Amplified Green

Most of the biofuels on sale in Britain do not conform to environmental standards according to a study by the Renewable Fuels Agency which has shocked experts. The agency found that only 19% of all biofuel on sale in Britain actually is environmentally friendly. The remainder fails to meet quality standards drawn up by the UK government.

In America, such reports are published almost weekly. Everybody knows that some biofuels are of dubious quality. The worst types are the biodiesel blenders (B20 biodiesels). These apparently contain anywhere between 10 to 74% of actual biodiesel content.
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Got a contrary eco product that needs branding/labeling? Why not try using an anti label? It’s free to use and you’ll get your marketing done via 100% open source principles.

The anti label is called Blackspot and anyone can use the logo; a black spot. Products you sell are not only branded under the world’s first truly open source label, but they’re also joining a product portfolio that’s almost 100% eco friendly/low on carbon output.

The people behind the Blackspot label are the organizers of the ever growing annual global BuyNothingDay at Adbusters.org. They represent a radical, no-compromise experiment, a total rethinking of capitalism from the ground up. People selling a Blackspot product tend not to talk of customers or clients but of ‘participants shaping the social enterprise’.

The organization offers great tips for practically marketing your stuff. Blackspotters are offering their wares to the big players in Jujitsu style.
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So the next climate deal is another watered down soapy substance now that China and India pulled the plug at the G8 meeting held in Japan. The stalemate that’s visible was exactly what was feared by everybody; diametrically opposed parties over the emissions by the world’s largest energy consuming countries.

Time for a change in approach? Perhaps time for a change in accounting methods. Take China for instance. At least 23% of this country’s carbon emissions are from goods that are exported to industrialized countries. So is it fair that the country is held responsible for all of its emissions in the new climate deal?

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Despite all the talk about green interior design, there’s a long way to go before we live with furniture and household items that are actually biodegradable. A truly green sofa ought to be disposable via the compost heap in your own garden by the time you’re done with it, don’t you agree? That’s the central argument in the Cradle2Cradle philosophy. Unlike durable design, C2C is the real end of the throw away society.

The C2C philosophy has been around for the last five years, but to find furniture designers that adhere to its principles it’s like searching for a needle in a haystack. A recently created design house by eight Dutch design students has embraced C2C fully. The company, called Artishok, has just completed its first designs after spending months researching the best 100% biodegradable materials for modern furniture.

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It’s a known fact that trees are only temporarily carbon sequesters and that by the time they start to rot, all the nasty material gets transmitted back into the atmosphere again. So why not prevent this? Thus far we’ve been held back from doing so because intervening into the natural cycle somehow doesn’t feel right. But if we only tidied up one sixth of all the tree wastage lying around on the forest floors, we’d be nearing the carbon levels emitted by burning fossil fuels.

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England’s Climate Change Minister Joan Ruddock unveiled a new two year plan by the UK government for tackling climate change, stressing a local approach. She spoke at a conference about preparing for climate change organized by the Guardian newspaper. The UK government is one to watch because it has made impressive progress toward reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and is on track to achieve almost double its Kyoto target.

Ruddock revealed a two year plan to tackle the problems with new and existing projects in regional Britain, speaking at a conference on planning for climate adaptation. The UK government believes that local authorities, regional government and devolved administrations have a vital role to play in reducing carbon emissions because they happen to manage large estates and act as community leaders.

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