Green Options

As EcoWorldly continues its theme with transport news and views from across the globe, two items have come to my attention here in the UK.

Air Pollution

Aviation tax proposals have been outlined by the government. Under the new guidelines, due to come into effect in November this year, it will be the planes, not the passengers, that will be taxed.

New Government figures released showed that emissions from air travel are continuing to rise. Between 1990 and 2006, emissions from aviation fuel use more than doubled.

21 per cent of the UK’s carbon emissions will be attributable to air traffic by 2050, and the Treasury report insisted the proposed tax system would, “introduce fairer duty, more in line with the environmental impact of flights, including the distance travelled”.

As a simulation giving some idea to the web visitor of how much CO2 is emitted per 1000 tonnes in real time, this is remarkably useful in giving us some idea of how fast it is happening.

Not for the faint hearted perhaps. Just follow the link and hover over a country.
Breathing Earth.

Image obtained from Flickr

I live in a rural part of England. Yet the size of my country means that to get to the capital - London - it is a mere two hour’s train journey.

London is often called the Big Smoke by those not living there. An almost reverent and hushed tone is applied to our country’s largest city.

The clue’s in the name. Big Smoke. Whilst London may well be an internationally vital centre for commerce, a city rich in culture, it is far from being an environmentally friendly corner of the world.

Perhaps this is about to change.

Last month was a busy time for the voluntary carbon standard (VCS). Admittedly, it’s not a phrase that rolls smoothly off the tongue.

Like corporate social responsibility (CSR), you find yourself semi-exhausted before the next sentence.

You sense inherent good in each of these phrases – sure – but just want them to make sense in a realer world.

And so to the VCS.

Voluntary carbon offsetting is big business. In 2006, there was a huge surge in this market resulting in a 200% growth.

Big brands were, and are, getting into carbon offsetting in a big way. Google, Nike, Coca Cola, Yahoo! – all are now part of this market.

I don’t think it at all beneficial at this stage to analyse their reasons for announcing green credentials. Whether it really is genuine CSR or in each case a PR exercise is redundant. Don’t muddy the waters. They’re doing it.

So, yes, multinationals are offsetting their carbon within the voluntary sector. Good.

But what’s drawing them to the market? Two reasons.

I want to live a green life, and for most of the years of parenting my four kids, I lead my family with a devoted environmental consciousness. In ways big and small, a decade of nursing four kids, cotton diapering, and family beds, my life style choices reflected deeply-held values. Food choices were equally deliberate, and, for a while, we even lived on a small farm [...]