Do The Green Thing: Stories, videos, and more

Story from vanessachampion

2010-09-03T11:46:43Z

We are making a TV series here in the UK! GreenMagazineUK. Have an idea? Doing something? Let us know we'll try and feature you. Pulling together to change the world! Loving this "Greenthing" site too! Great.

Story from oliffassociates

2010-09-03T10:17:35Z

I think it's amazing how much green activity there's going on in Bristol at the moment, so many groups and organisations pioneering change. The company I work for, Oliff Associates are a financial advisers and are working really hard to make sure we are at the forefront of all things green. We recently signed up to the Bristol Green Capital Pledge, and have decided to hold a seminar on sustainable and ethical finance. Our seminar is being held at the CREATE Centre on Smeaton Rd on 22nd September between 6-9pm. There'll be talks from top investment firms about key contemporary issues; whether it is possible to ethically invest in oil, and how investment firms can engage with big businesses to reform their business practices. There'll also be plenty of opportunities for networking and finding out how you can make your money greener, and best of all; IT'S FREE!

The eBay box

2010-09-03T04:23:02Z

eBay will soon be launching reusable boxes. This is one of those ideas that probably should have been introduced ages ago, least not for the impact they'll have on minimising waste and packaging, but also for the convenience factor. Part of the beauty about eBay is that anyone can can buy or sell items- but with so many buyers and sellers around the world, that's a lot of individuals and companies packaging stuff. This new service will in theory standardise the sending and receiving process making it easier and better for the environment. The pilot stage kicks off in October and eBay will see how the process works before rolling it out.

(Spotted on FastCompany)

I joined FOUR YEARS. GO. #4...

2010-09-03T02:40:12Z

I joined FOUR YEARS. GO. <a href="http://www.fouryearsgo.org/">#4yg</a>. I will support growth with love http://rpx.me/AVkb

Story from mbjm123

2010-09-03T01:49:28Z

A few of my favorite things, Part 1 12 things that crossed my radar recently and the upcoming Christmas you can even find them help. Jaeger patch pocket suit Mens Crystal Rock Jeans Continue my patch pockets Odyssey, or obsession, depending on your point of view, I found I was totally looking for the Jaeger courtesy. I found the shop in the accident, diving suits out of the rain. Pants and jackets sold separately, which means you can easily turn off the additional C stock has been hanging up pants. The pure wool flannel suit by the Italian cloth and speaker buttons and a center vent. It is likely to be a core item in my wardrobe. As a stripped down Cusing a suit or jacket with jeans and trousers, single coat, give a look varieties. Please the younger market, the company has greatly improved its appearance in recent years. Classic, but contribute to the them to take advantage of a young, and intensified their lines. Music Pakistan canvas jacket A while ago, I spent a weekend in Lymington, a beautiful British coast town. Due to its close in the Isle of Wight to test here, its a pair of boating paradise, sailing, sailors and yachtsmen. And I found songs Pakistani. Started in 1996 by two university friends who had some old cloth sails they want to become a jacket, this company, its scope of activities, from the development of this simple idea. Having grown up sailing in the Norfolk Broads, the Hong Kong Institute of Vocational Education has always had a great affinity for sailing clothing. Many did not make full use of domestic wardrobe, it is more inclined to use the High Street and the high seas as well, providing a unique and dynamic edge. Two great advantages is that it looks great ragged degrees Celsius how many people you have there in the boat? Second, it must withstand the elements, so tough, practical and well made. I am not advocating you wear a life jacket in the city, but I love qubas x10 white off the back. Each coat is individually put together to withstand rough seas and mountains the most bleak. Extended not only Replica Oakley Tshirt jacket, I think that it's a company to keep an eye. “Thanks for colapingclothing.com about Mens Crystal Rock Jeans ”

I joined FOUR YEARS. GO. #4...

2010-09-02T05:40:11Z

I joined FOUR YEARS. GO. <a href="http://www.fouryearsgo.org/">#4yg</a>. I will protect and conserve the marine life and ensure sustainability! http://www.fouryearsgo.org/map

We want it!

2010-09-02T02:59:30Z

This is brilliant! It's like the 118 guys and the 'We buy any car crew' all smacked into one ridiculous commercial about electronic waste recycling. What's not to like?! It's a silly and seemlingly effective campaign to get local residents in the Toronto area thinking about how to adequately dispose of ewaste.

To watch some of the other equally amusing videos, visit the City of Toronto's website to see more (Yes, this is a city council funded film ;) ).

(Spotted on Unconsumption)

Transforming the Collective...

2010-09-01T22:20:09Z

Transforming the Collective Field – How We Relate to Each other http://bit.ly/aKqIjt <a href="http://www.fouryearsgo.org/">#4yg</a>

Legacy Center Stands for He...

2010-09-01T21:40:11Z

Legacy Center Stands for Healing in Rwanda http://bit.ly/98AGFD <a href="http://www.fouryearsgo.org/">#4yg</a>

Wherever the Need: Alleviat...

2010-09-01T20:20:09Z

Wherever the Need: Alleviating Poverty Through the Empowerment of People http://bit.ly/aYYWa3 <a href="http://www.fouryearsgo.org/">#4yg</a>

2010 Reverse Trick-or-Treat Kits Now Available

2010-09-01T19:00:30Z

Update from Global Exchange: Halloween 2010: Participate in the Fourth Annual Reverse Trick-or-Treating! Reverse Trick-or-Treating gives thousands of schoolchildren (& high school/college students, and adults) the opportunity to treat neighbors with Fair Trade chocolate while educating their communities about how they can help end poverty and the human rights, child labor, and environmental abuse that is pervasive in the cocoa industry... Read the entire post on Coco-Zen's Blog - http://cocozen.blogspot.com/2010/09/2010-reverse-trick-or-treat-kits-now.html

What do you do when you fee...

2010-09-01T18:20:12Z

What do you do when you feel saddened and lost inspiration? What's your "keep on going" recipe? <a href="http://www.fouryearsgo.org/">#4yg</a>

DIY solar heater

2010-09-01T04:07:21Z

Robert Tierney, a retired RAF pilot has been doing some backyard tinkering. With an old radiator, blackboard paint and silver cooking foil he's made a solar hot water system for under £250. To put this into perspective, a commercial system costs upwards of £4,000. This DIY invention combines great all-consuming use of materials as well as looking at better ways of plugging into better energy. There's quite a lot of information out there on DIY solar heaters, so check it out!

(Spotted in the Telegraph)

And the winner is...

2010-09-01T02:53:05Z

Big congrats to Sugru for winning the title of Sustainability's Next Top Model! With over 100 more votes than the other 3 models, Sugru has won by a mile.

Sugru will now receive a Green Thing marketing campaign worth a whopping £50,000 to help them on their way to world domination.

Thank you to everyone who voted!

Just AAsk

2010-08-31T04:14:37Z

In a UK based study conducted by Sheilas' Wheels Insurers, apparently the average male motorist drives 276 miles each year while lost - because he's too proud to ask for directions. 26% of men will wait at least wait at least half an hour before asking for directions, and 12% of male motorists refuse to ask a stranger for help at all! The age old stereotype of men never asking for directions has now become an environmentally significant statistic.

Women are just as culpable to waste fuel from unnecessary driving- but this is not because of refusing to ask for directions, it's because they just have the tendency to get lost. Women drive an extra 256 miles trying to find their way.

The take home message? Someone should invent a phone app for those stubborn men and turned around females ;) But seriously, just ask for directions. It's better for the environment and saves you time and money.

(Spotted in the Telegraph)

A Garden Party to Make a Difference

2010-08-30T02:39:11Z

Green Thing is going to a garden party next week. A BIG one. It's going to be great. You should really come.

Start and the Prince of Wales have decided to throw a 9-day long party, in Prince Charles historic gardens, to get people together, thinking about what a sustainable future could look like.

There are loads of activities like designing and sewing your own bag, cooking tips and plenty of musicians, artists, comedians and entertainment. It's an event for all ages. Green Thing will be there in the flesh, so come along and find out about our new top secret project or just pop in for a chat.

Things will kick off on the 8th September, from 10AM to 6PM daily. You can get your tickets here. See you there!

Gilpin's Family Whiskey

2010-08-27T06:14:08Z

There is probably a rule out there that states not to write about urine twice in a week on a blog. In fact I'm certain if there's not a rule, it's probably of poor-taste. But I had to. This is just wild.

A London designer, James Gilpin has upcycled human urine and distilled it into Whiskey. He uses diabetic urine to be exact, as it has very high concentrations of sugar. As Gilpin's Family Whiskey's sit e says:

Large amounts of sugar are excreted on a daily basis by type-two diabetic patients especially amongst the upper end of our aging population. As a result of this diabetic patients toilets often have unusual scale build up in the basin due and rapid mould growths as the sugar put into the system acts as nutrients for mould and bacteria growth. Is it plausible to suggest that we start utilizing our water purification systems in order to harvest the biological resources that our elderly already process in abundance?

This gives a whole new meaning to drinks tasting like piss- this one actually is! Ah, another *interesting* all-consuming idea.

(Spotted on PSFK)

Borrow your neighbours car

2010-08-26T11:37:06Z

WhipCar is like a hyperlocal version of Streetcar. You can effectively borrow your neighbours cars. A lot of people who own cars are not using them ALL of the time. According to the DVLA, the UK currently has 29 million registered passenger cars on the road, many of which are used for less than an hour a day. This peer-to-peer service, the first of its kind the world, has so much potential to reduce the number of cars on the road and make use of the resources already there more efficient.

WhipCar lets you rent cars from on your own street for hours, days and even weeks, all the while you're fully insured. It's a free service and a decent (and easy!) way for car owners to make some extra cash.

Ps- Find out more about driving the good drive.

Lost Values for Sustainability's Next Top Model

2010-08-26T08:06:09Z

Last but certainly not least of our 4 models is Lost Values. Lost Values make a turbo bright and very classy reflective lace, callled LFLECT that can be sewn onto virtually anything. It's a fabulous addition to any cyclists wardrobe. As part of the design, no one can see that the lace is reflective, until a car or light is shone on it.

To vote and find out more about Lost values and to learn about the other 'models', visit Sustainability's Next Top Model.

(Green Thing kicked off An All-Consuming summer, by holding a competition for Sustainability's Next Top model. The Facebook competition features 4 inventive, creative and new sustainable start-ups, who all have a chance at wining at £50,000 marketing campaign. This week Green Thing will feature each product before the voting closes on 31st August 2010 at 1800.)

Inside an Antarctic time machine

2010-08-25T14:31:11Z

Superb talk from TED Global in Oxford last month.

Lee Hotz is a science columnist for the Wall Street Journal who talks us through an amazing project at WAIS Divide, Antarctica, where a team dilligently drills into 10,000-year-old ice to analyse vital climate change data.

It's beautifully written and delivered and fascinating stuff.

All Of Me

2010-07-13T18:45:00Z

You wouldn’t buy a ticket to a film and walk out half-way through would you? (Unless it had Miley Cyrus in it). Anyway, don’t do that with stuff, use it all up. You know it wants you to. Every pixel of this film was photographed by Richard Laing, and all the shots, every single one, directed by Michael Wright. The film was edited by Daniel McGuinness using nearly all of the footage, with total thanks to th1ng and of course Louis Armstrong and songwriters Gerald Marks and Seymour Simons.

Short Sharp Showercast

2010-06-16T06:59:00Z

Lose the leisurely lathering and stop dawdling in the douche - take Short Sharp Showers to save water and CO2 and BO(2). Don't sing Bohemian Rhapsody (6m), sing a short sharp number by Matthew And The Atlas, The Inner Banks, Blane Lyon, Tom Williams & The Boat, John Hegley, The Meanies, Zeep, or Martin Jones instead.

Stay Grounded Dance

2010-04-08T17:29:00Z

If you watched our Strange Meeting video and can't get the song at the end out of your head, blame Michael Mertens at Escape Route who wrote this magnificent piece of catchy electro-disco-skiffle-o-billy-Hi-NRG-trance-funk.

Quiz

2010-03-09T13:25:00Z

Strange Meeting

2010-01-22T00:25:00Z

How do you meet people half way round the world, dance in your pyjamas and Stay Grounded? Videoconferencing is the answer, Fay Ripley stars in the very funny Strange Meeting video that shows you how. Kelly: Fay Ripley Bob: Daniel Philpott Gerry: Arril Johnson Helmut: Marc Danbury Watanabe: Kinue Kato represented by AJSW www.ajsw.org.uk Denise: Lorraine Joseph Director of photography: Steven Murphy Additional photography: Richard Laing Film Editor: Lisa Chan Music: Michael Mertens at Escape Route Locations thanks to: Rothschild and The Alphabet Bar And thanks to all at th1ng and th2ng Written and directed by: Michael Wright No flights were taken to make this Green Thing video

Stay Grounded on the Videophone Guide

2010-01-22T00:03:00Z

Find out the quality, price and IQ requirement of the world's most popular video-conferencing kit in this reasonably thorough and totally foolproof Green Thing guide to Staying Grounded on the Videophone. * <a href='http://www.skype.com'>Skype</a> * <a href='http://www.google.com/chat/video'>Google Video Chat</a> * <a href='http://www.apple.com/macosx/what-is-macosx/ichat.html'>iChat</a> * <a href='http://get.live.com/messenger'>Windows Messenger</a> * <a href='http://messenger.yahoo.com'>Yahoo Messenger</a> * <a href='http://www.aim.com'>AIM</a> * <a href='http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/livemeeting/default.aspx'>Microsoft Live Meeting</a> * <a href='http://www.dimdim.com/products/dimdim_editions_pro.html'>Dim Dim</a> * <a href='http://www.webex.co.uk/product-overview/index.html'>Webex</a> * <a href='http://www.megameeting.co.uk'>Mega Meeting</a> * <a href='http://www.adobe.com/uk/products/acrobatconnectpro'>Adobe Acrobat Connect Pro</a> * <a href='http://www.nefsis.com/Best-Video-Conferencing-Software/index-internet-conferencing.html'>Nefsis</a> * <a href='http://www.polycom.co.uk/products/telepresence_video/video_conference_systems/index.html'>Polycom</a> * <a href='http://h20338.www2.hp.com/enterprise/us/en/halo/products.html'>HP Halo</a> * <a href='http://www.eyenetwork.com/'>Eyenetwork</a>

Copenhagen Summit Images

2009-12-09T12:51:00Z

We've partnered with citizen-journalism website Demotix (http://www.Demotix.com) to bring you streamed images direct from the Copenhagen conference. Between 7th - 18th December, Demotix will stream images direct from their freelance journalists and amateurs in Copenhagen to Green Thing. Each day we'll also pick and blog a photograph to sum up the mood of the conference as the events unfold.

Dr Will Powers

2009-12-02T11:35:00Z

Amazero

2009-12-02T11:35:00Z

Most Useless Gift

2009-11-23T13:50:00Z