It was recently unveiled that Foster + Partners have drawn up plans for Masdar City in the United Arab Emirates to produce a zero carbon emissions, zero waste and carbon free.  Its being built according to the ten sustainability guidelines called One Planet Living drawn up by the WWF and environmental consultancy BioRegional.

Guidelines include, sustainable materials, sustainable food and water, support of habitats, wildlife, culture, heritage and to promote equality, fair trade, health and happiness.

It would seem this is an ambitious project and maybe it would be better to put its own house in order – it is still the world’s fifth largest oil exporter and emits the second highest greenhouse gases per capita in the world.

 www.oneplanetliving.org

“97% of people in Britain now acknowledge that humans are contributing to climate change”

Source: DEFRA

A Canadian company called Big Room have set up a website called ecolabelling.org with the intension to help us understand who is actually making an effort to become sustainable, who is simply green washing and who lies somewhere in between.

There are so many certifications, accreditations and seals of approval out there it’s hard to tell what’s what.  The idea is that the site lays out all the known labels in one place organised by country and product type.

 www.ecolabelling.org

The exhibition is a platform to promote eco-sustainable fashion and is hosted in association with high street brand Monsoon and Accessorize.

estETHICa aims to showcase established and emerging brands with the focus on being green.  The exhibition also highlights that ethical fashion can be as creative and cutting edge as trendy high street fashion.

Whole Foods Market who has chains across the US, Canada and the UK were giving away a frightening amount of plastic bags for customers to take their groceries away in, more often than not these bags were ending up in landfill.

The company has decided to take action and has launched a new campaign ‘Bring your own Bag’ encouraging customers to bring their own reusable bags.  Further more the UK stores, Fresh and Wild operate an additional scheme whereby customers receive 5% off their grocery bill if they bring their own bags.

The company does offer paper bags in emergences however you would not be entitled to the 5% discount. 

www.wholefoodsmarket.com/byobag

Research carried out by BT and performed by Datamonitor and YouGov found that 56% of businesses think they are taking significant steps to improve their impact on the environment and communities. 

Interestingly though, only 3% of consumers think that retailers are open and honest about their socially and environmentally responsible actions.  Its not just shoppers who feel this way, employees are sceptical of their own employers’ green credentials with nearly a third of employees don’t feel they work for organisations that are responsible and tend to think they only take action when forced to by suppliers or customers. 

Tesco is one of the first retailers to follow the Environmental Justice Foundation’s advice and ban all Uzbek cotton from its clothing range, home ware range and corporate purchases.

As Uzbekistan is the world’s third largest exporter of cotton and Tesco is the world’s third largest retailer, we’re talking big-scale changes here. Tesco has also announced it’s going to get more transparent with regards to its clothing and textiles processes by implementing a system to check its cotton supply chains.

 Source www.ejfoundation.org

The Schools secretary Ed Balls has announced that schools are to become carbon neutral by 2016.

200 projects will be undertaken in the next three years, which will cost a total of £110 million. This means that the typical school in the plan will receive around £500,000 to install sustainable generators and make buildings more efficient.

This could include everything from the use of energy-efficient computers and electronic devices, to improving existing insulation and using bio-mass burners to provide heat.

M&S and Oxfam aim to launch the biggest clothes recycling campaign in the UK.  People who drop their M&S clothes into Oxfam shops nationwide will receive a £5 for each item they donate to the charity.  This voucher can in turn be used in any M&S store when spending over £35.

The scheme benefits everyone — Oxfam gets more donations and more income from selling those donations, customers get money off new clothes and an incentive to clean out their wardrobe, and M&S can encourage customers to trade in their old clothes for new and fulfill part of its Plan A scheme to go green.

The project starts on the 28^th January.

In a recent article Lucy Siegle points out that eco labeling has become so popular how are we really to know what means what and if the statements they are making are wholly truthful.

Thorough research shows that the following list of labels do say what they mean and should help make decisions easier when it comes to choosing environmentally and socially responsible purchases;

The Soil Association

Its standards of organic production go well above the Defra minimum.  Standards do not permit the routine use of agrichemicals or pesticides and specify rotational grazing systems.  It also has higher animal welfare specifications than standard organic systems.  By 2009 all air-freighted produce must conform to these standards to retain the SA logo.

www.soilassociation.org

The Vegan Society

Permits no animal ingredients, by products of or derivative.  Neither will the society certify products containing GMO where their development has involved animal genes or animal-derived substances.

www.vegansociety.com

The Fairtrade Mark

An Independent consumer label giving an independent guarantee that disadvantaged producers in the developing world are getting a better deal.  Products bearing the mark meet international Fairtrade standards, set by the international certification body, Fairtrade Labelling Organisations International (FLO).  Supplying producers are inspected and certified by the FLO and receive a minimum price covering the cost of sustainable production and an extra premium for social and economic development.

www.fairtrade.org.uk

The Leaf Marque

Guarantees that the producer operates their business and production in accordance with Leaf Integrated Farm Management principles: farmers manage all key farm inputs including water and fuels in a responsible manner to ensure that they have the least impact on the environment, including the proper re-cycling of by-products.  Pesticides are permitted (unlike the organic system) but farmers must follow a responsible – use code. Leaf farmers have a positive approach to improving wildlife and the landscape.

www.leafuk.org

MSC TICK

Ensures that the fish you are buying comes from a well-managed and sustainable fishery, as defined by the Marine Stewardship Council, a global, non-profit organisation set up by Unilever, the world’s largest buyer of seafood, and WWF, in 1997.  In 1999 the MSC became fully independent from both organisations.  Now 24 of the world’s fisheries are certified, and 42 are being assessed. 

www.msc.org

OEKO-TEX

Fabric with the Oeko-Tex 100 label has been tested for PH – value, formaldehyde content, pesticides, heavy metals, chlorinated organic carriers and preservatives.  The label also ensures that clothes are free of flame-retardant and biocide finishes, prohibited in the apparel industry.

www.oeko-tex.com

 The Humane Cosmetics Standard

Also known as the Leaping Bunny Cruelty Free/Against Animal Testing Accreditation is awarded by the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection (BUAV) It ensures that companies no longer conduct or commission animal testing for cosmetics and toiletries products or household products.

www.gocrueltyfree.org

MBDC Cradle to Cradle product certification

This label tells you that the products have been made in accordance chemist Michael Braungart and sustainability design guru William McDonough’s ‘cradle to cradle’ philosophy.  Instead of designing cradle-to-cradle products dumped in landfills at the end of their lifecycle.  MBDC products are designed around cradle-to-cradle cycles, whose materials are perpetually re-used.

www.mbdc.com

The European Union EU Energy Label

If you buy an A-grade freezer, washing machine, dishwasher, washer dryer or even a light bulb, you can be rest assured that you’ve picked the most energy efficient model achievable.  As an EU compulsory ratings notice, energy-rating labels must be shown on all white goods.

The Energy Saving Trust Logo

Tells you that a product has been selected by an independent panel because it meets strict criteria on energy efficiency.

www.est.org.uk

The FSC Trademark

Ensures that the timber product or product derived from timber is from a sustainable managed forest as defined by the Forest Stewardship Council’s 10 governing principles.  The FSC’s are the only internationally valid standards for responsible forest management.

www.fsc.org

Source The Observer Magazine