Ethical Living

Wood in Worthing

I thought my Dad was joking when he rang to tell me about the wood all along the Sussex Coast. But as we went for our usual Sunday walk along the seafront in Worthing it was clear that he wasn't talking about a few bits of drift wood but a cargo ship that had got into difficulty in Devon and had tumbled all its load of timber into the sea.

Great piles of timber was all down the coast as far as we could see. The pier was closed whilst it was being checked for any structural damage and some lone machinery was attempting to move some of the wood further up away from the tide.

The 2000 tonnes of timber was obviously soaked through - and this and the salt content would have caused it to warp and become unusable for its intended purpose. As far as I know the wood is being collected for insurance purposes and its likely that it will be turned into chipping. The council is responsible for the clean up which is expected to take weeks.

First mounted in 1975, National Tree Week is UK's largest tree celebration annually launching the start of the winter tree planting season. National Tree Week is a great chance for communities to do something positive for their local treescape. Each year, Tree Council member organisations such as voluntary bodies and local authorities, up to 200 schools and community groups, our 7,500 Tree Wardens and many others, support the initiative by setting up fun, worthwhile and accessible events, inspiring upward of a quarter of a million people to get their hands dirty and together plant around million trees.


See the Tree Council website here for more info

A new report published today, provides nine
testimonies from people around the world who have dramatic
first-hand experience of the devastating impacts of climate
change.


The Friends of the Earth International report "Voices from
Communities Affected by Change Change", is being published ahead
of the key United Nations climate talks taking place from 3-14
December 2007 in Bali, Indonesia. The report gives first hand
accounts of the impacts of climate change from indigenous people,
women, local authorities, farmers, small business owners and
small-scale fisherfolk from Honduras, Peru, Brazil, Mali,
Swaziland, the UK, Australia, Malaysia and Tuvalu.


These people highlight the strategies that they have developed to
try and adapt to the radical impacts of climate change on their
land, livelihoods and ecosystems.

Read the report here

Labels: Campaigns, Ethical living

The 21st FAIR TRADE FAIR will be held on 1st and 2nd December.

The hours of opening are from 12 noon on Saturday 1st to 6pm and from 12 to 5pm on Sunday 2nd December.

Where?

Westminster Central Hall, Parliament Square, London SW1 (on the other side of the road from Westminster Abbey) nearest tubes; Westminster and St James's Park

There are 45 exhibitors, including 12 groups that have come directly from Africa (Rwanda, Zambia, Kenya), the Philippines, and elsewhere. It is a remarkable event. There will be world music and there is a reasonably price cafeteria in the same building.

The full details are on our website, which is

www.fairtradefair.org

After two successful previous events, the third Our Ethical Network event is taking place upstairs tomorrow at 8pm at The Eagle pub, 125, Gloucester Rd, Brighton, BN1 4AF. There will be a small charge of £3 to cover costs. Rather than a stand up and mingle event, we're aiming to make it more of a sit down and talk session this time so come prepared to say a little bit about your business and what help you need to move forward. For more details of the network please see www.ourethicalnetwork.com or email me at jennifer@ethicalwoodfurnishings.co.uk.

Our Ethical Network was set up by myself (Jennifer Everest) and Katie Fewings. As founders of ethical businesses we found that networking opportunities specifically to meet other ethical businesses were few and far between. Believing that small businesses should stick together and that getting advice which doesn't conflict with their ethical beliefs is paramount to their businesses and others in the surrounding area, Our Ethical Network was born.

Networking events are a great way to meet like-minded people, share advice and support and make business connections and contacts. Unlike other Brighton networking events we've deliberately restricted invitations to ethically inspired companies in order to make the evenings as useful and informative as possible for all with the central aim to help aid and support the growth of local ethical businesses.

If you'd like to join the network please email jennifer@ethicalwoodfurnishings.co.uk. (There is no charge to join, and events are free wherever possible)

Labels: Brighton, Ethical living, Ethical Networking

Yesterday was the 4th annual Responsible Tourism Awards, sponsored by Virgin Holidays and organised by responsibletravel.com. This inspiring and uplifting event celebrated responsible tourism companies and individuals all around the world who work to improve the lives of local people and minimise impacts on the environment.

Ethical Wood Furnishings was delighted to be asked to make all the frames for the certificates. Each of the winners, from many different areas of the globe, all left clutching their frames made from reclaimed pier decking from Brighton pier.

The New Forest was the overall winner - a destination which has worked over the last 15 years with visitors, the industry, the community - including commoners and small holders - to look after the environment (the VICE model: Visitor, Industry, Community, Environment) and to benefit all interests as well as providing a model for other destinations to follow.

Each of the winners and highly commended companies and individuals all have a unique and inspirational story of how they've got to the level they are today. You can read their stories and why they won an award on this online magazine here

Many congratulations to all the winners - especially Anthony Climpson who was clearly over the moon with his 3 awards!

The awards ceremony marked the opening of the first World Responsible Tourism day and the well attended number of seminars and lectures that followed marked the tourism industries growing realisation that action needs to be taken now - to ensure better destinations for people to live and better destinations for people to visit.

Labels: Responsible Tourism Awards, responsibletravel.com

I think this guy would answer very!

An agreement to reduce Costa Rica's debt by nearly $26 million over the next 16 years was reached by the governments of the United States and Costa Rica, the Central Bank of Costa Rica as well as U.S.-based Conservation International and The Nature Conservancy. In return, the Central Bank of Costa Rica has committed to pay these funds to support grants to non-governmental organizations and other groups that protect and restore the country's tropical forests.

This debt-for-nature program allows eligible developing countries to reduce concessional debt owed the United States while generating funds to conserve forests. Forged under the Tropical Forest Conservation Act (TFCA) of 1998 the program is jointly managed by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the U.S. Treasury Department and the U.S. State Department.

The debt reduction was made possible by a $12.6 million contribution by the U.S. government and a combined donation of more than $2.5 million from Conservation International and The Nature Conservancy. The reduced debt comes from old USAID loans to Costa Rica.

The funds will help conserve some of Costa Rica's vital forests. The forest ecosystems of the Osa Peninsula, one of the world's most species-rich locations, include the country's largest population of scarlet macaw, an endangered bird. The La Amistad Biological Reserve, home to Central America's largest cloud forest, shelters 65 percent of Costa Rica's indigenous peoples and generates over half of Costa Rica's fresh water.

Forests in and around Tortuguero, Costa Rica's third most visited national park and Maquenque Wildlife Refuge, support Costa Rica's last remaining great green macaws and permit the altitudinal migration of birds and mammals such as the quetzal, bell bird, jaguar, and tapir. The dry forest, cloud forest and rain forest north of Rincon de la Vieja permit many animals to adjust to changing climate conditions. Water resources on Nicoya Peninsula are dependent on the health of fragile, fragmented forest ecosystems in and around Diria National Park.

Including Costa Rica, the TFCA program has been used 12 times under the Bush administration -- twice in Panama as well as in Belize, Botswana, Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Jamaica, Paraguay, Peru and the Philippines and once under the previous administration in Bangladesh in 2000. Together, these TFCA debt-for-nature efforts will generate more than $163 million to protect tropical forests during the next 10 to 25 years.

For more information on USAID and its environmental programs visit
http://www.usaid.gov/our_work/environment/forestry/tfca.html

CONTACT: Public Information, 202-712-4810

U.S. Agency for International Development

If you're looking for an alternative to taking that old sofa to the tip and adding to the world's growing problems of land fill, or if you're wanting to de-clutter and give some of your possessions to a good home then consider taking them to Emmaus situated next to the listed 12th century Manor House ruins in Portslade, near Brighton.

With the moto 'giving people a bed and a reason to get out of it' Emmaus is a residential community offering a home and work to 40 men and women, many of whom have been homeless.

The work of the Community centres on the re-cycling of donated goods including furniture, household appliances, electrical goods, bric-a-brac, clothes, books, music, toys etc. They are able to collect, refurbish sell items in their shops dubbed the largest ‘Second-hand Superstore’ in the South of England.

Even if you don't have something to donate it makes a lovely morning out. The gardens are lovely and the shop is endless. The many rooms are filled with all manner of items - some of which produced many cries of 'oh my goodness i had one of those' from us both. The cafe where i had a fantastic bacon and egg sandwich with salad was yummy and the staff working there were polite and friendly. The shop also stocks a large selection of plants & shrubs grown in the nursery garden. All in all a lovely morning, i'm glad my old pink sofa can be of some use and my shopping habits can be put to good use supporting a fantastic project.

Labels: Brighton, eco-friendly furniture, Ethical furniture, recycling

At Ethical Wood Furnishings our guiding principle is the words beautiful ~ ethical~ honest. This means that we will not sell a product unless it's beautiful in terms of the wood chosen, the attention to detail and craftsmanship involved, ethical in terms of the materials used, the production of the product and people involved, and honest meaning that we are transparent about our practices, prices and policies.

We're now extending this philosophy to our new home. With the recent purchase of a 1890s Victorian terrace we're trying to restore, redecorate and refurbish it only with items that have been made using reclaimed or recycled materials or that have been restored or reused.

And to be quite honest it's proving to be a lot tricker than it seems!

My goodness i can't believe it's been 3 months since I last posted anything here! Do excuse me. A dying laptop and some coursework for my MSc has kept me occupied over the summer months. I've also jumped on the first rung of the property ladder with the purchase of a 1890s terrace which over the next few weeks/months I'll be stripping back to its former glory and furnishing as much as possible with reclaimed and recycled furniture. If anyone has any tips on creating an ethical eco-home then feel free to post them here. I'll keep you all up to date with my findings!

For those wanting to be ethical on your interiors check out this videohere

It's just one of those annoying things isn't it when you cut down on your packaging, separate out your recycling and are still left with a little pile that looks like it can be recycled but you not sure if it can and who you should give it to. Well as I can see Michael finishing off another cartoon of Innocent smoothies I thought I’d have a Google and find out.

Being made from paperboard (typically 70-90%, low-density polyethylene (typically 10-25%)and aluminium foil (about 5%, only in long life or aseptic packages) tetra paks can be recycled. The problem seems to be that councils have not deemed them to be a big enough priority to add them to their kerbside recycling collections. A reason cited by some include the fact that there isn't anywhere near enough in the UK that can take the cartons for reprocessing that makes it economically and environmentally viable. Although this does seem to be a rather strange excuse when others materials are transported halfway around the world to be reused?

The carton recycling process is essentially quite simple. Baled cartons are dropped into a pulper, similar to a giant domestic food mixer, filled with water, and pulped for around 20 minutes. This delaminates the packaging, breaking down the package to produce a grey-brown slurry. The aluminium foil and polyethylene are separated from the fibre, which is recovered to make new paper products.

Many European countries achieve very high carton recycling rates. For example, in Germany and Belgium it is between 65 and 70% - only slightly ahead of Austria, Sweden and others. The European Union as a whole achieves a 30% carton recycling rate. But in many many many parts of the UK it is extremely difficult to find somewhere to take them.

Tesco has teamed up with Tetra Pak and the Alliance for Beverage Cartons and the Environment in the UK (ACE UK) to introduce two carton collection banks in Tesco stores every week until September across the country. But of course if you can't bear to go into Tesco (think it's better for the environment to steer clear of the place!) then Tetra Pak does operate a postal recycling scheme for those who wish to recycle their cartons.

Labels: Brighton, Ethical living, recycling

In view of the new WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) Directive Magpie has launched Re-use IT! an initiative that aims at curbing the amount of IT equipment currently land-filled from the Brighton and Hove area. Magpie customers will now be able to dispose of their old computer equipment in an environmentally sound way. They are able to collect IT equipment that is old or no longer works for recycling. The collections are made on a special round, your usual collectors will not be able to take IT equipment with your other recycling. See here for further details...

Labels: Brighton, Ethical living, recycling, WEEE

Thousands of people are expected to join celebrities including
Jude Law , James Blunt and Razorlight's Johnny Borrell on
The Big Ask online march, which is calling for a tough new climate
change law. The campaign is being launched today by Friends of the Earth. It
coincides with a new survey revealing that over two thirds of
people in the UK want the Government to introduce a new law
requiring UK carbon dioxide emissions to be cut every year.

Friends of the Earth is hoping that thousands of people -
particularly the YouTube generation - will join the march over the
coming months and help persuade Gordon Brown's Government that its
plans for a climate law must be strengthened.

March for climate change here!

Labels: Campaigns, Ethical living

The Lammas group are aiming to create an ecovillage in Pembrokeshire which will become a demonstration model for low impact living. They are working in partnership with Pembrokeshire County Council, but recently there has been some opposition to the project. They are asking for anyone who cares that there should be a flagship project of this sort in the UK to write in support of the group. If the application to build a low-impact ecovillage in North Pembrokeshire is successful it will have significant implications for sustainable development across the UK. However the Lammas application has met a mixed reaction from local people resulting in local activists creating petitions against the development. To find out more and show your support see their website here

Labels: Campaigns, Low impact living

An award-winning new eco-house round the corner from me in Hanover, Brighton has been completed by local firm DRP Architects. The two bedroom timber framed house exceeds the Building Research Establishment (BRE) ‘excellent’ rating in energy saving and carbon reduction. In view of its exemplary ‘green’ features, the house has already won a ‘Green Apple Silver Award’ in the ‘National New Build Residential’ category, June 2007.

The architects have used a whole range of eco technologies and materials - including passive solar gain, a green roof, locally sourced sweet chestnut cladding, lime based render, solar hot water heating, grey water recycling and sheep’s wool insulation. The result is a scheme that reduces carbon emission by approximately 17% when compared to Building Regulations has around 33% less water consumption compared with a typical home.

Simon Atkins, the DRP director responsible for the project, comments: “If more new houses like this one were built, Brighton and Hove would seriously reduce its carbon footprint while the population would enjoy lower energy bills.”

Labels: Brighton, Eco Houses

I feel a bit sad to admit this but as a Web Editor by day and director of Ethical Wood Furnishings i spend the majority of my waking hours on a computor. I must say though that I thought that all the tip tapping on the keyboard would be helping to create a postive change for local people and the environment. However I've just read that of the $250 billion spent per year on powering computers worldwide, only about 15% of that power is spent computing-the rest is wasted idling. Now even though i do turn off the laptop at night those cups of coffee I keep making and the time spent poking at the worms in the office (see the post below) are all times that my computer is sitting there waiting patiently for me to return blinking away energy. I've just downloaded a LocalCooling Application which is supposed to automatically optimize your PC's power consumption by using a more effective power save mode. Apparently I "will be able to see your savings in real-time translated to more environmental terms such as how many trees and gallons of oil you have saved." Let's see...

Michael and I manage to recycle a great proportion of our rubbish but the dreaded eco guilt creeps in when I throw away leftovers from dinner and all the bits and pieces from the chopping board. Many councils are offering residents an improved service and increased support for home composters and there are lots of tips and resources online for those who want to make a compost heap. We have absolutely no outdoor space whatsover so a composter in the bottom of the garden is definitely out. At work we have a wormery and whilst the wiggly things are a great source of humour and fun in the office (yes we are quite sad) and they do work very well, I've discovered that unless you are very good about draining them off regularly then they absolutely stink. And in a small one bedroomed flat I just can't stomach the thought of it. I'm thinking of trying a Bokashi Composter but I'm a bit disappointed that the container is only made from 85% recycled plastic. If anyone uses one of these please let me know if it works...

Labels: recycling

Our second ethical business networking event is taking place this Wednesday 27 June at 8pm upstairs at The Eagle pub, Brighton.

This is just a quick reminder to those of you who have already let us know you're coming and a last chance to sign up if you haven't (or didn't receive our first email - apologies if so - we'd still love to see you there if you can make it at this short notice).

For full details of this event please see: www.ourethicalnetwork.com

Labels: Brighton, Ethical Networking