My Greener Home™ now sells the HouseHeat range of products to cut your central heating bill. Househeat is a fantastic new set of products that allow you to control the temperature of each room in your house independently to save you money. As long as you have Thermostatic Radiator Valves on your radiators you can fit Househeat in minutes and begin cutting your heating bill straight away. The equipment is modular so you can start by installing it in one room to try it out, and then expand it to control the radiators in each room of your home.

At its simplest, HouseHeat consists of a thermostat unit that you mount
on the wall of your room, which communicates wirelessly with a
motorised valve that you install on your radiator. When the temperature
of the room reaches the level you have set, the valve will turn the
radiator off, and when the temperature of the room starts to drop
again, the valve turns the radiator back on.

The benefit of HouseHeat is that it will control the temperature of
each room in which it is installed without any intervention by you. Ask
yourself how often you adjust the settings on your radiator. Do you
turn down the temperature settings in each room at night and then turn
them back up again in the morning? With the built in timer the
HouseHeat can allow the temperature of the room to fall to a lower
level at night (saving you money) and then bring it back up again in
the morning. The system can be set so you have more warmth in the
bedroom at night, and more warmth in the living room during the day.
All of these changes reduce the amount of time that your boiler is
burning fuel to heat parts of your house unnecessarily.

Visit My Greener Home™ at http://www.mygreenerhome.co.uk

…and see these new HouseHeat products here.

Further information:

With conventional hot-water central-heating systems using thermostatic
radiator valves, temperature-measurement errors arise because the
thermostat is too close to the radiator. With HouseHeat the Wireless
Room Thermostat is not physically connected to the radiator and may be
placed wherever desired in the room so temperature control is more
precise and is sensed in the desired location in the room itself, not
next to a radiator.

Furthermore, the room temperature only needs to be set at one location
in the room – namely on the HouseHeat Wireless Room Thermostat. With a
conventional heating system using thermostatic radiator valves, the
temperature needs to be set on each individual radiator.

A fully customisable daily and weekly programme enables the temperature
to be precisely regulated separately in every room in a house,
delivering accurate control of individual room temperatures according
to your personal needs and requirements. Separate day- and
night-programmes for each day of the week are definable. There is also
an override function to allow you to temporarily change the temperature
if required – for example, if you go away on holiday.

Because the HouseHeat system operates wirelessly, no cables, wires or
pipes are required for its installation – which means no disruption of
your home or damage to your décor. Installation is fast and simple,
with no need to drain radiators during installation.

About My Greener Home™

The company was founded in 2007, by Edwin Lloyd, formerly head of
global telecoms hedge funds at Norges Bank Investment Management, part
of the Norwegian Central Bank. He discovered the UK lacked a single
website selling credible energy and water saving products.  Consumers
affected by both the Credit Crunch and with a growing social
conscience, are demanding these products.  He, as a new father, also
wanted the safest and greenest goods for his children.

My Greener Home™ helps consumers save on their bills and reduce the impact on the environment. The four main product areas are:
1. Energy saving (reduce your heating bill and electricity usage)
2. Water saving (either by using less water, or by reusing rain or grey water)
3. Recycling (compost bins and rubbish compactors)
4. Lifestyle (wind-up radios and MP3 players, baby products)

The most popular product so far has been the Chimney Balloon which is
used to stop heat loss up (and cold air coming down) unused chimneys.
Father Christmas was the only one who didn’t appreciate it! My Greener
Home™ is constantly on the look out for innovative and inexpensive
devices to make homes greener. If you have heard of one, let us know,
and we’ll call them up.

Edwin Lloyd, Founder of My Greener Home™, commented:  ‘I started My
Greener Home™ when I found there was no single company that saved my
family money and had an environmental conscience.  We are always
looking for companies to work with, who have the same ethos as us.’

www.mygreenerhome.co.uk  
Enquiries +44 20 8133 9002

Save the dates!
 
The seventh WALK YOUR TALK conference will take place this year from the afternoon of Sunday 8th to Wednesday 11th November 2009 at Buckland Hall, near Brecon in Wales.
 
Further details, including early bird rates, will follow shortly. If you have colleagues or friends who would like to receive news of WALK YOUR TALK 2009, please let us know.

Are you a successful and responsible entrepreneur?

Striding Out are searching for talented young entrepreneurs aged 18-35 who are demonstrating entrepreneurial flair and innovation in progressing a responsible business venture in the run up to Global Entrepreneurship Week 2008 (17th – 21st November).

The Future 100 entrepreneurs will be profiled as advocates for sustainable business practices within their industry and known for their entrepreneurial contribution to tackling social and environmental issues.

Being listed as one of the Future 100, will promote confidence amongst consumers and stakeholders in your ethical business practices, and give you a platform to further influence policy and progress your goals to contribute to a better economy, society and environment.

The deadline for entering the Future 100 is November 10th 2008

 
The Future 100 Event

Future 100 are holding two profile events during Global Entrepreneurship Week 17th – 21st November in the North and South of England. Special guests from government, policy innovation and media will be invitied to attend.

Tuesday 18th November – London – Hosted by the British Library.

Thursday 20th November – Liverpool – Hosted by Blackburne House.

For more information about becoming one of the Future 100 or to find out about attending the Future 100 events visit their website here. 

Find out more about Global Entrepreneurship Week. 

Can we move towards sustainability without coaching?

Research reveals the critical role coaching can play in the shift towards sustainable and profitable business.

Most large organisations are making moves towards sustainability.

Leading organisations are integrating ecological and social factors into strategy. But what about their cultures? Is sustainability truly integrated? Are there opportunities for game-changing innovation to be driven by a shift in the values and attitudes of individuals and teams?

These questions prompted Article 13’s latest research (http://www.article13.com/csr/ourpublications.asp) into the role and relationship of coaching and sustainability in large organisations.

Many factors constrain how fast and far organisation’s move towards being ecologically and socially sustainable. Culture and values have so far received limited attention as a constraint. And, coaching has not been widely used as a means of integrating sustainability into culture and strategy.

Now values and culture, rather than technology or prices, are increasingly been seen as primary constraints, and coaching is emerging as a powerful and effective tool for transformation. At the leading edge, more organisations are making the connection between personal development and sustainable development, between a coaching culture and sustainable innovation.

This research looks at these key questions including:
• What are current attitudes to coaching and sustainability?
• Is coaching an appropriate tool for dealing with the challenges organisations face in the next decade?
• What drives organisations to resource coaching as a priority activity for moving towards sustainability?
• Which kinds of coaching (i.e. models and practices) are being used?
• Is coaching an effective tool for taking organisations to Innovation plus, using sustainability issues as the opportunity?

So what did we find?

Organisations at the leading edge are embracing the opportunity to drive innovation through shifting their culture, and the values and mindsets of employees. Those that are still focused purely on technical fixes and policies are missing an opportunity to leap ahead of their competition.

The link between ‘inner’ (personal development, organisational values and culture development) and ‘outer’ (organisational, business, sustainable) development is real and critical to organisational success. But, few organisations know how to effectively facilitate and benefit from those inner shifts.
Inter-subjective, dialogic processes like coaching are a powerful and effective way to accelerate leadership development and adoption of new values and culture. They foster innovation and adoption of behaviours and systems that can enable ‘outer’ development of organisations and society towards sustainability. Organisations that aren’t encouraging this type of interaction with and between staff are missing a crucial piece of the sustainability puzzle.

New, peer-to-peer and collaborative approaches to coaching are being used to accelerate leadership development, enhance performance and embed sustainability. Choosing the right form of coaching is critical to realising the benefits of the activity at an organisational level. For executive coaching and leadership development, Sustainability provides a more compelling context for the coaching, and is likely to be increasingly adopted as an explicit orientation by many coaches.

Article13 Director and Accredited Coach, Neela Bettridge comments “true sustainability now requires far more than mere consideration in business strategy and we can now see truly innovative companies successfully using coaching as a means of leading an internally generated business revolution. What is so compelling is the success of companies using coaching to break the constraints of culture and values, and recognising the link between personal development and sustainable development”

Neela Bettridge and Andrew Outhwaite are co-authors of the research.

To order a full copy(http://www.article13.com/csr/ourpublications.asp) of this research report contact Fiona Banyard.

E: fionab@article13.com
T: +44 (0)20 8840 4450
W: www.article13.com

A great opportunity to take time out to develop more confidence, energy and effectiveness in your business development

10% off for EJ Members until 20 October

We all know the amazing value of taking time out to think or plan away from the pressures of work – but we always put it off. How about a conference which offers the opportunity to learn and recharge in beautiful countryside?

Last year, Ethical Junction got involved in an extraordinary gathering for people to inspire and be inspired about moving from great ideas to great actions. Our experience made us see the idea of Strategic Awaydays in a new light. As a result, we’ve organized a special EJ discount for this year’s gathering because it so clearly advances ethical enterprise and lifestyle.

Walk Your Talk is a chance to take your business/organisation on an exceptional strategic retreat which is guaranteed to enrich and refresh both you and your work. Not only do you get the space to relax, think and plan, but you do so with around 60 other enthusiastic, energetic and inspiring people who are doing the same thing – entrepreneurs, execs, designers, artists, activists, inventors, investors and consultants.

The result is that the whole gathering acts like an expanded team which puts its energy into helping each other with advice, new ideas, partnership deals and more. It’s like having 60 talented colleagues show up in your organisation for three days. You set the agenda, you talk about what you need to talk about, and you get to meet people who share your interests and concerns.

We love figures, so we did some maths and reckon that by adding up the equivalent person hours and brain power brought to bear on a business, each day of retreat is worth about a month in the office.

So how does it work? Walk Your Talk is held in ‘Open Space’, a facilitated process in which there are no designated leaders. Instead, you steer your own course as the conference evolves, discussions deepen, and connections and realisations emerge. The dramatic Brecon Beacons provide the backdrop for three days of reflection and interaction in a warm and friendly environment, whether on strolls along the banks of the River Usk, or beside the fire with a drink. People learn by walking and talking, sharing passions, curiosities, hopes, expertise and questions. Drawing on each other’s wisdom and experience, everyone supports each other towards the creation of really good personal action plans to take back into their lives and work.

The Walk Your Talk team use a question designed to make it easier to find a common threads amongst a wide range of interests. This year it’s ‘Can we afford to work without heart?’ This question brings up lots of practical issues, like how to balance head and heart stuff, how to set a truly heart based culture and how to communicate it well.

As an Ethical Junction member, you’re entitled to 10% off the fee if you book by 20 October. Fees at individual and small business rates include accommodation, food, facilitation and all that brain power of your fellow guests. The only extras are your bar bill, and a supplement if you can’t bear the thought of sharing a twin room.

Walk Your Talk is at Buckland Hall in the Brecon Beacons from 16-19 November 2008. Full details are on www.walkyourtalk.net and to claim the EJ price, simply mention your membership in the ‘special requirements’ box of the on-line booking form and make your payment for the total shown, less 10%.

What people said about Walk Your Talk in 2007

“A wonderful clearing house of inspiration, wisdom, debate and motivation.”
Jason Elliott, Ethical Jobs

“An absolute must in a crowded diary. Although the thought of taking time out from the office caused some anxiety, the reality was worth every moment.”
Thea Allison, Brighton & Hove Business Community Partnership

“The most extraordinary experience where I felt alive, alert, and came home hopeful and zinging from head to toe. Nothing will ever be quite the same again and the only disadvantage has been that conferences with pre-arranged agendas now seem rather staid and stale.”
Anna Jenkins, Ethical Change

“It has value as a practitioners’ personal development space, allowing those engaged day to day in trying to make the world a better place to recharge, reconnect and refocus.”
Andy Middleton, TYF Group

A truly depressing documentary on Channel 4 the other night – The Lie of The Land. Quiet anger masked by unfailing politeness characterised a group of ordinary farmers as they watched, not just their livelihoods, but a whole way of life disappearing before their eyes. In the face of a twin assault from government bureaucracy (new regulations to ‘protect’ the environment means more red tape and less scope to manage the infinite variations that land and animals in the real world require) and city dwellers’ demand for ever cheaper food, their bewilderment was heart rending.

At root is a confused and, in many cases, irrational attitude to animals and the realities of rearing them for food. On the one hand we demand an end to fox hunting (a largely symbolic gesture in the face of the many other forms of animal abuse that we know nothing and apparently care less about); on the other, the way we have turned food into a commodity like anything else (to be produced ever more ‘efficiently’ and at ever lower cost) leads directly to the import of meat from countries where attitudes towards animals don’t bear inspection – while, at the same time, to the culling of healthy animals on our own farms because they have no economic value. The net result is that the day is not far off when Britain will no longer produce beef, pork, poultry or milk.

For those of us who eat meat and care about animal welfare, it really is time to reassess the choices we make on a daily basis. Are we going to be accomplices in the destruction of a centuries old way of life simply because supermarkets provide us with cheap food – with the end result that we will become dependent on other countries to feed us? Or are we going to face up to what it means to eat meat and attempt to understand the cycles of life and death that are implicit in its production? If we care about animals then the answer must be that we try and get closer to the people who actually rear them; and that means buying local produce from butchers and farm shops who know where their meat comes from and the conditions in which it was produced. If you know the farm your meat comes from, you can always go and visit …