Greener Living

All of us have to do it at one point or another, that is deal with a climate sceptic . It's good to see that they're largely a dying breed these days thanks to the overwhelming body of evidence that we are having an effect upon global temperatures. Frankly anyone who doesn't think that burning millions of barrels of oil EVERY DAY isn't going to effect atmospheric CO2 either hasn't got a clue what they are talking about (people who get their science from the Daily Mail ) or have vested interests.

ANYWAY whilst searching for articles for my latest sceptic put-down I stumbled across this amazing resource;

http://scienceblogs.com/illconsidered/2008/07/how_to_talk_to_a_sceptic.php

This is a comprehensive - everything you will ever need resource for putting down climate sceptics. Categorised for every eventuality, you really have to hand it to these guys.

The only downside is that it's a year old so there may be some better information out there now on some subjects.

Happy hunting folks

This December world leaders meet in Copenhagen to decide how we deal with climate change. What sort of future would you have them choose... Earth or Global Warming?

Hundreds of millions of people have already voted for Earth with their light switch. Its time to show where you stand. Its time to Vote Earth.

Vote on the website: http://www.earthhour.org

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Hi Guys,

I just joined this group having started (today!!) my own sustainability blog (questions/comments welcome). You've got some great stuff up here so I thought I'd stick in my own two penneth for a start.

Although a lot dryer than those video guides, the Carbon Trust have a lot of good literature on their website - especially if you're involved in energy saving at work. Just register (for free) and then ahve a look through their publications, there's loads of great info especially on low energy lighting, heating and controls/metering;

http://www.carbontrust.co.uk/default.ct

The Energy Saving Trust (doh, just realised you'd already linked this! Sorry - a good resource tho! )is also a great resource and more aimed towards the domestic side of sustainability (although it shares some of the same literature with the Carbon Trust);

http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/

I'm also hoping to put interesting tit-bits up on my blog as they appear in the news etc although it's more aimed at industry professionals to be honest.

Also, not really green living related but still very interesting in a rather geeky kinda way is this;

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html

I check it every day, sometimes it rubbish, but sometimes its beautiful.

Ever thought about saving energy but didn't know where to start? Andy thought the same until we showed him that there are lots of simple things you can do to save energy, reduce your carbon dioxide emissions and save money!

Watch our video guides to see how Andy became energy efficient and did his bit to help fight climate change.

Energy saving video guides to...

Lighting...

Heating...

Cavity Wall Insulation...

Loft Insulation...

Renewable Energy...

Videos supplied courtesy of the Energy Saving Trust

Turn up at any primary school at around 8.40 am on a weekday, and you’re likely to be confronted by a chaotic scene as parents and children make the daily dash to school.

In those 15 minutes at the start and end of the school day, the school vicinity becomes jammed with cars vying for parking space. Cars will be parked on kerbs and road corners. Latecomers block school gates, bus stops, driveways and laybys. Car doors swing dangerously open on to the road, putting both children and unsuspecting cyclists at risk.

Everyone with a child of school age will know that safety is the number one consideration when it comes to finding a way for them to get to school and back each day.

Increasingly busy roads make crossing them much more difficult and cycling on them potentially fatal. As it is, one child in 15 is injured in a road accident before his or her 16th birthday. Little wonder then that parents choose to take their children to school by car. Yet it’s all part of the same problem.

The great news is that there is an excellent way for children to get to school safely without parents escorting them and without using the car. It improves children's health and also saves their parents time and reduces traffic congestion and pollution around school gates. It’s the walking bus.

what is a walking bus?

The walking bus concept is catching on fast. In the UK, the first walking bus was set up in St Albans, Hertfordshire in 1995 and proved to be a safe, healthy and enjoyable way for children to walk to school. It also reduced traffic congestion and saved time for parents.

Put simply, the walking bus is a line of children, walking in pairs to school along a set route with an adult ‘driver’ at the front and ‘conductor’ at the back. There’s nothing new about parents walking each other’s children to school, but the walking bus creates a more formal system which allows volunteers to walk larger numbers of children to school.

Like a bus there are scheduled bus stops where children are picked up at specific times. So, like a bus, you can miss it. But the similarities end there – unlike a bus it is free, healthy and totally non-polluting. Everybody gains with a walking bus.

If you'd like to find out how you can set up and start your own Walking Bus, then click on the PDF file icon below to download this guide which will tell you all you need to get going:

Let's see all of those little feet moving...