Camp for Climate Action
The Climate Camp will take place in Megawatt Valley, near Leeds, which
is the home of Drax power station, the largest single emitter of carbon
dioxide in the UK. It runs from August 26th to September 4th 2006.
The Camp for Climate Action is inspired by environmental protest camps
such as the Newbury Bypass campaign, and the Eco-village in Stirling,
which was a base for anti-capitalist protests at the G8 in 2005. Powered
by alternative energy, the camp will demonstrate practical solutions in
action. It will offer information, education and space for debate on the
science and politics of tackling climate change. There will be practical
skills to learn, from ideas for sustainable living to strategies for taking
action. There are groups forming all around the country to organise for
the camp and to take action against climate change.
Have a look at the website to see if there’s a group near you and find
out how to get involved. Entrance to the camp is free to enable everyone
to attend but they will be asking for donations. Suggested donations:
kids free, teenagers £5-10, adult on benefit £10-15, low-waged
adult £15-20, above-average wage £25-£30. There will
be a flat fee for parking vehicles. For more info, visit
www.climatecamp.org.uk
or send an email to
info@climatecamp.org.uk
Nuclear power, no thanks!
Two decades have passed since the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. And yet
people still get seriously ill, food cannot be eaten and land cannot
be used.
In order to fight the comeback of nuclear power, a coalition of European
NGOs aims to collect one million signatures against nuclear power in
Europe. More than 400,000 people have already signed. The signatures
will be handed over to European leaders to challenge them to listen
to the majority of Europeans who say NO THANKS to nuclear power. Why?
Because nuclear power:
• Still creates dangerous waste for many generations to come
• Is very expensive and wouldn’t survive without taxpayers’
subsidies
• Will run out of uranium in 50 years if energy production is maintained
at current level
•Caused at least 22 serious accidents with radioactive release
since Chernobyl
•Spreads the technology used in nuclear weapons
•Emits as much CO2 as modern-day gas-fired energy (from cradle
to grave)
The campaign claims that the solution for our energy needs and solving
climate change is full commitment to energy saving and efficiency and
renewable energy.
Help them to reach this one million: by signing the petition, by spreading
the word and by collecting signatures from friends and colleagues. Sign
the petition at www.million-against-nuclear.net
or phone the 1 Million Petition Secretariat in Amsterdam on +31 - 20-6126368.
And don't forget to get the T-shirt! A retro classic t-shirt with the
iconic 'Nuclear Power? No Thanks' image, which anyone who was around
in the 70s will remember, is being printed again by new company Fairganic.
The t-shirts are organic and fairtrade and 20% of the sales price goes
directly to the World Information Service on Energy (WISE) which campaigns
against the proliferation of nuclear energy and promotes the use of
renewable alternatives. WISE is part of the 1 Million Signatures campaign
group. Order them online for £24 from www.fairganic.co.uk
or phone 01225 867258.
Amnesty accuses Yahoo, Microsoft and Google of
hypocrisy in China
In July, Amnesty International urged users of Yahoo!, Microsoft and
Google to use their power as consumers to help end corporate complicity
in the suppression of the internet in China. The call to action is part
of a new campaign for free speech online called irrepressible.info,
and came as Amnesty launched a new report accusing the firms of hypocrisy
by talking about freedom of expression and access to information while
denying it in order to access the lucrative Chinese market.
The report calls on the companies to come clean and reveal which words
they have banned from blogs or filtered out of web searches in China,
and make public all agreements with the Chinese authorities. Amnesty
is also asking Yahoo!, Microsoft and Google to publicly call for the
release of 'cyber-dissidents' jailed for expressing peaceful opinions
online, and to stand up to the Chinese authorities by exhausting all
legal appeals before complying with demands that run counter to human
rights. Amnesty is calling on UK users of Yahoo!, Microsoft and Google
to email the companies directly and use their online feedback forms
to call for changes to the way they operate in China.
The new report contrasts the public statements of Yahoo!, Microsoft
and Google, and the company values that they espouse, with their actions
in China:
Amnesty International's new campaign
website enables people to oppose internet repression in countries
all over the world by signing a simple pledge calling on all governments
and companies to respect internet freedom. These will be presented
to a UN meeting on the future of the internet in November 2006. So
far over 23,000 people have signed the pledge and over 6,000 have
taken action on behalf of imprisoned journalist Shi Tao.
Amnesty's campaign against internet repression is not confined to China.
Filtering technology also exists in countries like Iran, which recently
announced that it would be able to monitor every citizen's web use, and
Amnesty is campaigning for imprisoned web users in Tunisia and Vietnam.
Flight-free holidays
As Slow Travel becomes a hot topic, tour operator Great Rail Journeys
adds more than 50 new departures to its list. All of the new holidays,
that have been introduced to meet public demand, begin and end on Eurostar
at London Waterloo.
On three routes, the Italia Express, Marrakesh Express, and Italy &
the Bay of Naples, Great Rail Journeys offers its customers a choice
between returning by rail or air. Four out of every five customers opt
to take the train.
For more information on the additional Europe by Rail departures, contact
Great Rail Journeys on 01904 521980 or at www.greatrail.com
Organic market booming
Figures released in July by the Soil Association on the state
of the market for organic food confirm continued confidence in the sector.
Growth in the UK market increased by 30 per cent, a three-fold rise
on the previous year to total almost £1.6 billion in sales - averaging
an extra £7 million a week. To put this in perspective, the annual
current growth for all UK food and drink sales is around 3 per cent.
Two out of three consumers now knowingly buy organic food (65.4 per
cent) and over half of people in the most disadvantaged social groups
are now buying organic food and drink too. This puts to rest the old
stereotype of organic being only for the well-to-do. Supermarkets took
the lion’s share of sales of organic produce making up £1.2 billion
of the £1.6 billion total sales. And supermarkets are now sourcing
66 per cent of organic primary produce from the UK. Despite the dominance
of the supermarkets, sales through independent shops, farm shops, farmers'
markets and box schemes increased by 32 per cent since 2004. Consumer
research carried out in early 2006 showed that 52 per cent of organic
consumers would prefer to shop at smaller, local suppliers.
The global market for organic food and drink totalled £16.7 billion
in 2005, an increase of £1.2 billion. Across the world 51.2 million
hectares of farm and forestry land are managed organically - an area
equivalent to the land mass of Thailand. After North America, Europe
has the largest market for organic food and drink in the world. Within
Europe, the UK has the third biggest market after Germany and Italy.
You can download the executive summary of the report from the Soil
Association website or buy the full report for £20 plus p&p.
Meanwhile, the Soil Association's Organic Fortnight takes place between
the 2nd and 17th of September. It begins with the presentation of this
year's Soil Association Organic Food Awards and is followed by the Soil
Association Organic Food Festival, sponsored by Yeo Valley, at Bristol's
Harbourside on 2-3 September. Hundreds of farms across the UK will be
opening their gates to the public during the Soil Association Organic
Experience Weekend, 9 - 10 September. There are also plenty of other
events taking place all over the country during the fortnight, from
free tastings to organic farmers' markets. Learn more about what's on
during the Soil Association Organic Fortnight by visiting www.soilassociation.org/organicfortnight
or phoning 0117 314 5000.
Underwear first to get organic approval
A range of underwear supplied by mail order retailer Greenfibres is
the first in the UK to be given the stamp of organic approval by the
Soil Association. This is the first step towards full UK Organic Certification
for the pioneering company, about to celebrate its 10th anniversary.
The textile industry is a major source of pollution, using about one
quarter of the pesticides applied to crops worldwide. Over 8,000 chemicals
are used to turn raw fibres into clothes, towels, bedding and other
household goods. Some of these chemicals (such as organophosphates,
pyrethroids, carbamates and organochlorines) have been associated with
cancer, birth defects, and hormonal disruption. Reproductive effects
have also been noted, including male fish developing female characteristics.
To grow the cotton for one T-shirt, around 150 grams of pesticides and
fertiliser are used.
More info from Greenfibres,
99 High Street, Totnes, Devon TQ9 5PF Tel: 01803 868001
Recycle Now!
Both new and regular recyclers now have their own dedicated areas on
the new look Recycle Now website.
Recycle Now is the national recycling campaign, implemented and managed
by not-for-profit company WRAP (the Waste & Resources Action Programme)
on behalf of the Government.
Designed as a one-stop shop for householders who want to either ‘start
recycling’ or find out 'what more they can do', the sections offer specific
tips and advice for the different needs of the two groups. Each area
is further split into headings to help people find information and guidance
relevant to them.
For new recyclers, the sections reflect the places where they may want
to start recycling, for example at home, in the garden, at school and
at the office, with step-by-step advice and simple tips.
And for regular recyclers, the headings help them find out more about
recycling, for instance whether something can be recycled or not, tips
on reducing rubbish and more detailed advice about how to recycle more
things at home, work, school, leisure and in the garden.
Pedal power at the Phone Co-op
Phone Co-op staff celebrated National Cycle-to-Work Day by taking delivery
of their new bikes, which will allow them to cycle to work every day
of the year.
The bikes are being provided free of charge by The Phone Co-op to employees
to encourage them to cycle rather than drive to work, and also to use
the cycles for business-related journeys.
In true co-operative style, all the bikes were supplied by the Edinburgh
Bicycle Co-operative.
Vivian Woodell, chief executive of The Phone Co-op, commented, “The
Phone Co-op is fully committed to reducing the environmental impact
of its activities and to encouraging staff and visitors to use less
environmentally damaging forms of transport. The provision of bikes
forms part of our green travel plan in which we have focussed on how
to reduce the CO2 emissions associated with our business travel.”
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