headwayyouth- phil smith's blog

Ethical and cheap as chips!

The reason ethical food and clothing costs more is because it's ethical and ethical is by it's nature more expensive than unethical- why else would companies act unethically?) Sometimes however the world order changes and- thanks to the generousity of some great companies- ethical becomes incredibly affordable; you guessed it the People Tree and Howies summer sales have begun!

Carnival of the Green #34

This week I have the great privilege of hosting the Carnival of the Green, a weekly round-up of all things ethical. A big thanks to Jen for hosting the Carnival last week, and to City Hippy and Triple Pundit- the genius behind this idea. Next week The Ester Republic is hosting.

Hippyshopper has a summary of some water saving gadgets.

JBruno @ The Voltage Gate explains why he feels natural places should be conserved.

Josh presents Speaking of the Supreme Court and climate change posted at Thoughts from Kansas.

Starling presents Environment Be Dammed posted at The Business of America is Business. Judy greatly admires Bill Millison,  Bill The Permaculture Guy's for his awesome expertise, but finds that he has a strangely misinformed view of a vegetarian diet.

Sludgie has much to say as Bush, who up to now may have the worst enviro record of any president, declares the largest marine preserve in the world in the Hawaiian Islands.

CityHippy questions the targeting of SUV drivers when surely more would be gained from engaging with ALL drivers instead of just demonising and alienating a minority.

Sally Kneidel PhD, co-author of Veggie Revolution, writes a review of Jeff Barrie's documentary "Kilowatt Ours."  It's a very personal and engaging film about people affected by our country's dependence on coal.  The beginning documents the health and environmental consequences of our energy consumption.  The last half documents just as carefully and convincingly the details of the easy solution.

The Greener Magazine argues that China's newly completed Three Gorges Dam may prove to be a double edged sword when it comes to the environment.

John discusses his first foray into do-it-yourself organic winemaking at home.

A Guide to Green Living offers advice on sustainable methods of maintaining your lawn.

Don Bosch over at The Evangelical Ecologist links to a project by Acton's PowerBloggers to eradicate malaria (and the mosquitoes that carry it) through the judicious use of DDT.

Dr. Fuhrman discusses the chemical contamination of fish

Riversider presents Riverworks - Pub Debate Primer posted at Save The Ribble!

For those who feel strangely tempted to keep chickens Groovy Green has some sound advice.

Ecostreet gives an introduction to the farmer's weekly food miles campaign, which sounds thoroughly worthwhile.

Chekhov answers a reader's question about what to do with formaldehyde-releasing particleboard

A Life Stripped Bare

As regular readers will know, since moving to Newcastle Zoë and I haven’t settled in a local church; consequently the focus of our faith has shifted dramatically; away from a local church community, towards a dispersed group of believers and focus on how we live our lives. And so we come to Leo Hickman’s ‘A Life Stripped Bare’

I heard Leo speak at Greenbelt last year and was well impressed with what he said and his answers to some difficult questions. The book is of a similar quality; full of great discussion and jolly humorous anecdotes, as Leo seeks to live ethically for a year.

Having read the book I am more convinced than ever of the importance of ethical living. Moreover, I am increasingly convinced that this should be at the heart of Christian discipleship. I can fully understand why what we do as Christians is so heavily reliant on key figures in church history (Augustine, Luther, Wesley, St Paul and even Christ himself) but the consequence of this is that discipleship does not deal with some very modern issues; Wesley did not have to consider his carbon footprint as he travelled horseback, Augustine did not have to consider food-miles and I suspect Martin Luther’s robes were not sown together in an Indonesian sweat shop.

For ‘the cloud of witnesses’ that went before us, ethical living probably equated to tithing. Today tithing is not the issue: ethical consumerism is much more important. The good caused by ten percent given to charity is irrelevant if ninety percent screws the planet and those who live in it.

Stupid blooming trainers...

I’m not a great fan of clothes shopping- unless there is a good chance of picking up a good bargain- and trying to live a little more ethically has complicated matters further. On Friday I had that most awkward of jobs of buying trainers. Until Howies do trainers, the best alternative is (guaranteed sweatshop-free) New Balance, but they’re not really my thing. Instead my principle has simply been avoid Nike, naughty, naughty Nike! I decided to invest in a rather trendy pair of Fila and yes, they were a bargain so I was especially happy. 

Yesterday Oxfam published the findings of their year long investigation into sports clothing manufacturers. Their findings…

"FILA was bottom of the league and had failed to address serious labour abuses in its supply chain. In one case, a FILA sport shoe supplier in Indonesia with an appalling record of worker abuse closed suddenly and without warning. A year later, none of its 3,500 workers have received any back-pay or severance pay. FILA refuses to reveal its role in the closure or take responsibility for the workers.

"Reebok has done the most to uphold sportswear workers' rights in Asia, while other big brands such as Nike, Adidas, Puma and Asics have improved over the past year.

My cock-up has highlighted for me what a minefield ethical consumerism is, but I guess I'll know better next time!

1 link= 1 ton of carbon emissions offset, fair swap!

DeepMarket.com, "a blog that researches new techniques for stock market analysis," is teaming up with CarbonFund.org to offset 1 ton of carbon emissions for every blog that links to it. Technorati suggests there  are 147 links thus far but I'm confident that without much effort the emerging church blogosphere could double that!

“In working with Carbonfund.org, I hope to encourage bloggers to go beyond the debate about climate change,” said Eric Cahoon, who writes the DeepMarket.com blog. “This challenge to bloggers is to help create awareness of actions they can take now – such as taking advantage of energy efficient appliances and reducing the energy they use. In working with Carbonfung.org, they can have further impact by reducing carbon emissions, supporting renewable energy and reforestation projects.”

“Solving the problem of global warming and our addiction to oil and fossil fuels will take innovative ideas and creative thinking,” said Carbonfund.org President Eric Carlson. “Deepmarket.com is showing that good business can go hand in hand with a better environment. We applaud Deepmarket.com for this creative, unique and effective way to educate millions of people about global warming while also supporting the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions.”

According to the program, Deepmarket.com, which is already a supporter of Carbonfund.org and has offset its carbon footprint, will offset one ton of carbon dioxide emissions with Carbonfund.org for every blog that links to Deepmarket.com. The program costs fellow bloggers nothing to participate."

What will happen to the puddles when it gets really hot?

Last night I popped along to an event at Newcastle Uni which was linked to the launch of Friends of the Earth's new campaign The Big Ask. The aim of the campaign is to encourage the government to pass a much needed legislation that will control levels of carbon emissions and punish those who pollute the planet most (coal burners, 4x4s, planes etc). If you're interested check out this advertisement which will be hitting a cinema near you very soon!

Everybody buys M&S underwear anyway...

Not sure about the ladies out there but lets face it men, all the best underwear (socks in particular) comes from M&S. Well, the good news is that M&S in a new ethical product drive is to launch a range of fair-trade clothing including socks- whoopie!

"Marks & Spencer is to cut its T-shirts and socks from a more conscientious cloth by launching a Fairtrade clothing range as part of an ethical product drive.

Its "Look behind the label" campaign is being launched this week, backed by research showing that ethical and health issues are becoming important factors in consumers' buying decisions."

Guardian

Exxon Movie

Exxon Mobil (esso to those of us on this side of the pond) are yet again celebrating record profit. If that doesn't fill you with joy then you'll probably enjoy this.

10 ways to help stop climate change

While working hard, I've just stumbled over these top tips from John Preece, on Oxfam's wonderful Generation Why website. If you're interested, then read on for plenty of hyperlinks;

1: Keep your feet on the ground

2: Leave the car in the garage

3: You are what you eat (go veggie)

4: Manage your personal temperature

5: Make the switch (sign up for Green electricity)

6: Reduce, reuse and recycle

7: Go local

8: Switch things off

9: Join the rebellion (lobby)

10: Get back to nature (plant trees)

Mail-order chickens

LINK: MAIL ORDER CHICKENS

Nothing funnier than a politicised talking chicken!