Green news & views

Some months ago I was pondering on the concept of belief systems and what people actually believe is at the root of their philosophies. Christians have God. Greens have Nature. That led me to think of the comparison of God vs. Mother Nature.

My local Morrisons store has a stand near the counter full of Philips Energy Saver lightbulbs. The offer, whilst stocks last, is for Energy Saver bulbs at just 39p each! And, better than that, you can get 5 bulbs for just 59p! Now THAT is a bargain.

A new report by The House of Lords Science & Technology Committee has officially suggested what we've been saying here for a while; businesses should account for waste from their own products.

After reporting on the negligence of companies toward handling their own big brand litter, we asked the questions:

We've been thinking about the things a business can do to "go green" and that won't cost them a penny and it was a pretty easy list to drum up. The simplicity of going green is that a business will not only become environmentally friendly and help towards sustainability but will actually cut costs; any business that cuts costs is saving money - saving money equates to more profit. So it's what they call a win-win situation.

1. Switch off the Lights.

We don't like the energy company E.ON

Previously they've attempted greenwash to promote their image by getting football fans to car share in their carbon footyprint campaign.

Then somebody kindly pointed out that E.ON's new Kingsnorth power station is to be coal-fired, belching out as much CO2 in one year as E.ON are asking football fans to save over a period of 200 years!

What's that? T-Cycle? Sounds like an amalgam of T-shirt and Recycle. And you'd be right!

We spotted T-Cycle this morning; they're a little company that sell recycled t-shirts with fresh new designs on them and all their designs are bicycle themed.

T-Cycle are well into promoting greener modes of transport, pushing the bike agenda (sorry about the cheap pun there - Ed) and making the fashion industry far more ethical and environmentally-friendly than it has been in our modern, consumerist society.

Whilst many PCs have energy-saving modes there's clearly room for improvement in these days of high energy prices and greater green awareness. That's where Edison comes in.

Arguably driving in itself is not a green activity, especially when you don't have an economical or an environmentally-friendly car. And let's be frank, how many of us greenies actually have a green mobile let alone the world's public at large?

Remember we said last night that British Gas jacked their prices up by 35%?

Remember their MD saying British Gas was doing "all that they could" to help people out including sending them a couple of energy-efficient lightbulbs?

Well today Centrica, the owners of British Gas, have reportedly made profits of £5million a day.

British Gas claimed that the 35% price rise was to "restore reasonable profitability".

Are we mad? No. But Phil Bentley, the MD of British Gas is!

Today British Gas announced a staggering 35% rise in gas prices. It also announced a 9% increase in electricity prices too.

The ITV Evening News interviewed a number of people, who are already struggling to make ends meet, about how they might cope with the huge price rises and then asked Phil Bentley, the MD of British Gas, whether he thought it was right to raise gas prices by 35% when this could put thousands of homes at risk of being subject to "fuel poverty".