Just one small thing

Switch to the dark side

There seems to be some debate as to whether this is strictly right, but I like the fact that it might be so will run with it anyway!

The basic idea is this - CRT monitors (tho not LCD it seems) use more energy when showing white than black. So what if the pure white Google, the world's most visited website, had a black interface option?

The impact would would be a saving of 750 Megawatt-hours a Year apparently (though I'm not sure what that actually means)

And if you think this makes sense, Blackle now gives you a way to do your bit. Because, thanks to the Google Custom Search facility, they can provide you with a bit of search on the dark side.

With 206,422.190 Watt hours saved in the process so far.

I Believe In Miracles

...is the name of a small business specialising in fairly traded gifts, cards and accessories (disclosure - one of the directors is a friend of mine).

Apart from checking out all the they have on offer, you might also went to partake of a new service they've just introduced in time for Christmas: company-branded greetings cards.

Most charity cards aren't fairly traded. So apart from the few pence that finds itself to the charity in questions, the benefits are arguable limited. But bulk buy fair trade cards and you make a whole heap of difference. So go do it.

Do less

(Paolo Margari)

A new thought from John Grant: lessening.

I'll let him explain...

"Whatever your starting point the goal is to make a little progress week in week out, some local fruit and veg, a lightbulb here an inessential trip cancelled there. It's all about a direction of change, not starting out green. I like the fact that it sound a bit like lessons and I think sharing learning could be a key strand"

It's an approach that has always worked well for us. Because the fact is, once you start cutting back, if only a bit, it's always easier to cut back some more.

Jane Tomlinson: a very amazing woman

Jane Tomlinson finally succumbed to her battle against cancer on Monday.

But what an inspirational battle it was - £1.75m raised for charity from a number of challenges you would assume were way beyond someone in her condition, including the Great North Run, London Marathon, the Ironman UK Triathlon and an epic 4,200 mile bike ride across America.

Shows what one person can achieve when they put your mind to it, regardless of the odds staked against them.

A lesson for us all.

The Black 35th

Heard on the news this morning that the 35th week of the year has consistently been the worst in terms of stock market falls....in the UK at least. And I may have misheard, but I think the report said this had been true for pretty much the whole life of the FTSE.

No idea why (back from holiday blues perhaps). But a classic example of herd mentality: once everyone thinks the market will go down in week 35 it becomes a self fulfilling prophecy - who wants to be left with expensive stock when you could by buying it for much cheaper.

I guess the question is, how can we generate positive herd movements, e.g. in areas like climate change - not just thinking something needs to change, but doing something about it.

The armband movement of MPH, Lance Armstrong et al, did a bit of that. Although you always got the sense this was a fashion herd more than anything else.

So what are the triggers then, that will get us all doing the same little something to significant ends?

Living off the land

We went blackberry picking yesterday - always one of my favourite things at this time of year. And definite herald of what is my preferred season (or at least the one that seems to sit most comfortably with my personality!).

What surprised me though, was how many there were still on the brambles. Maybe it's just a little too old fashioned an activity for people nowadays.

Did make me think: wouldn't it be great if we were better able to live off the land - growing stuff or just picking it wild (ourselves - not just nipping down the farmers market). You'd get all the flavour benefits obviously. And the 'at one with nature' stuff. But it would also lead to big reductions in processing, packaging and distribution costs (monetary and environmental).

Most of us would just need a few pointers I guess - I've always fancied some wild mushrooms, but have never quite managed to pluck up the courage.

Any tips for going wild in the country then ?

Support Darfur...but don't forget Iraq

I never wanted this blog to be a platform for explicit political ranting. And the plan was always to focus on positive action. But an article I've just finished reading gave me real pause for thought.

The consequences of the complex, in many ways state-sponsored civil war in Darfur are terrible. And people from across the political spectrum, the EU and the UN, together with the media and celebrities various have quite rightly united in condemnation.

Which begs the question of why there hasn't been such a united compassionate response to what is happening in Iraq.

Because the bald facts are that the situation in Iraq is even worse than in Darfur. And here we have to park our views on the rights and wrongs of the invasion, the existence (or otherwise) of WMDs, the needs of the 'war on terror' and the fact that 'our boys' are out there, and look instead to escalating human misery felt by real, ordinary people.

The highest level figure for deaths in Darfur is 400,000. As of 2006, around 650,000 Iraqis have died since the US/UK invasion. More than 4 million have lost their homes, around half of whom have been internally displaced. The other 2 million are languishing in squalid refugee camps in neighbouring countries. Basic services such as electricity and clean drinking water are in short supply, and infant mortality has shot up. One third of Iraqis need emergency humanitarian aid, according to Oxfam, 70% are without adequate water supplies (up from 50% in 2003) and 28% of children are malnourished (up from a pre-invasion figure of 19%).

All in the name of democracy, of preventing civil war and of protecting civilian lives. Surely there must be a better way to make a difference.

Making do

Scrapheap Challenge is a top fave in our house - great dads and lads TV. And presenter Robert Llewellyn is now half way thru a year long experiment to take the Scrapheap ethos into his own life.

For 12 months his plan is to not buy anything new, and instead make do, mend stuff, that kind of thing.

Episode one is here...

And he's now up to episode 16, with short 'specials' interspersed in between. You can find them all on his Youtube channel.

All very inspiring (and challenging) stuff, and I shall be sitting down to watch them all. And maybe buy less.

(Thanks to Ian for the heads up)

They're Human_2

Rob is angry (as usual). And what he's angry about is homelessness.

You can read all the details here. But as he says...

"For a great number of years, the situation with the homeless has really upset me. I find it absolutely tragic that in this day and age so many people find their only option is living on the street … but what makes it worse is that so many in society seem happy to simply walk past these individuals as if they are invisible to the naked eye. A couple of weekends ago - as I was driving home to my Mum - I encountered a homeless guy, Brian, whose situation was so sad that I decided I had to stop being upset by the situation and try to do something about it."

So how does one person make a big difference, even if only for some people? By registering the name of a charity/pressure group (Human_2), and then asking the blogosphere for the Big Idea to campaign behind.

176 comments and counting, both ideas and interesting discussions about the homeless issue. So check it out and make your contribution.

The water is rising

This is a really simple dramatisation of a very complex issue...

The High Water Line is an art project with a purpose. As the website says...

"High Water Line is a public artwork on the New York city waterfront designed to create an immediate visual and local understanding of the affects of climate change. I will be marking the 10-feet above sea level line by drawing a blue chalk line and installing illuminated beacons in parks. This line marks the extent of increased flooding brought on by stronger and more frequent storms as a result of climate change. During the summer of 2007, I will be walking, chalking and marking almost 70 miles of coastline. As I am out in the public creating the work, I will have a chance to engage in conversations about climate change and its potential impacts. Through awareness and action, we can change the future."

Thanks to Diablogue for pointing it out.