Green news & views

A three-year campaign has been launched today in an ambitious bid to switch car journies to buses by 2014.

Whilst this may seem a tall order for car-loving Brits, the organisers of the Greener Journeys campaign believe this can be achieved if just 1 in 25 car journies are taken by bus instead.

The Greener Journeys campaign is a coalition of bus companies who will encourage drivers to take the bus instead by giving away a million free bus trips!

Last December I had gear change issues on the Subaru Legacy. So, in light of finances, the environment and a great excuse to "give it a go" I gave up the car.

I let the tax disc expire, declared Statutory Off Road Notification (SORN) because, if you don't declare, it gives the DVLA an easy opportunity to squeeze revenue from lazy/unsuspecting motorists. I also cancelled the insurance and then left the car on the drive.

This green and pleasant land, in our opinion, isn't green enough. We're not just talking about environmental and energy-saving initiatives but also the fact that this country was once covered in trees and mankind, in his infinite "wisdom", has seen to remove so many of them. However, Norfolk County Council have been planting trees in rural villages, not for environmental reasons, but for traffic calming.

Just a little snippet for you, but an extremely important one...

Ignore the name on the device (We're thinking of going to our friends at Ecotricity for their green gas scheme) but this is our new smartpower meter. OK, we've had it a few weeks now, but this little device is a lifesaver. OK, moneysaver. Energysaver.

I hadn't been in to my local branch of B&Q, the DIY store, for many months but, being just down the road from my office, I popped in today to get a light bulb for my fridge and was impressed with the sheer range of energy saving lightbulbs they had on offer.

Unfortunately the little lightbulb for the fridge was only an F-rated one but I did pick up an A-rated outdoor lightbulb too whilst they were at a good price (only £1.00) But anyway, check out this selection - enough green lightbulbs to warm the heart of any green...

Recent high temperatures this summer have meant an increase in use of air conditioning in the High Street according to Make It Cheaper, the business price comparison service.

If, like us, you're one of those households with a TV, satellite receiver, games console and other devices plugged in to one socket on the wall, you'll have probably noticed how inconvenient it can be trying to save energy by constantly trying to plug/unplug/switch off all the time. We want to switch off all the devices that we don't need but reaching the gang socket behind the TV stand can often be really awkward.

So we've had Google Chrome, Google Buzz, Google Wave, Google Labs, Google Docs, Google Mail and now Google Wind Farms.

OK, not really, that last one we made up, but it might as well be real seeing as Google, the search giant, has invested $38.8 million in a wind farm (approximately £25.3 million). Apparently this is the first time that Google has made a "direct investment in a utility-scale renewable energy project".