Posted by Greenbang on May 15th, 2008
Yan Yan in Beijing
Last weekend, something embarrassing happened to Greenbang in the supermarket.
She walked into the supermarket and picked up something she didn’t plan to buy. And when she was in a line waiting to pay, she suddenly realized she did not have a grocery bag with her, while the old lady before her had one, and the young man after her also fumbled his out of his briefcase.
She guessed she had three options:
1) pay for a cloth bag which costs 3 RMB ( it is not expensive, but almost the half of the price of the stuff she wanted to buy
2) use the plastic bags the supermarket offer which made her the only one in this line who use plastic bag.
3) drop the stuff, buy them next time when she brings her grocery bag. Shrewd and face-saving Greenbang chose the third one.
We’ve got less than one month left to the strict ban on plastic bags in the supermarket in June.
Cloth grocery bags, which were barely seen in China before the ban was issued, becomes the must-have for every family.
Prices range from free to several hundred yuan RMB, which indicates a new business and a huge market. At an import and export fair last month, a variety types of cloth bags were shown by some fabric companies who are eager to open up the marker originally belonged to the plastic bags, according to Xinhua news (Chinese link)
This “Green bag” business does not only benefit the fabric manufacturer. Epson launched its grocery bag design competition and Nokia gave out its fancy cloth bag for free to housewives in some communities in Beijing several weeks ago.
Of course, those bags all have their companies’ logos on, which might be a kind of “soft ad”.
Some local real estate agents are more straightforward - just put their ads on the bags and everyone who carries this bag help to promote them.
Greenbang could not imagine life without plastic bags a few months ago, and was worried about how the ban on plastic bags really carried out and whether people would accept this “radical” policy.
But it seems going well at the moment, and with the help of so many pretty grocery bags, people will get rid of their relationship with plastic bags soon. In case the same embarrassing thing happens again in the supermarket, Greenbang now puts a grocery bag in her handbag.
Posted by Greenbang on May 14th, 2008
Pepsi-Cola, “a recognized leader in sustainability” according to its publicity machine, has managed to produce its lightest bottle yet to hold its ‘flavoured non-carbonated beverages’ (that’s ‘still drinks’ to you and me).
Why should you care? Well, it means the 500ml contained will actually contain 20 percent less plastic and therefore will result in a reduction of 20 million pounds of waste.
Watch out for the new bottles of Lipton Iced Tea, Tropicana juices and Aquafina from the end of May.
Here’s what Robert Lewis, the company’s head of packaging said about it: “The challenge was to deliver significantly lighter packaging that would provide the same shelf life as the heavier bottle, withstand the manufacturing and distribution process yet not compromise aesthetics. After a full year of hard work from multiple corners of the company, we hit the trifecta— a bottle that satisfied the needs of our system, our consumers and the environment.”
Greenbang wonders why Pepsi wasn’t doing this before if they really are sustainability leaders… And Pepsi, how much water does it take to make one bottle of your flavoured non-carbonated beverages, if you include the manufacturing and agriculture process? That’s not on the label yet.
Then again, a nice glass of flavoured non-carbonated beverage on a hot day can be quite nice, just so you know…
Posted by Greenbang on May 14th, 2008
The shock-horror headline “Concern over recycled polyester” was enough to stop Greenbang in her tracks. Were people spontaneously combusting as their thighs rubbed together? Were wearers of the stuff being thrown out of their communities for having no shame (or fashion sense?)
The truth was far worse. As the story in EcoTextileNews revealed, the makers of recycled polyester have been having trouble getting hold of enough used plastic bottles to boil up (or however it works) and so the dastardly cads, based in Taiwan, have been buying up NEW bottles to recycle instead.
As the report says: “Retailers and brands that can fully trace their supply routes are likely to be able to put a stop to this practice but those who buy fabrics and garments on trust, with little knowledge of where they come from, may find themselves exposed to accusations of greenwash and subsequent brand damage.”
You’ve been warned.
Posted by jumperhead on April 21st, 2008
Peter Garrett - former Midnight Oil frontman, celebrity baldie and now Aussie environment minister - has failed to persuade his counterparts across the Aussie states’ to ditch plastic bags and countenance an all-out ban of the disposable plastic irritants.
Cue much tuttting and rolling of eyes. Go on - try it yourself. Feels good, right?
Instead of an outright placcy bag ban, the meeting of all the environment ministers decided to do all this instead:
• Convene urgently a high level government-industry working group to identify additional measures by which retailers can increase the voluntary uptake of ‘green’ reusable bags and reduce the use of plastic bags, and report back to Council in November 2008.
(Greenbang has a suggestion here on how to reduce the use of plastic bags urgently - ban them. That should do the trick)
• Intensify work on research and innovation initiatives relating to alternative products to plastic bags, including biodegradable plastic bags, and their potential use to reduce adverse impacts.
• Request EPH Standing Committee to investigate further options for nationally consistent
action, including:
o hypothecation for environmental outcomes of a voluntary retailer charge using information from the Victorian pilot project, which will be made available to other jurisdictions.
o other means of phasing out single use plastic bags, currently being investigated by the states.
Alas, a Victorian pilot project won’t involve hijacking people from the 1850s and asking them to learn how to fly, rather it’ll see a levy of between 10 and 25 cents put on disposable bags to wean shoppers off the eco-terror bags.
Posted by jumperhead on April 17th, 2008
Greenbang remembers a time when Tesco, was you know, not quite as ‘good’ as it is today. By ‘good’, Greenbang means lurking at the very most budget end of the supermarket spectrum. In fact, there were songs at Greenbang’s primary school sung about the alleged provenance of the clothes of the less fortunate among her classmates that invoked the Tesco name. They may have included the line ‘they are really nifty, they only cost £2.50 ner ner ner”
Which is neither here or there. What’s here and now, however, is Tesco’s announcement that it will trial ‘carbon labels’ on its own-brand products from next month, reports The Guardian.
These carbon labels will mean customers can measure the eco-friendliness of their shopping, just like ingredients labels expose their various nutritional values. The labels will state just how much CO2 each product generates through its manufacture, usage and disposal, as well as the product’s category average. Up to 70,000 own-brand Tesco products will sport these labels, which have been created with help from the Carbon Trust. Sir Terry Leahy, Tesco’s chief exec, says The details of the scheme will soon be unveiled.
All together: “Let’s all go to Tesco’s, where we can buy carbon labelled produce…”
Posted by jumperhead on April 15th, 2008
It looks like there’s something rotten in the state of Queensland. Last month, Greenbang brought you news that Australia’s sunshine state had started a scheme that promised people putting up solar panels would earn 44 cents for every kilowatt they create.
Only now things aren’t looking so sunny.
According to the Courier Mail, changes threaten to derail this lovely cash bonus scheme. Instead of 44 cents for every kilowatt sent to the grid, it’s every kilowatt that goes back to the grid and isn’t then used by the household.
According to experts quoted by the paper, it looks like few solar users will generate more electricity than they use. Says the Courier Mail:
In fact, people who install solar power will effectively be penalised financially, says Queensland Conservation co-ordinator Toby Hutcheon. […]
“What the graph shows is that even 400 of the most energy-efficient customers would use more than a 1kW system will generate, so it’s very unlikely anyone will get the 44¢ tariff,” Mr Hutcheon said.
Posted by jumperhead on April 8th, 2008
Tax credit. Is there a sexier phrase in the English language? No? What about if Greenbang used the phrase ‘free money’ instead? Oh yes, that’s an attention getter indeed. Greenbang would sell her own granny for some free cash. Except it wouldn’t be free then, she supposes. And the granny buying market is a bit flat these days.
But an easier way to get some free money is taking shape in America, with Senator John Ensign and Senator Maria Cantwell introducing a Bill which will mean a long term extension to the set-to-expire solar investment tax credit for homeowners putting up solar systems on their houses.
Says the Solar Energy Industries Association:
“From New Hampshire to Michigan to Oregon, this bill provides a much-needed shot in the arm for our ailing national economy. This legislation will create thousands of jobs, unleash billions in investment and prevent a major disruption in this fast-growing sector — all at a time when we need it the most.
The Bill has been applauded all around but, like Oliver Twist, some are asking for more. Green community Del Sur had this to say:
The “Clean Energy Stimulus Act” extends the solar production tax credit for homeowners who install solar systems for an additional year, eliminates the current $2,000 cap on the credit and allows the credit to offset any Alternative Minimum Tax liability.
“The solar tax credit would be even more effective if homeowners and homebuyers could count on it for the future,” added Fred Maas, President & CEO of Black Mountain Ranch LLC and developer of Del Sur. “Extending the tax credit for several years, rather than for one year, would stimulate more widespread residential use of solar power, and lead to greater environmental and economic benefits.”
Posted by Greenbang on March 14th, 2008
Depending on whether consumers continue to find green fashionable, this could be quite a big bit of news.
If they don’t we’ll all have forgotten it in six months.
This is what Auntie Beeb just sent us:
14th March 2008: BBC Worldwide today announces an affiliate partnership agreement for its recently launched BBCGreen.com portal. Under the agreement the site will run adverts encouraging consumers to buy ‘used only’ goods from eBay as an everyday way to recycle and reduce unnecessary waste and the embedded energy of buying new products.
BBCGreen.com, which launched on February xxth, is a lifestyle portal offering consumers tips and advice from some of the UK’s leading environmental experts. During the development process the editorial team worked with the Stockholm Environment Institute to build the unique ‘Action Plan’ tool at the heart of the site. The tool rates all the practical changes users can make to live more environmentally friendly by emissions, cost and difficulty. It also allows users to customise the plan to select lifestyle changes that suit their daily life and budget.
A surprising result of the research was that ‘buying and selling second hand’ is among the top 20 things a consumer can do to reduce CO2 emissions due to the energy needed to manufacture, package and transport new goods. Buying and selling second hand can be just as effective in terms of reducing personal emissions as driving a more efficient car, recycling or insulating cavity walls. Installing low energy light bulbs is a popular and important change to make however cutting down your consumption of new products by 20% could offer three times the CO2 savings.
BBCGreen.com aims not only to help the public understand the issues and the context of their actions but also importantly to inspire and make taking action in their everyday life as easy as possible. The eBay agreement is a perfect example of a practical yet impactful change. With 20 million registered users in the UK alone and over 10 million items for sale at any one time, eBay is playing an important role in encouraging people to buy and resell their unwanted items and help the environment at the same time.
Of the millions of items for sale on eBay many lend themselves to be reused especially items such as text books or baby clothes which are often only needed once. Some, such as antiques, furniture and memorabilia can actually improve over time. To buy used items from eBay simply choose ‘used items only’ in the ‘item condition’ tab of the search options.
Will Watt, Publisher, BBCGreen.com commented: “The aim of our site is to think laterally and practically about ways to live greener. The eBay marketplace is a part of UK shopping culture and joining them to promote their already popular used only goods seemed like a smart idea to inspire our readers to think differently.”
Torsten Schuppe, eBay added: “Buying and selling your used items is not only good for the environment but also for your bank balance. This partnership with the BBC is a simple and fun way of getting people to do the right thing more often.”
BBC Green is edited by Paul Allen author of the acclaimed green business book ‘Your Ethical Business’. It also uses hard scientific fact and analysis from leading commentators including Duncan Clark, editor of the Rough Guide to Climate Change.
Posted by jumperhead on March 14th, 2008
When Greenbang heard that the city of Boulder was getting smart, she wasn’t sure what Colorado had other bits of America were somewhat lacking in, notably the area around Paris Hilton. Still, it turns out that it’s not an injection of brain food is not what’s on the menu for Boulder, it’s a smart electricity system.
Courtesy of Xcel Energy, the smart grid system will help the city’s citizens cut down their power consumption and even switch off energy-hogging devices remotely.
The system will also see the “integration of infrastructure to support easily dispatched distributed generation technologies (such as plug-in hybrid electric vehicles with vehicle-to-grid technology; battery systems; wind turbines; and solar panels).”
According to Xcel, the system will go live over the coming years and will be partly funded by itself and partly through government grants. The whole thing should come in around $100 million.
Here’s why Boulder is the lucky city:
In addition to its geographic concentration, ideal size and access to all grid components, Boulder was selected as the Smart Grid City because it is home to the University of Colorado and several federal institutions, including the National Institute of Standards and Technology, which already is involved in smart grid efforts for the federal government.
Posted by jumperhead on March 11th, 2008
Is Brown the new green? Aside from his nominal green efforts on this week’s budget, PM Gordon Brown, texture like sun, has promised to have a good old chat with the EU Council and put on his very best thumbscrews to get them to lower taxes on green products.
“I have submitted a proposal.. that we look at how we can give new incentives for people to use environmentally-friendly products and processes. There is a debate about how we price products that are making advances in being environmentally-friendly with low carbon emissions. There are many items that are on sale at the moment that if the VAT rate were reduced could encourage the environmentally-friendly product and the environmentally-friendly process.”
And just what are these products and processes? They include, but aren’t restricted to light bulbs, household materials and fridges.
Apparently, says our Gord, the EU is leading the world on carbon capture, clean coal and changes in people’s behaviour to the good of the environment. If Europe had a national anthem, Greenbang would be humming it and saluting. If anyone fancies submitting suggestions for that anthem, you’re very welcome. Greenbang’s money’s on anything by the Venga Boys.
