Green news & views

iI's that time of year again when the world's biggest civic event takes place across the globe... Earth Day 2015.

After all these years of hearing about, reading about and being in awe of the electric-powered Roadster, I saw my first Tesla the other day in my home town of Farnborough. I managed to snap the electric sports car in its "Thunder Grey" paint job from my dash cam.

Of all the things we've tried to do to keep our house warm and our energy costs down, one thing we'd not had done was the cavity wall insulation. Our path to getting this done started with an inspection where a couple of guys turned up and drilled a hole in the wall - Yep, we've got cavity walls in our 1964 house. We were told that there was no charge, no catches and if we wanted our loft insulated they could do that too - all under a government-funded grant scheme.

Picture the scene:  a small communal galley kitchen in a building full of serviced offices.

There are two bins - One clearly labelled "Recyclable", the other clearly labelled "Non Recyclable". In addition there is an extra sign over the "Recyclable" bin reiterating that it is for "recyclable" stuff and in BIG CAPS it further clarifies that "NO FOOD ITEMS" are to go in the recyclable bin.

Now, if that's not clear enough there is also a little sign above the area with a list of all the things that safe to be considered recyclable and those that are not.

Easy, right?

It's Earth Day 2012, folks. What are you doing to mark the fact?

One of the main thrusts of the day is to promote green awareness and especially to push for people to be more aware of and involved in their environment.  The "billion acts of green" is a good start, and amongst the suggestions I've seen a number of actions or pledges made for Earth Day 2012, some of them being...

To mark Earth Day 2012 Google put up their Google doodle this morning in the form of a flowering Google logo.

Just go to www.google.co.uk right now and have a look.

Blooming marvellous, aye? :)

Image courtesy of Crowcombe Al on flickr
One of my mountain biking friends forwarded me a link the other day to a campaign to protect the Quantock Hills. Whilst I don't recall having cycled in the Quantocks, the name was instantly familiar as it regularly crops up in the biking calendar for our MTB group's day rides.

If you're green and you've got an iPad then what better desktop accessory than a WoodPad?

The WoodPad is a solid wooden iPad stand that comes in a range of finishes - Ash, oak, cherry or maple.

Handmade in England by a traditional cabinet maker, each WoodPad is made from solid hardwood, has two viewing angles and has non-slip rubber feet.

What's more, the WoodPad is just £20 and comes with FREE international shipping.

Photographers Sebastião Salgado and Per Anders Pettersson present a selection of previously unseen photographs from the ongoing "Genesis" project at Somerset House, London. Showing images shot entirely in the Amazon, the exhibition is in aid of the Sky Rainforest Rescue campaign, a joint venture between the b

Today the UN published its Human Development Report 2011. The report has shown, for a number of years now, how human development has raised living standards across the world. But this year's publication highlights how a reverse to this trend is affecting poorer populations.