The more I read the news the more apoplectic I become. Basically it comes down to two core truths: Big Business Sucks; Big Politics sucks. The former has sucked everything and everybody dry, robbed us of all life. The latter has sucked up to the former and greased the wheels of legislation for a greased palm or two. The only realsitic way to stop this is to stop playing their game their way like a bunch of wet sheep on morphine.

OK, we’re all in this together – I’m guessing we have certain wish-list items in common. For example: we all want a world in which it’s safe for us to breathe, eat and drink; we’d like our children and grandchildren to have the same gorgeous natural surroundings we have been privileged to enjoy. We’d like to see less warfare and fear, more peace and laughter. We sometimes feel there’s little we can do to help. WRONG. Research shows there are 250 million of us – people who want a just and sustainable future (I’ll come back to this in future postings). Do the sums, we can make a HUGE difference, starting with where we shop and what we choose to buy. And better still, where and what we DON’T choose to buy.

FatWest, General Bloaters and Gainsburys don’t give a toss about us or our wellbeing. Why would we give them all the cash earned with our blood, sweat and tears? It’s like cooking lunch for someone who’s just mugged you.

Time to rebel. Be revolting – you have nothing to lose except your shackles…

Rob Weston, Schmeditor

Picks from the Market

EcoOutlet have a great range of ethical goodies. This fruit, vegetable and wheatgrass juicer not only requires no electricity, it actually produces higher-nutrient juices than the carbon-villain variety…

Well Cultivated – these guys are the real thing. They check everything, they really care about making a difference and they have seriously cool stuff. 

Natural Home Products are very rare – they have 20 years of specialist experience in seriously high-integrity bedding products, yet they make no self-important claims. They just take good care of their customers and provide superb products, again and again and again. Here, to prove the point, are two organic summer duvets to keep you cool at night:

Teramo Summer Organic Merino LambsWool Duvet
Firenze Summer Organic Cotton Duvet

Cool Green Attitude is a company founded by mums for kids and their families who want great clothes that look and feel wonderful and do no harm to others. If you are going to have attitude, this is the kind we want… have a look at their cool green t-shirts!

Picks from the Pulse

New Social enterprise round up from the Social Enterprise Coalition

Antartic Ice Shelf Destabilised

Ethical Junction gets on Twitter!  @ethicaljunction

The Environmental Transport Association slate the “car scrappage scheme”!

Produced daily by the Social Enterprise Coalition

CICs should get tax
relief

Hundreds of miles
of ice drop from Antarctic shelf

 Blears: ‘Recession
could cause civil unrest and fracture communities’

Continue reading for lots more…

National

CICs should get tax
relief

Gemma Hampson,
Social Enterprise Magazine

Community interest
companies (CICs) should be entitled to an equivalent of Gift Aid,
according to the law firm behind the legal structure. Abbie Rumbold,
a partner with Bates Wells and Braithwaite, which helped set up the
CIC structure four years ago, is working with the Social Enterprise
Coalition to push for tax relief for the 2,600 registered CICs. She
said the success of the CIC structure showed it was seen as a
valuable legal structure and that tax incentives would see it grow
even further.

http://www.socialenterprisemag.co.uk/sem/news/detail/index.asp?id=950

Learning from
others is a key to success

Social Enterprise
Magazine

John Pepin is
consultancy firm JPA’s Europe partner and has over 15 years as a
CEO of a variety of charities and social enterprises. He also has a
wealth of consultancy experience in many areas from strategic and
business planning, to collaboration, sales and mentoring.  Here,
he talks about his latest experience at a master class for social
entrepreneurs in Indonesia.  On 23-24 March in Jakarta, 18
social entrepreneurs gathered for a master class entitled Skills for
Social Entrepreneurs, Achieving Your Dreams: Growing Your Enterprise
Profitability, Enhancing Your Financial and Social Return.

http://www.socialenterprisemag.co.uk/sem/tradingplace/detail/index.asp?id=949

Filling the gap

Joanna Lyall, The
Guardian

As the government
looks for savings from public services, a small building in a
Derbyshire mining village could reshape the way we receive NHS dental
care. Here in South Normanton, Genesis Dental Care opened its first
practice as a social enterprise, welcoming NHS patients just months
after new contractual arrangement in April 2006 led to more than
1,000 dentists fleeing the NHS. “The nation seemed deprived of
dental solutions, and the new contract was going to make the needs
even more acute,” says former banker Steve Holmes, chief
executive of Genesis Social Enterprises.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2009/apr/29/dentists-shortage-nhs

Reluctant role
model

Mary O’Hara, The
Guardian

As one idea after
another pours from Mark Brown, he comes across like the enthused
young editor of any start-up magazine – and with its playful design
and headlines like “Eat yourself fitter”, the magazine he
edits looks and feels like any lifestyle publication. But it isn’t.

….Brown recalls how,
sitting in a greasy spoon cafe in Camden, north London, a couple of
years ago, he and a few colleagues from the social enterprise Social
Spider, where he is a director, “knocked the idea around”
for a magazine that could plug the “information gap” for
people with mental illness.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2009/apr/29/one-in-four-mental-health

Blears: ‘Recession
could cause civil unrest and fracture communities’

Jon Land, 24dash

The recession could
tip Britain towards riots and civil disorder unless voluntary
organisations are handed extra resources, Communities Secretary Hazel
Blears will warn today. Promising to come up with sustainable sources
of funds by the summer, Ms Blears will say the economic downturn
could either drive communities apart or bring them closer
together.
….”Not ‘on your bike’ like previous recessions,
but how can we help you open a bike repair workshop, start a social
enterprise to encourage cycling, start a bike-share scheme in your
neighbourhood.

http://www.24dash.com/news/Local_Government/2009-04-29-Blears-Recession-could-cause-civil-unrest-and-fracture-communities

Barnardo’s to
deliver training contract to Doha charity

Charity Finance

Barnardo’s has
secured a six-figure contract to deliver training and professional
development to a children’s disability charity in Qatar.

In the first phase of
the partnership, the Shafallah Center for Children with Special Needs
in Doha will be visited by Barnardo’s staff who will conduct a
needs analysis and decide what kind of training the Qatari employees
could best benefit from.
….The contract will be delivered by
Barnardo’s training social enterprise, tlc, which earns the charity
more than £700,000 a year.

http://www.charityfinance.co.uk/home/content.php?id=2775&pg=15&cat=58

Nunn to leave
Futurebuilders in restructuring

Futurebuilders
England’s director of market development, Gill Nunn, is to leave
the organisation at the end of June as part of a “proposed
restructure” at the government funder. She will have been in the
post for nine months. According to Futurebuilders’ interim head of
press, Jo White, Nunn (pictured) has taken voluntary redundancy as
part of a proposed restructuring of the organisation.  White
said the restructure had been prompted by the winning of the contract
to deliver the Department of Health’s £100m Social Enterprise
Investment Fund. “The organisation needs to change to accommodate
that,” she said.

http://www.charityfinance.co.uk/home/content.php?id=2772&pg=15&cat=58

Scottish SMEs
’should capitalise on public contracts’

Small Business

Public bodies in
Scotland are being encouraged to give small and medium-sized
enterprises (SMEs) access to their contracts. Finance minister John
Swinney outlines a range of measures which can be taken to increase
the number of small firms, charities and social enterprises winning
public sector contracts. He suggests small businesses would benefit
from more promotion of the free Public Contracts Scotland online
portal which highlights opportunities. In addition, outcome-based
tenders which encourage innovation and payment terms that ensure
settlement within 30 days could make public sector contracts more
attractive.

http://www.smallbusiness.co.uk/channels/sales-and-marketing/news/1021111/scottish-smes-should-capitalise-on-public-contracts.thtml

Local

Business Diary

North West Evening
Mail

A CUMBRIAN-based
organisation is behind a major social enterprise summit underlying
the sector’s key role in driving the North West out of
recession.NEW luxury hotel, Eden Lodge, owned by a German
businessman, opens at Bardsea. The event has been launched as new
figures reveal that the Third Sector is generating £2bn for the
region’s economy, employs 50,000 people and utilises the resources
of 30,000 volunteers. Kevin Brennan, Minister for the Third Sector,
will deliver the keynote speech at the event being put together by
Social Enterprise North West and Cumbria’s Social Enterprise
Partnership.

http://www.nwemail.co.uk/news/business_2_3069/business_diary_1_547339?referrerPath=raiders

Commissioner visit
to see EU funds helping economic development and regeneration

East Midlands
Development Agency

Danuta Hübner,
European Commissioner for Regional Policy, today visited the East
Midlands to witness first hand how European money is being used to
increase levels of innovation, productivity and enterprise. This
visit comes one year on from emda’s official launch of the region’s
new European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) Competitiveness
Programme for the period 2007 – 2013
….ERDF is a valuable
source of funding for Local Authorities, universities, business
support intermediaries, entrepreneurs, social enterprises and
community organisations.

http://www.emda.org.uk/news/newsreturn.asp?fileno=3612

New grant unveiled
for Peak District Businesses

Staffordshire
Moorlands District Council

FARMERS and small
businesses in the Peak District have been urged to apply for a new
grant starting at £3,500. The plea was made this week by
Staffordshire Moorlands District Council after the European Union and
the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs agreed to
plough £1.9m into a Leader programme established for the Peak
District Rural Action Zone.

….The Leader
initiative is intended to improve productivity and quality of life in
the Peak District by funding projects drawn up by micro businesses
and social enterprises that are too small to qualify for the main
RDPE programme.

http://www.staffsmoorlands.gov.uk/site/scripts/news_article.php?newsID=768

Helping disabled in
the workplace

Isle of Man Today

A COMBINATION of
corporate goodwill and one of the world’s largest auction websites is
set to become the launch pad for helping people with disabilities in
the Isle of Man into full time work. Friends Provident International,
one of the Isle of Man’s leading life and pension companies, has
helped fund start-up costs for a new office project in Douglas to be
run by the Crossroads charity.
….Now they have come up with the
novel idea of starting a Social Enterprise initiative, employing
people with disabilities to work in office premises above the main
shop, marketing and selling some of these donated products on eBay.

http://www.iomtoday.co.im/isle-of-man-business/Helping-disabled-in-the-workplace.5202929.jp

Battle to reopen
Albion Leisure Centre

This is Nottingham

PROTESTERS who want to
reopen an Ilkeston leisure centre have been given new hope. They
gathered in Ilkeston ahead of an extraordinary meeting of Erewash
Borough Council yesterday. It was called to discuss the Albion
Leisure Centre which the council closed last year. Members of the
public formed the Friends of Albion Leisure Centre (FALC) and applied
to reopen the building as a social enterprise, but their bid was
rejected. Yesterday evening, around 50 people – many of whom were
children – gathered to protest about the rejection of the bid and
called for the council to reopen negotiations over the centre’s
future.

http://www.thisisnottingham.co.uk/homenews/Hope-leisure-centre-campaigners/article-945413-detail/article.html

Of general interest

Politics:

Back expenses
changes, urges PM

BBC News Online

Gordon Brown has urged
MPs to back his planned expenses reforms in Thursday’s vote, despite
having dropped the main proposal for a daily allowance. He has faced
calls to delay any changes until after an independent inquiry but
says interim action must be taken now.

Tory MP Bill Cash
jibed Mr Brown about his “comedy turn on YouTube” – a
reference to the internet broadcast in which he outlined his original
plan. He told MPs he would keep using YouTube as an important
information tool.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8024433.stm

Business:

‘Talks to end
working time opt out fail’
Bob
Sherwood and Stanley Pignal, Financial Times

British employers
breathed a sigh of relief on Tuesday after attempts to abolish the
UK’s right to opt out of European Union rules limiting a working
week to 48 hours finally disintegrated. The failure of marathon
negotiations between the European parliament and EU governments to
break the deadlock on the issue means UK companies will continue to
be able to offer staff the opportunity to work longer hours.  The
CBI employers’ organisation hailed the retention of the opt-out as
a “victory for common sense”. Pat McFadden, employment relations
minister, said the government had “refused to be pushed into a bad
deal for Britain”.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/e7bd1924-33c3-11de-83af-00144feabdc0.html

Environment:

Hundreds of miles
of ice drop from Antarctic shelf

David Rising, The
Independent

New satellite images
from the European Space Agency show massive amounts of ice are
breaking away from a shelf on the western side of the Antarctic
Peninsula, researchers said today. The Wilkins Ice Shelf had been
stable for most of the last century, but began retreating in the
1990s. Researchers believe it was held in place by an ice bridge
linking Charcot Island to the Antarctic mainland.

But the
127-square-mile (330-square-kilometer) bridge lost two large chunks
last year and then shattered completely on 5 April.

http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/hundreds-of-miles-of-ice-drop-from-antarctic-shelf-1676149.html

Renewable energy enthusiasts invited to share their expertise (and win a wattson)

The experience and enthusiasm of people who have installed renewable
energy (such as solar panels, biomass boilers or wind turbines) in
their home is at the heart of YouGen’s remit of
helping make it easy for people to navigate a complex new market and
choose wisely.

Research* shows that people have difficulty in finding impartial, informed advice about renewable energy; that 91 per cent look at the internet for advice; and that they want an installer who is knowledgeable, trustworthy, reliable and preferably local. YouGen will use social media to provide a one stop shop for renewable energy.

‘We’re calling on people who have installed renewable energy or made their house more energy efficient to register on the site now, ready for the user-generated section which goes live after Easter,’ says founder Cathy Debenham.  ‘To encourage them, we’re entering everyone who registers before Easter into a draw to win a wattson – the stylish energy meter from DIY Kyoto.

‘Renewable energy is a really confusing market, and most of the early adopters have a story to tell. While their original motivation may have been to reduce energy bills, or for energy security or environmental protection, renewable energy often fascinates people in a way they don’t expect. It engages you with the energy you use, bringing you closer to nature and more aware of its power.’

Companies serving the domestic renewable energy, microgeneration and energy efficiency markets are also invited to register, and they too will be able to add profiles once the user-generated section of the site goes live after Easter.

The YouGen site currently consists of independently researched information, which prides itself in giving practical information, cutting through the jargon and making it easy for people to see if a technology is suitable for their home. The blog has regular contributions from YouGen Energy Experts who are professionals in their field, and are happy to answer questions. It covers energy efficiency as well as renewable energy.

Recent blog posts include:

• Will feed-in tariffs deliver for us?

• Calculators shed light on renewable choices

• Fascinating facts about wood

• Insulation is king

For more information contact:

Cathy Debenham, e: cathy@yougen.co.uk, t: 01395 597879
YouGen – renewable energy made easy – www.yougen.co.uk

The latest issue of Sustained, the free lifestyle magazine for smarter living, is out now.

In Issue 9, kindly sponsored by The Converging World, you will find features on alternative energy, permaculture, bushcraft, a carbon debate, alternatives to car ownership, chocolate, a campaign for greater local democracy, an interview with arctic explorer Pen Hadow, and Jules Peck’s vision for the 21st century citizen amongst so much more.

As Sustained is free and designed to be accessible to the majority of people why not use it as a tool to help raise awareness in your community? Alternatively, you might just want a copy for yourself. Either way, here’s how . . .

1. Ask your local wholefood shop to order copies of Sustained for
   you from their suppliers with their next food order (they are delivered
   free of charge and come in bundles of 50). National wholefood
   suppliers that distribute Sustained are the Suma, Essential and the
   Rainbow Wholefood co-operatives. If your local shop chooses to order
   from Suma there’s a catalogue code they can use – BK820
2. Return a few days later and collect your copies.
3. Distribute them at events or in public places like libraries,
   community centres, farmers’ markets etc. The wholefood shop can give
   them out too!
   

Sustained: small change – big difference

View this issue online > > >

Take the hassle out of living a greener and more sustainable lifestyle

Eco Concierge, launched today, is offering a new green lifestyle
service, helping people live in a more sustainable and eco-friendly
way.  The new service gives consumers expert advice and assistance on
making the right green and ethical choices, helping people to save
time, money and the planet.

As part of the new service, Eco Concierge lifestyle managers meet with clients and help them create and deliver an action plan that reduces their environmental impact in a way that fits with their lifestyle, values and priorities.   This can range from a complete lifestyle review covering home, shopping and travel, to advice on one off events such as organising a green wedding, an eco holiday or environmentally friendly building renovation.

After calculating their current ecological footprint, Eco Concierge gives clients a free quote outlining the environmental and financial savings they could make by becoming greener.  Clients are then supported with practical input and new ideas including making green choices, researching and project managing the best eco suppliers and negotiating discounts on a wide range of environmentally friendly products and services.

Kirsten Jack, founder of Eco Concierge says, “I set up this company because I know people want to do the right thing, they are just very busy and don’t get round to doing all the things they’d like to do. Armed with the right information and encouragement, our clients are able to make changes that bring new ideas into their lives, help the environment and save money.”

Eco Concierge has the tools to make a quick but thorough analysis of clients’ personal values, motivations and current eco behaviours.  This means that each service is uniquely tailored to be both motivating and accessible for clients.

Eco Concierge draws on a considerable pool of expertise in finding the right information, products and services for clients at discounted prices.  Lifestyle management packages start from £25 a month; a full lifestyle overhaul is £199. For more information or to request a free quote, customers can visit www.ecoconcierge.org or get in touch with Kirsten@ecoconcierge.org or call 07505 480903.

Ends

Notes to editors

There are three main services, with all clients offered a free quote and a starter pack with freebies and discounts specifically relevant to them. The Quick Fix service is a ‘lifestyle overhaul’ and costs £199.  A bespoke solution is designed that delivers the footprint changes the client is interested in and shows the total money and planets saved.

The One Planet Living service is a monthly drop in support service to helping clients at busy points in their year, for £25 a month. This could include helping to organise a child’s birthday party, helping with ethical investment decisions or booking a summer holiday.

Conscious Living is a service for busy people who know what they want and simply need support to make it happen.  It may be a low impact home renovation, a gift for a busy person, or help to make your garden a wildlife haven.  The service is charged on an hourly rate of £35, with reductions for longer jobs.  

The initial free consultation takes a maximum of 30 minutes and can be done face to face or virtually. A follow consultation on booking to understand clients’ needs normally takes approximately 90 minutes. From there, the client chooses how much they want to be involved in tracking actions taken on their behalf – Eco Concierge can offer detailed information about the reasons behind their decisions or they can simply get on with delivering the actions – depending on the client’s preference.

Eco Concierge aims to do well by doing good and takes its own sustainable operation as well as its support of individuals and businesses seriously. Its mission is to have a net positive effect on the world and to be authentic, honest, transparent and fair.

Kirsten Jack has a relevant MSc and is an Associate of the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment.  She has seven years experience working in the environment sector – across business, charity and government sectors in the UK and internationally.

For more information
For an appointment with Kirsten Jack, founder of Eco Concierge, photography, case studies, or interviews, please contact:

Jo Marino – 07932 403555
The Spring Consultancy
jomarino@thespringconsultancy.com

Anna Guyer – 07976 556164
The Spring Consultancy
annaguyer@thespringconsultancy.com

Bambienti unveil ‘Bamboo Chic by Bambienti’, a Shabby Chic range of interiors that is naturally sustainable.

The popularity of Shabby Chic style interiors, particularly furniture
and accessories continues unabated in 2009. However the problem for
many is that the original sources for this overtly neutral look, namely
antique shops and flea markets have grown aware of this trend and
increased their prices substantially. The result is that more and more
people have started to buy new furniture and accessories that replicate
the Shabby Chic look at cheaper prices but in many cases the source of
the wood used is unknown and can often be found to be unsustainable.

Bambienti have addressed this situation by unveiling a new range called ‘Bamboo Chic by Bambienti’. This white range is hand-made in small to medium sized workshops entirely out of Bamboo, a material that offers strength, style and natural sustainability.

There are five key reasons that make Bamboo a viable alternative to conventional timber.

(1) Bamboo requires no replanting after harvesting and is naturally sustainable because of a unique rhizome.

(2) Bamboo grows extremely quickly. Up to one metre a day in some instances.

(3) Bamboo provides natural resistance for a planet with increasing CO2 emissions. It releases more oxygen than the equivalent strands of trees, as much as 35% in some instances and is capable of removing up to 12 tons of carbon-dioxide from the air per hectare (10,000 m2).

(4) Bamboo can be grown comfortably in the top soil of degraded land. This is something that is not easy to do with conventional trees. Bamboo can therefore be used to counteract the soil degradation caused by illegal logging.

Describing the thinking behind Bambienti founder and director Charles Colbourne suggests that “by designing and making products using Bamboo we hope to support a necessary process that reduces our over reliance upon already limited conventional timber resources”.

Bamboo is appearing increasingly in peoples homes particularly in the form of mass produced products such as Bamboo flooring and kitchen and bathroom accessories. However the emphasis at Bambienti has continued to focus upon “hand made, low impact products, using low carbon processes that are rich in human creativity and ingenuity. We avoid mass manufactured products that rely upon carbon intensive processes and are produced in large factories where the artisan is liable to find themselves marginalised”.

In addition to selling online Bambienti are actively looking to establish new retail partnerships with independent retailers throughout the UK.

For more information and to view their Shabby Chic collection ‘Bamboo Chic by Bambienti’ please visit www.bambienti.com

Online ethical retailer miki are now throwing miki parties in Hampshire and the surrounding areas.  

If you host a miki party you’ll receive 15% commission on all sales to spend on any items!  To book a party please call Claire or Jo on 023 92 717808/ 07818818791 or email info@miki.uk.com. To view our products please go to www.miki.uk.com

miki sources stylish and contemporary design, clothing & accessories, sustainably and responsibly made. We
aim to provide our customers with timeless pieces that go against the
current ‘throw away fashion’ trend combined with a selection of on
trend items that bring that extra something to your wardrobe whilst
insistently sticking to our ethical principles.

OFFICE
SPACE TO LET

CENTRAL SALISBURY

FLEXIBLE
TERMS – nominal rent to the right organisation or start up

TWO
ADJOINING ROOMS – SUITABLE FOR 1 – 3 PEOPLE

BROADBAND
ACCESS

POSSIBLE
USE OF MEETING ROOM AND RECEPTION

SERVICES
IF REQUIRED

FOR
DETAILS CALL

JACKIE
ADAMS 01722 331241

jackie.adams@barchestergreen.co.uk

Yes is the world’s first and only certified organic range of intimacy products. A British company, Yes, pioneered the formulation of organic ingredients for intimate use. And because they’re based on purity of ingredients, complete supply chain integrity and manufacturing controls, Yes products are certified as organic by the Soil Association.

Exceeding all the parameters of synthetic lubricants, Yes products
deliver performance, purity and pleasure with no compromise (no
concerning chemical ingredients*, no smell, no taste, and no mess).
They represent an innovative departure from traditional lubricant
formulations, using pure plant gums to replace the usual glycerine or
silicone ingredient base, and are approved by the Vegetarian Society.

Appealing to all sexually active people, Yes are pure hypoallergenic
products, a crucial consideration for anyone with health sensitivities,
but also significant to those who are conscious about the chemical load
they put on their bodies.

Designed to work in harmony with the body, Yes products provide
essential lubrication and moisturisation to meet a variety of usage
needs; from pleasure enhancement (through additional lubrication), to
essential moisturisation – managing the discomfort of vaginal dryness
as a result of hormonal change, medical conditions and the side affects
of medical treatments.

Yes products are already being championed by health professionals,
including endorsements from sex therapists, who recommend Yes to enable
extended stimulation and therefore enhance female orgasm, and menopause
experts heralding Yes as a breakthrough approach to vaginal dryness.

Yes products are discreet, inside and out, from their stylish packaging
through to their astonishingly realistic feel. And because Yes products
are nourishing and readily absorbed into the mucosa (vaginal tract)
they leave no sticky residue and gently disappear without trace.

Available in oil-based and water-based varieties, Yes water-based has
the dual function of outstanding lubrication and deep remoisturising.
Both formulations are available in bottles of 25ml (RRP £5.39), 75ml
(RRP £15.66), 125ml (RRP £22.49), and packs of 6 x 25ml bottles (RRP
£26.89).

Visit Yes online > > > 

Go Eco Store has provided sponsorship to the Environmental Team at the University of Leicester (UoL) during their recycling campaign in early 2009.

UoL have a strong eco ethic and the Environment Team has an extensive list of issues that they intend to address covering all kinds of environmental impacts at the University. These range from the energy used and the things they buy, to how people get around the University sites and managing the estate to improve conditions for wildlife. It’s not just about how they manage their waste but anything that is of an important environmental concern.

Last year in 2008 UoL ran a Big Green Week and started their recycling scheme, both of which received “Green Apple Awards”, they also enlisted the help of the Carbon Trust to calculate their carbon footprint, and then implemented a carbon management plan with ways of reducing energy.

Some of the things events taking place during 2009 include a recycling campaign which consists of “Golden Bin Challenges” and a Fancy Dress competition evening where all students are required to dress up in “recycled” outfits. The best dressed students will win some eco products supplied by Go Eco Store which are intended to encourage students to adopt an eco lifestyle.

In 2008 the staff at Go Eco Store wanted to improve their lifestyle to be more Eco friendly and started to look at what was available in the high street. They struggled to find many suitable products so investigated the “independent” market. It became obvious that there were a great number of products available but it was difficult to tell which ones offered real value for money. So with this in mind they felt that there would also be many other people trying to do the same thing, and so Go Eco Store was born.

Go Eco Store is trying to help everyone to support their Eco lifestyle by offering a range of products which are not only better for our planet but also kinder on your pocket. We have spent a great deal of time evaluating many products that are eco friendly and have brought together a selection of products that in our opinion offer high quality and great value for money.

The eco qualities of each item have been assessed; their performance evaluated and then compared the cost of using these items to similar products available in the high street. You will find the value for money assessment against each product on the website with it being expressed in the following ways: cost per use, life cycle cost, equivalent cost or quality.

The eco products are energy saving, natural, organic or recycled products and all are intended to reduce the impact on the environment while supporting your Eco home, encouraging an Eco lifestyle….

Please click here to see the full article > > >