News
Freight by sail
In an interesting reponse to rising fuel prices and as a way of reducing their carbon emissions, French company CTMV has started using sail power to transport its cargoes of wine and whisky between France, the UK and Ireland.
It chartered one of the few remaining tall ships, the Kathleen & May, for its first voyage. The vessel is a three-masted, 108 year-old schooner but CTMV plans both to build its own ships and to use them to carry shipments across the Atlantic, starting with a voyage to Canada later this year.
One way to combat ever-higher fuel prices in your own life is to use less of it, either by switching to more efficient appliances or by reducing the energy consumption of those you already have. For example, you could fit a Magnofuel to reduce your car's petrol or diesel consumption.
And you could use an Efergy or Wattson to help you identify the most energy-inefficient devices in your home - and then either replace them or change the way you use them.
A third way to reduce your energy bills is to switch things off when you aren't using them, something the Standby Buster makes easy.
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Win a ladybird habitat!
Great news - anyone who places an order with us during August will be entered into our prize draw!
We're giving away two Ladybird Towers. Natural habitats for ladybirds and other beneficial insects, the Ladybird Tower has a central chamber filled with natural material. There are many holes drilled at an upward angle for the insects to reach the insulated and safe inner chamber. If necessary a roof panel may be removed for inspection or cleaning.
A ground pole provided so the tower is easy to site into lawns, sheltered flower beds, wooded glades or even in planters.
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Hampshire water festival
At the Hampshire Water Festival on Saturday 9 August, Waterwise and Big Green Smile will provide expert advice to visitors on how to save water within the home. In addition a range of water saving products will be available for purchase.
"If everyone in Hampshire saved 10 litres a day, easily achieved by turning off the tap when brushing teeth it would save a total of 16.9 million litres, enough to supply everyone in Winchester with water for one day," says Chris Philpot, Communications Manager at Waterwise. "Only through water efficiency can we ensure that we achieve a sustainable supply for the future. Each person wastes around one third of the water they use each day and this can easily be saved by making small changes in behaviour and installing water efficient products."
Saving water can save you money and protects the environment as less water is abstracted from rivers. However, saving water, can also save you energy when you consider that 5% of our greenhouse gas emissions come from treating and pumping water to our homes and then heating it. In fact, the average family’s annual water consumption results in as much CO2 as two transatlantic flights. Our water use plays a significant contribution to our daily carbon footprint.
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Solar powered photosynthesis breakthrough
Scientists at Massachusetts Institute of Technology have claimed a major breakthrough in the ability to split water into hydrogen and oxygen, a fundamental of fuel cell technology. Where conventional fuel cells have to use a great deal of energy to do this the new development is said to be more closely related to photosynthesis in plants, drawing its energy from the sun.
One of the limitations of conventional fuel cell technology has been that in order to produce its energy it has been necessary also to use a large amount of energy to produce the hydrogen and oxygen it needs. If Professor Daniel Nocera and Dr. Matthew Kanan's work stands up to scrutiny then it could have major implications for the uptake of solar power, as it would effectively allow us to heat our homes at night using solar power collected during the day. The excess solar energy produced during daylight could power the production of hydrogen and oxygen from water, which could then be stored and used to power fuel cells at night. While currently excess energy can be stored in batteries for later consumption, those batteries are limited in the amount of energy they can hold.
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Government acts to conserve water
The Government has just released an update report on the progress made over the last four years focusing upon water conservation. Hilary Benn says that:
Pressures on our water resources are set to increase. Climate Change is expected to bring drier, hotter summers and more intense and sporadic winter rain. Rising temperatures and changing rainfall patterns are likely to change the public demand for water.
Our population is growing, and we need to build more houses in the places where people want to live. The south east and east of England in particular face increasing demand on a finite water supply. The drought of 2004-06 was not a one off; indeed such droughts have occurred on a number of occasions in the past two hundred years and are likely to become more common.
We believe that the approach for reducing the demand for water is six fold. We want to see continued reductions in leakage, better building design and more efficient appliances, improved industrial processes, sustained behaviour change and near universal metering in areas of serious water stress by 2030.
Read the full report. See our products to help you save water.
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Ofwat plans for more competition
Ofwat, the UK's water industry regulator, plans to increase competition by allowing us all to choose which water company we get our supply from - much as we can now choose which electricity or gas company supplies our homes with energy.
In an interview with The Times, the regulator's chief executive, Regina Finn, outlines her thoughts on the future of the water industry. The paper forecasts some industry consolidation ahead but believes that the plans for greater consumer choice are some way off. Of course, it is not practicable to ship water around the country (after all, 1 cubic metre of water weights 1 tonne) but Ofwat's belief is that by offering a choice they would encourage more competitive pricing. As it is, there are signs of "water poverty" in some of the poorest households, with people struggling to pay their bills. As a consequence the industry is working on so-called social tariffs to help the more vulnerable.
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"Save our butterflies" week
Launching the national Save Our Butterflies Week (19-26 July), David Attenborough reported that most British butterfly species are declining, some very rapidly. Butterfly Conservation has unveiled twenty UK Butterfly Survival Zones, the focus of this new strategy being to save butterflies across entire landscapes.
Butterflies are beautiful and intrinsically valuable. Together with moths, their sensitivity to environmental change makes them valuable indicators of the health of the countryside. Butterfly Conservation was formed 40 years ago and aims to halt and reverse the decline in the butterfly and moth populations in the UK.
Why not get help by getting your family a butterfly feeder?
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Prix Pictet shortlist announced
The Prix Pictet is a major new global prize in photography that focuses on perhaps the greatest single issue of the twenty-first century: sustainability. The award is sponsored by Pictet & Cie, in association with the Financial Times.
With a single annual prize of CHF 100,000, the Prix Pictet will reward photographers and the images they use to tell stories of urgent global significance. Each year the Prix Pictet will focus on a distinct sustainability theme. The theme for 2008 is water.
From an exceptional field of over 200 photographers from 43 countries, the judges have shortlisted 18 photographers who have produced works that are of outstanding artistic merit and communicate messages of urgent global significance.
For more information, and to see the shortlist, visit www.prixpictet.com.
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Opec predicts oil demand will rise 50%
In its 2008 outlook for oil Opec, which represents many of the world's major oil producing countries, forecasts that world demand for oil will grow by 50% by 2030.
The group blames the current high price of oil on a combination of under-investment in oil production, the weakness of the dollar, and speculation in oil futures. They predict a medium-term reduction in demand for oil, as developed countries cut back over the next few years in response to the record prices, but the long-term trend, they say, is up.
We say: fit a Magnofuel and save money on petrol.
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Emissions targets will add 20% to energy bills
Ernst & Young, the accountancy firm, estimates that the cost of meeting the EU's 2020 emissions targets will mean an extra 20% on every household energy bill.
Their report, Costing the Earth, puts the total cost to the UK at £100bn. To fund this, UK consumers will have to pay £5.3bn annually by 2020, an average rise of £213 per household per year. Some of the extra cost will be the result of higher energy prices generally, some will be caused by the need to purchase carbon emissions permits and some will arise because of the intention to increase the proportion of energy generated from renewable sources.
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Government's 15% renewable energy target
Gordon Brown has announced plans to boost Britain's renewable energy production to 15% of total consumption by 2020.
Plans include an extra 4,000 wind turbines on land and 3,000 offshore with a required investment from private industry of £100bn. Much of the effort will be concentrated on electricity production, with a target of 30% to come from renewable sources by 2020. Ofgem, the energy regulator, will be instructed to give top priority to such schemes, removing one of the hurdles currently faced by green energy projects.
The government also promised incentives for householders to reduce their consumption, to be announced later this summer, with the aim of greatly increasing the use of solar panels in the home and promoting the use of ground-source heat pumps.
Greenpeace has welcomed the annoucement, but also warned that the goverment must deliver, not just promise, action. The goverment has committed to reduce the nation's carbon emissions by 60% by 2050.
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Ofwat consults on water efficiency targets
Ofwat has published a consultation document describing its proposals for setting water effiency targets for 2010-2015 and is seeking views from consumers, as well as the water industry. It proposes to recommend a number of water efficiency devices that can be used to reduce water consumption. These include:
BigGreenSmile.com sells an extensive range of the above.
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Climate change book wins Royal Society prize
Mark Lynas's book Six Degrees: Our future on a hotter planet has won this year's Royal Society science book of the year prize.
The Royal Society describes his book as charting, degree by degree, the consequences that an increase in temperature of up to six degrees could have on our planet. With each chapter rising by one degree Lynas investigates what science can tell us about what could happen in an increasingly warm world. He describes rivers ten times the size of the Amazon gushing off the ice sheet into the North Atlantic, crippling drought in Pakistan and a superstorm hitting New York. However, Lynas highlights that with foresight and careful, strategic planning we can choose a different future, but that the time to act is now.
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Home energy bills to rise by up to 40%
Home energy bills could rise by as much as 40% this winter because of the escalating price of oil and gas.
The average homeowner currently pays about £1,000 a year in gas and electricity charges so the increases could amount to an extra £400 a year. However not everyone agrees that the rises could be quite so large. Some in the industry believe the increases might just be around the 25% mark - so that's only an extra £250 to find!
It's likely the price rises will be announced round about August but they may come out in stages as the energy companies are aware that they will come under a great deal of pressure to justify the changes, and none of them wants to be the first.
BigGreenSmile.com stocks a wide range of energy-saving products and smart energy meters like the Wattson and Efergy to help you reduce your electricity consumption.
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What Green Home
Whatgreenhome.com is a fantastic website for those of you out there who want to find out more about eco-friendly homes for sale worldwide and read news, reviews and opinion on sustainable development issues. Run by people with years of experience writing and investigating property-related subjects, the site reviews eco-homes and only gives their coveted Kite Mark to those developments that fulfil the following criteria and achieve at least two big green ticks.
- zero-carbon
Energy requirements are provided from renewable sources e.g. solar, photovoltaic, ground source heat, hydro-electricity, wind-turbines, combined heat and power (CHP) etc. Effective orientation and insulation lessens the need to produce heat or artificially cool a building. Where back up or top up energy is required, it is supplied from a renewable source that is REGO certified.
- zero-waste
A waste management programme should ensure waste is minimised through reduced packaging, and provision of recycling facilities. Where it is unavoidable, waste is sorted, collected and disposed of responsibly e.g. organic waste will be composted, paper is recycled. Building waste during construction is recycled and reused onsite where possible or disposed of responsibly offsite.
- sustainable water
A minimum requirement of a sustainable water initiative is a reduced flush system and/or a ‘save a flush’ bag that minimises water usage. Grey water i.e. from showers and baths etc should be captured, cleansed and recycled. Rainwater should be collected and recycled for irrigation. Permeable pavements to aid rainwater runoff should be a feature. Sedum roofs or similar to reduce rainwater run off are seen as beneficial.
- local and sustainable building materials
Construction materials should be from local, sustainable sources not imported from afar. The benefit will be reduced transport (air) miles, a boost to the local economy, and vernacular architecture. Whenever possible, reuse or recycling of existing constructions and materials should be undertaken. The use of local labour and contractors is desirable to reduce the carbon footprint and generate local economic independence.
- sustainable transport
The provision of a sustainable transport policy should be in place to reduce the reliance on motorised vehicles. Developments should be designed to encourage walking and cycling, electric carts provided. An airport, train station collection service should be provided; a shared car pool implemented. Traffic-calming measures should be installed if traffic is allowed on the site.
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WaterAid & Google Earth
Google has added WaterAid to its Google Earth Global Awareness layer.
The Global Awareness layer adds an overlay to Google Earth that highlights activities and issues such as species endangerment and Fairtrade certified production. Google has now added WaterAid projects to this layer, allows its millions of users to read about water and sanitation issues in the countries where WaterAid works.
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Waterwise conference 2008
Water Group Promotions was again a proud sponsor of the Waterwise Water Efficiency Conference, held in Oxford on 8-9 April 2008.
The third Waterwise Water Efficiency Conference - part of UNESCO’s World Water Day events programme - brought together the leading policy makers, doers and thinkers on water efficiency, both as speakers and participants to discuss the economics and logistics of water efficiency programmes.
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Alpro Soya & BigGreenSmile.com
BigGreenSmile.com is delighted to be partnering with Alpro Soya to promote the Year of Wellbeing.
BGS attended the Alpro wellbeing day on Sunday 17th February 2008 at Danesfield House in Marlow. The focus of the day was on Wellbeing with speakers talking on a range of subjects including psychology, nutrition and the environment.
110 volunteer Alpro ambassadors also attended the event each one of them having volunteered to participate and promote the year of wellbeing. They will take the wellbeing message back to their communities, and play their own part in taking small steps to make a big difference.
'Changing our lives for the better seems easier said than done. Wellbeing concerns our whole life: our health, the food we eat, our relationships, our working lives, our leisure activities, the communities we live in, the environment we share, as well as our own happiness and sense of fulfilment'.
Nicholas Buhler, our MD, attended the event and led a breakout session on water & energy saving.
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Compulsory water meters in the South
Water companies have been given approval for the compulsory installation of meters in millions of houses across southern England by 2015.
The area stretches from the Thames Valley in the West to Dover in the South East, including London and the Home Counties, where there are regular water shortages.
The companies affected are Bournemouth and West Hampshire Water, Cambridge Water, Essex and Suffolk Water, Folkestone and Dover Water, Mid Kent Water, Portsmouth Water, South East Water, Southern Water, Sutton and East Surrey Water, Thames Water and Three Valleys Water
The rest of the country should have meters fitted by 2030, the Government said.
Homeowners will also need planning permission to pave over their front and back gardens. Surface water was a significant cause of last summer’s flooding in the North.
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New UK water strategy – Future Water
The Government has published its new water strategy for England. Called Future Water it sets out the Government’s long-term vision for water and the framework for water management in England.
In it, among many other points, the Government states that it believes there is scope for incumbent water companies to extend their focus from being providers of basic water and sewerage services to becoming water service companies – providers of water efficiency goods and services, alongside and in partnership with new entrants and other third parties.
They say that for household customers, there is likely to be growing demand for goods and services that will help save and reuse water and avoid wastage as the uptake of meters increases.
See the whole document.
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Thames Water changes charges
Thames Water is changing the way it charges un-metered customers. The changes mean that bills will go down for people living in smaller homes, but will rise for those in mid-sized and larger homes. Read the story in full.
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"We are on the verge of a water crisis"
The Daily Telegraph recently carried an article on the world's growing demands for water, and our inability to meet them. The authors, Klaus Schwab, founder and executive chairman of the World Economic Forum, and Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, chairman and chief executive officer of Nestlé, say "As we continue to grow our world economy and population, we are becoming a much thirstier world. It is important to realise just how much water we need to make every aspect of our economy work. And we need to adapt our water use to a fast-changing world while we still can."
They go on to describe just how much water is required to produce everyday items. Every litre of petrol requires up to 2.5 litres of water to produce it. On average, crops grown for their bio-energy need at least 1,000 litres of water to make one litre of bio-fuel. It takes about 2,700 litres of water to make one cotton T-shirt, up to 4,000 litres of water to produce a kilo of wheat and up to 16,000 litres to produce a kilo of beef.
Schab and Brabeck-Letmathe report that the International Water Management Institute found that we will not have enough water to supply global demand for food over the next few decades unless urgent and substantial reforms in water and agriculture are undertaken.
They go on to say "The latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report says if average temperature rises by 3C, hundreds of millions of people will be exposed to increased water stress. It provides the wake-up call we all need to start acting on water. We can see this crisis unfolding over the next few years. A perfect storm is approaching. And all this sits on top of the morally indefensible situation of today where 20% of the world's population are without access to clean water." They state their aim to "... catalyse at this year's Davos meeting an unprecedented, high impact public-private coalition to help find ways for us all to manage our future water needs before the crisis hits."
See the full article on the Daily Telegraph's website. The article appeared in the Personal View column of the paper's Business News section on Monday 21st January 2008.
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The Sustainability Show
We took part in The Sustainability Show at the O2 in London on October 26-28. Among our visitors was the well-known naturalist, David Bellamy.
The show's theme was that we can all help sustain and maintain our environment now and keep it safe for generations to come. WGP heartily agrees with this and we attended, along with Waterwise, to promote water efficiency and the saving of this precious resource.
Did you know that each person in the UK currently uses about 150 litres of water every day? This has been rising by 1% since 1930, a trend that is not sustainable in the long-term.
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Wessex Water's Water Efficiency Workshop
We recently attended and exhibited at Wessex Water's Water Efficiency Workshop.
The workshop brought together building developers, planners, water saving device suppliers manufactures and councillors.
A lively debate took place discussing the following topics:
- Why water efficiency is important
- Retrofit-saving water existing homes
- Saving water in new homes
- The economics of water saving
- How to bring about change
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Eco-Schools / Alan Titchmarsh
As part of our continuing efforts to promote water saving in the home, we provided Moorfield School for Girls with a Ripple shower timer for each pupil and member of staff.
Alan Titchmarsh visited the school (a registered Eco-School) recently and was presented with a shower timer of his very own!
The Eco-Schools programme provides a simple framework to enable a school to analyse its operations and become more sustainable. The programme is rooted in a genuine desire to help children become more effective citizens by encouraging them to take responsibility for the future of their own environment. More information.
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Water Group Promotions – UK distributor of Ripple Products
Water Group Promotions, the company behind BigGreenSmile.com, is proud to annouce that it is the UK distributor of Ripple Products. The range of Ripple Products is now available in BigGreenSmile.com's shop and, for larger orders with volume discounts, the water industry and retail trade.
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