Post 2.0 launching soon

Greenbang had thought (and hoped) that email would kill off the need to use up so much paper and letter-miles to deliver post around the country every week.

But in fact, mail has effectively just become the delivery arm of the web (think Amazon, etc).

But now, a new, greener way to post letters is launching soon, called ViaPost. It claims to chop carbon emissions from postal deliveries by 20-25%. The system is simple: you type up your letter, click print and choose ‘ViaPost’–this then shoots off to the ViaPost office nearest to your destination address, where an eager team of letter folders then print it off, stuff it in an envelope and hand it over to the local postie for delivery.

Due to ViaPost’s extensive network of printers throughout the UK mail no longer has to travel hundreds of miles before it reaches its’ destination, this means a greener and more secure postal service. Working with and supporting Royal Mail is a key priority for ViaPost as every piece of mail will be delivered by local posties.

All good stuff. But for anyone writing to Greenbang, please just send us an email…

Curitiba: a model for sustainable urban planning

One of Greenbang’s mates in South Africa alerted him to this amazing story about a Brazilian city called Curitiba. Ever heard of it? No, neither had we. But it turns out that the city is a showcase for excellent urban planning in all kinds of ways. In a poll of its residents, 99% of the locals said they were happy with their town.

The story has a much more detailed account of the initiatives that the city has run, but one of Greenbang’s favourite anecdotes is about the city’s slums, but unlike slums in other relatively poor countries, these ones are clean. Why? A programme run by the city that gives slum-dwellers a sack of food in exchange for a sack of garbage.

Locals also use 25% less fuel than other Brazilians, as the city’s planners have ensured that while buses are everywhere, most of the centre of town is closed to cars — with cobbled walkways, lights and flowers dominating the scene instead.

In all kinds of ways, from flood control to pedestrian access, Curitiba is a model of how good planning can positively change the way we live our lives.

Starve Your Bin ads hit Greenbang’s hood

Greenbang’s just spotted some of the new ‘Starve your bin’ adverts while out for his jog. The ads are aimed at getting Londoners to recycle more. We think they’re pretty cool.

The campaign kicked off last week with this note from Ken:

The Mayor of London has called on Londoners to aim to recycle three times more rubbish. Speaking at the launch of the new Recycle for London campaign the Mayor highlighted that Londoners are currently recycling just over 20 per cent of their rubbish when over 60 per cent of what they put in their bins can be recycled.

Let’s just hope it works. Find out more here.

M&S lags rivals on recycling, says it’s got “much more” to do

Oh dear, after its much hyped Plan A campaign, with green stores and more, it appears Marks & Spencer isn’t doing too well on a new recycling report.

The Local Government Association report says that less M&S food packaging (just 60%) can be recycled than any of its main rivals, such as Asda (70%) and especially when compared to market traders (79%).  (See the full story here).

In response, M&S put up a new press release, admitting that it has “much more yet to do”:

Mike Barry, Head of Corporate Social Responsibility, Marks & Spencer, said: “We’ve set ourselves clear and demanding targets under Plan A, to reduce our packaging* and only use materials that can be easily recycled or composted. While we’ve made good progress over the last 12 months, we know there’s still much more yet to do in both areas.

Inside views on Wal-Mart’s sustainable summit

Earlier this month the US retailing giant Wal-Mart held a sustainability summit, bringing together its suppliers, partners and a handful of journalists to discuss what a company so big can do to improve its impact on the environment.

It’s easy to be sceptical about a firm like that, which hasn’t always shown an amazingly public spirited side (there’s even a class action lawsuit website for former employees wanting to sue the firm). But it seems like the firm seems pretty serious about making an impact: both in what it sells, and in how it acts. As Joel Makower, one of the attendees, reports:

The context, of course, is somewhat more complex. As Wal-Mart continues down the road to environmental improvement, it needs help from its suppliers to meet its ambitious goals. And in the manner that only a $348 billion retail giant can command, Wal-Mart is pressing its suppliers to improve their packaging, reduce waste, reduce toxicity, and create offerings aimed at Wal-Mart’s new mantra: “Save Money, Live Better.”

And as TreeHugger reports, when a company like Wal-Mart kicks into action, it can do a lot:

Scott announced a number of milestones that have been reached, including already passing their goal of selling 100 million compact fluorescent light bulbs this year, and then described how suppliers can do their part to reduce packaging, eliminate toxins, and green their energy use.

All good stuff. Greenbang’s just wondering when Tesco and Sainsburys is going to invite him to their summits?

Is Gordon Brown backing down on UK’s green energy goals?

First his election, and now the UK’s green energy goals? Reports indicate that Gordon Brown is being urged to back down from the UK’s pledge to get 20% of its energy from renewable sources by 2020.

The Telegraph says this on the matter:

The Prime Minister has been advised his Cabinet colleague, Business Secretary John Hutton, to wriggle out of a promise to generate 20 per cent of all Europe’s energy from renewable sources such as wind, wave or solar power by 2020.

Meanwhile, an editorial from Greenpeace in the Guardian is even more scathing:

It’s not just leadership on climate change that we’ve lost. In 2006, turnover for the construction and operation of renewable energy plants in Germany was €23bn. The German renewables industry now sustains nearly a quarter of a million jobs - more than the total number of jobs across all the UK’s energy industries combined, including coal, nuclear and gas.

Nice.

Britain’s greenest cities: Newport and Plymouth

A new study from the WWF shows that residents of Newport and Plymouth have the least impact on the environment, out of 60 mainland UK cities ranked in the report. Nice work.
Winchester, meanwhile, is the worst.

The report ranks the 60 cities in England, Scotland and Wales by the average ecological footprint of their residents. Glasgow came top and Edinburgh bottom in Scotland, whilst Newport had the lowest footprint and Bangor the highest in Wales.

These results show a damning picture for the UK, as even those cities at the lower end of the scale are consuming more than their fair share of natural resources. However, there are examples of cities that have tackled particular issues such as London, which has a very low transport footprint.

In pictures: Popsci’s top green goods

Popular Science has a cool photo feature of “Green Goods”–or at least a bunch of cool gizmos with some kind of green angle.

One example is the rechargeable battery-powered lawnmower here. It’s hard to say how green that is (although the lawn certainly is), but it’s pretty cool nonetheless.

Another clever thing is the Nokia 1650, which reminds you to unplug the charger every time you unplug the phone. It’s something Greenbang certainly could use.

Wattson shows how much power you’re using

Greenbang’s seen some pretty cool energy sensors, but this one is just great. It’s called Wattson and it shows you how much energy your home is using, to make saving that bit easier.

And the firm that makes ‘em looks like a good bunch of folks too, with the catchy name of DIY KYOTO.

Information from a transmitter attached to your electricity meter or fuse box is beamed directly to your wattson which instantly displays your current usage.

Wattson 01 can now show energy use in Euros, Dollars, Stirling and Yen as well as Pounds, making it a truly international product.

Elementary, as the good Holmes used to say.

If we can get a man on the moon, why not 35 mpg?

‘Nuff said, really. It’s a great campaign being run in the US by the Pew Campaign for Fuel Efficiency.

Over the last two decades, U.S. dependence on foreign oil has nearly doubled, gas prices have climbed more than 55 percent and our nation’s global warming emissions have skyrocketed, while average gas mileage for new vehicles has actually fallen.

But technologies already exist to dramatically improve fuel economy. By putting them to work, we can strengthen our national security, spend less at the pump, save auto industry jobs and reduce global warming pollution — all while maintaining the safety and power we’ve come to expect from our vehicles.

Go get ‘em. (Thanks to the link, EcoGeek).

Greenbang tracks the explosion of the environmental industry, reporting on news of green innovation and thought leadership.

We blog on this rather than the environmental problems of the world because we are interested in the answers to climate change.