Climate Care Day Is A Chance For Your Business To Make A Difference.

Posted by Catherine - Under: Eco Friendly Business, Environment, How Did You Do?, Planning, Reduce, Shows & Events, Spring, Technology, The Future, Transport

An eco friendly business doesn’t just talk about it – it acts on it!

Depending on the type of business that you run, or the company that you work for, there could be a certain amount of long-distance travel involved.  And long-haul means wasted time, staff not working and carbon emissions!

So Climate Care Day is asking: ‘Why not consider a ‘travel free’ day as part of your current business plan?’  This initiative supported by the WWF is trying to give you the opportunity to look at the alternatives, and make businesses more eco-friendly.

By asking you not to travel as part of your working day, they are trying to get businesses and individuals to think about the impact that their decisions can have on not only their business itself, but also on the wider environment.

What Are They Asking?
Basically, the idea of Climate Care Day is to get businesses to not arrange any long distance travel for that 24 hours.

So, on the 26th of March 2010, they are hoping that corporations will communicate via other means rather than face-to-face.

Whether this means individuals will communicate verbally by telephone, digitally via the internet or virtually with live video conferencing – it doesn’t matter.  As long as they haven’t flown or driven hundreds or thousands of miles to do it in person!

There are plenty of technological alternatives available to businesses today that can eliminate or reduce the need for business travel – and can save a lot of money in the process!

However, a lot of people are not thinking of these alternatives as they plod along doing everything as they have always done it.  Added to this is the problem of the changing market, where something that wasn’t really a viable option a few years ago is now readily and very often cheaply available.

Sometimes things that have always happened a certain way are seen as static – with no real reason to change it – well, if it has always worked like that – why change it?

But we have seen with the impressive speed with which cell phones have morphed into a huge array of handheld mobile technology gadgets that make phone calls, give you directions, display whole journals, film events, take pictures, search the internet and even play games.  Why would you still want to do all these things separately and as slowly as we used to do it?

Would you rather go to a library and scan through the paper index and individual paper journals to find a certain fact, when you could use the internet instead?  And why would you want to carry a camera, your cell and a laptop to review new products for your company, when a smart phone could do all 3 jobs in 1?

The same could be true for your business if you worked smarter – and it makes economic sense.  Save time, save money and reduce carbon emissions – but also create a better work environment and help society change for the better.

Why Do It?
Climate change is said to be the biggest threat to nature and humanity in the 21st century, and has now become a serious business issue.  Ignoring this could have detrimental effects on not only your own business itself, but on the way we work as a planet at the moment.

Coastal cities are having to make 25-year plans to move whole industries away from threatened coastlines.  You can’t just change the country’s infrastructure overnight!

And supplies and raw materials are changing – for example landfill sites are being raided for their raw ingredients which were buried in the past decades, and old computer parts are being harvested for the precious metals they contain.

We also know that in general things that stay the same are left behind.  I mean if you ran a business today that was based on using only dial-up internet- you would not be able to compete with others in the same market.

You don’t always need the newest inventions, or the most expensive – but you need a viable alternative that suits your business needs.

So, even if you can’t take part in this event, consider looking again at some business improvements – and become more eco friendly along the way.

The Ultimate Grow Your Own Event – March 2010

Posted by Catherine - Under: Community, Eco Friendly Garden, Environment, Food, Organic, Shopping, Shows & Events, Site News, Spring

I know it’s still 2009, but like your veg – you need to plan ahead!

The Royal Agricultural Society of England and the National Society of Allotment & Leisure Gardeners Limited are sponsoring an event that you won’t want to miss. 

In March 2010, there will be the first ever ‘grow your own’ event in Warwickshire, UK. For 3 days, you can learn about everything from chickens to cabbage, bee-keeping to bread-making and even a sausage seminar!

Even if you have already been growing your own fruit and veg – you can still learn some more.  All those things you have been doing for years could be getting results – but what if someone else’s tip could double your production or half your growing time!

What if you have been thinking about baking your own bread, making your own honey or rearing your own livestock and just need to speak to someone who has already been there and done that?  Well, here is the perfect place to visit.

They even offer advice on what to do with all your food when you have grown it!  There are plenty of stalls and seminars about culinary delights.

So, whether you grow it, feed it, brew it, bake it, or just love it – you want this show!

Want to know more?  Then sign up for their newsletter to keep on top of things as the show gets closer…..

Maybe I’ll see you there?