Send Hope

This morning I was greeted by a letter from Amnesty International and their Greeting Card Campaign for SOFAD (Solidarite des Femmes Activistes pour la Defense des Droits Humains).

Ordinarily I wouldn’t publish charity campaigns (given that there are so many of them it would just become white noise) but this one caught my seasonal attention. Every year I battle with the waste produced by greeting cards vs. the joy of receiving cards at Christmas. Last year, I endeavoured to purchase only charity cards produced on recycled paper, or make my own and donate an amount per card made to a local charity. This year the same battle commences. However, reading Amnesty’s campaign letter made me realise that sometimes, a simple card can make a massive difference to someone.

The campaign is to support Justine Masika Bihamba, who works as a Human Rights Defender (top job title) in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). She leads SVFS (Synergie de Femmes contre les Violences Sexuelles) a collective of 35 women’s organisations that provide medical care, counselling, legal assistance, social support and income generating opportunites to women and girls who have been raped.

Ok, so at this point you might be divided in your response. Yes, it’s a good cause. Yes, there are people in the West – in your own country – who do similar things. But the thing that got to me about this campaign is that Justine paid a high price for her job. In 2007 Jusine got home to find that her 6 children were being assaulted because of their work to support victims of rape. Soldiers had broken into her home, tied up her family, threatened one daughter with rape whilst kicking her in the face and sexually assaulted another daughter with a knife. The family can identify the soldiers who commited these crimes, but they still have not been brought to justice. Her daughters have left the DRC in fear for their safety, but Justine remains. She still works for the many women who are being abused and assaulted with no hope of justice.

So I think you’ll agree her story is pretty shocking. It takes real courage to continue to fight against such brutality and stand up against a corrupt system. The kind of courage that, thankfully, most of us never have cause to employ. Instead, Amnesty – as well as the usual donations – are asking supporters to make a greeting card to send to Justine to let her know that she is not alone; that the rest of the world haven’t forgotten about the brutality that continues to persist in the Congo, and that most of all, we’re grateful that there are people like her to fight as hard as she does. Because, let’s face it, most of us wouldn’t.

Amnesty are sending out a small white greeting card for you to decorate with a message of hope for Justine and the women of the DRC. If you receive one, I hope you decorate it and send with it a donation to support the women in DRC. It would make a good Christmas present, don’t you think?I also like the idea of a load of people drawing on cards and sending them off to a country they’ve probably never been to. Those cards will be given to individual women who are victims of rape and also to Justine to show her that she is not alone in this cause. It’s a bit more powerful than the usual seasonal greetings we’ll all be sending soon.

If you don’t get the card in the post (which is being sent out to current supporters of Amnesty) make your own. The card itself is 10.5cm by 15 cmwhich you can, of course, buy in any craft shop, or better still use recycled paper. The address to send them (with a donation) is:

Greetings Card Appeal 2009

Amnesty International UK

FREEPOST RRRR-RHUC-HTZK

Redhill

RH1 1QD

Here’s a picture of my effort, and yes I know: that’s why I’m a writer and not an artist!

The right to remain silent

I was disappointed to read the news story yesterday of pre-emptive arrests for the protest at Eon’s Ratcliffe-on-soar (Nottingham) power station which is the third biggest single producer of CO2 in the UK. Arrested on charges of conspiracy to commit aggravated trespass and criminal damage, a large number of police arrested the protesters in what sounded like a full on anti-terrorist raid. Although they were  released this morning

Now, far be it from me to question the police and their methods (I’d rather they did their jobs than not) but it does fill me with dismay that the people who are willing to stand up for what they believe in have to face this kind of treatment, when really every person in the country (and the planet) should be taking responsibility for the damage CO2 is doing to the earth. In particular, I’d like to question David Porter,  Chief Executive of the Association of Electricity Producers, who the BBC reported saying that “campaigners’ calls to stop burning fossil fuels made no sense”.

Surely, and this may just be me with my limited knowledge of business and making money at the expense of everyone else on the planet, but surely, he could have come up with a better response than pooh-poohing the environmental implications of using up the last of the fossil fuels. I’m not denying that simply shutting it down would be disruptive and would possibly have economic ramifications but isn’t it just a little bit more important that the continuation of burining fossil fuels won’t only speed up our demise but could be the very reason for impending extinction? Or am I just stating the obvious here?

It seems to me that the only way to make people listen is to go to dramatic lengths (such as closing down the power station even if only briefly) particularly when people like David Porter, who are in positions to actually do something about the energy crisis are ignoring the science.

On my hitlist of so-called experts is the Professor Emeritus of Newcastle University, Ian Fells who reported back in September 2008 that energy security is ‘more important’ than climate change. Allow me to roll my eyes a few times before continuing. I’m not dismissing the importance of energy security and the massive detrimental effects any power cuts would have on our economy, but to dismiss climate change as an important factor, is short sighted and irresponsible.

I’m tired of listening to people dismiss climate change, saying that it doesn’t exist or that it isn’t important. It doesn’t take much for people to sit on their backsides and let others do the protesting or anything that takes effort. So it really irritates me when the ‘experts’ fail to give us any incentive to act immediately. We should be investing money into renewable energy, into sustainable ways of living and not focusing solely on the economy. What will the economy matter when the planet becomes uninhabitable for human life? Surely it would make more sense to prepare for the worst and then anything less than that is a bonus.

The Green Room: 22 ways to make your office more eco friendly.

Apart from the obvious ‘recycle the paper’ and ‘set the printer to a “draft” setting’ there are many things you can do to reduce waste, increase productivity and make your office a generally more pleasant space to occupy. Considering you probably spend more time there than anywhere else, it’s worth thinking about your impact on the environment when you’re at work.

Surprisingly, many people who reduce, reuse and recycle at home fail to do so at work. Whether it’s lack of provisions, lack of time to think about it (let alone do it) or just lack of enthusiasm: here are a few tips to create a an eco office.

1. Take responsibility. Yes you. Even if you fall into that unfortunate category of people that hate their employer, or at the very least dislike them; in failing to be green at work the only person you are hurting is actually not your employer, or just you, it’s all of us. Taking responsibility in work doesn’t make your employer better; it makes you better.

2. Think. Do you really need to print out that copy of yet another 100 page document? Will it just go in the bin when you are finished. Cutting down on printing in the office saves energy.

3. Anyone for a cuppa? Don’t just boil the kettle and make yourself a cup of tea. If you fill the kettle, use all the water and make everyone a hot drink. Ok so it’s an obvious one, but not only will it save energy but you’ll be a bit more popular too. Also for every hot drink you consume, drink the same volume of water. This way you will quench your thirst (thus craving less tea and coffee) boost your alertness, fight off depression and flush out toxins from your system. Even if you down the cup of water at the sink before you make the tea, it’s worth doing. If you’re particularly stressed at work, try adding a few drops of Rescue Remedy (available from health food shops, supermarkets and pharmacies) to the water (not the tea) these natural plant extracts help to calm you down as well.

4. Switch it off. Monitors, lights, fridges, appliances. Most offices have a number of switches that should be flicked off when you leave the office for any length of time (breaks, lunch, overnight). Computers can be set to energy/power saving as well as to automatically turn off after a set amount of time and screens can be dimmed. All of these take a few seconds to sort out and help to reduce the amount of energy you use in an average day/week/year.

5. Re-use, re-use, re-use. Whether it’s paper clips or envelopes, or old files and folders use them again and again. Re-usable office supplies massively reduce the amount of waste we produce in work. This includes reusing a cup or mug rather than opting for disposable ones or take a glass/cup for water.

6. Use Fairtrade tea, coffee and sugar in your office.  One small change to you can mean a livelihood to someone else.

7. Instead of drinking bottled water all day, take your own in a flask or reusable sports bottle. If it must be filtered by a filter jug for your own fridge and use that to fill up your bottle before leaving for work. If you must have a cold drink in the afternoon, freeze a bottle of water (make sure you leave plenty of room in the top of it for expansion) and take it into work in a bag. Leave it at room temperature and by the afternoon you will have chilled water to drink.

8. Take your own lunch and snacks to work. This is a bit of a pain if you’re not very organised but take saves a huge amount of waste and carbon emissions if you use local produce and reusable packaging. I’ve even heard of people making enough sandwiches for the week on a Sunday, freezing the lot and then just taking out a frozen one each morning so by lunch time you have a ready made chilled lunch. I’m guessing things like lettuce and cucumber (and other things with a high water content such as tomatoes) really won’t freeze too well. If you really can’t get into making your own then opt for lunch with less packaging. Sandwiches in cardboard packaging that can be recycled are much better than plastic ones.

9. Use an eco-friendly stapler that doesn’t use staples such as Ecotopia’s (stapless) Stapler or use paper clips and fasteners that can be reused.

10. Use eco-stationary, at Coethica we use recycled stationary from The Green Stationary Company not least because they are not prone to green washing, but produce decent supplies that are packaged in reclaimed materials. Generally when looking for recycled paper, go for post-consumer recycled waste, which prevents more crap going into landfill.

11. Try eco-printing. Use non-oil based ink on recycled paper.  Coethica recommends Redwood who will give you a fantastic range of printing and publishing options all with the environment in mind. Even better is a piece of software called Preton that reduces toner by approximately 30% without any loss of quality – now being used by UK local Government and available globally.

12. Use a laptop rather than a desktop computer. They are more eco friendly than desktops because they use less materials, less energy and take up less space (let’s face it no one works well in a pile of clutter) and they have the added bonus that you can use them pretty much anywhere: so they’re a good reason to work on your boss for that ‘working from home’ option.

13. Work from home! Ok now there are some of us who see the working from home option as a chance to read 3 emails then spend the rest of the day on the couch, or bed or anywhere but working. The working from home option is not meant as a skive, but reduces carbon emissions if you drive to work everyday. Be careful not to fall into the trap of leaving the heating on all day and your laptop/computer turned on when you’re not using it because that counteracts the good you do from not travelling in the car. Working from home can be a lot more calming and sometimes just the change you need.

14. Sit by the window or find a way to improve the natural light in your office. Removing blinds, cupboards and signs that block the light and anything else that is between you and that window can have a huge benefit to your office. Not only does light react with our skin to produce vitamin D and feed our bodies with calcium, it can help to improve your mood, lower energy costs and make your office a better place to be. Now I’m not suggesting you demand a rebuild complete with skylights and conservatories, but just getting a bit more light in can have a huge effect. Face a window rather than having your back to it will prevent glare on your computer screen and you’ll get more light. If your office really is dark and depressing, get out of it during your breaks and lunch. Even a five minute stroll can help make you feel more positive.

15. Get some outdoors indoors Adding real plants to your office can help increase oxygen levels during daylight hours helping you feel more alert. They naturally remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere thus improving the air quality and they can liven up even the dreariest of offices. Try plants that need minimal attention such as cacti or orchids. If you can get a cactus to flower, it is happy in its environment and gives that added bit of colour too. Beware, aside from not having the air-purifying benefits of real plants, fake plants are false economy as they are often made of plastic from non-renewable sources.

16. Switch your energy supplier to a green one. For webhosting and electricity (look for ‘clean energy’) it’s worth looking for a green alternative or ask your current supplier if they have a ‘green’ or ‘clean’ option. You’d be surprised what change you can bring about if you ask enough. Try looking at Good Energy’s and Ecotricity’s tariffs.

17. Get a bit handy or get someone in to fix those leaks, drafty windows, holes in the roof. All of those little jobs that you never get round to doing, or getting someone in to do can lose a lot of energy. It takes a lot more to heat a building with a drafty window or poor insulation and thus a lot more money too.

18. Don’t waste water getting a ‘dual flush’ button for the toilet can reduce a significant amount of water, as can using an organic  hand gel such as Green People’s foaming organic hand sanitizer that can be used in place of water (but remember it is worth washing your hands with water every 6th time you wash them to ensure bacteria is kept at bay), filling a sink with water and washing all the cups at the end of the day rather than washing each one individually is a simple but effective way to cut down the amount of water you waste.

19. The spotlight is on you: Using an LED desk light is much more effective than turning on a whole room full lights and uses much less energy. Sitting by the window is still the best option as natural light has more benefits than artificial light but that extra help individual lights that can be angled are definitely more effective.

20. Switch to reusable batteries. It’s simple, a solar powered charger or a USB charger (your computer will most likely already be turned on so why not use it to recharge those batteries?) instead of buying disposable batteries (that often end up in landfil and are poisonous to wildlife, humans and can pollute water suppplies) can be switched for reusable ones. Often solar powered chargers come with a variety of jacks so that small appliances such as mobile phones can also be charged.

21. Face the music. No I’m talking about owning up to the boss about whatever it is your guilty conscience conjured up when you read that. Adding music to your office where possible can lift your mood, make your day go faster and actually improve the quality of your work. Obviously your choice of music is entirely up to you and if there are many people in your office should  be agreed (and might even get you talking about non-work related things!). Use the diskdrive in your computer/laptop if it is already switched on rather than add an extra energy guzzling appliance or try a wind-up radio which has the added value of using a few calories up as well (depending on how vigorous your winding technique is).

22. Get out. Whether it’s during your lunch hour or your break, a quick walk outside can do wonders for your mood. Getting a bit of exercise, even if it’s just to stretch your legs will lift your mood and make you more productive. A change is as good as a rest and that’s never more true if you are sat in an office all day clenching your bum cheeks to try and prevent bum slump (you know, when you’ve been sat there for so long your derrier starts snoozing or even gets pins and needles). If you really can’t stand your job or your employer (and a brisk walk out of the office doesn’t cut it) then get out altogether. A job isn’t worth your health and stress causes a myriad of ailments we could all do without. Whilst a bit of stress is good, a lot of stress (particularly the kind associated with that lack of control feeling) isn’t going to get you that promotion or elusive bit of happiness you’re after. A job is a job so if it’s feeling more like an absolute chore with no end in sight, look around for something else that plays to your strengths and get out of there for good.

So there you go, just  few tips to making your office  (and subsequently your life)  greener and happier. If you really don’ t want to save your employer money and it galls you to think of doing so then skive. Doing nothing when you should be working is one of the biggest drains on an employer and one of the hardest things to monitor. Particularly if you walk round with a pen in your hand. You look busy but we both know you won’t be. Oh and you didn’t hear that from me

Should we trust pink?

At the weekend I noticed that there are a number of adverts for ‘Vanish’ products with the tag line ‘Trust Pink; Forget Stains’. the most irritating of which depicts a mother who is too busy to put two washes on and so throws everything in together with Vanishes ‘miracle magnet’ that supposedly catches the dye from clothes. I have a number of issues with these adverts starting with the fact that anything that shouts ‘TRUST ME’ should always be eyed with suspicion. Trust is earned, not bought through advertising. However, I digress. The thing that really struck me was how many companies appeal to our need to save time. Make everything quick and easy and stop us from having to think because we’re far too busy to use our brains for anything as menial as cleaning. The trouble with this way of thinking is that it has led to the destruction of many traditional methods that are simply better (to the environment, our health and wellbeing..) than the current quick fixes we have developed.

Take for example cleaning clothes. To prevent the dye from clothes running together washing at 30 degrees and putting similar colours together really does solve this problem. As does using more eco friendly detergents or methods to clean clothes. For example, Eco balls or soapnuts work well and clean clothes without polluting the environment and clothes rarely run after the first wash anyway!!

To soften clothes, rather than use synthetic scents and softeners simply add a few teaspoons of white vinegar to the detergent draw and a good few drops of essential oils into the softener compartment ( I like organic lavender oil for bedding and linen and grapefruit oil for clothes). The vinegar won’t add any scent to the clothes but will naturally soften them and the essential oils give clothes that fresh scent. It saves a LOT of money doing it this way too because even a small bottle of essential oil lasts for ages and vinegar can  be bought in any grocery store or supermarket quite cheaply.

To whiten clothes try a natural laundry bleach such as ecover or ……these work by using natural enzymes rather than chemicals to naturally whiten clothes.

To remove stains try these: for grease stains on synthetic fibres soak the item of clothing in sparkling mineral water and gently scrub the stain with a soft brush. For yellow perspiration stains on clothing dissolve 4-5 tablespoons of salt in one litre of warm water and sponge the stain until it comes out. This takes a minute of so, if that.

In the kitchen the washing up shouldn’t be done by Fairy (one of the most polluting washing up liquids available) but by gentler means. So the pans are disgustingly dirty and baked on grease and grime has built up, and let’s say for argument’s sake you don’t have time to employ a little elbow grease. Simply coat the dish with a thin layer of salt and leave it to soak for a good few hours, this will lift the dirt off completely and can just be rinsed away.

Rather than using chemical oven cleaners that make your food taste vaguelly synthetic or your oven stink of chemical fumes the minute you heat it up (no matter how many times you rinsed it out) mix together bicarbonate of soda and enough water to make a thick paste. Smear it onto the oven (being careful not to get it on the element if using an electric oven or on the gas supply) and leave it overnight. By the morning it will have hardened and turned a greasy brown colour, simply add water to it (not loads – just enough to soften it) and wipe it out with a sponge or absorbant cloth. Microfibre clothes are the best to use (try Ecotopia’s E-cloths …).

For a decent all purpose floor, surfaces, and glass cleaner try Dr Bronner’s organic liquid soap (which can be bought from Amazon) this gentle organic soap can be used on very delicate skin and hair (including babies) as a handwash a multi-purpose cleaner and a laundry detergent. It’s great value for money (some ebay shops sell it too for discount rates) and it’s worth trying not least because you don’t have to wear gloves to use it, open all your windows or wear a mask or goggles when working with it, it has a very low risk of reaction to it and if you get it in your eyes, rinsing it out thoroughly with water is enough (no trip to A+E involved).

To prevent using chemicals to clean out your fridge; mix a handful of salt in 4 litres of warm water and use the solution to clean out the shelves, door and seal.

For an eco air freshener use either place a wet cloth or flanel onto a radiator and apply a few drops of essential oil of your choice. As the flanel heats up the oil is released into the air and scents the room naturally. Or add a handful of rose petals to a jar of salt. Store with the lid tightly closed and open it up and place in the room when you want a natural floral scent in your room.

I use all of the afore mentioned methods. Not least because I have mild asthma and find that chemical air fresheners and scents are an irritant. I once stayed in a rented house that had a glade air freshener in every room on full blast. Contrary to making it a comfortable, sweetly scented atmosphere,  I felt like I was being asphixiated and promptly opened every window and door and turned them all off. It took two days before the stink went and I could replace it with natural scents. Even if you find those air fresheners pleasant, it’s worth thinking about the combined energy they use (the plug in ones, obviously) and the waste plastic and materials they produce. Essential oils and rose petals are much cheaper too.

Oh and don’t get me started on products like Cillit bang. ‘Bang and the dirt is gone’ yes; along with the planet. Whatever happened to a bit of elbow grease and time?

So I, for one, do not trust pink. Unless it’s the pink that occurs naturally in the garden, or rosy cheeks or the colour your hands go when you pick up cooked beetroot. ‘Vanish’ pink and the excess of pollutants contained in that magic little box are substituted for ecover stain remover or a good soak in a bucket of warm water and bicarbonate of soda (the clothes, not us) and they’re white. Ok so not the virtually fluorescent white that those bleaches seem to produce. I think it’s a fair swap though, naturally white clothes and the planet intact

Earth Hour

Well Earth Hour was a success in our house. We turned everything off at the mains (on the basis that our freezer is currently empty except for a pack of frozen peas and some organic ice cream). We lit candles and used a wind up torch and played with our son, Jack, in the living room for an hour.

The downside of it was that we played hide and seek in the dark and even though my son is two and loved it, it scared the crap out of me (ok so I’m easily scared) and I was a bit jumpy in the candlelight. The upside was that it made me realise just how much time we have spent watching tv or dvds, or just sitting in front of our laptops lately (not so much quality time as a workout for those typing fingers).

So Earth Hour got me thinking. Rather than switch on the lights and the telly and turn into apathetic plebs, our evenings are going to take on quite a different slant from now on. Well, some of them. Two nights a week, David and I have decided we’ll turn everything off, light some beeswax candles, and… (drum roll please) just talk. Outrageous suggestion I know, but we spend so much time merrily communicating with people around the globe on our laptops and phones that sometimes the person sat right next to me knows less than twitter does about what I’m thinking.

I’m not criticising Twitter, because it really is a much more fun and informative way of building a business profile than traditional marketing methods and I also like the idea of the whole ‘green’ social networking that seems to be emerging  but sometimes the old fashioned things really should take priority.

It will be interesting to see how much energy Earth Hour saved around the globe. Maybe it should be a regular thing globally, it certainly will be in our house.

The proliferation of Palm Oil

I am once again disgusted at the prevalence of palm oil in EVERYTHING that I buy. Whether it is soap or shampoo or toothpaste or cleaning products or baby wipes I am tired of having to read the small print and not being told the whole story.

According to Greenpeace, Unilever is one of the largest users of palm oil in the world but not only this: they are prone to the old ‘greenwashing’ campaign for ‘sustainable’ palm oil. A contradiction in terms when you consider that many rainforests are being destroyed (along with natural habitats for wildlife) and peatlands are ripped up to make way for palm plantations thus releasing massive amounts of carbon dioxide into the environment, adding to the already worrying emissions of greenhouse gas. However, happily after just 10 days of Greenpeace’s campaign being launched, Unilever agreed to help fight to protect rainforests in Asia. Good news but rest ye not. Unilever only represent 3% of palm oil users and so there are another whopping 97% of palm oil users who still contribute to the destruction of the rainforests.

The palm oil debate is a classic example of the complexity of ‘green’ issues. On one hand, palm oil plantations ensure a basic income for many in South East Asia, Central and West Africa and Central America. In Indonesia alone it is estimated that as many as 1.5 million farmers grow the crop on small farm lands and entire communities in Indonesia rely on it for their local economy, rural development and for political stability. So voting with your feet and refusing to buy anything with palm oil isn’t enough to ensure the planet’s safety. In addition to this palm oil is an alternative to hydrogenated vegetable oils and other trans-fats. Some 1 in 3 food products in the UK contain palm oil (including mayonnaise, chocolate, muesli, biscuits and cereal bars, chips and margarine).

On the other hand, palm oil can also be hydrogenated so it’s always worth reading that label. Considering many of the plantations for palm oil are in Asia, Africa and America there are the inevitable airmiles involved in transportation. Which neatly brings me onto another part of the palm oil debate; biofuel. Considered one of the cheapest biofuels, palm oil is high on the list to replace fossil fuels, but according to Greenpeace, the detriment to the environment caused by ripping up peatlands and tearing down rainforests vastly outweighs the benefits of turning to palm oil as a main fuel. Even if everyone swapped to palm oil biofuel it still wouldn’t counteract the massive amount of destruction the farming and transportation of the crop causes.

So which side of the fence should we jump? Vote with your feet and never purchase anything that isn’t locally produced without palm oil in it and risk destroying communities, livelihoods and families’ chances of a better life or buy it anyway (thus supporting the people) destroy the environment, and risk the extinction of rainforest dwelling animals? Well there obviously isn’t a choice to be made there. So the best thing to do is to get involved in campaigns such as Greenpeace’s Urang-utan campaign which successfully got the giant that is Unilever (producers of Dove, Persil, Flora, Magnum, Cif, Surf the list goes on forever so much so that according to their website 160 million times a day someone chooses a Unilever product) to sign up to the moratorium to protect Indonesia’s rainforests and promising that by 2015 ALL of the palm oil they use will be sustainable.

So in the meantime, whilst we campaign for other companies to get on board, what can we do to fight the palm oil wars and make sure that our rapidly dwindling rainforests are protected? How about buying from companies who care what goes into their products. Nigel’s Eco Store and Ecotopia are good ones that I heartily recommend as often as possible. Or if you love a product and just don’t want to have the palm oil debate on your conscience, start emailing the producer, get Greenpeace involved or see what they are doing about it and put pressure on to them to make changes that will ensure our future. Surely the planet is worth more than a bottle of shampoo or toothpaste, or detergent or.. well you get the picture.

Green wash or just green custard?

This weekend I must admit I was disgusted with the BBC’s coverage of Leila Deen’s custard attack on Peter Mandelson. The website articles are a little more well rounded but the TV coverage (which let’s face it, probably reached a broader audience) focused entirely on the ‘security’ and dignity of politicians and public figures. I am rolling my eyes as I type. It’s not that I think Ms Deen’s stunt was unequivocally the best way to draw attention to the third runway at Heathrow debate, I am sure there are more dignified ways of discussing and debating such issues, but if she’d written a well worded letter, do you think people would still be discussing it? No. Quite simply, desperate times call for desperate measures.

I actually applaud Leila Deen for bringing attention to the  Plane Stupid campaign. There is no doubt that she’s a woman of conviction and is actually willing to go out and demand that politicians listen. Not many of us laptop protesters have that kind of courage (she was inevitably arrested for the stunt). I do think there is a deeper issue here that the BBC blatently used in their TV coverage. Rather than give the protest too much attention (which may lead to more and more dyed-green-dessert based attacks) they chose the issue of security of public figures. No one would argue that public figures should be allowed to go about their business without being accosted in public. However, most people would question how they are treated when their own ethics are somewhat questionable. I don’t know if Leila Deen’s allegations of sneaky deals between Mandelson and Roland Rudd are substantiated (and really that is beside the point) but I do know that as a politician, Mandelson has a responsibility to the public. He may be ‘accountable’ to parliament but he represents the public. I find it completely distasteful that both Mandelson and Gordon Brown, lightly joked of the matter in order to further their own positions and damage Plane Stupid’s campaign. Savvy; but distasteful.

I would also dispute Leila Deen’s comments that Mandelson chose to side with the interests of business rather than the people and the planet. Her comment implies that the two issues are entirely in opposition of each other. Personally I do believe in business. Writing off corporate giants because they are wasteful and damaging to communities and the environment is naiive. Business is a fact of our life and, at the risk of sounding like a poster campaign: the only way that we can make it sustainable is to work with business to build a better future. Heathrow Airport (and the aviation industry in general) is naturally more damaging to the environment than other businesses but they are in a strong position to make huge changes to the way we view and deal with climate change. In an ideal world, we would eliminate all carbon emissions, get rid of anything that is damaging and live happily ever after in a thriving and abudant planet. We are not living in an ideal world, we’re living in one that is populated by self-serving people that have created this disposable society. So we have to work with what we’ve got; and that includes corporate giants.

I am not suggesting that Plane Stupid should stop campaigning (I really do support the people that take time out of their own lives, brave wind and rain, risk arrest and make a stand) I whole heartedly support protests because a unified voice is much stronger than one person shouting in the street (although I was actually that woman once when a local shop butcher sneered at me saying that ‘all meat is organic, it’s from animals‘ and trust me, people back away very quickly from one person shouting).

The problem with politics is that voting alone does not give you a voice (although it’s a damn good start). Having a public voice, campaigning, writing to MP’s, making your own views known: they are the steps that make politicians think. Even if Leila Deen’s stunt only made one or two people look up Plane Stupid or think twice about climate change then that pot of green custard did the job. It irritates me that many journalists have written off the campaign as ‘adolescent’ or that it will give green campaigns a bad name. Those people are the ones that are only two quick to dismiss climate change (c’mon people look out the window, something’s different!) and go back to their consumer-led lives. Sometimes the dignified, socially acceptable approach just doesn’t work. The suffragettes didn’t win the vote because they sat round hoping that someone else would do the work for them. They stood up for what they believed in at a time when the price was far higher than a police caution. If Mandelson had half the conviction and moral standing Leila Deen has I would seriously consider that using that vote to keep him in. Oh but then, he wasn’t voted in, was he?

Day 6 giving up plastic for Lent..

Dammit, crap and any other mild curses that are acceptable to publish here. Giving up plastic is nigh on impossible where I live.  Yesterday we planted the Ash tree that I bought for David’s birthday. In  (yep you’ve guessed it) a plastic pot. Ugh.

I would have much preferred a stoneware pot but unfortunatly in the size needed; only a plastic one was to be found. As much as I wanted to leave in disgust, the tree really needs a pot  and the only ones we already have are too small. Short of uprooting a bunch of plants that probably wouldn’t survive the move I bit the bullet and purchased the evil that is plastic. It is a temporary arrangement and I have a few Christmas treest that can be planted into it as they get bigger so it will be used time and time again but I am still annoyed at how readily available plastic is. So I started researching environmentally friendly gardening goods. Give me a decent alternative to plastic that is durable, eco-friendly, inexpensive and doesn’t look cheap in the garden, please.

Mind you saying that, I’ve decided that rather than send our glut of plastic milk bottles to the tip I am going to use every one of them in one way or another. Suggestions please.

Business ethics or lack thereof..

It is no secret that businesses are about making money. More and more entrepreneurs will tell you they want to make a difference in people’s lives and this led them to set up their own business. However, if it doesn’t make money there is no point doing it. Ok so we’ve got that straight. Thus business ethics may seem like an oxymoron when you consider that profit is understandably the bottom line. However, business is only good business on the strength of it’s employees: people who feel they are being overworked, under paid and treated as a number – dispensible, easily replaceable and most notably in recent times the collateral damage of the credit crunch.

The newspapers are filled with tales of woe from disgruntled employees, who after giving many years of service to a company found themselves jobless after standing up for what they thought was right. I have found myself in this situation only once in my career but it is something that has changed my view on business and ethics profoundly.

So let’s say you find yourself in a position that many of us have been in that goes like this:

Your personal beliefs, ethics or what you consider right from wrong is at loggerheads with what you are required to do in your job. I’m not talking breaking the law, bullying or serious breaches of contract, (although these have also been well documented in the press) but a lesser (but no less difficult situation to be in) occurance when what your company expects of you simply doesn’t sit well with who you consider yourself to be.

Confucius notably said that ‘to know what is right and not to do it is the worst cowardice’ but what happens when doing the right thing, inevitably leads to losing your job. It seems to me that ruthless employers are well aware of the  job market during the economic crisis and in such times people need stability. Does that really mean they can push you to the very limit of what you believe to be right? No, obviously it doesn’t.

Too many times have I heard (and thought)  ‘if I’d kept my mouth shut I would have kept my job’ but at what price? No employer in the land is worth compromising your principles for. It is cowardice not to stand up for what you believe in, even in testing times. The problem with this is that there aren’t enough people to stand up for what they believe in and those that do are pressured into leaving their jobs or putting up with less than acceptable conditions. We are a disposable society, if something is wrong we throw it away; replace it; get a better model. With this in mind, your livelihood is a high price to pay when your employer views you this way.

The question of Ethical Horizons, how much relies upon loyalty (to yourself and family, groups and networks, employer, society) and integrity (personal and private arena, personal and public arena, employer, wider society, polity, economy). For example, a whistleblower (one who highlights a wrongdoing in an organisation) may be loyal to the company and thus be paid off and sign a confidentiality agreement to keep quiet about the wrong doing. You might think that this isn’t something you would consider but when your livelihood is at stake, loyalty to your self and family may take precedence over employers or society at large. So your ethical horizon is the point at which you will go to protect yourself and what you care about. Many believe that the time of simply caring about yourself and your own family alone has passed. The Thatcher years proved that with such unhindered success for some, comes great misery for others. So what is your ethical horizon? How far would you go to do the right thing? As far as Paul Moore who lost his job for whistleblowing or Sir James Crosby who allegedly resigned from the Financial Services Authority in order to “protect the agency”?

Most people do not consider their own ethics until they are tested. Most people would like to believe that given the circumstance they will be the one that comes up smelling of roses, and sadly, most of us don’t.

The good news is that once you have been tested, and forced to consider your own ethics it gets easier to stand up for them. Just knowing what they are helps. Even if you weren’t the one that came out of it rose-scented and gleaming like a toothpaste ad, you can be the one that makes a difference. Business ethics is complicated with many levels of integrity and loyalty. No two people will have the same ethical horizons in every situation, but there is one universal truth about human nature which is hard to ignore: like begets like.

Don’t believe me? Look at any social group, organisation or network. People band together with something that connects them whether it is a belief or a characteristic we group ourselves together.

The choice and opportunity to do the right thing then seems obvious, find an employer that fits well with your personal ethics or, if possible, use your own personal ethics and values to bring about change within your organisation. You may think that it is only Senior Managers that have any sway when it comes to rethinking policies and practices. Not so; one person doing the right thing, very often can lead to huge organizational shifts in policy and practice. Very often employers think that doing the right thing will cost them money in resources, staff training, audits and reports. Very often the initial cost is minimal compared to the benefits that can be secured in making these changes.

Think about it, wouldn’t you like to work for someone who valued you, supported you and earned your trust? Why don’t you? It doesn’t necessarily mean drastic changes that will compromise who you are. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) isn’t about putting pressure on organisations and people to do the right thing through threats and pressure. It’s about making small changes that make big differences. Most of the time, those changes are finding a way to shout about the good stuff. Without people like you, who want to make that change, CSR cannot exist. It’s up to individuals (you and me) to bring about change.

So tell me, what will you change today?

helena.connor@coethica.com

Day 4 giving up plastic for Lent..

Well yesterday was a write-off in terms of plastic. Needed nappies (still ruing the decision to use disposable nappies with my first born, despite the fact they are Nature Babycare and have vowed not to repeat such blatent disregard for the environment with any subsequent children) and they only come in plastic packaging. Same with the wipes. At least with those I opted for organic, entirely natural wipes without the irritating plastic ‘door’ on top of them. Tomorrow I’m starting toilet training (for the third time) in the vain hope of forcing the smallest member of our family to be plastic free.

The home-made bread is going well, except for a mishap with yeast and boiling water (what was I thinking?) that turned out like a brick. You’d think I’d never done this before. No seriously, I make the majority of our bread since reading Andrew Whitley’s (founder of  The Village Bakery) ‘Bread Matters’. It still shocks me just how little nutrition is in the average British loaf. I’ll leave that for another blog.

So today, feeling low and wondering how to make amends for purchasing plastic I decided to do some gardening. I am currently planning a whole vegetable patch (pulling up patio flags and replacing them with compost rather than a lawn) and dreaming of becoming completely sustainable I realised, much to my distress that propogaters, cloches and other such wonderful warm housing for plants are generally plastic. I left B&Q (well it was next door to Mothercare where we purchased the nappies) empty handed and vowed to make my own cold frames with old timber and glass. There is a small, family-run garden centre just round the corner from us so I may go there tomorrow and see if I can get some advice.

I’m still looking for ways to use the 5,000 plastic milk bottles that we have stored in the garden. Perhaps cutting them up and making small seed trays will  do for a start. Which leads me onto the next annoying bit of news. Our local dairy ‘can’t guarantee’ that organic milk will be delivered in glass bottles. Non-organic milk definitely can be (complete with growth hormones and antibiotics too, lovely) but not organic (and certainly not organic milk that isn’t homogenised – such outrageous demands I have).  Ugh. There just isn’t a high enough demand for it. Sigh. Perhaps if I keep ringing them up with different accents and names I can create enough demand for them to reconsider it. Perhaps not.

I am not giving up on this although I have lapsed a few times already (defeating the object of abstinence) but I am going to continue and hope that maybe by the end of Lent I will have combatted the problems incurred so far. Not  a bad goal methinks.

Still, tomorrow (feeling disgruntled) I will again be purchasing plastic encased milk. I’m seriously still considering purchasing that cow.