Tag Archives: Environment

Ship it safe, ship it popcorn

Until now Lush, a British cosmetics company, used shredded paper in the boxes in which it sold soaps, massage bars and other delicate items. As part of its drive to be greener, Lush has come up with a great solution for packaging: instead of using polystyrene chips to keep fragile items intact in the post, the chain is now using an edible and far more biodegradable solution: popcorn!

Popcorn packaging is just another example of how natural materials can replace many supposedly superior man made materials. The popcorn packaging will obviously reduce the amount of paper used by the chain. I would like to see if the popcorn will be grown locally and organically and reused or at least eaten. However, a side effect of this is that transport emissions will also be reduced, since popcorn is 60% lighter than paper.

24 Goes Carbon Neutral

“Jack Bauer can do anything!” – Everyone

“Can he kick Global Warming’s butt?” – Me

“The show is going carbon neutral.” – Everyone

Well that might be a long way away from saving the planet from man made destruction, but the effort should be applauded none the less. And I mean, come one, he has his hand full with terrorists. In their final season, 24 plans to cut emmision by:

* Use biodiesel to power generators and production vehicles
* Run all on-stage production activities on green power
* Integrate fuel-saving and low-emission hybrid vehicles into the production fleet
* Rewire an entire stage to use electric power (which will be purchased green power), rather than diesel-generated power

Those Crafty Japanese!

First it was paper cranes, now it’s bridges. Architect Shigeru Ban is moving us along the twenty-first century by using very old technology: paper! Ban has created an cardboard bridge in France.

Weighing 7.5 tonnes, the bridge is made from 281 cardboard tubes, each 11.5 centimetres (four inches) across and 11.9 millimetres thick. The steps are recycled paper and plastic and the foundations wooden boxes packed with sand.

It’s environmentally friendly, can be rebuilt and totally cool.

Climate Change Brings Political Change in the UK

Unfortunately there’s too much water in the UK right now and it has caused lot’s of flooding. Instead of standing (or wading) around the Brits have decided to take upon themselves to champion the fight against climate change. The World Development Movement has called on the government to act on fighting greenhouse gases more than ever after the floods are dealt with. “After the clean up operation has finished, we need leadership from the government to avert a global climate change crisis by a commitment to massively cutting CO2 emissions.”

Meanwhile, the National Trust, 3.5 million member strong, is apparently ready to takle climate change head-on.

It controls 900-square miles of land and 710 miles of coastline and has far moremembers than the armed services, the teaching profession, the prison population, environmental groups and political parties combined.

Now the National Trust is hoping to become a new green army. To mark membership in England, Wales and Northern Ireland reaching 3.5 million – equivalent to the population of Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow and Sheffield (Britain’s four largest cities after London) – the trust yesterday declared that it wants to become “the largest green movement in the world”.