Fairtrade products are widely available in supermarkets and many people never notice the label or understand what it means. But buying fair-trade products can make a real difference not only to producers in developing and resource poor countries, but also to the environment. Although not all fairtrade companies are Carbon [...]
People decide to become vegetarian for many different reasons. A common one is the wish not to eat meat because they believe that keeping, raising and then killing animals for food is cruel and inhumane. That is very much a personal point of view that many people do not agree [...]
Whenever you go out shopping, whether it is for food, clothes or general items, whatever you buy ends up in some sort of shopping bag. Supermarkets tend to have plenty of thin plastic bags, or you can buy reusable bags which can either be durable plastic or canvas. Designer shops [...]
Supermarkets have long been criticised for the amount of waste food they throw away each year. Some waste is inevitable – supermarkets need to provide customers with a wide range of food and choice, and it is impossible to make sure that supply exactly meets demand. The problem is that [...]
The idea of self sufficiency is very appealing as a concept but difficult to achieve in reality. In the 21st century, everyone is more aware of the need to conserve energy and raw materials, and to end our reliance on fossil fuels. We are now in a very technological age, [...]
New houses and buildings that are sustainable and that aim to be carbon neutral over the course of their useful life need to use materials that are as natural and ecofriendly as possible. Using synthetic insulation materials, which have a large manufacturing carbon footprint is no longer an option. Instead, [...]
A real fire has been a comfort to people in cold weather since fire was first discovered thousands of years ago. Electric fires and gas fires have become more acceptable in the last 100 years as they are less trouble, more efficient and ‘cleaner’. No form of heating that extracts [...]
EBay, the online marketplace that allows people to sell their unwanted stuff or to sell goods as part of a cheap-to-run online business is more popular than ever. Launched in 1995, as an original idea by Pierre Omidyar, eBay has grown into a massive multinational organisation that is now available [...]
Most of us are now aware of the importance of recycling and the recycling facilities available in their local area – but how many of us stop to consider what happens to those glasses, cans and clothes we recycle? Recycling items is only good for the environment if that material [...]
It’s difficult to get away from packaging these days. Every time we go shopping we are presented with tightly packaged mass produced items, accompanied by seemingly unnecessary cardboard, polystyrene, plastic containers, and so on. The outcome of excess packaging on our goods is increasing tonnes of waste going to landfill, [...]
Fairtrade products are widely available in supermarkets and many people never notice the label or understand what it means. But buying fair-trade products can make a real difference not only to producers in developing and resource poor countries, but also to the environment. Although not all fairtrade companies are Carbon [...]
Despite being an island surrounded by water it doesn’t take long for some areas in the UK to run dry come summer. During 2006, several water companies issued hosepipe and sprinkler bans, and almost declared further restrictions on the remaining supply. Being efficient all year round with water will help [...]
