Ethical Superstore

When I used to travel to York quite a bit with work, there was a supermarket where I'd buy lunch on the way to the office; can't remember the name of it, but everything in it was "ethical" in various ways. They used to do amazing Tamil Curry pasties! Sadly, the store closed down, but when I saw ethicalsuperstore.com advertised, I was pretty impressed. They don't sell Tamil Curry pasties, but they do sell a whole range of stuff - I particularly liked their eco-toaster! Our toaster's still going strong, but as soon as it packs up, you know where I'll be heading. They also sell in bulk - I'm waiting for them to start selling huge boxes of ecover dishwasher tablets (they sell a lot of ecover in bulk, but not those!) and then I'll be converted.

Heat

No! Not Heat, that crappy magazine about celebrities (sorry, I just have a thing about celebrity mags and probably celebrities in general!), but the book by George Monbiot. Finished it on the train going up north this week - I think he succeeded in his mission - I was stirred, impressed and deeply worried all at once by his book. Monbiot argues that targets set by governments are not really workable in that they're based on targets that won't achieve what they're set out to achieve. Add to that, the fact that despite what people say, they (we?) don't actually want our governments & representatives to push too hard on these aggressive climate targets.

Despite this, his views seem both incredibly reasonable, and also would bring about the kind of world (at least in Britain) that must be a step forward for the one we have now. His chapters on integrated transport policy and energy policy actually make you excited to think what could be possible if we just put our minds to it.

Heat? Get a copy and see what you think.

Getting in the way

I’m sitting here in the dark, in a hotel room (travelling for work), having just watched the last episode of Planet Earth on my work laptop. My brain is buzzing a bit with all of the things I’ve been reading, watching and thinking over the last few days and weeks. I’m sitting in the dark, partly because the video is brighter with all the lights off, but also because here in the room there must be about eight lights that come on automatically when I walk in the room and put my electronic key card in the slot just inside the front door. Add to that the fact that the TV is always “on”, on standby mode, 24 hours a day and you’ve already got a pretty big footprint. Luckily, there is a (slightly platiscated) feedback card so I’m going to suggest they do something about that.

Planet Earth has been a pretty amazing series – I bought it with my Christmas money (!) and it’s taken me just over eight months to watch it all. It’s been exhilarating, yes, really, and also depressing. Sad that so much wildlife and wilderness is being destroyed all over the world, and it’s still difficult to see what we can do about it. I think one of the difficulties is that individuals are well-meaning but distracted by a lot of the day to day things we have to do – jobs, families, etc. (Big) businesses on the other hand, have people whose jobs it is to undertake activities that, sometimes by definition, conflict with what some of us consider important (the environment, justice, fairness etc). One of the chaps being interviewed in this last episode was a something-of sustainable agriculture for a large drug & hygiene products company. He suggested that part of his remit was to promote a balance between sustainability & production (in this case, of palm oil). I just don’t buy it. If you work for a business, you’re in the game to make money. The other things are only a by-product. If doing things sustainably is compatible with making money, that’s great; but if it’s not, then that’s the end of it, they will only ever do what’s going to make money, create profit & satisfy shareholders.

So, certainly the last few weeks has seen one step in the right direction for me – I’ve finally ditched my “evil” old bank and transferred all my dealings to the UK’s foremost ethical bank, the Cooperative Bank. They have a strong ethical policy and I can sleep soundly (when small daughters permit!) knowing that my money isn’t going into funding arms dealers and tin pot dictators around the world. My previous bank responded positively to accusations that they were supporting the remnants of Zimbabwe’s government, in defiance of the views of the rest of the world, and quickly shut off the money. But I wanted a bank that didn’t need to do that, that didn’t try to push the envelope of what they could get away with – I wanted one that had a moral and ethical stance built in. I’m only annoyed that I didn’t do it earlier. I’ve known for years and years that my bank was particularly “unethical” but never got round to switching. I think that’s one of the big things that prevents us doing the “right thing” – it’s not that we consciously choose wrong, it’s that other things get in the way.

Greyhounds

I’ve been reading Heat by George Monbiot – the book that defies you to read it and not to want to make a change. In fact, in the conclusion he tells the reader to return the book & ask for a refund if it doesn’t make you want to make a difference. Well, it did, though perhaps he was preaching to the converted. There were a number of areas where I was really impressed, notably about the conservation of energy in the home (some real areas for me to think about there) and also about the public transport system, which I’ve long been frustrated by, particularly with it being cheaper (and arguably more pleasant) to drive somewhere in the car, compared to public transport. However, public transport, always the preserve of the desperately poor (esp in the USA, where the Greyhound was an entertaining insight into the impoverished classes and the mentally unstable drifters of the west coast, but one I wouldn’t want to spend too much time indulging in) is really the way forward, so something I really want to push on. There was a (surprisingly small) section at the back of the book, of organisations committed to tackling climate change, so I’ll have to look further in to it. The one area where Monbiot claims to fail is air transport, and I have to say this is a difficult area, even for us, who take one short-haul flight per year, to see the relatives in Ireland. Having tried once by car & ferry, when Daughter Number 1 was very small, I’m in no hurry to do it again. The ferry part was wonderful – the cabin was comfortable and really quite elegant, but the car journey, with a less-than-one year old who screamed from leaving the house at six o’clock in the evening, and only stopped when we rolled down the ramp into the ferry some six hours later, just in time to unload her from the car into the cabin – was a nightmare. I suspect the only way to do it, especially now with two littlies, would be to either hire a bigger car (or buy one if our current car dies a death soon!) or go by the dreaded public transport. With the amount of stuff we have to cart around for two weeks with the rellies is anything to go by, it’ll be a while before I’m brave enough to do that.

Control the International Arms Trade

There's a new website, formed from a coalition of Amnesty International, iansa & Oxfam, aimed at controlling the international arms trade. Here is their first email:

Every year, millions of people suffer as a result of the irresponsible arms trade.
Two years ago, 153 governments voted at the United Nations to start work on developing an international Arms Trade Treaty. We want as many people as possible to take action to control the arms trade.

Play "Catch the Bomb" and spread the word

Throughout 2008, a group of experts from 28 countries has been meeting to discuss the content of the treaty. Now is the time to turn words into action and deliver an Arms Trade Treaty strong enough to save lives and stop irresponsible arms deals.
A small minority of governments opposes international controls on the arms trade and is determined to block, derail and delay any further progress on the treaty. They must not be allowed to succeed.

Tell your government that the world is watching, it’s time for an Arms Trade Treaty

Ending Child Poverty

There are 3.8 million children in the UK living in poverty and the NSPCC is committed to supporting the End Child Poverty alliance along with over 100 other groups such as Oxfam, NCH and Save the Children.

If you would like to read more about their “Keep the Promise” campaign you can visit their website.

Peacekeepers for Darfur?

From Oxfam's campaign email on helping people in Darfur.

http://www.oxfam.org.uk/get_involved/campaign/actions/darfur_peacekeepers.html?ito=2440&itc=0

UN Peacekeepers in Darfur, Sudan, are struggling to do their job – because scarcely one-third of the promised force has been deployed. The people deserve better. Hear about life on the inside of Darfur’s many refugee camps through the voices of those who live there. And make sure you call on Gordon Brown to deliver what’s been promised.

For more information on Oxfam's work, follow this link: Life in Darfur