 60 kilowatt hours of electricity. If a 100 Watt light bulb is on for one hour per day for 30 days that is 100/1000 (kilowatt) X 30 (hours) = 3 kilowatt hours. But it is almost getting too abstract already, let us stick with the plan: maximum hair length 1 cm.

As a personal anecdote I might add that since the single glazing in my terrace house flat is so useless at keeping the heat inside and so good at letting the cold in, I decided to board them up to get rid of the draft. The question is if the fact that I have to keep the lights on 24/7 negates what I save in heating. This arrangement will probably have to last until April so it means that, since I work mostly from home, I will on an average day (14-18hours) spend: 11 W x 100days x 16hours = approximately 16 kilo watt hours in lighting for my workplace alone. It is a gloomy prospect to spend the best part of three months in a dark cave in the company of a single low energy light bulb.

Oh well. Life is hard Leif. Welcome to England.

Posted under Gas & Electricity, How To's & Guides, Lifestyle & Fashion

I know what your thinking; “What has my lifestyle got to do with being eco-friendly?”

The answer; a lot.

The way that we live our lives can be altered so that we are living in an eco friendly way, for example, why drive to work when you can walk (if your place of work is close enough of course)?

A lot of people have outside lights either by their front door, in their back gardens or possibly in both, and a lot of these people have these lights on even when they are not outside, because “they look good”, which basically means that it is a ‘fashion statement’. If you’re not outside, turn the lights off, they are of no benefit to you.

Driving; a lot of people enjoy driving big cars, especially in the United States, but driving a small, energy efficient car is less polluting and not to mention cheaper. This benefits both your bank account and the environment.

It is estimated that 5 to 15 per cent of household electricity consumption worldwide, is wasted on stand-by mode. Over £150 million worth of electricity is wasted each year in the UK by simply keeping televisions and DVD players on stand-by. If we could eliminate this waste, we could close over one in 20 electricity power stations in the UK.

When you go shopping, like a lot of people, I’m guessing that you use new plastic bags every time that you go. But it is estimated that nearly 750 billion plastic bags are used worldwide every year. The vast majority of these end up in landfill sites. Buying a reusable one involves a small initial financial cost, but it eliminates that mountain of used plastic bags that accumulates in the back of our cupboards. Added to this, shops such as Marks & Spencers and Aldi charge you for the use of their plastic bags and Tesco take away club-card points for every bag that you use.

Drink tap water, not bottled. The difference in taste; not alot. As a whole, the human race like a drink with them on trips to the shopping centre or in the car, but if you use the same bottle, you could eliminate the waste of plastic in your household. But the number of people that drink water from bottles, added with the number of people that DON’T reuse the bottle, and just tend to throw the bottle away, is astronomically high. Recycle these bottles, either by reusing them yourself or putting them in the recycling bins. Or better yet, drink tap water and add ice to the drink.

When we cut the grass a lot of people throw the grass clippings in the bin. But if we throw the grass clippings on the grass, and leave them to decompose, it will improve your lawn AND prevent you from adding to the waste in our landfills.

Posted under Gardening & Outdoors, How To's & Guides, Lifestyle & Fashion

I know what your thinking; what has lifestyle got to do with being eco-friendly?

A lot of people enjoy driving big cars, especially in the United States, but driving a small, energy efficient car is less polluting and not to mention cheaper. Perhaps we do not even need the car at all. The way that we live our lives can be altered so that we are living in an eco friendly way, for example, we should ask ourselves can we walk or bike to work or school. Many of us can.

A lot of people have outside lights either by their front door, in their back gardens or possibly in both, and a lot of these people have these lights on even when they are not outside, because “they look good”. It is estimated that 5 to 15 per cent of household electricity consumption worldwide is wasted on stand-by mode. Over £150 million worth of electricity is wasted each year in the UK simply keeping televisions and DVD players on stand-by. If we could eliminate this waste, we could close over one in 20 electricity power stations in the UK.

Drink tap water, not bottled. Apart from the fact that tap water in many parts of the world is drinkable, it is delivered straight into our homes eliminating the use of trucks to ship brightly labelled Spring Water. The number of people that drink water from bottles is astronomically high, so many of them not recycled, not reused; simply chucked away in the bin. Forgive me if I am wrong but when you go shopping, I am guessing that you use new plastic bags most of the times and if so, each time you do, that would be one or two of nearly 750 billion plastic bags used worldwide every year, the vast majority ending up in landfill sites. Buying a reusable one involves a small initial cost, but it eliminates that mountain of used plastic bags that accumulates in the back of our cupboards.

When we cut the grass a lot of people throw the grass clippings in the bin. But if we throw the grass clippings on the grass, and leave them to decompose, it will improve your lawn.

Posted under Gardening & Outdoors, House & Home, Lifestyle & Fashion

Recycling, saving the planet? Or is it just plain old time wasting?

The notion of recycling is as ancient as human civilisation if you think about it. People did not throw things away because of necessity; the saying ‘the less we have the harder we have to think’ is still true. But then we got plastics, paper cups to name but two of many other disposable items that you use once and then throw away. It became so easy to just get a new one when something broke instead of mending it. A frenetic following of fashions has not helped, as it encourages low quality merchandise. After all, why bother getting something lasting if it is only for one season.

Gradually over a couple of decades -and more fervently so during the last few years perhaps- we have begun to realise once more how necessary reuse and recycling is. Technically speaking, it is simply the processing of used materials for them to be used again and again, in order to prevent the waste of potentially useful resources. But what it entails is reduction of consumption of raw materials, energy, and air and water pollution, ultimately a lowering of greenhouse gas emissions. Recycling is a key part of modern waste management. Or at least will be once we really start to do it.

Items that we use every day of our lives are recyclable materials; cardboard, glass, paper, plastics and electronics (such as computers and mobile phones).

The London Borough of Bexley has made it compulsory for all households to recycle items and biodegradable waste. They have supplied all households with three boxes and two bins;

Green Bin: Non-Recyclable Waste
Brown Bin: Biodegradable Waste
Maroon Box: Plastic Bottles & Cans
Black Box: Glass
Green Box: Paper & Cardboard

They also collect non-recyclable waste once a fortnight; this has forced people to become more aware of the amount of rubbish they have that can be recycled. This system has boosted recycling in the area considerably. Other places are initiating similar initiatives. Norwich City Council have started to, for want of a better word, litter sidewalks with blue bins, for recycling cardboard, plastic bottles etc. We will see how that works out. Other systems with recycling points -common in Germany, Sweden and many other countries- are alternatives that seem to function reasonably well.

Did you know that recycling an item made from recycled aluminium uses 5% of the energy required to make it from raw materials? Or that recycling two glass bottles saves enough energy to boil water for five cups of tea? (This probably should make us think far enough not to boil unnecessary litres if what we need is just ONE cup of tea.)

To sum it up: If less waste goes to a landfill, there will be a reduction in the release of methane, which is a particularly vicious greenhouse gas and contributor to climate change. Voilà.

Want to help save the planet? Recycle it.

Posted under House & Home, Uncategorized

Short answer – absolutely you can save money going green! The term “going green” typically refers to any activity that lessens your impact on the environment and/or doing your part to conserve and recycle our everyday resources. There are literally thousands, if not more, ways to actually “go green”, and with the help of blogs and the internet in general, we have a real shot as we move into 2009 of going green by leveraging and taking advantage of many different and unique methods.

In contrast to going on a diet when you’re trying to lose weight – generally the diet food costs more than “regular” food, so besides actually losing weight, there is no other benefit to going on a diet, and it can be quite expensive, but that’s quite the opposite when you go on an earth diet (conserving less energy, recycling, etc…). When you make a concerted effort to “greenerize” yourself (yes, new word!), you stand the chance to save quite a bit of cash in the process!

For instance, let’s look at a few popular ways that your every day consumer can go green:

1. Carpooling

2. Public transportation

3. Using compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFL’s)

4. Setting your thermostat a few degrees lower in summer

5. Wash clothes in cold water

6. Instead of using a dryer dry your clothes naturally.

7. Install low flow shower heads

8. Using reusable water bottles

I could go on and on about different ways to go green, but the eight ways listed above are perfectly easy and acceptable ways to help the environment, and best of all, you’ll save money using every single method!

Doing a quick average, I would conservatively say that just by doing the above, you could save anywhere from £100-£250 per month, and to your average 4 person family, that’s a nice chunk of change that can be saved or used for other bills (like your mortgage!). Recently, a poll came out that said only 12% of consumers are really “going green”, while another 41% were considered “light green”. Just imagine if we could get that first number higher, it would make a much greater impact than most people could imagine.

So I encourage you to make a list right now that lists out ten ways you can start going green today. At the end of 30 days, give yourself a true estimate on how much money you saved by comparing it with your regular costs. Saving money by going green is so addictive that you’ll find yourself cutting back and conserving even more to enjoy all the extra cash you’re putting back in the bank!

Posted under How To's & Guides, Lifestyle & Fashion

The way preservative works, essentially, is by killing cells and preventing them from cultivating and multiplying. This is why the majority of preservatives are found in our foodstuffs and certain products which rely on bacteria and fungi prevention to make it through that long journey that ends with our shopping baskets. It has been part of the status quo to check the back of a packet, to really know what it is you’re buying. But did you know that preservative chemicals are also used in the bulk of our cosmetic and body care industry?

Research shows that there can be a considerable amount of bacterial and fungi contamination occurring during in the manufacturing of a variety of products. Corporate officials will usually point the blame at consumers for introducing microbes into a product, for instance; dipping fingers into tubs, leaving caps off, buying inappropriate large quantities, incorrect storage, etc. This is encouraging formulators to add more and more cocktails of preservatives to the mix, rather than simply addressing the problem at a factory-floor level.

The truth is, no preservative will prevent contaminants from getting into your product – their purpose is to keep bacterial growth to an absolute minimum. So the chances are, preservatives included or not, there will be some trace of bacteria in your daily cosmetics.

No harm in that, right? The widespread concern about the use of body care and cosmetic preservatives stems from a simple science – that being, the human skin is comprised of living cells and the essential function of preservatives is to kill cells at some level. Even if they are used in small quantities, preservatives present a risk to the integrity of the skin and to the rest of the body, if they were to enter your bloodstream. Because of this, preservative are measured under standards of control. However, no single preservative, synthetic or natural, satisfy the complete criteria, which is why cosmetics will include a mixture of several regulating preservatives in one given product.

Mercury-based preservatives such as thimerosal are often used in eye makeup and eye makeup remover. Scientists have correlated these neurotoxin chemicals to harmful eye damage through long-term exposure.

Other commonly used cosmetics preservatives include those that end in EDTA (e.g. disodium EDTA) which can irritate skin and effect mucus membranes, and their disposal often has a negative impact on the environment. EDTA preservatives are renowned for their inability to biodegrade and their ominous facility for binding with heavy metals in our water supply, causing them to re-enter the food chain.

And while the notion of a preservative-free cosmetic product may appeal to the majority of us, with companies adopting products based on botanicals, which claim to be preservative free, this may all be a misnomer, as the active plant ingredients used also function as preservatives.

The best advice is to think ‘truly natural’. Essential oils, sugars and grains, will not last as long as other products propose, but choosing these truly natural products will ensure an overall better skin health.

Looking for smaller plant-based products will also reduce your exposure to potentially toxic preservatives. Such products will often be hermetically sealed or come fixed with a pump, squeeze top or another metered-dose application – this allows fewer contaminants in during storage, thus systematically diminishes the need for the use of those harmful chemicals.

Posted under Articles, Companies, House & Home, How To's & Guides