Has anyone else heard the jingle on that advert? I think it's for 'EDF Energy' or someone, but it doesn't matter to be honest. The end line, sung high-pitched like the name of toilet roll or kitchen floor cleaner so often is on adverts (because we as consumers are more likely to buy things we are told about by people impersonating Barry Gibb)... Where was I? Yes. The end line goes, "it's not that easy being gree-een," as some renewable-powered superhero flies off in to the distance, presumably to save Louis Lane from a wonky turbine.
I don't like the advert, and I don't get the message in relation to a gas-guzzling, coal-burning, oil-sucking energy provider, and I don't like the overall idea. It IS easy being green - you just have to make the right choices.
Yesterday, I made the wrong choice.
Stocking up at Jamie Oliver's favourite supermarket, I whazzed some spring onions in the basket, mashed some broccoli on top and flipped in some egg-fried noodle and some soy sauces. (Prize on offer for what I had for tea - or 'dinner' if you herald from below the M62!). Last but not least though, two pints of semi-skimmed for the morning muesli.
But whoooah. Whooah nelly. Whooah there. What is that? Red top milk - yes. Blue top milk - fine. Green top milk - that's ma' boy. But milk... in a bag? Milk. In a bag?
For those of you reading this thinking it all sounds a bit Brian Potter (i.e. Garlic Bread? Garlic... bread?), that's exactly what it was. I was flummoxed. Mind-boggled. My flab was gasted. If I was Coronation Street's Ashley Peacock, I would have said something along the lines of, "Eh... 'ar Clure... 'ave you sin' this? They've put milk in't bag now. By 'eck Clure it's potty."
Hold do you hold it? How do you pour it? Where is the lid? How do I put it down on the counter? How do I rest it in the door of the fridge? The mind boggled... It was 38p cheaper though, so I rolled up the sleeves, wiped the sweat of confusion from my brow, and squinted closer - nervously.
I'll spare you the gory details, but my CSI-style investigation found one key fact. The milk was indeed in bags, but the idea is that the bag is placed into a jug-like receptacle. This holds the bag secure, pierces it, and allows the cow juice to flow freely on to the intended surface/food stuff with the classic pour motion most commonly associated with kettles, tea-pots and watering-cans.
Why, you ask?
The bag uses 75% less packaging. It is recycable as it is made of the same polymer plastic as carrier bags (all good supermarkets have a carrier bag recycling point), and the boxes the bags are transported in are recyclable cardboard. Oh, and did I mention it's 38p (about 30%) cheaper for a two-pinter?
Yes, the jug-type receptacle (a 'Jug-It') costs £1.98, but this means you make your money back and start saving money after you've bought five bags of milk! Save 38p two or three times a week and you've got yourself a few nights out, some fancy shoes or you could buy a bike on eBay and pedal to work. Then you start cutting more of your CO2 emissions and save money on petrol to boot... Clever, eh? See what I did there?
So back to me making the wrong choice...
I bought a 'Jug It' device and a bag of milk. I'll make my £2 back inside three weeks, and it's the right thing to do.
But the wrong choice was deciding to open the bag with a knife before placing it in the jug. Don't do this. Milk volcano.
Please follow the instructions on the side of the packet...
We're launching an Iphone app to help local people explore the city's wildlife and nature...
The app will feature four guided walks when it launches in October this year. Two of the walks will be specially designed to help you interact with nature and two will be health walks for those people wanting to get fit.
Further themed walks will be developed and added in the future, for example a walk exploring Peterborough’s history and one looking at the city’s culture.
The initial four walks will feature routes in Hampton, Lynch Wood, Woodston, and Stanground.
I love a sausage roll. I'm a big fan of a pastie. And I'm more than partial to a caramel slice (aka. millionaire shortbread). I even follow one particular bakers fortunes on the stock-exchange, to the extent that I felt a certain pride when the high street chain was recently awarded the freedom of Newcastle. I often decide whether I like a place based on the meat-to-pastry ratio of it's baked offerings.
But you've got to know where to draw the line. If after handing over your money in the bakers, the hair-netted Pie Operations Supervisor (or whatever their suped-up job title is these days) asks if you'd like a carrier bag for your purchases, you have clearly bought too much. If you have inhaled this food (and the bag) before you leave the shop, there is a problem. You must be, for want of a better word, a bit of a chubber. But I don't place the blame solely at your feet. What messages is society sending us?
I picked up a set of green living top trumps cards this week; a whole range of sustainable lifestyle choices such as recycling, composting and fitting solar panels are rated 1 (low) - 10 (high) on their Co2 impact, general environmental impact, ease and cost. A lot of them make sense, and the game is fun to play until Kim Coley decides it's got to be best of five, and then best of seven and so on and so on.
But I take issue with some of them.
With '1' being the easiest possible action, walking scores at '2'. After breathing and talking, I've always thought of walking as a fairly basic action for the majority of people. Sadly there isn't a card dedicated to 'Walking to Pete’s Pies' which is presumably easier than general walking if the queue waiting for it to open is anything to go by. So as a group we have deemed walking to be a marginally difficult task. Interesting. But it gets worse when compared to some of the other green actions on the top trump cards.
Building and installing a bird box scores a '3' for ease. This task that demands carpentry abilities, tools and precision. As someone who once built a bird table (which actually seemed to repel birds), it ain't no walk in the park. So for walking to be considered only a tiny bit easier than fashioning a hollow wooden box from slats of timber is quite a statement.
The walking difficulties don't stop there though.
The 'Walking Bus' (e.g. walking in groups)scores an ease rating of '4'. As if walking somewhere on your own wasn't difficult enough. I can see the headlines now... "Teens combust as shoulder-to-shoulder friction sparks blaze", "OAPs tied in knot: Cameron urges public to keep safe distances from one another as they stroll" and "Busy rush-hour pavements cause people to go to wrong jobs". Walking in groups scores a '4', and so does catching the bus.
Catch the bus then - safer - and you won't burn any of those precious calories. But the fact that walking with company is deemed twice as difficult as walking is mind-boggling. Is it the multi-tasking of walking and talking? Or the knowledge that you have to move in a reasonably straight line? Or that you haven't discussed where you are going and are struck by uncontrollable fear that you will never be able to stop and will end up circling Bourges Boulevard until judgement day?
But the one that really gets me is cycling. This also scores a '4', so is also deemed twice as difficult as walking. But its well easy! Especially in Peterborough which is FLAT, when it becomes nothing more than sitting down. So sitting down scores a '4' on the difficulty spectrum? I honestly don't know a more basic human action that 'the sit'.
So if the cards for 'Cycling', 'Walking' and 'Walking in groups' score '4s' for ease/difficulty, I reckon the rating for 'Overcoming the greatest threat to life on Earth since that meteor hit that T-Rex' is going to get at least a '6' or a '7', and I don't fancy our chances.
Incidentally, the only card that scored a '0' for ease (i.e. no effort what-so-ever) was 'Eating butter.'
Over the last couple of weeks I’ve witnessed first-hand the steps Peterborough is taking in order to make a positive impact on the environment, and the experience has been a breath of fresh air.
Large businesses have a reputation for being environmentally unsound, and who can blame them – it’s not easy to manage gigantic sums of money, hundreds of outlets and thousands of employees whilst keeping an eye on the small details like what cardboard goes in the bins at a small branch. Despite this it’s becoming increasingly apparent that environmentally-friendly business practices are possible in the largest of chains.
Early this month I visited Queensgate to chat with their environmental officer and witness the lengths they have gone to make a difference. What I saw there was inspirational – a large majority of the shopping centre’s major firms are making efforts to reduce their carbon footprint. Most stores within Queensgate separate their waste streams into eight categories, which are dealt with in appropriate manners. Cardboard is crushed together by a massive machine called a baler, which crushes boxes into compact cubes which can be sent off in bulk to be recycled, saving petrol from multiple road trips. The same goes for polythene wrapping, which is crushed and sent to recycling plants. Even the skips Queensgate use are locally sourced and rigorously monitored. Another great initiative is one taken on by McDonalds who send their oil off to be re-used. It gets converted into bio-fuel, which is far less damaging to the environment than regular fuels.
It comes as no surprise that Queensgate have received so many awards. With accolades such as Green accreditation from Investors in the Environment to Retail Recycler of the Year at the National Recycling Awards the staff at Queensgate should be proud of themselves. But as I found out last week, it’s not just large companies which can make an environmental difference.
Last Wednesday I visited Best Deal 4 Baby, a Community Interest Company which helps new mums with everything they could need to raise their children in a sustainable manner. From their massive collection of affordable baby clothes and equipment to their excellent day courses, Best Deal 4 Baby has a lot to offer. But from an environmental standpoint this is just the tip of the iceberg. Recently the company relocated its premises and decided to make the process as green as possible. For a start over 90% of their furnishings were re-used, with many examples being donated and saved from landfill. Everything from carpet tiles, doors and even computers were locally sourced. Their toilet cubicle doors were once wooden pallets – after being cut to shape and secured to the stalls with hinges they look terrific! One of the greatest things I took from my visit was the sense of solidarity in the team, who seemed more like a family than co-workers.
These examples prove that with a little effort and forethought it is possible for businesses to conduct sustainable business practice. There’s just no excuse for sending recyclable or reusable materials to landfill when there are so many services designed to support environmental conduct.
It’s the summer holidays and that can only mean one thing, yes it’s time for the annual fun day at Woodfield Park .
Mick Steele from the Welland Residents Association invited us to attend this annual event and, as we had enjoyed this event so much last year, we are really looking forward to pitching the PECT gazebo and spreading the eco message to the residents who attend in their thousands, well nearly, mmm.
Last year Patrick and I gave away hundreds of free Warm Homes energy packs and we found our 500th survey participant for the Seeding Sustainable Communities project that I was working on at the time. This event was a great marker for us, it led to lots of conversation based around comments such as ‘this time last year’ and it was really great to sum up all the things we have achieved over the past year. Patrick has completed hundreds of surveys and is well into the second year of his project where he helps people find their way out of fuel poverty buy offering friendly and effective energy saving advice and I was promoting the Greeniversity, Peterborough’s green skill and green experience website.
Also joining us during the year was Sophie and her Green Team who have just completed their 2,000th free eco audit. At the event Scott and Chris from the Green Team spent the day helping people to identify ways they could cut their carbon. They even persuaded me that I should make the effort and get on my bike!
We were particularly lucky that the deputy mayor Bella Saltmarsh joined us at the PECT stand, Bella has been particularly supportive of PECTs projects on her patch and we are really grateful for all her efforts. We were also grateful to the Mayor who helped us to set up the stall then stayed around for a while helping to attract attention to the PECT stand.
The event itself was fabulous. Patrick loved the huge boot sale and I got both my dogs a new teddy each. I was able to buy a big yellow sunflower for my garden and the bees pleasure and some of the most delicious peaches I’ve ever had from the fresh produce stall. I didn’t fancy wall climbing, Patrick wanted to do bungie jumping but said that he had a medical condition that prevented him from doing anything dangerous – likely story!
Along with all those that attendedr we really did have a great time When works this good who needs Saturdays off?
Travelchoice has launched a sustainable travel photo competition...
The photographic competition is open to all. The photographs must include sustainable transport somehow, but this is up to you to interpret for yourself.
For example, you might capture the joy in learning to ride a bike or a fantastic landscape shot whilst on a cycle ride – let your imagination run wild!
There are two categories: Under 16’s and 16 and over.
To enter:
Simply email your photos to
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
by 12pm on Monday 13 September to be in with a chance of winning.
All photos will be judged by a panel and the winning shots will be displayed in Queensgate Shopping Centre from 17-20 September and hosted on the Travelchoice website.
Prizes are in Queensgate Gift Cards, with the following denominations:
Over 16’s
1st - £100
2nd - £75
3rd - £50
Under 16’s
1st - £50
2nd - £30
3rd - £20
For more info contact:
Matthew Barber,
Sustainable Travel Officer
01733 317 485
Did you know that bee populations across the globe are severely declining?
In the UK, around one third of honeybee hives were lost in the winter of 2007/08. No one can be 100% sure of the cause, but pesticides, modern agriculture, disease and selective breeding have all been implicated.
Or that bees pollinate a third of the food we eat in the UK alone and contribute £200m a year to the economy through pollination? Bees play a crucial role in pollinating some 90 commercial crops worldwide. If people were to do the work of bees it would require a workforce of over 30 million!
As a responsible business, the Co-operative Group nationally has launched Plan Bee, which includes action on pesticides, research funding and empowering people to take action in their own gardens.
Tying into this national Co-operative campaign the team from Anglia Co-operative in Peterborough have been creating a buzz to help halt the decline in honey bees and bumble bees.
Three working hives have been set up in a specially-designated bee garden at the company’s headquarters in Saville Road, Peterborough and a purpose-built observatory has been erected to study the bees at work.
Schools from across Peterborough are invited to visit the site for a talk from members of the Peterborough and District Beekeepers Association (PDBA) and a close-up view of the bees from the observatory. At the end of their visit schools will also be given a special education pack and a packet of ‘bee friendly’ flower seeds to grow in their own gardens.
Anglia Co-operative staff have provided plants for the bee garden at Saville Road and have rolled up their sleeves to work on it, with the help of expert advice from Kim Andrews, a plant advisor at The Barn Garden Centre in Gunthorpe. The company is also providing the PDBA with a permanent base for the future from which to continue its work, including raising awareness in the community of the plight of the bee.
This is a great resource for Peterborough and a chance to learn all about the importance of looking after our bees. School visits last for about an hour and a half and can be booked by contacting Jill Basson, head of marketing at Anglia Co-operative on 01733 225558 or Chairman of the Peterborough and District Beekeepers’ Association Richard Davies on 01733 349829.
There are a number of things you can do in your garden to make it bee friendly. For example you could plant an area with wildflowers. Bees particularly like Foxgloves, Clover, Dahlias, French marigolds, sunflowers, and Poppies.
You should also try to avoid the use of pesticides in your garden and provide water for bees to drink. This can be as simple as a shallow edged dish of water. Add some pebbles to help the bees climb out.
From the spate of degree-related statuses lots of my Facebook friends (someone that shares a common ancestor with an actual friend, but is now part of a different genus altogether) graduated this year. Surely the crowning glory of their formative years, they can head of into the world equipped with a scroll, a mortar board and a stack load of debt. The world is their oyster, surely.
Apparently not. In fact, most would be grateful of a job serving oysters at the moment. Much more likely is a reality-check as they thump back to work in Tesco and Tearooms and Toppin's Butchers. The public sector is cutting people faster than Sweeney Todd and only the best of the best will get through the doors in the private sector. As someone who saw in the new the year with a tidy degree in the back-pocket, a bottle of lager in one hand and a dole book in the other, I understand the grim, grey mornings people are waking up to all over the country at the moment. Which leads to my weekly gripe.
BAA staff threatening strike action because they are 'only' being offered a 1% pay increase (and another 0.5% if they meet targets). This just weeks after British Airways and Virgin posted losses in this quarter. And with record number os people unemployed. My solution? Sack the lot of 'em. Ingrates.
I work with people who forgave salaries for six months this year to keep businesses afloat. I've stopped working with people because the business they once represented has now ceased to exist. This should be a time for that so-called steely English reserve. The old stiff upper lip that we pride ourselves on. That gritty resolve that our lads demonstarted oh so well in Bloomfontein and Johannesberg and Cape Town this summer. Oh wait...
What's more, you would think that those BAA staff dropping their papers in the ballot box this week would have taken the time to read their story on the front page of the newspapers. I saw it. It was right there, next to the article about Greenland shedding an 100 square mile ice sheet. When Iceland decided it needed to let off a bit of steam this spring, we coped. We learnt to deal without air travel. Many have continued in this vain and saved thousands. Those that have tightened their belts at the moment will be holidaying in Britain this summer - doing without air travel. Those that are aware that flying is about as good for the environment as feeding a cow baked beans are more likely to be hopping on the 14.09 from Platform 5 than they are to be buying a Toblerone in Duty-Free. Air travel is in trouble. So yeah, good time for a strike wise guys.
The flights that are worst for the environment are short-haul. London - Paris, Liverpool - Dublin, Newcastle - Amsterdam. Long haul, despite obviously using more fuel, are more efficient. At a recent seminar with a Conservative MP, he discussed the idea of bucking the current trend for bargain short flight. The proposal would mean short flights cost a fortune, whilst Heathrow - Sydney becomes relatively cheap. Obviously people aren't going to stop flying. I'm surely not because I want to see everything and the coffee on trains tastes like Benson and Hedges. But people will stop making short haul flights, through a combination of better, faster, cheaper rail, communications technologies, and the fact that airoplanes stop making financial sense. If we want stop Greenland becoming the world's biggest 1001 piece jigsaw, air travel is going to have to make an emergency landing, and soon.
The science guys in Greenland are saying there's ten years before we reach a tipping point. Personally, from what I understand about lag time between human action and the biosphere, we're already frigged. But in for a penny and all that...
So I say go on strike. You might be catapulting a metaphorical blob of spit in the faces of all those currently queueing round the corner to collect their giro, but most people have got more determination than JT and Frank and Stevie G. They'll cope.
The airline industry though? It's looking about as sturdy as Robert Green behind a 20-yard pea-roller.
15:49:26
.jpg)
t chain was recently awarded the freedom of Newcastle. I often decide whether I like a place based on the meat-to-pastry ratio of it's baked offerings.
website. 
