Barchester Green Investment has published a 3 page article, Sustainable investment Fund Performance 2008, which is downloadable as a PDF.  

Extract: There was great excitement this time last year within the sustainable investment industry as the Investment Management Association (IMA) figures for 2008 announced record levels of new investment into socially responsible investment funds with the total in assets under management increasing to £8.9 billion. We also saw a number of new funds entering the market place and increased media interest in ethical and socially responsible investment.

Download the whole the article.

Founder of VeggieVision.TV Karin Ridgers has been presented with the Shining World Heroine Award

This is an amazing achievement. Previous winners of the award include the Queen of Jordan, various Presidents, and Bill and Melinda Gates.

Ruth Stannard, TV Presenter with the awarding organisation, Supreme Master Ching Hai Television, said; “I am honoured to have had the opportunity to give Karin the award on behalf of Supreme Master Ching Hai, she is truly such a beautiful soul.”

Karin works with ethical companies and helps raise their profile in the media she is also the founder of one of the first internet TV stations VeggieVision.TV. In her voluntary work she has helped Hopefield Animal Sanctuary to save the lives of over 200 animals.

Karin was presented with the award for her work in promoting a fun vegetarian and vegan lifestyle with her work with VeggieVision.TV, being and Editor of Off The Hoof the new vegetarian magazine and her ethical PR work.

Karin has been asked to take part in over 40 radio interviews this year and is part of the Loud Women team on Sadie Nines BBC Essex show.

“I was speechless – which is unusual for me. The team filmed the presentation of the award and I have no idea what I said. I hope that I said thank you! I was presented a beautiful crystal award, a jacket from The Supreme Master fashion collection, a signed letter from The Supreme Master herself and about 20 books and CD’s – there was so many gifts that I couldn’t carry them home. I did however have room in my bag for the vegan chocolates they gave me.”

Supreme Master Television have made 3 programmes about Karin and filmed the presentation of the award. This will be shown on VeggieVision.TV as well as the Supreme Master TV channel that has viewers worldwide.

Supreme Master Ching Hai is a world renowned Humanitarian, artist and spiritual teacher with millions of followers worldwide. Various States in America have dedicated Bank Holidays in her honour and she is known as a modern day Buddha.

wewow launches unique eco-friendly packaging solution

Bradford-based CD and DVD replication company, wewow, have announced the launch of WowWallet, an eco-friendly CD presentation case which offers the customer a durable and environmentally friendly media packaging solution.

‘Following the success of wowpak, earlier this year, WowWallet was designed to offer an attractive and environmentally friendly alternative to the plastic jewel case and DVD case which are often used for CD and DVD projects,’ explains Managing Director, Stuart Jones.

‘With environmental concerns becoming increasingly important to many companies, musicians and individuals, it is vital for us to make eco-friendly packaging options accessible to our customers. The WowWallet can be produced for short-run projects, as well as larger projects, meaning that a cost effective and ethical packaging option is available for all of our clients.’ The WowWallet can be printed onto FSC accredited board and it’s design is completely unique to the market.

wewow are dedicated to finding unique environmentally friendly solutions for a range of media projects and are set to launch a third eco-friendly disc package in the new year.

Any companies interested in working with wewow should contact Stuart Jones on 0845 450 6262.

More information on WowWallet and the wowpak can be found at www.wewow.co.uk

Passion for the Planet has received a Special Commendation in the “Green Business” category at this year’s Merton Green Guardian Awards.

The awards are designed to recognise businesses, individuals, schools and projects that are making a positive difference to their local environment.

Listener Teresa Wingfield was so impressed with Passion, both on and off air, that she decided to nominate the company for the award.

“I’ve learnt so much listening to the radio station, I definitely recycle more now that I understand what happens to these materials and how they are recycled. I’ve started composting, reduced my car use (haven’t quite got round to swapping the car for a bike… yet!), use less water, less detergent and less energy. I know I have a way to go, but without what I’ve learnt on Passion for the Planet I am not sure I’d have started.” said Teresa as part of her nomination.

Founders Chantal Cooke and Kenny Stevens have ensured that the company is as passionate about the planet as they are; the studios are sound-proofed with Scottish grown hemp, they use low energy light bulbs, the office furniture is reclaimed, there are recycling bins for paper, cans, glass, plastic, CDs etc. All office PC equipment is switched off completely at night (no stand-by lights left on). Passion produces only one small carrier bag of non-recyclable waste each week. And they are carbon neutral by off-setting their CO2 emissions through “Pure the clean planet trust”.

Passion for the Planet has also encouraged the owners of the building in which they are based to be greener too. They arranged for them to have an environmental audit, have put “hippos” in the toilet tanks and organised a weekly collection of paper for recycling.

“Awards like this are an important way to encourage people to make green choices and to recognise those that are already making a difference. Green is sometimes portrayed as a bit dull and worthy, it’s our mission to make it fun, easy and acceptable, and winning an award is certainly fun!” said Passion for the Planet’s Managing Director Chantal Cooke.

Children’s sustainable living website Mimimyne to introduce new lines at the East London Design Show and Eco Design Fair in December

Introducing a new range of sustainable, ethical eco-friendly children’s products, Mimimyne will be showing new items from Naomi Dean, Teenytini, Spinifex, and a new SPLAT chair prototype, as well as Mimimyne’s own design children’s T shirts at the London Design Show which runs from 5th to 7th December at Shoreditch Town Hall.

They will also be exhibiting at the Eco Design Fair in London’s Brick Lane on 13th and 14th December. 

Mimimyne will be showing the following new items at the East London Design show:

Naomi
Dean Spin Tables – say goodbye to the Ikea crush with these 100% recycled chipboard bedside/coffee tables come individually or in pairs and can be configured in any way you choose thanks to their ingenious design and coasters giving them portability. Made from reclaimed London
office furniture destined for landfill, these quirky tables are perfect for toddlers to teens and with their negligible carbon footprint give you a healthy home and conscience, too!

Spinifex OTA/OTO message boards – keep the whole family in check with the Spinifex wall-mounted message/storage boards – chalk on notes, hang your keys, stash mail and even slip a photograph into the special cut-out section. Made from recycled plastic and using low VOC paint, the boards come in a bright array of colours including blue, magenta, pink and purple to suit boys, girls, mums and dads alike!

Teenytini by top eco fashion designer JK Lange – stunning hand-crocheted one-off clothing creations for babies aged 0-2, you won’t fail to fall in love with the beautiful colours and cute designs including dungarees for boys, pinafore dresses for girls and a stunning range of soft, safe cuddle toys such as a tortoise, bird and mouse. Perfect for winter, Mimimyne will be showing the adorable Teenytini scarves, hats and gloves at the show. Created from natural fibres and dyes, these clothes won’t pollute baby’s skin
or the environment. The Gin Lady blog commended these beautiful clothes, saying “we love the teenytini range from Mimimyne.”

Mimimyne will also be exhibiting at the Eco Design Christmas Fair on 13 and 14 December in London’s Brick Lane, where they will be showing other
products from the site including Paperpod’s delightful range of recycled corrugated paperboard toys, including an aeroplane, rocket, doll’s house, teepee and fort complete with drawbridge!

They will also be exhibiting and selling Twisted Twee’s matching adult and child T-shirts – the Pint and Half Pint sets for Dads and Sons – made from 100% organic cotton and organic ink, and in army green and toffee brown colour combinations, these make fantastic gifts for man and boy! Mums and daughters will love the Oak Tree and Pine Tree twinsets – why not make the perfect Christmas gift of the Pine Tree twinset, which displays a Christmas tree and pinecone.
http://www.ecodesignfair.co.uk/

Other news – Mimimyne has recently sponsored two rabbits (Orchid and Daisy!) at the Spitalfields City Farm, the company’s designated charity,
providing an eco-friendly child-friendly farm in the heart of East London.

Winning green business awards- Inspire yourself!

Green Mobile Ltd has had an incredible emotional ride over October and through November, winning not one but two green business awards and narrowly missing out on winning outright south west London Green Guardian Business award.

Back in October they won the local Green Guardian business award (Kingston) because of the many ‘green’ innovations they added to their telecoms portfolio e.g. using softswitches that use less electricity when making calls.

Johan Thomsen, a manager at Green Mobile, said ” It’s great to have this kind of recognition. We’ve worked really hard to provide the greenest business telecoms that also save customers money”.

Then in November, Kindred Spirit Magazine’s readers voted Green Mobile 2nd place in their green category awards. At the end of last year, KS ran a two-page article about Green Mobile that clearly lodged in their readers’ minds. Johan said, “This was totally unexpected and we’re all really touched that people remembered us”

Entering and (hopefully) winning ‘green’ awards really underscores your business’ commitment to doing something for the environment and gives your organisation a nice PR boost too. It’s a good idea to check and see if your local newspaper is running any environmental awards and find out about the entry requirements. Don’t aim too high and go for the really big awards (especially as many of them want a quite expensive ‘entrance’ fee) and you won’t go too far wrong.

Johan
is quick to point out that he was a little disappointed that Green Mobile didn’t win the Green Guardian’s outright green business award on 21st November at a gala event at Epsom Race Course, but would enter again next year “I’m delighted for this year’s winner but we’ll mount another strong challenge in 2009″

In the meantime, Green Mobile has just launched push to talk (PTT) with Push to Talk Ltd (www.pushtotalkuk.com). PTT (push to talk) turns business mobiles into
global range walkie talkies – thus saving a company money and helping to increase productivity. Green Mobile donate 4% of their PTT customers’ ongoing bills to tree planting and carbon offsetting.

As Green Mobile offers 20% discount on BT business landline rental and call charges over 85% cheaper than BT, should your business swap over to green mobile? Call 08452 333 333 and speak to their friendly staff about your telecoms requirements or visit: www.greenmobile.co.uk

Desk space available in semi-open plan 2nd floor office in Clerkenwell

Enough room for up to 8 people but we would consider letting individual work stations. Own side of room gives some privacy. Big windows, wood flooring, kitchen with microwave and plumbed in water cooler,shower,separate WC’s,meeting space.

Will be sharing with small, very relaxed, lively environmental communications consultancy that is re-inventing itself. The space is also shared with another Green Business. Perimeter trunking for IP telephone system and ethernet sockets are available. Good range of shops and facilities in immediate area.

Ideally A creative/digital or green environmentally focussed business would be an advantage as there could be possible synergy for collaboration. Available immediately. Nearest stations Barbican or Farringdon. For further details contact iain@green-consultancy.com

GREEN – is looking for 2 interns for 3-12 months starting immediately.

We are an environmental communications agency and our mission is to harness the power of communication to drive positive social and environmental change, and to challenge the way marketing is used – ‘ Driving a green revolution in the communications industry’. See www.GREEN-consultancy.com

Our services include environmental communications consultancy, strategy development, stakeholder communications, advertising, community engagement , direct marketing, design, event management, digital, research , advocacy, media relations and outreach. We also produce www.greenawards.co.uk What the roles will involve:

• Bespoke research work
• Supporting other team members on projects
• Production support (proofreading, picture sourcing, obtaining quotes from suppliers etc)
• General account administration
• Attending meetings
• Drafting & evaluating reports
• Developing toolkits
• Undertaking surveys
• Facilitating discussions

This is a great opportunity to gain experience of working in a small but growing independent consultancy that specializes in corporate and social responsibility, ethical issues and sustainability. That’s why the person we have in mind will have an interest and knowledge of sustainable development,‘green’ and ethical issues ideally combined with an awareness and interest in marketing.

Of course, candidates that demonstrate exceptional skills will be considered for full-time positions in the long term.

Please send a CV and cover letter in the first instance telling us why you are suitable to iain@green-consultancy.com

Organisations who have already chosen to benefit and confirmed there presence include: Friends of the Earth, The Fairtrade Foundation, The Soil Association, The Ecologist, Charity Bank, Hubcap Creatures, National Ethical Investment Week, The Recycle Warehouse, Green Row, Neo, Greenfinder, WWOOF,  Morsbag, Alternate Style and Incognito.

So, if you want to join these heroic and illustrious champions in the great 2009 pageant of all things ethical and sustainable then contact Jodie or Danny at UK AWARE whilst early bird prices remain as low as they are . . . but not for long.

UK Technology launch – Mobile Push to Talk for businesses

Green Mobile in association with Push to Talk Ltd can now offer businesses push to talk services (PTT) on their mobile phones.

Widely used in the USA, PTT is the newest, fastest and most cost effective communication system for business mobile phones. It’s like turning your mobile into a walkie-talkie but with a global range.

‘Pressing just one button on your mobile lets you instantly talk to one or everybody in your chosen group at the same time’ says Johan Thomsen, a manager at Green Mobile.

How does it work?

• We text you software that embeds itself into your mobile
• The software automatically links to your contact group and sets up the PTT button.
• Press your PTT button, wait for the beep, then begin to speak
• Your message can be heard by everyone on your contact list
• If you want to speak someone individually, just select that persons name from your contact list and press your PTT button to talk
• Whoever is pushing the button is the speaker

PTT works by routing calls over the data connection on your mobile. PTT only uses data when you speak. This means if you have a data package on your mobile all your PTT calls could be free. Tests show that the average data use for PTT is just 30Mgbs per month.

The benefits of PTT are immense; besides cost saving on network calls, it can help increase productivity. Talk to any of your staff anywhere!

Being Green Mobile’s PTT, 4% of business customers’ ongoing bills are used to plant trees or carbon offset (at no cost to the customer).

Find out more:

Green Mobile is so sure that your business will like PTT that we offer a free one month trial (limited period only) to businesses with 5 or mobile phones. Call Green Mobile’s customer service on 08452 333 333 and find out how your business can benefit from using PTT.