Green wave hits Brighton

Posted by: Katie

Don’t worry, it’s not an environmental disaster! No, a new green festival ‘Green Wave’ - billed as ‘The Eco Family Fun Weekend’ - is headed for Brighton on Saturday 5 and Sunday 6 July.

You’ll be able to experience all the fun of the green fair in the beautiful setting of Preston Park with eight different interactive Zones, from the Earth Zone - where you might find wormeries, composting ideas and a mini eco farm - to the Energy Zone, for products harnessing sustainable energy, ranging from mobile phones to solar powered cars, and an Energy Play Area or eco circus for children. (click on the image to the right to see the flyer full size)

The emphasis is very much on our favourite watchwords: biodiversity, eco-friendly, Fairtrade, homemade, locally produced, low carbon footprint, recycled and sustainable!

Take a stand!

If you are a Sussex-based ethical business, charity or NGO there is still time for you to take a stand at the fair. Charities and NGOs are eligible for free stands, and there may even be a few free stands available for small ethical businesses that add value or pure fun to the event!

If you are interested in this opportunity, do get in touch with the organisers:

Frank Jay on 01273 323 200 or 07721 633 233 or at frank@neweraassociates.co.uk

Or Jacqui on 01273 323 200 or 07740 201194 or at jac.cuff@talktalk.net

Or simply download the Green Wave booking form and return it to them.

It should be a fantastic event!

Take care,

Katie
Ethical Weddings

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Mattel Greenwashes Barbie

Posted by: Arcadia

As little girls we all wanted a Barbie Doll, as grown women we all wanted to be Barbie.  Face it, as the saying goes “the bitch has everything”, the dream house, car, and guy, not to mention she’s had every career under the sun.  Barbie’s been an astronaut, school teacher, nurse, business woman, Rock Star, and we’ve enjoyed it all and at times look forward to her latest incarnation.

The makers at Mattel have introduced a new line of clothing and accessories for our favorite “it” girl in what they call eco-friendly fashions. 

According to  Mattel: “Barbie is always a reflection of current cultural trends and issues, and girls are increasingly aware of making a green statement,” said Richard Dickson, Senior Vice President of Marketing, Media and Entertainment, Worldwide, Mattel Brands. “Barbie BCause is for eco-conscious girls who believe that being environmentally-friendly is the right thing to do, and we are thrilled to give extra meaning and extra style to what was once just extra Barbie doll fabric.”  (They are taking the scrap pieces of fabric from the other collections and making clothes for this new collection.)

 Hmmmm…okay Mattel, BUT, what about the entire doll that’s made from molded plastic, and all the plastic that is used to package it, not to mention all its other billion pvc accessories and outfits that aren’t of the new eco-friendly (i’m starting to hate this word) line.  Truly, eco-conscious girls (and parents) would not be buying Barbie to begin with me thinks :)!

I always try to applaud companies for at least taking small steps toward sustainability (except Walmart), but Barbie is and always will be a symbol of fun decadence, heck I say just leave her that way!  Barbie has always been marketed as the smart, intelligent girl about town, well so are we, and we see through your obvious ploy to tap into the hot green market right now.

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Interview with Carrotmob’s creator, Brent Schulkin

Posted by: Vicky

You may have seen a very interesting video knocking around the internet lately from the innovative organisation Carrotmob. In this video called ‘We Make it Rain‘ they use consumer power to turn a regular grocery store to a much more environmentally friendly one. I don’t want to give too much away, you really need to watch the video yourself, then read the interview below…

Carrotmob Makes It Rain from carrotmob on Vimeo.

Carrotmob’s ethos really appeals to me. It’s all about reaching those with the real power - businesses - to make actual, tangible changes. Plus this isn’t done through demonising business, negative pressure or boycott but actively encourages businesses to compete to become more environmentally friendly.Here at Green Girls Global we’re very lucky to be able to get an exclusive scoop on the genius behind Carrotmob, Brent Schulkin, and find out what inspires him, how Carrotmob works and where it’s going next….

Q1 Welcome Brent. The idea behind Carrotmob and your ‘We Make it Rain’ campaign is one of the most inspiring I’ve seen in ages because it really speaks to businesses in a language they understand - profit and competition. Where did you get the initial idea?

Why thank you! I started off thinking about the consumer side of the transaction. Several years ago, I read a book called Smart Mobs, by Howard Rheingold. It got me thinking about the power that can be created just by connecting groups of people into networks, and spurring those networks into action. Later I realized just how promising a network of consumers could be as a carrot to change corporate behavior. The idea of creating positive incentives for business to do good is not entirely new, but there are several recent developments that make now a good time for this approach to flourish: First, technology now allows us to easily connect and coordinate our activities like never before. Secondly, in the last couple years, environmentalism has gone mainstream. And third, we have a reputation economy, and companies are putting huge resources into protecting or improving their reputation. Moreover, these days bloggers and normal citizens have much more power over the reputation of businesses. In an age when companies are desperately trying to be seen as authentic and good, they have plenty of motivation to try and please an authentic grassroots network of consumers like us, since they know we have great power when it comes to defining their reputation.

Q2 How did you publicise your first campaign and gain so much support?

I emailed my friends, and then it turned out that people thought that the idea was interesting enough that it was worth forwarding the email to their friends. I would also give a lot of credit to Facebook and other social networks.

Q3 In the Make it Rain video we see a regular grocery store taking part and gaining some real financial benefits. How do you see the same principle translating to big businesses?

There’s something very attractive about having a community event, and focusing on local businesses. I want to keep doing that, and cultivate little Carrotmob franchises all around the world. However, in order to have a greater environmental impact, I’d like to see our main focus turn to big well-known brands. Once our network is big enough, we should be able to go to competing consumer products companies (who make things that your average consumer would want to buy) and have them compete to see how much good they are willing to do, relative to their competitors. It will be challenging to develop a system for comparing the proposed actions of companies that may be doing business in very different circumstances, but we’ll figure out how to do it, and then companies will do what they do best: compete for profits. I think we can use that competition to get them to commit to making significant improvements. And the nice thing about dealing with the heavy hitters is that even if they are only willing to do something relatively small, the impact would still be enormous compared to what a little grocer can do.

Q4 Does it matter what a businesses’ incentive is to improve its environmental practices?

The short answer is no, but I must make a few distinctions. There are privately held companies and publicly held companies. When some rich family owns a company, they can do anything they want with it. They can be greedy and pollute, or they can be environmentally responsible and make sustainable choices. They may be susceptible to arguments about morals, right and wrong, etc. But when you are dealing with publicly-held companies, you’re dealing with a cold machine that knows nothing of right and wrong. When you’ve got a gazillion stockholders and financial institutions calling the shots, profit is the only thing that matters. It is actually illegal for publicly-held companies in the US to do good unless that good is also profitable. That goes back to the Dodge brothers suing Henry Ford for trying to give some cash to his workers rather than his investors. But I digress. The point is that when you’re talking about these huge companies, there’s no point in asking what the business incentive is, because there is only ever one incentive: money. It’s an ironic situation, because lots of these companies are filled with people who have very strong morals, but even a company with Mother Teresa as a CEO can’t get around this situation. Imagine that Mother Teresa decides to take the profits of her oil company and spend billions of dollars to clean up old oil spills, give college scholarships to the children of all their workers, end world hunger and cure AIDS. The next fiscal quarter rolls around and shareholders find that they didn’t get to line their pockets as much as they expected. They have the power to fire Mother Teresa. They also have the power to sue. Mother Teresa isn’t calling the shots here, it’s the corporate entity itself that demands a focus on profit. Luckily, if a group like Carrotmob exists, we can translate good into profit. Mother Teresa COULD get away with it if she knew that in exchange for ending world hunger, Carrotmob would send more customers her way, her company’s reputation would soar, the other oil companies would struggle, and overall her company’s profits would go up. So we don’t have to worry about their motivations if we can find and embrace these mutually beneficial situations.

Q5 If someone wanted to start a Carrotmob style campaign in their home town how would they go about it? Do you have starter packs or campaign guides?

I would love to see some local campaigns get going. For now people can go to our list of cities and leave their contact info so that others can connect with them. Once we get on our feet a little more we will try to get some great resources and tools that people can use to coordinate their own campaigns. We want to have a central Carrotmob entity that deals with larger companies, and then a distributed grassroots network that uses our site to get things going in their own communities. We can do global AND local at the same time!

Q6 What other ways would you say consumers can work with businesses rather than against them to bring about change?

There is no other option. EVERYONE MUST JOIN CARROTMOB IMMEDIATELY. Ha ha. But seriously. There are a lot of options for socially responsible investing. Shareholder activism is great if you own shares of something. And people working inside companies can do a whole lot of innovation from within. Of course there are a lot of sticks out there as well. I’m advocating the carrot approach, but I don’t want us to drop our sticks and exclusively switch to carrots. It takes a team effort.

Q7 Can others join the Carrotmob movement and is there a place to share ideas?

Everyone is encouraged to join Carrotmob by visiting our site and joining the mailing list. You can also link up with us on:
Facebook
Myspace
Twitter
and Digg
You can share ideas by leaving comments all around the site or on the Facebook discussion board. The next version of the site should have a better forum for sharing.

Q8 What’s next for Carrotmob?

Ha ha, I’m working on it! At this point I still have another job part-time to pay rent, so it’d be nice to get some sort of funding so I can work full-time on this, but for now I’m thinking we will do another local campaign in another retail environment, on a larger scale. Help us spread the word and soon we will be the most powerful mob in all the land!

Thank you Brent. GGG wishes you lots of success with Carrotmob and do keep us in touch with your news.

Well you heard him, go spread the word about Carrotmob!!

www.carrotmob.org

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Vote local!

Posted by: Katie

As great green girls you probably already know all about this but just in case…!

The Federation of Small Business has just launched a national petition which calls on the Government to pay special attention to securing the future of independent shops across the UK.

You can sign here on the 10 Downing Street website. It takes less time than it takes to eat a locally made organic choc chip biscuit!

The FSB has also launched a Small Business Manifesto which urges local authorities to take specific steps to champion small businesses.

It’s our duty as green girls to do all we can to support the distinctiveness of our unique, independent businesses! Also take a minute to check out Brighton-based uniqueto.co.uk - who alerted me to this petition - their site offers the easiest way for locals and vistors to find unique local businesses.

And if you’re in London, you could also consider investing in a Wedgecard - the local shop loyalty card. Am hoping these cards make it to Sussex soon!

Katie
www.ethicalweddings.com

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Green Chic Book Review by Guest Editor Julie Coleman

Posted by: Guest Editor

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. It is very easy reading, its thought provoking and offers fun, realistic and practical tips to make changes and re-think your lifestyle. The book is a neat pocket size and has a nice feel to it, it explains why it is in book form and advises the reader of where the materials have come from to produce it.

The first chapter ‘Green Glossary’ is written for the layman, which is great. We all hear green terminology and don’t always understand what they mean, this chapter provides a quick, concise explanation of each, for everyone to understand, without blinding them with science.

I particularly like the information in chapter two, it breaks down all the statistics and makes them relevant to everyday life. One of my favourites is ‘dry time’ which makes perfect sense. Leave your hair to dry naturally and then finalise it, not only does it save energy but is better for your hair. Many of the sub chapters were of a similar nature and I found them very easy to put into practice. Another favourite which I have tried is the ‘cool wash’ which is to cold wash your laundry. To my surprise this works! And now I am converted.

The book doesn’t go overboard and lecture, it just says it how it is and leaves you and your conscious to decide whether to make changes.

There is a theme that runs through the book which is basically not to buy into commercialism, don’t spend on unnecessary items and be confident enough to revamp and design yourself and your home without compromising style.

‘Green women don’t get fat’ – what a quote, its so true, even without eating organic, just to eat local produce and fresh fruit and vegetables, take a walk instead of the car will keep you in check. Its not difficult and it makes perfect sense, true of many of the tips in this book.

Favourite quote ‘Buy only what you truly need or love’. There are many other topics and quotes but if I quote them all it wont be worth you reading the book!

For me the book was like having a conversation with a friend, easy and comfortable, sharing experiences and knowledge without any pressure to take forward any of the topics discussed, but as with advice from a friend you will find yourself taking it on board and making changes.

‘Green Chic: Saving the Earth in Style’ by Christie Matheson

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Event - Turning up the HEAT

Posted by: Vicky

Can big business really save the planet?

Turning up the HEAT is a series of free interactive and virtual debates on climate change and corporate power organised by the World Development Movement.

You can turn up in person to the events in London (8th May), Cardiff (10th May) and Manchester (13th May) or you can watch and participate online - by watching the live webcasts and pre-recorded videos both before and after the events.

Panel speakers include: Rt. Hon Brian Wilson Flying Matters; Caroline Lucas MEP Green Party; Ricardo Navarro CESTA, El Salvador and many more.

For more information and to register please go to: www.wdm.org.uk/heat

Information provided by Rachel Tavernor

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Book Review: Go Green, Live Rich

Posted by: Arcadia

I’ve read a lot of books and I do mean A LOT on living green, being green, and doing green; and I’ve come to the point where I’ve almost stopped reading them because after a while you realize they are quite redundant of each other.

So when Go Rich, Live Green by David Bach with Hilary Rosner showed up in my mailbox I was instantly intrigued.  There is this assumption out there that being green is costly, in fact a couple of DJs on a local radio station here in my city were joking one morning on how the grocery store chain Whole Foods should be renamed Whole Paycheck! 

 The author David Bach is no eco-guru but he does know money!  So he combined his business savvy with top environmentalist Hilary Rosner and now we have 50 Simple Ways to Save the Earth (and Get Rich Trying)!  Something we tree-huggers have been trying to tell people for years.

The book is a list of easy to read tips that I will admit most eco-warriors already know and if you haven’t been living under a rock lately then you too are probably familiar with some of his ideas.  But the difference between David and Hilary’s book is that they present the what, the why, and most importantly the how!  Most books just tell you global warming is after us and go “be green” without explaining in non-scientific terms the why and the how.

I’m a fact girl - I like facts, statistics, and references and I assume most writers do too.  This book has them; that’s probably the most useful stuff I got from the book along with chapter 10, tip 43-Invest Green.

Everyone is looking for that get rich quick book , well here you go and it doesn’t hurt that you can save the planet while you’re at it!

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Spring Green Eco Fair

Posted by: Kate

For the past couple of weeks I have been busy organising my second green fair. I loved organising the green Christmas fair in December so much so that I decided to dive head long into the preparations of a ‘Spring Green Eco Fair’ this month

Now whilst the emphasis of the Christmas fair had been ethical consumerism and trying to encourage people to avoid the high street and shop local and green, with the spring fair I was really keen to get a good mix of local eco groups, campaigns and green traders. Luckily, as I’ve mentioned before for an average sized town Leamington has loads of green projects and eco businesses so we have a great selection of exhibitors coming along.

Action 21 a local environmental group will be advising the public on recycling and energy saving and will also be providing a free Dr Bike service to all visitors who travel by bike on the day. We also have a lady who makes jewellery from old recycled buttons, Hayley’s Green a fab gift shop in Warwick which sells only recycled products will be exhibiting alonside the local Rising tide group flush from the success of their fossil fools day action last week. If you would like to see who else is coming you can view our full exhibitor list here.

Anyone in the Coventry and Warwickshire area who would like to come along for an eco-interactive afternoon of fun please do, it’s not just about buying green stuff as there will be plenty of opportunities for you to get involved with your local green groups, meet like minded people and discover some great little eco businesses and services in the area

For more information about the Eco Fair click here.

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I AM DYEING: A world without color

Posted by: Lee

I wanted to wear a real beet red tee! I dreamt of real saffron yellow fabric on my skin! Yes I did! Carrots, coffee, cranberries, and conch…
I imagined not only the beauty of it, but also the heightened sense of being grounded. It didn’t work. Vinegar, salt, soda ash…. it did not work. The color washed out quickly and often turned to puce. I have a list of places to buy natural dyes and something called mordent; chemicals to make the color stay. Can I do this in my studio? Once I learned the quantity of materials needed to dye one tee (lbs. of bugs or bark), the cost (omg), and the nature of the chemicals, I got a bit leery. The amount of scientific work made my mind swirl.

I am an art school honor student, well versed in the color theory of Itten and Albers. Color is the greatest playground. In chemistry class I learned about the compositions of pigments (minerals) but never thought about dyes. I looked further and opted to use “traditional” (1950’s) reactive dyes.

In all my studying I never came across a bit of information that startled me to silence. Most dyes in the textile industry are synthetic. 100% of these dyes originate from petrochemicals. Yuck! Why did I ever have to read that! Take it back! A rainbow on an oil slick is now stuck in my head!

My colorful world went grey (and it was winter in Chicago and this didn’t help.) How, when I rest on my green sofa, can I stop thinking that I am laying on oil! How can we wean ourselves off oil if our very world is brightened up by it? What can I do? I wallowed for some time. Mum was the word on what I had found.

So I now wonder, if you take an organic garment, and add any type of chemical to it, does that organic fabric stay organic? Is it better to say “grown organically” so that consumer understands that it has been altered? Is true green color-free? And, what about babies? A baby’s skin is under developed, so new and fresh, thin and open, shouldn’t all baby clothes be dye-free? Wouldn’t that be the wisest choice for infants and the earth?

In the green journey there are wind surges of information that inspire new direction — “Crew, I changed my mind, tact the sails we are now heading north!”

I take change seriously, but as far as color dyes are concerned I will take small gradual steps. No “speed of lightening” action here; my tee shirt collection will stay colorful. I will, however, move to a more knowledgeable palette with time. I had heard, and believed, that being “Green” doesn’t need to require much sacrifice. I now believe that it does. It is my vision of “Green” that is a process requiring time. I am up to the task because I aim to find beauty on the journey to create the ideal “Green” tee.

Currently, I am hand-dyeing tees in my studio and examining all the details to better understand and control each color’s impact. I am admiring all the color I have in reach. My tees tell a story; a new medium for “Green” exploration, not business as usual, as some may think.

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Book Review: Do good lives have to cost the earth?

Posted by: Anna-Lisa

Have you ever considered whether good lives have to cost the earth? Well a diverse group of people have considered the question and their answers were documented in a book (with the question as the title) edited by Andrew Simms and Jo Smith.

Before I started reading the book I already had an answer to the question myself and that is No. It has always been my belief and my experience (even as a child) that a good / happy life does not have to cost the earth. To me the simple / free pleasure are always the best for example:

* Just peacefully being with my loved ones

* Volunteering my time to help people and also the planet

*Breathing the fresh air of the countryside

*The taste of freshly picked organic food from my garden

*The beautiful sound of bird song

*Walking along the beach with my fiancé  

As you may have gathered from some of my posts I always aim to consume as little as possible in life as it is my belief and the book also supports this that…. 

“people who consume above their fair and sustainable source of the Earth’s resources is no more likely to be satisfied with life than someone who is living within our collective environmental means”  

(Quote within book and sourced from the European (un)Happy Planet Index, 2007) 

The book has some interesting contributors all of whom have focussed on different areas of what makes a good life. Below you will find my favourite quotes from all of the featured contributors:  

Tom Hodgkinson (Editor of the Idler): “Good lives are cheap, cheerful and will save the planet to boot” 

David Boyle (Author): “Victorian economists calculated that the average English peasant in 1485 needed to work fifteen weeks a year to earn the money the needed to survive. In 1564, it was forty weeks. Now of course it is questionable whether we can manage to afford a reasonable life in
Britain without two salaries all the year round” 

David Goldblatt (Author) “Step forward motor sports: Seriously, guys, yes you in the fast cars, peak oil is here or near. What are your great-grandchildren going to think a hundred years from now when they look back and see you spunking up the last precious drops of gasoline”  

Phillip Pullman (Author) “Environmentalists need to know something about basic story telling in order to make their words effective” 

A.C Grayling (Philosopher) “The environment has suffered in pursuit of wealth”  

Oliver James (Author) “We talk of needing these things (i-pods/cars etc), but really we only want them” 

John Bird (Creator of the Big Issue) “What we need today is to keep monopolies out of our life. Whenever we have a monopoly, whether public or private, you have the limitation of choice.” 

Adair Turner (Vice Chairman at Merrill Launch Europe) “Population stabilization will be crucial to our long term success in dealing with climate change and other global environmental impacts” 

Dame Anita Roddick (Founder of the Body Shop) “Providing for these vital human needs requires another kind of economy altogether, which emphasizes beauty, community and creativity”   

Ann Pettifor (of Advocacy International Ltd) “We live in a global community that worships the god ‘Money’” 

 

 Larry Elliott (Financial Journalist)  “The idea of personal thrift has gone out of the window, to be replaced by a culture in which it is not just permissible but commonplace – acceptable even – to live beyond our means” 

Colin Tudge (Author) “The people who get to be in charge are the people who like power and the people who like power are not necessarily on the side of humanity”  

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall (Writer, broadcaster, campaigner) “Buy local food and almost by definition your buying seasonal produce with a low environmental impact” 

Rosie Boycott (Writer and Broadcaster) “How you live is just as important as what you say. We argued (the feminist movement) that by changing the way in which we lived, we would in time influence the larger world around us. Now, I believe that sentiment is back” 

Kevin McCloud (of Grand Designs) “I think that human beings are of our own environment, we are the problem but we are also the solution: the cause and the cure of our own environment” 

Wayne Hemingway (Creator of Red or Dead and the Land of Lost Content) “We cant change the fact that new things stimulate us. But if we are really to achieve sustainability, then durability is incredibly important” 

Stephen Bayley (Design Correspondent of the Observer) “Man is homo faber, a divine monkey who makes tools. While saving the planet it is a priority no one should ignore, its important to remember that since we stepped out of the primeval glop on to the dry shore and started the journey that ended with reality TV, the world has been constructed by us” 

Nic Marks (Founder of the Centre of Well-Being at nef) “The language of well being doesn’t rely on an economic model that assumes that more consumption is always better” 

David Cameron (Conservative party MP) “The greatest responsibility in the fight to save our planet lies with the Government, which must give a lead on the issue and set the right framework”  

Hilary Benn (Labour party MP) “Transforming our economy, our cities, our way of life and cherishing our countryside and wildlife is something that we have to do”  

Caroline Lucas (Green Party MEP) “Whether good lives are defined as happy lives or lives of well being, the bottom line is that living a good life and sage guarding the climate are not only simply compatible, they are inextricably connected and mutually dependent” 

As you can see the book really does have a wide range of contributors, each providing their own insight in to whether good lives have to cost the earth.  I found the book an excellent read as it provided different perspectives on the green movement, I highly recommend it - however to be green and frugal get a copy from the library, a friend or second hand.

If you have already read the book what did you think? If not what are your thoughts about the featured quotations? And a question for everyone ‘do you think that goods lives have to cost the earth’? 

Let’s all discuss…. 

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