Consumers Should Consume Fair Trade Consumables

In the UK, people are being urged to buy more fair trade products to make the world better. Things are going well so far when looking at the numbers. As always there is room for improvement.

According to the latest data meanwhile, sales of Fairtrade tea increased by 50 percent in Britain last year, while coffee and banana sales each grew by 39 percent.

The variety of Fairtrade products surged also, with more than 2,500 retail and catering products now available from over 260 companies across Britain.

The amount of raw material used to make Fairtrade products rose by more than 60 percent in 2006 from the year before.

Thanks, Evan!

Australia the Pied Piper of Incandescent Light Bulbs

In my humble opinion its about time. Of course I am talking about the Australian government’s plan to phase out incandescent light bulbs and replace them with more energy-efficient compact fluorescent bulbs across the country. Legislation will gradually restrict the sale of the old-style bulbs and hopes to convince state and territory governments to introduce energy performance standards that would lead to the replacement of standard light bulbs with more efficient but more expensive alternatives such as compact fluorescent lights.

This is not the first time a ban such as this has occured in a country. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, announced his own program to save energy and gave away millions of fluorescent bulbs in neighbourhoods nationwide. Cuba’s Fidel Castro launched a similar program two years ago, sending youth brigades into homes and switching out regular bulbs for energy-saving ones to help battle electrical blackouts around the island.

** I should note that CFL’s contain small amounts of mercury.

Honda F1 Team Goes Green

Honda F1Honda’s F1 team has announced it’s 2007 driver line-up: Jenson Button, Rubens Barrichello & Mother Earth.

The team’s 2007 Formula One race car, named the RA107, will feature no commercial logos at all, replacing the former Tobacco sponsorship with a giant image of the Earth.

By using planet earth as the car’s livery Honda hopes to raise awareness about climate change in the world’s second most viewed sport (150+ million viewers for each race) and welcome the proposed 2009 addition of devices for energy recovery to all F1 cars.

By passing on messages about simple tips for reducing CO2 output and making carbon positive changes to the team’s factory Honda hopes to raise their image a manufacturer of sporty low emissions vehicles.

The Honda F1 Team’s press release has more details.

Top 50 Things To Do To Stop Global Warming

If you have ever wondered what you can do to help fight climate change look no further! This list covers a lot of things that you can do in your everyday life that will lessen your impact on the environment.

Some examples from the list:

  • Consider the impact of your investments
  • Fly less
  • Eat less meat
  • Cover your pots while cooking

    • Cluster Bomb Ban

    Hopefully most people have seen this in the mainstream press, but if not that’s OK because here it is!
    Quite a few nations are saying no to cluster bombs!

    Forty-six countries agreed Friday to push for a global treaty banning cluster bombs, a move activists hope will force the superpowers that oppose the effort — the U.S., China and Russia — to abandon the weapons.

    Organizers said the declaration was needed despite the absence of key nations at a conference in the Norwegian capital to avoid a potential humanitarian disaster posed by unexploded cluster munitions.