Welcome to the latest green headlines - and apologies that we haven't been able to update this page for some time.

Unfortunately, everyone has been very busy recently - but we promise to make a bigger effort in future!

So, what's happened of late?

Well,  all you meat eaters out there will be delighted to hear that Friends of the Earth have been working on a food report which they say provides proof that we don't all have to be veggies if we want to save the planet - we just have to control our food and our farming properly in future!

You can sign up to their Food Action plan and find out more on the Friends of the Earth website. 

Next, moves are now well underway to outlaw traditional light bulbs so that we'll all make full use of the new energy saving variety. Wonderful - but if anyone can recommend a low energy bulb that will provide at least reasonable light quickly when I turn on the bathroom light, please let me know asap!!

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Okay - this item isn't green news at all but we're happy to answer an appeal by the uncle of missing Madeleine McCann who is desperate to keep her picture in the public eye. Although we've all heard a lot about Madeleine in the UK, apparently there has been little publicity in many other countries.

You can download pictures and see the unique pupil she has in her right eye here: http://www.findmadeleine.com/2008/

HOW GREEN IS YOUR UNI, COLLEGE OR SCHOOL?

Environmentally-conscious universities and colleges have now been short-listed for the UK Green Gown Awards 2009.

So whether you are a student, an academic or an admin worker at any type of educational establishment, you can pick up tips for a greener campus - find out about award-winning capital projects and ethical investment campaigns.Many of the projects and ideas can be used in other countries too - so don't be put off just because you are not in the UK.

It's all great stuff!!  See the shortlist - and read case studies of 2008 Green Gown winners at www.heepi.org.uk

Support The Big Green by making sure you click on our links when making online purchases. Thank you! We'd also be grateful if you support our Google advertisers - if we can build up our income from advertising, we can spend a lot more time adding content to the site in future :)

February 2009

We've just joined a group of proud owners of a plot of land at Heathrow - slap bang in the middle of the proposed third runway.

Greenpeace has bought the land and is inviting people to become common owners. (You don't have to pay anything - it's just to show your support for the campaign against further expansion which would be very bad news for our planet.

You can join us by signing up here:http://www.greenpeace.org.uk/climate/airplot

January 2009

Do you eat tuna fish?

If so, then you need to make sure you're buying the right kind - and that doesn't just mean tins marked "dolphin-friendly".

 You may well be surprised to hear that market leader, John West has come out  bottom of the league when it comes to using sustainable fishing, according to Greenpeace.

And it is calling on people to switch to other brands to persuade the poorer performing companies to get their act together. 

 

After the USA, Britain is the world’s largest consumer of tuna but many suppliers are contributing to the decline of sea turtles, sharks, rays and other sea creatures.

 

Most tuna sold in the UK is now “dolphin friendly” and most of us look for that on the tin but a lot of our tuna is caught in nets and this leads to heavy by-catch of other species.

And as if that wasn’t enough, apparently tuna has been over-fished to such an extent that most of the 23 commercial stocks are now in danger of being wiped out completely.

 

So, until companies like John West get their act together, staff at The Big Green will be buying Sainsbury’s – which came top of the Greenpeace league.  ALL of Sainsbury's tuna is now pole and line caught – rather than with nets which threaten other species of marine life. (It's also great that Sainsbury's is just a stone's throw away from our cottage - so we're shopping local at the same time - saving on food miles!

 

You can check on your brand of tuna in the Greenpeace report here:

And please sign up to their tuna campaign here:

http://www.greenpeace.org.uk/files/pdfs/oceans/Tinned_Tuna_Final.pdf

December 10

We’d bee crazy not to do anything about this !!

 

Bees – tiny little creatures with a mammoth global task – are under threat and bee keepers in Britain are demanding that something is done.

Last year, around one in three hives in the UK died out – and poor bee health has been noted in a number of other countries.

So what, you might ask – who cares about a little stinging insect that can prove troublesome at garden barbecues in the summer?

Well, the answer is that we all need to care. There is a theory that if the humble bumble bee dies out, it will sound the death knoll for life on earth as we know it.

 Yes, that sounds pretty dramatic but the fact is that bees pollinate one third of all the food we consume.

Tim Lovett, President of the British Bee Keepers Association, says: “Bees are probably one of the most economically useful creatures on earth and they provide more than 50% of pollination of wild plants on which birds and mammals depend.”

The BBKA is demanding increased government funding into bee health. At the moment, the government spends only £200,000 per year and a much bigger investment is needed to save our bees.

The National Farmers Union says honey bees “are an underpinning component of the British countryside - whether it’s heather moorland, a hedgerow, an orchard or a field of beans.”

Lovett says honey bees face a range of challenges which are making them more vulnerable to disease and they also face the problem of wet summers and increasing bad weather.

The varroa mite reached the UK in 1992 and is now thought to invest 95% of hives.

According to the UK’s leading honey company, English bee honey will run out in supermarkets soon!  Dowse Rose has committed £100,000 to support research into bee health at Sussex University but the bee keepers say the government must provide major funding over the next few years.

THE MIGHTY BEE

 

The UK’s 275,000 managed hives produce 6000 tonnes of  honey each year.

To collect just a pound of honey a bee can fly the equivalent of twice around the world -  visiting 10,000 flowers over 500 foraging trips.

No wonder they're called 'worker' bees!

  Good news for staff at the Big Green is that our wild bees seem as healthy and happy as ever. We make sure we grow plants which appeal to bees and we love to hear their constant humming all through the summer months :)

  

As more and more people begin to use computers and the internet, the amount of energy needed to power them all is growing on a daily basis. So it’s good to hear that the UK government is supporting a new European code of conduct for Data Centres.

Many organisations now have data centres – rooms or building where their computer servers are based - and they are used for everything from websites to financial transactions or online gaming.

 

Currently, data centres account for almost three per cent of total electricity used in the UK – and this figure  is expected to double within the next few years. Ministers are urging data centre operators to adopt the code - which they hope will help to save almost 5 million tonnes of C02 over the next six years - equivalent to taking more than 1 million cars off the road.

You can find out more here:  www.defra.gov.uk/news/2008/081119b.htm

November 23, 2008

November 2008

First black President - green future?America’s historic presidential election has dominated the news recently and following the election of Barack Obama, environmentalists all over the world are waiting with bated breath to see if he comes through on his green promises.

Obama claims to be committed to fighting climate change – and if this turns out to be the case then the USA could make a MASSIVE difference to the planetary effort.

There’s certainly reason for excitement – if he stands by his word, Obama could make the UK’s contribution to the fight against global warming look like peanuts.

 

At the moment, UK annual emissions stand at an estimated 500 million tonnes of CO₂ - while the USA is currently held responsible for over 5,000 million – almost a quarter of all global emissions!

 

(Taken as a whole,  the countries of the EU account for 3171 million metric tons of C02 per year –  still almost 2000 millionless than America.)

 

US environmental group, LCV, says with Obama at the helm, it is hoping for “significant global warming and clean energy legislation in the next year."

 

Meanwhile, the Worldwatch Institute believes that with a Democrat in the White House, a cap on greenhouse gas emissions, energy-efficient building codes and an extension of renewable energy tax credits are all on the cards.

Already, the election result has affected the alternative energy market with stock market increases in share prices for a number of “green” corporations such as the Renewable Energy Corporation.   **************************************************

UK Woodlands Under Threat

A survey just completed by the Woodland Trust shows that over the past decade, the UK has lost 100 square miles of ancient woodland in the UK.

100 SQUARE MILES !!!

 

That’s the equivalent of an area around the size of Birmingham – and represents 5 per cent of the remaining ancient woodland that Britain has left.

 

Following 12 months of research, the trust has discovered that half of the ancient woodland of the 1930s has already been destroyed or degraded.

 

That’s right - half of Britain's traditional woodlands – gone!

Trees play a huge part in the life of our planet  – from offsetting carbon emissions and helping in the fight against climate change, to providing shelter for birds and animals and producing fruit, medicines and food. 

 You can find out more at www.woodwatch.org.uk  The website also allows you to update the trust on threats to trees through its interactive map and you can find out about wood under treat NOW in your area.

At the moment, the Woodland Trust is involved in over 400 cases of trees under threat in Britain.

October 2008

The Irish government is planning to outlaw traditional light bulbs, forcing consumers to switch to more energy efficient alternatives. 

 A consultation paper which has just been released outlines plans to ban inefficient incandescent tungsten bulbs of 75w and higher from March next year. This will be followed by the gradual phasing out of all other traditional light bulbs.

On the face of it, this sounds like a great opportunity to both reduce the carbon footprint of Ireland’s homes almost at a stroke and save money for consumers since low-energy bulbs cost less in the long run than cheaper traditional light bulbs. ******************

Scientists believe that tropical cyclones and coastal erosion may be a small help in the fight against global warming because they wash vegetation and soil containing greenhouse gases into the sea.

Research in Taiwan has revealed that floods caused by a typhoon four years ago swept a small amount of carbon from leaves, roots and soil into the Pacific Ocean where it sank to the seabed. ***********************