BACKSCRATCHING #101 - Friends in Deed

What a nice email greeting to start the day:

Junk or treasure?

Before you bin anything, stop! Find out if there is another use for your junk, and save money, time and the planet. Or maybe you have some suggestions for what other people can do with their junk? Browse some wacky ideas at http://www.junkk.com/ - just click on the 'Ideas' tab. Best Wishes, Rita @ Friends of the Earth

The FoE daily tips are nice enough - free, fun and useful - in their own right, but when one becomes the subject... better still!

Well worth signing up for.

Also linked opposite>>>>>

Little fleas

The lobby in our house is where no one actually stays longer than they need to.

It merely a gateway to another place, offering a brief interlude between being on the inside and the outside. Hence it is merely functional, usually a bit dusty, prone to draughts and not my favourite place.

I ponder this as I stood in the lobby of the Houses of Parliament during a tour, and learned that the verb came from the noun, as this was where people sought, and seek to influence those in power.

Government ordered to disclose business lobbying on green policy

Just as there will always be politics when you have more than two folk vying for position, it is foolish to think that, where money is involved, there will no be all manner of shenanigans in trying to sway a decision. And, in a democracy, there can be no restriction on any and all people's rights to make their case.

But what I see in the name of 'lobbying' today is a complete corruption of the fair principles originally intended. As this case lays bare.

Nice one, FoE. Respec'. Mind you, it might all just drive the SOSO sods underground.

The Register - Legal blow to secret government lobbying

The Register - NEW - UK gov waves white flag on secret lobbying ruling

NEWS/GO3 PR - The trouble with mushrooms.

You know: 'kept in the dark and fed on manure'. Plus another, entirely deliberate allusion.

Via a blog post, but from the FoE.

Now, despite being a bit more involved and trying to stay abreast of 'issues' than some, I don't still know enough about nuclear to have a clear view one way or t'other.

However, I do know when I sense a potentially fast one going down, and that I don't like.

Such as this is too important to let pass, at least not without the whole thing being properly discussed. In fact by my reading much is about getting rid of discussion and/or accountability in the future, which can't be right.

And all they are doing is ask that you write to your MP if you agree (or adjust the template if not fully), which is as free will/democratic process in action as I feel life needs be.

As received, E&EO:

Please write to your MP for a more democratic Planning Bill! [inc: link 2 'theyworkfor you']

Deadline Monday 02.06.2008!

Currently being whisked through Parliament, almost unnoticed by the press,
is one of the most anti-democratic pieces of legislation ever to be
attempted in this country.

If the Planning Bill becomes law, in its current state, opposition to large
projects such as nuclear power stations or new motorways will become far
more difficult. We will effectively lose our right to be heard at hearings.
Opposition will take the form of written evidence only and apart from an
"open floor" session, where the developers need not be present, there will
be no other means to oppose. It seems that we will be very much distanced
from any source of information or any voice loud enough to be heard!

Once a large project has been finalized and executed by an
"Infrastructure Planning Commission", an un-elected body with hitherto
unknown powers, the IPC will be above Acts of Parliament. The IPC is not
even answerable to the relevant ministers!

Friends of the Earth demands that the Bill should:

a.. Take climate change into account
b.. Ensure that the General Public have a right to be heard at enquiries
c.. That Ministers remain accountable for decisions

There is very little time left, as this Bill is at the report stage, and is
to be debated in the Commons on the 2nd June 2008.

Please spare a few minutes and go to this link below:

http://www.foe.co.uk/resource/local/planning/news/planning_bill.html

If you are in agreement with the contents of the template letter, then
please send it to your MP. We would also be very grateful if you could
forward this email on to friends and colleagues.

Return to sender

Dilemma time again.

The mail has just arrived, and it was telling that the majority of it was from those, in theory, on the side of green. And unsolicited.

So a few things did stand out more.

First up, it seemed necessary to send us stuff by mail. Maybe they didn't have our emails, but this was erring on the excessive, especially as both were essentially pitching for money, either to 'the cause' by filling out and sending back a survey (FoE) or via a free magazine copy to try and get us to sign up for a sub.

Which brings me to the importance of list management. Not always easy, but both did come 'a deux', which is what rather made my eyebrow raise.

CATEGORY - PR COVERAGE - FoE

Also known as 'backscratching #101'.

Noticed a surge in sign-ups, and lo, there is a reason; this nice plug from FoE in their 'Tip of the Day', a worthwhile daily.

Happy to return the compliment.

The royal 'we'.

And 'we' are not amused.

I just watched a BBC Breakfast News piece about food, supermarkets and 'us'.

What a surprise; to debate this issue we were presented by representatives of two rather entrenched viewpoints - the FoE and the British Retailers Something - who proceeded to tell us what we were asking for and/or feeling.

The retail lady was indeed pretty much 'not us, guv', and they were only giving 'us' what 'we' demanded, which rather validated the point of the FoE lady that 'they' need to be forced to change... by government.

However, what really grated on me was this self-appointed guardian of 'me' constantly saying 'we must'. It really came across much too much as them being a slightly more equal we than others, and a group who see their agenda to be the only one and the rest of us must get in line, if for our own good, with them.

The net result of all this was, as always, a sense that I was caught between two extremes, neither of whom represented me at all, but who were invoking my mandate as if it were god-given, and given free rein by a media who only want a quick slot before moving on. A rather neat example of which was a subsequent piece where we were treated to the joys of having your own personal shopping assistant to help you buy such essentials as snow made from stuff you add water to. Nice.

ps: But it's OK, they have flown out to Africa to show us the great work Land Rover is doing to offset emissions. It really is washing all over me as just so much conflicting 'noise'.

Message from the front

GREENPEACE AND FRIENDS OF THE EARTH - BOTH USING YOUTUBE

Whale & Chips - Can't fault it/them. More power to this kind of activity, which is where Greenpeace excels.

Shop Local - It's well done, and I guess gets a message across. But from my earliest days it was dinned into me by a succession of CDs that, while fun, devoting the majority of your ad to the negative is often taking the easy, soft and otherwise not so effective option.

OK, so there's an exclusive dig at Tesco (missing me completely as we have the choice of Morrisons or Somerfield). Fair 'nuff. I guess they symbolise the evil empire to many (odd they topped the Climate Brand Index thingie on these pages t'other day, though).

But really what else did I get? Some nice local folk were going to vanish. Tell me about it. Our High Street has more boarded up shopfronts and charity shops than there are actual businesses!

It certainly is not easy. And there are a myriad issues to address, from parking convenience to time pressures to costs (though often local can be cheaper) and the fact that council rates are not exactly helping.

It would be neat to see the sense of fun of this execution being injected into a positive branding message for the quality of the produce and the experience.

I love walking the strip and getting fresh food that tastes 100% better, and all with a cheery bit of personal service taboot.

Trouble is, they don't usually offer this on Sundays, which is often the only day I am free to help with the shopping.

ADDENDUM, thanks to Dave -

Talkingretail.com today reports that Tesco comes out on top of a new 'climate brand index'. This has been launched to track consumer perceptions of how a business is performing in terms of climate change issues.

Interesting to note that BP manages second place.

Me again: Meanwhile..... M&S, Sainsbury's and Waitrose top green supermarkets study

Having it all ways?

No, I am not trying to get banned.

It's just what popped into my head when the ever-excellent Ecologist quoted the usually excellent Friends of the Earth on the matter of the Severn barrage (I'll pop in a link if I can find one):

"To seriously damage and important wildlife site to generate less than 1% of the UK's energy is not the way to lead the world in sustainable development'.

Hmnn. I can see a literal point being made here, but surely it is outweighed by a host of practical ones.

The big issue is nature vs. man (as if we are not part of the ecosystem as an organism, and were designed by...?). Yes, this will trash yet more green and pleasant to provide a less than essential commodity to feed such must-haves as the PC upon which I write.

But I am darned if I can see what the FoE expect. Even without Global Warming polar bears would eventually be consumed by Club Nome, as our population expands without check.

I'm afraid that, on a a pragmatic basis at least, if there is going to be a demand for energy that is currently fulled by carbon, I fear 99 more wildlife reserve may have to be sacrificed to meet it.

Or... we could just cut back. Odds?

Telling you so.

Today was another bumper crop of eco on BBC Breakfast news.

First up was part of an ongoing series on 'Future Schools', which on the whole can only be a very good thing. So much so, I might make this something to assist with.

My only slight concern was the mantra nature of the information being dished out and played back by some of the kids, but that might have been a consequence of the terrible addiction to silly short timeslots and 'that's all we have time for' that is today's TV. I loved the science and the way the kids were getting on board, but there was a slight eyebrow twitch at what seemed to me was a trip to Japan to study what they are doing over there. It's an impossible task trying to balance our need for/addiction to travel - especially in the name of education and promoting good eco-behaviour - but I have to wonder at the symbolism of a child cranking that out without being aware of the irony. And I couldn't resist a slight guffaw at the wind turbine 'providing power for 3 homes' - except, one presumes, at the dead stop it was shown with. I fear I hear the slight sound of boxes being ticked, with targets and agendas being met too much at the expense at decent, objective, questioning education.

I want my kids to be aware, concerned and proactive about their future, but I don't want them trotting out stuff they are fed as a done deal, that may not be quite so clear cut in reality.

What I did feel was telling was that out of a £50M pot to green-up public buildings, only £1M has so far been used. Er... why? Don't tell me, £49M is required to staff the system to administer it. Oo... oo... sir, I know. Let's run an ad campaign!

Then, there was almost VERY GOOD piece about recycling, based on a Which? report. The intro inferred, to my approbation, that the big problem with all this is that consumers don't know what can and can't be recycled, and often have little help to do so correctly.

I have to say I groaned a bit that to address this we were treated to the thoughts of Neil & Christine Hamilton, though there was also a rather charming and erudite Michael Warhurst from the FoE. Sadly he was unable or not provided enough opportunity to do too much to develop on his expertise, such that we were treated to a load more 'will need looking ats' than much that moved anything on.

Funnily enough Neil, who was there as the spoiler (well, more so than Christine), posed quite a few sensible questions and legitimate concerns, and they really did not get answered very well. At least to allow the viewer to feel theirs 'as consumers' had been addressed.

As I wrote to the BBC (in the slim hope of a plug, if they have short memories):

RE:hashing

It is good to hear some thoughts on the actual enviROI (benefit to the planet) of some more target-based systems such as recycling, which can often be very uncritically served up by those with a vested interest in meeting them. Let us not forget that re:duction, re:use and re:pair all stand higher on the re:hierarchy.

ADDENDUM:

If you look in the comment section you will see there is one with a very useful lead to the Which? report via an equally great find, a website called newscounter

This is obviously an issue to follow very carefully, and I will.

It's so odd, because I was just talking this morning with the editor of Recycling and Waste World (another worthy read to stay on top of things) about this, and trying to get my head around how this story tallied with their front page that 92% of local authorities now offer plastic bottle recycling.

As high as a Humvee's Eye, Yee-haa!

Ooooooo...klahoma!

Fuelling the crisis

'I came to this late today, and am surprised that it has generated so few responses, especially with Davos ongoing, and the leader of one of the bigger consuming/polluting countries getting behind what, at first blush, seems better than nothing: 'Big Corn' doesn't have quite the same scary coastline devastating cachet, really.

Not too sure about Greenpeace, but it's nice to see a considered, informative and on the whole thought-provoking piece on the subject by a director of Friends of the Earth.

In the same way as I have my doubts about whacking a fir in the Australian desert to keep on flying, I am so far not too sure how converting the world's food producing acreages into carbon-dioxide fuel generating plants helps much when there is a finite amount of land and a growing population expanding across it.

Especially when a lot that once did support crop growth seems to have gone a bit dusty or underwater of late.'

A Kracking Kornucopia of Kismets

Now what could get me so alliteratively inspired?

Well, as I rush to get out the January newsletter, replete with 'the two most important letters I have yet written?' (previous blog), what should pop into my inbox than this:

Junk or treasure?

Before you bin anything, stop! Find out if there is another use for your junk, and save money, time and the planet. Or maybe you have some suggestions for what other people can do with their junk? Browse some whacky ideas at http://www.junkk.com/

For more practical advice, competitions, quiz and discussion forums see:

www.foe.co.uk/living/

Nice of them. Especially as they are one of the activist groups I have more time for. And as is the way, a shall now pop them in my news by way of a dorsal delicacy of thanks. Along with that link above. See how easy it can be:)

But.. whacky???! Us!!?