Posted by jumperhead on April 18th, 2008
Chucking rubbish into a body of water has long been a favourite pastime of Britain’s adolescents. Anthropologists haven’t exactly been able to nail why teens are so fond of hurling trolleys, tyres and Coke cans into rivers, canals or the sea, but have hypothesised that it’s because they’re largely idiotic.
While we can only have them to thank for creating community service work, it would seem that they have inspired an environmental project to form artificial reefs off the coast of Delaware. As The New York Times reports, since 2001, Delaware’s Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control has overseen the planned dumping of more than 660 retired NY subway carriages to transform the once barren seabed into the piscine equivalent of downtown Manhattan.
The reef, named after NY’s Redbird tube carriages, already supports fish species such as summer flounder, bass tuna and mackerel. Its success in attracting sea life means that it is now a popular spot for hobby and commercial fishermen alike, with its amount of marine food per square foot increasing by 400-fold in the past seven years.
The project has been something of a success for all concerned; NY has been spared the cost of disposing of their old carriages, and Delaware has copped a free reef. In fact, its success is starting to bite back for Delaware. From this summer, NY will stop supplying the cars to Delaware and New Jersey, who have also been in on the act, and use them to build their own reefs. Delaware has already sunk an old tug and navy tanker as an alternative to the carriages and other states have experimented with dumping cars, fridges, washing machines, tanks, and yes the good old shopping trolley.
Greenbang wonders if she’s got teens all wrong and they’ve actually been working to conserve the marine life of Britain.
Posted by Greenbang on March 31st, 2008
Well not all of you have that much, but a good number do.
It’s been absolutely fascinating looking at the reader survey. We had no idea so many people tuned in so regularly or what their backgrounds were, but we’ve had a fantastic response.
So let’s kick off:
Most of you are employed (77%) and the rest of you entrepreneurs work for yourself. One-quarter of respondents described themselves as professionals, with a further fifth describing their job as CEO/MD or a business owner.
Just over half of the respondents (54%) said they had control of a budget within their
organisation and had purchasing authority for new technology. But only one-third had a specific allocation in their budget for new technology to improve efficiency and/or sustainability, suggesting people are still unsure of what to do for their companies in the green space.
The budgets readers control or influence are pretty big. For those that did have specific budget allocation for sustainability and efficiency technology, 18% had around $1m or less to spend, while a lucky 9% had between $1m to $5m.
Two-thirds of visitors go to Greenbang.com at least every couple of days, with almost a quarter
visiting daily. Most visitors access Greenbang.com directly from their PC. One-third of respondents said they received the newsletter, and-one quarter aid they accessed the site via RSS feed as well as visiting the site. A minority of folk use the social network bookmarks (Digg and StumbleUpon buttons at the bottom of every post.) - we highly recommend you use these.
The majority (47%) of visitors think that Greenbang is a very good or excellent source of information on environmental business and technology. Some 13% say it’s better than that, while 34% say it is good and 6% said it’s average. No one said it was poor or very poor so we must be doing something right.
If that’s the case, advertisers should take note 
In terms of stories or topics our readers would like us to cover in the future, we heard some very interesting ideas. Here’s a couple we liked:
- Bjorn Lomburg - please discuss the argument that environmental commentators have such a vested interest in the stories they write that the balance of reporting is being unduly affected.
- Challenge more that is put out in the name of green to make sure that it’s not mainly just to profit from it. Seek out those making a real impact on the public… and their futures. Not just a pre-AGM bit of CSR PR puff. Delve for the actual enviROI+.
Other comments included:
• All good stuff
• Easy to read - excellent reporting - fair but doesn’t lack human emotion
• Good reporting, nice writing style, refreshingly serious but funny too!
• Good tone and general banter
• Good website, interesting stories, always updated
• Good, informative writing.
• Great design and great articles!
• Great short articles
• Great techie stuff
• Great writing style, good broad selection of topics, right length of articles
• Humour. Can’t beat it. Good variety. Quizzical tone. Experienced knowledge base to provide a fuller back story.
• I like the stories you do have. I do tend to drift more to things in my area…the pacific NW.
• I love the slightly irreverent approach to writing the news, plus the insights and links with all
activity that’s going on in the sector
• Informal writing style, good balance view
• Lot of update
• Lots of stories, mostly interesting
• Meanwhile I’m satisfied
• Most things
• Newsletter - Great tone - very refreshing to read - the right level of detail without going overboard.
• Pithy, topical
• The energy you out in and the volume of stories.
• The site is clear and easy to navigate. Regularly stories appear on Greenbang before they have been picked up by “older” IT media, so reading it is a great way to be a know-all when the story finally hits…
• Better spell checking
• I haven’t accessed the site but will have a look now. But I like the newletter as it means I don’t have to be proactive!
• It’s pretty good as it is. More staff to give a broader cover I guess?
• Keep up the good work
• Keeping it simple concise we all have too much to read these days
• Move up the category listing so people can have a quick overview of the topics and perhaps a date on the article summaries or articles from today/yesterday to make it ‘current’
• New format of site means you don’t see all the stories easily like in the previous blog version
• Seems pretty good. If it ain’t broke…
• Some of the articles can drag a little. Keep it brief and pithy. Side boxes are great for
providing extra info for more indepth readers, but keep it out of the main article.
• Some posts could be a bit longer, on average the stories are pretty short and sometimes a meatier article would work
• The tone of the site, the “edge”, the wit, etc., causes me to fatigue.
• Think it’s pretty good as is!
Posted by Greenbang on March 20th, 2008
Greenbang is about to take a break for Easter - it’s been a busy few weeks since Christmas, but we’ve made a fair bit of progress this year.
The biggest change has been the look of the website. There were a few teething troubles with the changeover, but it all seems to be running well now.
As a result, traffic has risen and we’re getting phone calls and hundreds of emails from people all over the place, which is lovely.
We’re also in a lucky position where we’ll soon be hiring a new blogger - so if you know anyone, give us a shout.
Because of that, we’re now on the lookout for some new office space. Smstextnews.com and Greenbang work closely (we’re both part of the Tollejo Media Group), so we need some desk space to fit us both in.
If you know of anywhere in Central London, let us know.
And if you’re based in London or just passing through, get in touch. We’d love to see you for beer or a coffee or something.
Over the next two months, we’re also now proud media sponsors for three exciting green business events:
1 - The Green Card Seminar
2 - Opportunities from Climate Change
3 - Low Carbon Economy
We’ll be telling you lots more about them as time goes on.
But for now, that’s it. It’s 22:22 on Thursday night and Greenbang is knackered.
Unfortunately Grey’s Anatomy is on TV, which means a switchover is imminent.
Hoorah - Ashes to Ashes is on. That bird from Spooks is gorgeous.
Posted by Greenbang on March 17th, 2008
Greenbang laughed at this - it’s got nothing to do with us, but sometimes, you’ve just got to let one through the net…
Yes - it’s a website that gives you advice on how to visit the zoo.
Here you go.
WILL YOUR JOB REQUIRE A ZOO VISIT THIS YEAR?
Today, almost every company seeks to add a green component and image to their brand. As a result of this desire to look green, many companies are hosting corporate events at zoos and aquariums. This is bringing in many people who have never been to a zoo or aquarium before or have not visited since their childhood.
ZooAndAquariumVisitor.com has compiled a list of useful information to insure any visitor, whether it’s a frequent visitor or newbie, has a rewarding visit.
If the boss is not paying your way and you are looking for something healthy to do with your family now is the time to go! In the animal kingdom springtime brings about the birth of offspring for most species. It also signals the start of the 2008 zoo season as families travel to see all of the cute baby animals.
Zoo and aquarium visits provide several hours of low intensity aerobic exercise, mental enrichment and sensory stimulation.
Have a Great Experience and Be a Good Zoo Guest
Top 10 Zoo Visit Tips
1. Visit their website for information about the zoo you are visiting.
- What are their hours?
- Do they allow you to bring beverages and food?
- Do they rent strollers?
- Do they have electric wheel chairs available?
- Do they have scheduled public feeding times?
- Do they have daily scheduled shows?
- What are the entrance and parking fees? …
Posted by Greenbang on March 17th, 2008
Hello there
If you read Greenbang, we’d like to know what you think of us - preferably in more than four-letter words.
So we built a survey. Click here to go to it.
Or here’s the link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=l2zxSURiH7ksUyZNfDHdMw_3d_3d
We’ve had a terrific response so far, but we’d like to get a few more people’s thoughts. It takes between two and five minutes, depending on how much detail you want to go into.
Help us out - we’d really appreciate it and will buy you a beer next time we see you at the bar (although it’s anonymous, that might be quite hard).
Have a great Monday.
Dan Ilett
Editor
Posted by Greenbang on March 13th, 2008
Two observations about the European Green IT Summit today, even though we’re not even there.
Well the first is that it’s happening - and that in our opinion is a very good thing. Well, it’s a very good thing, providing that a lot of people don’t get up on stage and say: “We must act now.”
Now then - some interesting but questionable and headline-hungry PR stats came through the digital letterbox today. The report, sent by on behalf of 1E, said:
“A worrying proportion of UK IT managers are still not feeling the pressure to reduce corporate power consumption and carbon emissions, according to new research from 1E, the specialist UK based provider of PC power management software for Windows environments.
The survey, commissioned by 1E, of 100 IT managers from enterprise organisations revealed that, despite growing pressure from business leaders, internal CSR teams and government legislation, around one third of respondents still feel zero pressure to reduce power consumption.
These findings are all the more surprising given that almost 90 per cent of respondents also claim to be aware of their employer’s broader environment policy. The fact that only 23% of IT managers surveyed by 1E have direct ownership of their corporate power bills explains this trend.”
Sorry, but Greenbang doesn’t buy that. We’ve got a some of the biggest names heading down to a place to talk about just that at this summit - the debate has moved on from six months ago 1E.
How many CEOs do you know who ignore rising costs of anything - fuel, labour or entertainment. Despite the results, we think they are wrong.
However - the Greenbang reader survey is on its way to completion (please fill it out if you haven’t yet done so.)
One thing it’s showing is that a large number of people who read and get jiggy with Greenbang are women. That really echoes something we’ve seen in the sustainability industry - sisters are sustaining it.
But the big names at this event contradict that. Look at the European Green IT Summit’s list of speakers - is it us or there just three women on the speakers’ list?
This technology story is brought to you in association with Kyocera
Posted by Greenbang on March 12th, 2008
It’s been suggested that at the Olympics, the athletes will be chauffeured around in heavy-duty 4×4s made by a well-known company based in the UK.
These are big mommas. Sweet when you’re in one, but for everyone else, the term that seems to have stuck in the media is “gas-guzzling Chelsea tractor”.
And given that the 2012 Games are set to be the greenest we’ve ever seen, we’re off to a bit of a bad start here.
It’s also been rumoured that the London authorities would charge a full-whack congestion tax on these cars at the time of the games.
So here’s a bit of random speculation and an idea for the London Olympic committee and for a company that makes these cars.
Say there are 300 4×4s running around (we heard it was a lot more, but we don’t have the info to back it up), and every day, each car is taxed £25. That’s £7,500 a day made in taxes.
Times that figure by 18 days (roughly the number of days in a typical Olympic event) and that is £127,500.
That’s a lot of tax. But also a lot of CO2 being pumped out by these machines, which nobody wants to see.
But what if they used this carbon capture technology we’ve been banging on about? Perhaps, and this is just a perhaps guys, if the claims are true, they could cut their emissions by 80 per cent or more. That would bring the tax band right down on these monster machines.
Then you get the argument - well if you used smaller cars, you could get the carbon emissions down even further. And you’re probably right. But this was just a random idea for the two organisations…
Carbon capture seems to highlight one thing, however - it doesn’t fit into the tax man’s model at the moment. So the big question is that for this to be accepted, will the tax man be flexible enough to change the way he taxes things?
If he’s smart, he’ll find a new way of taxing people - accepting something like this would win a lot of votes. This is where tax folk tend to be quite innovative themselves - although, the poll tax wasn’t exactly a goer really, was it?
But as we said before, we don’t know whether the carbon-capture claims can be backed up. All we know is that a lot of BIG BIG companies are offering big big money to the guys behind it.
Posted by jumperhead on March 11th, 2008
There are many things that are universally accepted that are not necessarily true. Tomato ketchup is the natural compliment to chips (the pickled egg is the daddy in this category), for example, or black suits everyone (if that were true, Goths would be style leaders). Now the University of California is about to dispatch another such truism to an early grave: daylight saving is not A Good Thing for the environment, according to the academics.
By analysing two Australian states, one which pursued daylight saving and one which did not, and found that daylight saving state actually used more energy.
Here’s the skinny from the horses mouths:
“Our results show that the extension failed to conserve electricity,” wrote the student researchers. In fact, they said, it appears that energy suppliers experienced higher peak loads in the mornings than before, and that morning wholesale electricity prices rose sharply in response.
“The decrease in evening electricity demand and the increase in morning demand almost perfectly balanced each other out,” said Hendrik Wolff UC Berkeley’s Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics, a native of Germany, in an interview, noting a slight but statistically negligible increase in overall usage.[…]
Wolff recommended that DST - first instituted in the United States to save energy at the end of World War I - be removed as a component of national energy policy and assigned to other legislative and governmental forces that might consider it more in terms of its impact on traffic accidents, crime and culture. “For the 21st century, if we want to keep Daylight Saving Time,” he said, “we should find better, more efficient arguments for it rather than just energy conservation.”
Posted by Greenbang on March 10th, 2008
Hi there
With the launch of the new website out of the way, we’re now looking for some new sponsors and advertisers for Greenbang. This is so we can spend more time writing, researching and making little films on innovation.
If you think you’ve got what it takes, give us a shout. We’d love to see how we can work with you.
Email me: dan@greenbang.com
Thanks
Dan - Chief blogger - Greenbang.
Posted by Greenbang on February 28th, 2008
Yo yo. Word up. Etc.
Just a reminder to take a look at this talk next week in London on “Green & Global Market Instability – How to keep the Climate Change agenda on course”.
It’s on Wednesday, 5th March 2008, 17.00-19.00, at One Silk Street, London.
Check out: http://www.greenbizevents.co.uk/events/ggmi/ for more….
The credit crunch is hitting home everywhere. This event will explore the implications for the Climate Change agenda:
