Be Eco Friendly

DIY fans who want to be kind to the environment and keep warm at the same time have been encouraged to take advantage of a new product from eco-friendly company Green Stamp.

The firm has developed a range heat logs, which are designed to help homeowners avoid the use of coal and firewood and consequently cut down on the amount of fossil fuel they use.

According to Green Stamp, its logs are made from sawmill shavings taken from sustainable plantation forestry and would go to landfill if not used in the product.

With a moisture content of around ten per cent compared to 35 per cent for coal and firewood, each log burns for close to an hour and a half and can be used in heaters, open fires, garden chimneys and stoves.

Green Stamp is based in Cornwall and also aims to supply the public with eco-friendly products for the office, schools and interiors.

via DIY News: DIY tips for staying warm and eco-friendly – DIY Tips, Projects & Advice UK – lets-do-diy.com.

An ancient North Yorkshire landscape is going back to its watery roots in a bid to explore more eco-friendly ways of alleviating severe flooding.

A groundbreaking project by the Forestry Commission and the Environment Agency is underway at 340 hectare 850 acre Bishop Wood, near Cawood, to dam drainage ditches, allowing rain water to be retained for longer in the wood rather than quickly flowing downstream into the Selby Dam, a tributary of the River Ouse.

The initiative is being backed by £25,000 from the National Grid.Bishop Wood is the largest wooded area in the Humberhead Levels, just a few metres above sea level, and is also an ancient woodland site, meaning that it dates back at least to the 1600s when the first reliable maps were produced.

Once part of a huge hunting estate owned by the Archbishop of York, it is now managed by the Forestry Commission on a lease from the Church Commissioners.

Historically, Bishop Wood would have been much wetter than it is today. But in the 20th century large areas were planted with pines as part of a national push to shore up the nation’s depleted timber reserves. That meant that more drainage ditches were cut to drain the land.Now experts are taking a leaf out of the history books to turn back the clock.

Around two miles of dykes are being excavated to increase their storage capacity and then dammed. During heavy downpours these channels will fill with water, eventually overspilling into selected areas, covering up to 30 acres of the wood.

Read more via Forestry Commission – News – ancient wood no longer feeling drained.

The construction job on the UK’s first large-scale zero carbon housing development has started in Bristol.

Barratt Developments is carrying out the work, after gaining planning permission and completing the formal contractual commitments with South Gloucestershire Council and the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA).

Almost 200 new homes at the Hanham Hill site will be built as part of the construction job.

All the properties have been designed to produce the minimum amount of carbon emissions, while residents will also be encouraged to grow their own fruit and vegetables in specially-designed allotments.

Barratt Developments chief executive Mark Clare said that the construction job was a sign of the future for the housing industry.

“There is no doubt that there will need to be significant changes in the way that homes are constructed to meet higher environmental standards,” he stated.

Last week, the HCA revealed that it had helped fund the building of more than 53,000 new properties in the UK during its first year in operation.

Read more via Eco-friendly housing construction job underway in Bristol – The Career Engineer.

Newcastle-upon-Tyne takes top spot as Britain’s greenest city

Industrial revolution power house shakes off dirty image with high scores on recycling, green space and tackling climate change

A city once wreathed in smoke and deafened by shipyard steel-hammers, has transformed itself into the greenest in Britain, according to the country’s most comprehensive sustainability audit.

Millions of pounds and a communal push for cleaner, brighter surroundings have returned Newcastle upon Tyne – almost – to the days when Thomas Bewick made his countryside engravings in the city centre and commuted home through meadows.

Read more via Newcastle-upon-Tyne takes top spot as Britain’s greenest city | Environment | guardian.co.uk.

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By being slightly more conscientious drivers we can all make a huge difference. Follow these tips from www.hootcarinsurance.co.uk and you’ll soon help protect the planet and feel the immediate payback in your pocket.

• Keep a steady speed when driving; by reducing the use of your pedals you reduce the use of fuel.

• Anticipate conditions, and accelerate and decelerate efficiently. This is safer and uses less fuel. It is also proven that you won’t get to your destination faster by speeding. According to Earteasy.com the most fuel-efficient speed for your car is roughly 55 mph, or 90 km/h. Increasing your speed from 55 mph to 75 mph boosts your fuel consumption a stunning 20 percent!

• If you are in traffic or caught behind railway gates, then turn off your engine. Idling uses up a great deal of fuel especially when some train gates stay down for as long as ten minutes.

• Keep your tyres pumped up to the correct level. This will save you up to 4% fuel.

• Maintain your car and change the air filter as recommended by the manufacturers’ guidelines.

Read more tips via ALL ABOUT CARS: Drive slower, save the planet!.

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Be more eco-friendly at work, says Rob HoldwayEmployees are not implementing energy saving measures in the workplace that are commonplace in their own home, Rob Holdway has said.

The presenter of Channel 4′s Dumped expressed his opinion that workers feel disconnected from the damage that businesses can do to the environment because they have no direct contact with the cost.

“People aren’t recycling at work … because they don’t actually see the energy bills, they don’t pay for the recycling,” he explained.

Despite their reluctance to take eco-friendly actions around the workplace, Holdway noted that they may still do their bit for the environment when they are at home.

His comments come after the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) issued a report which demonstrated that UK businesses could save a total of £6.4 billion every year by making a number of small but necessary environmental changes.

All of these energy saving changes, such as switching off lights and turning down thermostats, come at little or no cost, DEFRA added.

via Be more eco-friendly at work, says Rob Holdway.

Green Labeling

With claims of “greenwashing”—saying a product is “green” when either it isn’t or is minimally so—becoming louder, we will definitely see a push for green labeling standards for products. Right now it is all over the map in terms of certifications, with some coming from governmental agencies such as Energy Star and USDA Organic, and others coming from prominent associations such as Fair Trade Certified and Forest Stewardship Council.

via What’s on the horizon for eco-friendly products?.

Fair trade

Running parallel with the eco-friendly movement is the push for fair trade, which prohibits the use of child, forced and prison labor prevalent in much of the developing world. Fair trade policies also are concerned with environmental accountability.

via What’s on the horizon for eco-friendly products?.