Friday, October 19, 2007

Gareth Mitchell - Tree2mydoor


How old are you?
28 years old

What’s your occupation and who do you work for?
I am founder and director of tree2mydoor, the award winning tree gifts company.

How long have been doing this?
Since forming the company in September 2003.

What’s the best bit about your job?
Making our customers and their recipients really happy with our tree gifts.

What’s the worst thing?
Mmm, that’s a hard one as I love every minute. The worst thing will have to be handling my stress when we get crazily busy at Christmas, our customers love to buy very last minute!

What have the last 12 months been like for you?
They have been extremely busy. Tree2mydoor is growing rapidly and I have been spearheading the company development. On top of this, I have been making my wedding plans and preparing to move house. Roll on next year!

What were you doing before?
Working as a Marketing Advisor for a national regeneration charity based in Manchester city centre.

What was your very first full-time job?
Pulling pints in a pub in Bloomsbury, London.

Have you got any plans for the next 12 months you’d like to share with us?
My plans are to continue growing Tree2mydoor and to expand our product ranges.

What do you do to relax?
Sit in with my fiancé with some wine and good food.

Who do you live with?
I am moving into a new house with my fiancé and my step son in November.

Whereabouts do you live?
Manchester

If you were Prime Minister, what’s the very first thing you would do?
Abolish Inheritance Tax for under £2 million worth estates. I find it absolutely ridiculous that someone works and pays tax all their life. Then they die, almost half of what they worked for is taxed by government again! Particularly if the person has set up their own business and has a real positive impact on their local community.

Have you got any guilty carbon secrets?
Unfortunately, I do. I am flying to the Caribbean in January for my honeymoon.

What have you done that you were most proud of?
It would have to be founding Tree2mydoor and growing the company into an ethical award winning brand.

What are you most concerned about in the world at large?
I am concerned about dishonesty, greed, global warming, conservation and the protection of cultural heritage.

Which person in the public eye do you most admire and why?
I find this question really difficult to answer. I really cannot stand the celebrity culture that a lot of people thrive on in the UK.
I do admire Prince Charles for the masses of work that he is actively engaged in, particularly in British enterprise and conservation. These are two areas that I am very enthusiastic about.
I think that Richard Branson on an entrepreneur front has my admiration, he seems to keep ahead of the game when it comes to quality and ethics of services and products.

What advice would you give to someone wishing to embark on the same sort of work as you?
Work hard and work clever, never presume! Support local.

What's your website address?
www.tree2mydoor.com

Thursday, October 18, 2007

Dr. Stuart Parkinson - Scientists for Global Responsibility


How old are you?
39

What’s your occupation and who do you work for?
Executive Director, Scientists for Global Responsibility (SGR)

How long have been doing this?
4 years

What’s the best bit about your job?
Being able to combine my science and technology qualifications/experience with my concerns about environmental and peace issues.

What’s the worst thing?
Fundraising

What have the last 12 months been like for you?
Very busy - especially with campaign work on nuclear weapons, military involvement in science, climate change, and nuclear power. We’ve also been continuing our work promoting ethical careers in science, design and technology.

What were you doing before?
Co-ordinating environmental justice work at Friends of the Earth

What was your very first full-time job?
Working as an engineer for a large military corporation – which caused me to re-think my entire career path.

What do you do to relax?
Play table tennis, walk in the countryside, go out for gourmet vegan meals, watch Doctor Who!

Who do you live with?
A three-legged dog called Shep

Whereabouts do you live?
North West England

If you were Prime Minister, what’s the very first thing you do?
Abolish the Royal Prerogative – the ancient piece of legislation that allows the Prime Minister to take the country to war (and do a lot of other things) without parliamentary approval.

Have you got any guilty carbon secrets?
I live in a house that is bigger than I need. I also don’t like camping holidays!

What are you most concerned about in the world at large?
That our addiction to economic growth is causing massive environmental damage across the globe, which is very likely to cause major conflict in a world which still has 27,000 nuclear weapons.

Which person in the public eye do you most admire and why?
The people I admire most aren’t in the public eye – they’re the ones who work hard behind the scenes

What advice would you give to someone wishing to embark on the same sort of work as you?
Don’t believe anyone who says science and ethics shouldn’t be combined – it is essential that they are.

What's your website address?
http://www.sgr.org.uk/

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Adrian Ashton - Consultant to Social Enterprise


How old are you?
Young enough that I still think I'm invincible, but old enough that I should know better... (33)

What’s your occupation and who do you work for?
Self-employed (by accident, rather than design) in a range of disciplines – currently a tutor on behalf of colleges; a business advisor with enterprise agencies, a consultant to anyone who I'm able to identify funding to pay me to do it with, and general anarchist when it comes to challenging national policy and the accepted norms within the 'third sector' (amongst other things...)

How long have been doing this?
About 3 years in my current self-employed incarnation, but 10 years prior to that as an employee of other organisations doing similar stuff.

What’s the best bit about your job?
Being able to control my working hours and day so that mostly I get to be around when my boys start and end their day, and can spend just about all of every weekend with them as well.

What’s the worst thing?
Not getting any holiday or sick pay

What have the last 12 months been like for you?
A roller-coaster: this time last year we were homeless due to our home being flooded so I was working out of a laptop case for 6 months while also having to project manage builders, insurance companies and their agents; but I also successfully challenged the legislation that governs the Community Interest Company and had someone start a blog against me as a result; spoke at a national research conference; became recognised as an authority on faith-based social enterprises; and was asked to lead on developing a completely new model of managed workspace.
And all while still managing to do my share of the housework and have plenty of time with my 2 boys!

What were you doing before?
Sleeping more...
But broadly the same (except for the bit about the house flooding) – I headed up a co-operative development agency in Cambridge, getting it recognition from the Bank of England, national government and others for the work I instigated (which led to it successfully changing local planning laws in favour of co-ops and other forms of social enterprise, and becoming a key founder member of a regional social enterprise partnership)

What was your very first full-time job?
Sorting fat from rind in an abattoir.

Have you got any plans for the next 12 months you’d like to share with us?
On the whole, I try not to plan ahead too much – that way you're always excited and surprised by what comes up, rather than disappointed that things don't turn out as you'd hoped...

What do you do to relax?
Sleep...
cycling and walking; watching cult TV from the 60's and 70's; taking my wife out for a posh dinner (which I currently do far too little of); taking my boys out to play in the park...

Who do you live with?
My gorgeous wife, Clare; our 2 fantastic boys, Edward & Henry; and an always hungry cat, Harvey.

Whereabouts do you live?
Todmorden – centre of the universe

If you were Prime Minister, what’s the very first thing you do?
Have a televised custard pie fight with the opposition...

Have you got any guilty carbon secrets?
Pound shops...

What have you done that you were most proud of?
Delivering my second son with no medical support or assistance, dealing with the complications from both the pregnancy and that arose during the labour, and having the kettle on for when the ambulance crew arrived.

What are you most concerned about in the world at large?
That people are generally becoming more fearful.

Which person in the public eye do you most admire and why?
Richard Branson – how may other global business leaders have a criminal record, dress up as brides to promote their businesses; and regularly go 'back to the shop floor'?

What advice would you give to someone wishing to embark on the same sort of work as you?
Don't expect to get paid quickly, go with the flow, and accept that things will never happen as they're supposed to.
Work out what it is you're trying to achieve through being self-employed before you begin, and stick to it.
I'd also recommend the lyrics to Baz Lurhman's 'Sunscreen' from 1999.

What's your website address?
www.adrianashton.co.uk

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Jamie Simpson - Ecological Hosting


How old are you?
35.

What’s your occupation and who do you work for?
Owner of Athenaeum Limited the company behind EcologicalHosting.com. We host web sites and other Internet services, currently from systems we installed in a data centre in California that is 100% solar powered. Currently, I am the business, but this will change to “I am the inspiration behind the business”!

How long have you been doing this?
Since 1999 with the company, since end of 2005 for EcologicalHosting.com.

What’s the best bit about your job?
Making a difference in the world, working with some amazing people and the general niceness of people you meet and talk too in this market place.

What’s the worst thing?
Running a 24 hour business that is just under that threshold where staff of some kind is the next move and in the meantime; you’re it… for everything – no escape, mobile phone constantly with you.

What have the last 12 months been like for you?
A complete blur. Things have really ramped up a pace again and everything is going fantastically well.

What were you doing before?
Floating around in space waiting for my next life! :-)

What was your very first full-time job?
Working with some pretty nasty chemicals in a quality control laboratory for a factory that made amongst other things pre-impregnated materials that could be used to form army helmets. Not very hip(py) I know. It lasted 4 weeks, then I returned to college to do A-levels.

Have you got any plans for the next 12 months you’d like to share with us?
Huge plans… we’re working on the idea of building a UK based renewable energy data centre with a group of friends and work colleagues from different companies we’re associated with.

What do you do to relax?
Go out and watch a film. Read books. Sit and do absolutely nothing in silence/meditate – usually lasts about 2 minutes, then I get that guilty feeling and have to run off and do something! :-)

Who do you live with?
My wonderful partner Sue and our two children aged 6 and 9.

Whereabouts do you live?
In a semi-rural area part way between Leeds and Wakefield.

If you were Prime Minister, what’s the very first thing you do?
Resign? It’s not a job I’d want because I’m very aware that even with the best intention you’re up against it. The prime minister may have a fair amount of power, but they’re not in full control no matter which way you cut it.


Have you got any guilty carbon secrets?
We have a fairly substantial car (not a 4x4 though!). Quite frankly though, I don’t feel guilty because I don’t really have any other sins to mention and nobody is perfect! Here comes the justification (and trust me, I’ve thought about this a lot):

I’m 6’2” and it’s the only car I’ve ever owned that doesn’t completely kill my back; which would stop me doing all the good work I do! :-)

It’s also fit for purpose because it generally spends its productive time on the motorways (where, for the tech heads amongst you, thanks to the power available it cruises at 70mph at an extremely low 2000rpm).

We did look at the now rather obvious Prius, but the electric part isn’t operational above 30mph (i.e. it’s just a 1.5 petrol car on the motorway), and in any case we simply couldn’t afford it. I’ve owned this car for around 5 years now and I had it converted to LPG around two years ago after tackling the Prius question. I even talked with some very green and eco friends I have about embodied energy and the fact that if I didn’t own this car, the person that did would almost certainly use it more than me.

I work from home, so I don’t commute. We walk to school. The main use is at weekends where we have family commitments that require substantial cross Pennines motorway travel. We also use it for those rare times we go on holiday and for travel to places where public transport is simply not viable (i.e. one or more of: would take too long, would cost more that the car, doesn’t go there etc). Either way, it tends to be full (four or five seats occupied).

What have you done that you were most proud of?
I struggle with these questions. I don’t tend to have “best” things. I’m proud of getting to this age and achieving what I have in the many areas of my life; my family, the house we live in, the way I interact with people, the fact that I run a business that can and does make a difference in the world.

What are you most concerned about in the world at large?
Probably the environment because without a planet that can sustain our particular life form, any other concerns are ultimately fruitless. Moving to the wider scale though, I could easily be concerned and possibly overwhelmed by the sheer volume of things going on in the world that come to my attention moving in the circles I do (charities, campaign groups, ethical networks, green, vegetarian etc). So in this wider sense I operate by either supporting charities close to me on a personal level, or I make contributions of additional time, expertise or similar through my business.

Which person in the public eye do you most admire and why?
I spend pretty much all of my time (and my clients will testify to this - Jason!) [note from Jason of Ethical Jobs "It's true; I have had Jamie fixing and mending things at gone one in the morning"], either working or being with my family. Not for lack of wanting to veg in front of the TV like anyone else, I simply don’t allocate time to watch, so I couldn’t really answer a current affairs media question like this. I also find the news depressing because of the concentration on the negative and so despite my Dad’s “you have to know what’s going on in the world” ringing in my ears, I tend to avoid it. Most of my inspiration comes from those close to me and other positive forces in my life.

What advice would you give to someone wishing to embark on the same sort of work as you?
Seek counciling! :-) Only joking… Like most small businesses (especially if you’re doing the family thing in parallel) it can be very hard work. There is also a lot or drudgery in life (like accounts and keeping on top of government deadlines and legislation). So I guess the only advice I’d give is: follow your heart. If you want to do this, go for it – but go in with your eyes wide open to the whole and not just the tiny bit that is what you want to achieve.

What's your website address?
http://www.ecologicalhosting.com

Monday, October 15, 2007

Adam Vaughan - The Green Guy


How old are you?
28

What’s your occupation and who do you work for?
I'm a journalist and I edit a new (and secret at this precise moment) site at CNET Networks UK. (Editor's note: I can now reveal that the site in question is www.smartplanet.com)

How long have been doing this?
Just 2 months at CNET, but I've been working as a journalist since I graduated in 2000

What’s the best bit about your job?
I love the subject matter.

What’s the worst thing?
Looking at a computer screen all day long.

What have the last 12 months been like for you?
Radical, scary and exciting.

What were you doing before?
Before this, I launched Newconsumer.com for New Consumer magazine, and launched Stuff.tv for Stuff Magazine. I seem to have been doing lots of web launches for print mags!

What was your very first full-time job?
Editing the student newspaper for Manchester's universities. A great gig that's been a springboard for virtually everyone who's held the role.

Have you got any plans for the next 12 months you’d like to share with us?
Launching a new green site for consumers that will - hopefully - help ethical living take another big step towards the mainstream. Elsewhere, greening up my house and becoming a Dad in spring.

What do you do to relax?
Stroke my cat, swim, run round my local park, cycle, spend time with my wife, draw stuff.

Who do you live with?
My wife and my cat, Boo.

Whereabouts do you live?
Herne Hill in south London - halfway between leafy safe Dulwich and edgy interesting Brixton. Interestingly, there's no 'green' group in Herne Hill, but there is 'Dulwich Going Greener' and 'Transition Town Brixton'.

If you were Prime Minister, what’s the very first thing you do?
Surround myself with genuine, clever and green-minded people.

Have you got any guilty carbon secrets?
Yes. I used to fly a lot internationally for my job as a technology journalist, which I don't do anymore. My heating bill is bigger than I'd like, but I'm in the process of cross-insulating our loft and sealing up all the draughts around our house.

What have you done that you were most proud of?
Hard call. It's a close-run thing between getting elected by Manchester Uni's students to the editor role and running my first marathon. If I had to choose, getting elected - it was the hardest job interview ever, and lasted three weeks!

What are you most concerned about in the world at large?
A slow response to climate change. Social inequality.

Which person in the public eye do you most admire and why?
If he was alive, George Orwell. If I could choose someone not in the public eye, I'd choose my parents, because of their attitude to life and people. Failing that… honestly, I admire a lot of people working in the green and ethical 'movement' but no single person stands out that I admire especially.

What advice would you give to someone wishing to embark on the same sort of work as you?
Know your subject, be relentlessly enthusiastic and thick-skinned, and gain as much experience as you can in your professional and personal life, even if it involves getting up at 6am to write an eco blog.

What's your website address?
http://thegreenguy.typepad.com/thegreenguy
and www.smartplanet.com

Interview with Chris Hasling from Home Recycling Ltd


How old are you?
40

What’s your occupation and who do you work for?
Managing Director, packer, sales manager, clerk, child minder for Home Recycling Ltd

How long have been doing this?
4 years

What’s the best bit about your job?
Loads of things!
Customers – only lovely people seem to want recycling bins. We don't deliver many orders ourselves now but when we do we are invariably invited in for a chat – I spent 2 hours at a drop once up in Richmondshire sharing a great dinner looking over the valley by the customers farmhouse.

Being able to make own decisions and carry as much stock as we want.

The building we work in is fantastic and full of natural light and great views of the Sowerby Bridge canal basin.

Not wasting time stuck in a car – we all either walk or catch bus to work and tend to brainstorm in the pub afterwards and watch the traffic crawl by

What’s the worst thing?
Always thinking about work but I used to do that when working for other people so at least it's more positive now

What have the last 12 months been like for you?
Massive! Had a new daughter Tess come on the scene – we all live below the warehouse so she has a constant impact on all of us. Saw employee number go from two to six. Doubled the range of recycling bins we stock and tripled turnover

What were you doing before?
Working for JCB Excavators in Barbados

What was your very first full-time job?
Hod carrier

Have you got any plans for the next 12 months you’d like to share with us?
Excavate cellar under building so we can have more storage and living space

What do you do to relax?
Cryptic crossword, a cider and a cigar

Who do you live with?
Wife Tania and daughters Nina 19 months and Tessa 6 months

Whereabouts do you live?
Sowerby Bridge, West Yorkshire

If you were Prime Minister, what’s the very first thing you do?
Close all the airports and takeover tv and radio stations

Have you got any guilty carbon secrets?
Fly once a year

What have you done that you were most proud of?
Been the father of two beautiful girls.

What are you most concerned about in the world at large?
Rising sea levels and the corresponding fight for resources

Which person in the public eye do you most admire and why?
I don't pretend to know anyone well enough in the public eye to admire them

What advice would you give to someone wishing to embark on the same sort of work as you?
Do it for both financial and ethical reasons. You're not doing anyone any favours by getting into it if you're not going to be any good and not going to enjoy it either. People in ethical business who cannot work in a businesslike way and business greenwashers make me fume in equal measure.

What's your website address?
www.homerecycling.co.uk

Thursday, October 04, 2007

A Global Demonstration on Climate Change

Saturday December 8th 2007

On December 8th, the Saturday midway through the all-important UN climate Talks in Bali, there will be demonstrations all around the world calling for urgent action on climate from world leaders.

On the Global Day of Action at the time of the Nairobi Talks on November 4th last year, there were events in over 30 countries - with 90,000 around Australia, 25,000+ at the I-count Rally in Trafalgar square, London and thousands in France, Kenya, Bolivia etc... This year we are looking forward to more and bigger demonstrations around the world. See www.globalclimatecampaign.org

The London demo on December 8th assembles at 12 noon, at Millbank (Westminster tube). We will demand an effective Climate Bill from the UK government and that the US accept binding targets in a fit-for–purpose international climate treaty, to succeed Kyoto. Speakers will include Ming Campbell MP, Michael Meacher MP, Caroline Lucas MEP, Zac Goldsmith and George Monbiot. See www.campaigncc.org.

Come along and join people all around the world to demand that world leaders act now to prevent the catastrophe that threatens to engulf us all !

Carbon Offsetting - A smoke-screen against action to cut emissions

The promotion of carbon offsetting schemes is discouraging individuals, industry and governments from taking action to cut greenhouse gases Friends of the Earth said today. The warning comes as the UK Government prepares to unveil (on Thursday) standards for "offsetting" schemes which claim to neutralise the environmental impact of greenhouse gas emissions.

Friends of the Earth director, Tony Juniper said:

“Carbon offsetting schemes are being used as a smokescreen to avoid real measures to tackle climate change. We urgently need to cut our emissions, but offsetting schemes encourage individuals, businesses and governments to avoid action and carry on polluting. There is still time to act, but we cannot afford to be distracted by measures that at best only have a small role to play in providing the solutions to global warming.”

“Carbon offsetting should be a measure of last resort, after steps have been taken to cut emissions. The Government has a role to play in ensuring that offsetting schemes are genuine. But its main role must be to ensure that UK emissions are cut. This is why its proposed new climate change law must commit the UK to making annual cuts in it's carbon dioxide emissions.”

Briefing - Carbon offsetting

What is it and how does it work?

The principle behind carbon offsetting is that the carbon emissions generated through an activity (such as driving or flying) are calculated and someone is then paid for an initiative that reduces carbon dioxide in the atmosphere by an equivalent amount.

Initiatives that can generate carbon offsets include energy efficiency projects (e.g. installing energy saving technologies in housing developments), renewable energy schemes (e.g. wind farms) or tree-planting schemes which can take carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere. Often these schemes are in developing countries.

What does Friends of the Earth think about carbon offsetting?

Friends of the Earth, does not recommend carbon offsetting for a number of reasons.

Carbon offsetting is being promoted as a relatively pain-free way of tackling climate change. A growing number of schemes now exist which claim that carbon-conscious individuals and businesses can compensate for the carbon emissions released by their activities by donating to various `green' projects from tree planting to renewable energy schemes in the developing world.

Friends of the Earth, along with a number of other organisations, is becoming increasingly concerned that carbon offsetting is being used as a smoke-screen to ward off legislation and delay the urgent action needed to cut emissions and develop alternative low-carbon solutions. Offsets can even encourage businesses and people to continue with (or even increase) unnecessary polluting activities, promoting the mindset `I've offset so it's OK to fly', `I've offset so it's alright to drive to work' etc.

But buying offsets is not, as some would like us to believe, a `magic bullet' to prevent further climate change or a solution to the growth in emissions.

Friends of the Earth's concerns include the following:

We no longer have the luxury of living energy wasteful lifestyles in wealthy countries while using our money to reduce emissions overseas. This is the clear conclusion from scientists, who are urging dramatic reductions in greenhouse gases if we are to avoid the worst impacts of climate change. The rich world needs to reduce its emissions substantially and fast (in the UK by as much as 70% by 2030) help developing countries develop clean low carbon technologies (and cope with the unavoidable impacts of climate change). It is no longer one or the other - we need to do both.

Offsetting infers a way to carry on with the polluting activity because you can buy your way out of the problem. We need to urgently shift towards a low carbon economy. Ultimately there is no solution to climate change other than to emit less pollution. The longer we delay action on actually cutting emissions, the worse the problem gets and the harder it will be to cut them later on (so for example, in the UK, if we offset CO2 from flights but continue to promote growth in aviation infrastructure, it will be harder to cut emissions later on when the runways have been built).

Individuals and organisations that are considering cutting emissions may be encouraged not to bother - because they can offset instead.

There are strong concerns over the environmental credibility of many of the credits and the contribution of the projects to sustainable development. Money for an offset scheme should only be funnelled to projects that would not have happened unless the offset money was provided.

Other potential problems such as uncertainties over the carbon accounting; lack of verification of the schemes and a danger that projects can be imposed on developing country communities with no consultation.

Tree-planting schemes are particularly problematic and should be ruled out of any offset scheme. Large scale plantations have decreased biodiversity, displaced people and caused social disruption. Doubts have recently been cast on the contribution of trees outside the tropics in reducing CO2 levels and the science is uncertain.

Friends of the Earth believes that we should campaign for measures that cut emissions such as rules and regulations and incentives to make it cheaper and easier for everyone to do the right thing by the climate.

Government action - creating a low carbon economy

Government can influence behaviour at both the individual and corporate level by sending clear signals about what we need to do. That's why we're campaigning through The Big Ask climate campaign for the UK Government to introduce a strong climate change law which commits the UK to making annual reductions in the UK's carbon emissions across all sections of society (homes, transport, business, industry etc), creating the framework necessary to allow the solutions to climate change to flourish, i.e. clean energy, well designed cars, a 21st century public transport system, help for people to make their homes thermally efficient, technological and financial assistance to developing countries. A strong law would allow the UK to do its fair share of cutting global emissions and would set an example the rest of the world could follow.

For companies to invest in new carbon-saving products they need to be confident that the Government is determined to move towards a low-carbon economy. The greater certainty that would arise from setting annual targets for CO2 cuts would help achieve this. This would encourage businesses and individuals to reduce emissions at source as much as is practically possible by looking at energy conservation and efficiency measures (e.g. using greener fuels, energy provider etc). The problem with carbon offsetting is that it makes it harder to persuade people to actually reduce their emissions at source. We need to fly less, buy less, regulate polluters and support communities affected by pollution and climate change.

What does Friends of the Earth recommend?

The priority must be for governments, businesses and individuals to do all they practically can to cut down or avoid carbon emissions (before considering the purchase of offsets). In addition

If you believe, like Friends of the Earth does, that governments have the major role in fighting climate change then you can take action with us (or support us financially)

You can support practical projects which help the poorer country communities get access to safe, clean renewable energy and adapt to the impacts of climate change that are now unavoidable. (In most cases this will not compensate for your emissions as it is simply providing renewable energy to those people who had no access to energy before). If you want to help with these kinds of projects you can support well known charities, such as Practical Action or Christian Aid, or you can contact one of the responsible carbon offset companies and ask to fund a Gold Standard project (a standard which ensures the project is genuine and really delivers useful benefits).

Friends of the Earth recommends you only consider buying offsets as a last resort (after comprehensive measures to avoid and cut emissions across activities). Because there is a small role to play for offsetting schemes, these need to be properly regulated.

FOE Contact details:

Media Team
Friends of the Earth
26-28 Underwood St.
LONDON
N1 7JQ