Beverley Price fairtrade jewellery

One of South Africa's most prominent contemporary jewellers has created a new collection for Adila, a British company. Adila means ‘just and fair’ which really sums up their ethos. They work closely with fairtrade suppliers around the world and are a member of the British Association of Fair Trade Shops (BAFTS) so you can be sure everything you buy is genuinely fairly traded. The modern and stylish jewellery is hand made by underprivileged women in a community-based project in Johannesburg. The Beverley Price collection is made from miniatures taken from a South African magazine, ‘Drum’ which are set in sterling silver. This bracelet is just one of a collection that includes earrings, necklaces and bracelets. Prices start at £11 for the earrings and £26 for the bracelets.

Asda has a stab at going green

Asda, the supermarket that gave us “Asda price” is now climbing onto the green bandwagon with some of the other main supermarkets. Their effort, I was going to say token effort, but I thought better of it, is to launch a range of CDs with compostable covers. Instead of the usual plastic boxes you normally get with CDs you’ll get Ecopac packaging, a 100% recycled paper foam box you can recycle with your newspapers. This is a joint venture with Universal Music, which has put 84,000 of their best selling CDs in these little cases. There is no leaflet with the CD, instead you download one from their webiste. As long as you don’t print it onto paper, you’ll be saving resources. Once again, is this just a marketing gimmick or is it a serious attempt at saving the planet? I don’t really we are going to save the planet one CD at a time.

Sainsbury’s deliveries go green…well 20% at least

Sainsbury’s, like the other main supermarkets, is looking at promoting itself as a green supermarket. There is money to be made by any company selling its green credentials now. How much of this is pure marketing and how much is genuine concern for the environment is open to question. But, does it really matter? As long as steps are taken to reduce CO2 emissions does it really matter about the motives? I for one do not think so, what matters is the reduction in CO2.

With this in mind, Sainsbury’s have announced that by September 2008, 20% of their online deliveries will be made with electric vans. This is expected to save 45 tonnes of CO2 emissions in the first year alone. In addition, Sainsbury’s delivery drivers will take away the plastic carrier bags to be recycled. Hopefully they will expand the service to all their delivery vans eventually. After all, 20% of vans being electric can be perceived as a publicity exercise, because 80% are still powered by diesel and petrol.

To control the rising global temperature we need more than token gestures, we need real change.

Are biofuels the answer to all our fuel problems?

There is government and EU pressure to increase the use of biofuels both in the UK and throughout Europe. In the USA the government is promoting the development of biofuels as the answer to their fuel problems. Over here in the UK, BP and ABF have joined forces with DuPont to build a biofuels plant at BP’s chemicals site at Saltend near Hull. The £200 million biofuels plant will help to meet the demand for greener petrol for the foreseeable future. Due to start production in 2009, the plant will produce around 420 million litres of bioethanol a year. This plant alone is expected to meet around a third of the county’s demand for bioethanol. Under the government’s Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation, at 5% of fuel sold at petrol stations by 2010 will be biofuels, so the future in biofuels is pretty much assured. There is money to be made in biofuels, so investment can only increase. Which is a good thing, right?

Well, possibly yes and probably no. The problem with biofuels, is that they are made from staples like corn, wheat, palm oil and soya oil. As demand for these grows in the developed world, prices could go up, and make them less affordable to communities in third world countries that rely on these for food. Will we end up creating more starving people in the third world as we in the West buy up wheat and corn for our biofuels? The environment could suffer too, as vast areas of rainforest are burned or logged to make room for biofuel crops. Will we destroy the rainforests that reduce CO2 in the atmosphere to make ‘greener’ petrol? The biofuels market has to be regulated and monitored effectively if the benefits in CO2 reduction aren’t overshadowed by the damage to the environment and to the poorer communities around the world.

[Via The Independent]

POSCH shopping bags for all

We are all being told to use reusable shopping bags as oppose to plastic carrier bags. The many millions of plastic carrier bags used and thrown away every day around the world do incredible damage to wildlife and the environment. There are many reusable shopping bags available, but if you’re looking for style to go with your green outlook try the POSCH bag. Luce Beaulieu is the Canadian creator of POSCH. Luce is an eco-designer and entrepreneur who is concerned about the effects of discarded plastic carrier bags on the local wildlife, especially on the endangered bird species native to Quebec. Luce uses recycled vintage bed sheets to make rather attractive shopping bags. The bags are handmade in Canada using an environmentally friendly process to minimise the ecological impact of the production process. The used sheets and pillow cases are sourced from local not-for-profit outlets like The Salvation Army and other similar charity shops. They are then sanitized, washed and printed using water based inks. The bags come in loads of different and unique designs and are available on-line from The Natural Store.

Is there such a thing as a green mobile phone?

I know using mobile phones is pretty unethical and not very planet friendly, but hey in today’s society I couldn’t manage without one. Anyway, the solution is to get an ethical planet friendly mobile phone and contract. There is a company called Green Mobile that gives you a mobile tariff that helps the environment and soothes your conscience. Intrigued by the claim I read further. Basically what they do is give you a tariff on an existing network and ask you to keep your existing handset, or you can have a new or refurbished handset instead. By not getting a new handset for at least a year, you are reducing your environmental impact. The other thing they do is give £25 and 6% of your monthly bills to one of their partner charities, Friends of the Earth, WWF and the Woodland Trust. They will plant 5 trees on your behalf as well. It sounds pretty good, but I’ m not sure what kind of uptake they will get because most people want the newest and fanciest mobile phone they can get. For most people a mobile phone is as much a fashion or status symbol as it is a communications device.

Next Reiki Course in London

We are running our next Reiki level 1 and level 2 course in central London on Saturday 7th July for the level 1 and Sunday 8th July for the level 2. You can take both levels together if you wish. Our website http://www.thehealingco.com/ gives more detailed information about this amazing and life changing natural therapy.

Reiki is a form of energy healing that was discovered and developed by Mikao Usui in Japan in the early part of the 20th century. Reiki is a form of healing, yet it is so much more. Reiki is the start of a beautiful spiritual journey that will help you to find your purpose on earth and follow your path with. Reiki was called by Mikao Usui "the art of inviting happiness...the miraculous medicine of all diseases" and once you learn Reiki you will really understand what Mikao Usui meant.