BBC Green blog: Thoughts and comment
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This is for the birds… Make a bird feeder webcam
Posted in: Found on the web by Andrew Zincke , November 18, 2008 – 4:30 pm
The whole make/craft scene is in incredibly rude health right now. I’m all for the DIY culture revival, although I’m completely cack-handed and would probably nail my hand to a toilet roll if I tried any of this stuff. Still, it makes for inspiring viewing.
Here’s a project from Make magazine that caught my eye: how…
The language of global warming
Posted in: Burning issues by Paul Allen , November 12, 2008 – 11:13 am
How susceptible are you to spin? Earlier this year, the New York Times reported on a book called Nudge by Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein.
The authors argue that some new creative thinking on the part of marketers is increasingly affecting the way we behave. Salespeople - or “choice architects” as the New Yorkers like to…
What would make football more ethical?
Posted in: Burning issues by Andrew Zincke , November 4, 2008 – 12:04 pm
The latest issue of Ethical Consumer magazine has a good piece on Premiership football clubs. Sarah Irving’s article acknowledges that supporting a club is hardly a matter of choice on the same level as, say, washing powder but she explores some thought-provoking points.
Ethical Consumer rates all the clubs by the corporate ethics of their owners,…
Keep on rocking in the green world: eco bands
Posted in: Miscellaneous by Andrew Zincke , October 28, 2008 – 5:20 pm
Forget the sex and drugs, these days it’s all offsets, biodegradable mugs n’ rock ‘n’ roll. Surely a good thing, but why does it seem such a turn off?
My idea of an eco rock star conjures up dreadful images of ice cream eating hippies and smug poseurs like Sting, who ironically was branded an eco-hypocrite…
The ethics of killing
Posted in: Burning issues, In the news by Lily Barclay , October 28, 2008 – 3:27 pm
A 19-year-old gamekeeper, at the Kempton estate in south Shropshire, received a six-month suspended prison sentence last month for killing legally protected species, including badgers and buzzards.
Kyle Burden’s actions came to light when two other gamekeepers witnessed him clubbing badgers that were still caught in a snare and shooting buzzards with a shotgun. They reported…
Swap ‘Til You Drop
Posted in: Green recommends by Ruth Harwood , October 20, 2008 – 1:58 pm
I went to my first swapping party recently, Swap ‘Til You Drop. The idea is you bring along all your unwanted clothes, accessories, CDs, DVDs, games and books, and swap them with things you really do want. What with all this talk of beating the credit crunch, this sounded right on the money.
Swap ‘Til You…
The penguins and the bees
Posted in: In the news by Lily Barclay , October 15, 2008 – 3:34 pm
The animal world is becoming worryingly out of sync. In recent weeks we’ve had reports on disappearing honeybees, starving guillemots killing chicks in neighbouring nests, and the decline of the common toad. Sadly, all these situations seem to be linked to man-made problems, such as climate change, the threat of overfishing and habitat destruction.
But one…
The ethical dilemma of leather
Posted in: Burning issues by Lily Barclay , October 14, 2008 – 1:32 pm
Whether or not people choose to wear leather often depends on how they feel about the ethics of the meat industry. But it’s not uncommon for strict veggies to be ok with wearing it – considering it as a by-product of meat farming.
Some argue that it is a form of recycling, after all if the…
Video: The climate change tipping point
Posted in: Found on the web by Andrew Zincke , October 13, 2008 – 10:00 am
This video from animator Leo Murray and his friends at the Royal College of Art is worth 11 minutes of your time.
Although Leo admits on his website, ‘I am not a scientist, I’m an animator’, he does a good job of explaining the science behind global warming. The animation itself is deceptively simple and very…
Arc theatre: Waiting for Change
Posted in: Green recommends by Ruth Harwood , October 11, 2008 – 10:00 am
Pause and Play Climate Change
Last week I went to see Arc Theatre’s Waiting for Change – an improvised and interactive play at the Science Museum’s Dana Centre, in London. This play has been used to explore the issues around climate change with secondary school and adult audiences across the UK and worldwide.
The plot revolves…
