Posts from — December 2007

In vitro meat, also known as cultured meat, is a type of flesh that is of animal origin, but is basically made in a test tube; no animal necessarily need be killed. Could it be an answer to animal cruelty and environmental degradation brought on by our increasing meat consumption?

read more | digg story

Researchers have designed a biochip that could screen out compounds with toxicity problems much earlier in the drug-development process, saving animals from having to be used as guinea pigs.

read more | digg story

Ever wondered what your personal carbon footprint could be? Then check out the Act on CO2 calculator. Not only does it calculate your CO2 emissions for the year but you’ll also get a personalised action plan with recommendations about how you can help tackle climate change.

The questionnaire covers home, appliances and transport but totally neglects diet, food production and distribution. There is now a growing awareness of the direct link between eating meat and global warming. The best place to get more information is Viva’s HOT campaign.

Transport was my weakness. Particularly the 2 x long haul flights I take most years. I’ll be reading up next on carbon off-setting though I think there’s been a lot of skeptisim about that.

Here are my results

Carbon admitted from my home .93 tonnes per year – the only suggestion they had for reducing this was using renewable energy sources. Not sure how my landlord will feel about a wind turbine on the roof – but I’m going to look into it for sure.

Carbon admitted by my appliances is .54 tonnes per year – I definitely need to turn things off more. My computer in particular. As long as I’m in the house its on. Did you know a laptop consumes 30% less energy then a desktop? Mine’s broken at the moment – but I’m going to get it fixed up and start using that more. The other suggestion they had was turning down the brightness on my TV and monitor. I’ll definitely be trying that out.

My carbon emissions for transport are 3.38 tonnes per year – the only suggestion was to off-set my long haul flights. I’ll let you know what I find out about off-setting.

My total emissions in a year is 4.83 tonnes per year which makes me a bit above the national average and about 1 tonne above the target. Hopefully this time next year I’ll be on target.

Hi

The Dr Hadwen Trust (along with partner organisations) is asking us all to sign a petition  demanding an end to animal testing in Europe.  I’ve signed it.  I hope you will too.

I’ve been a life time member of the Dr Hadwen Trust for a few years now. They are one of the very few organisations that has researched and funded alternatives to animal testing. The results are amazing and should convince even the most hardened skeptic to reconsider the use of animals. Not simply on the grounds of the appalling cruelty involved but also because of the demonstratable lack of scientific validity.

Once you’ve signed the petition you will find a link on the page to help you forward it on to your friends.

The Dr Hadwen site has a ton of information about animal testing and the alternatives. If you haven’t been there before its very much worth a visit.

Hi

I was reading up on the October reports about Gap. Kids, as young as 10, in bonded labour, working 16 hour days. Of course its not the first time Gap has been caught out using child labour and one can only wonder if they are more concerned about stopping the practice or getting caught in the act.

They’ve vowed to destroy all the clothes made by the children. What a waste – why not give them to some children who desperately need them? But perhaps they don’t want their logo to be associated with the slums of New Delhi.

Got a few things to do today but I’m going to make a start listing some proven ethical retailers both on and off line. I’m definitely going to be reviewing my shopping habits.

Let’s support the good guys!

Like I say on the main site www.ajustlife.com/ethicalclothing.htm if the clothes are cheap then the first question you should be asking yourself is “How many hours a day did that kid have to work so I could save a few £s/$s? “

It’s been really interesting working out how to use my new site. I’ve been hunting around the web looking for inspiration and have found some truly brilliant sites covering ethical issues and ethical shopping.

However I did notice that they all seem to be isolated from each other – competition I suppose!

So I’ve decided that my site will

• provide basic information about a particular issue with links to the best sites so you can read up as much as you want and
• provide links to the best places to spend your money – be it buying clothes, food or investing for your retirement.
• provide a jumble of odds and ends that take my fancy or that you’d like to see included.

I know this site has already made me vow to improve my shopping habits.  How far am I willing to go to make sure that the goods I buy are ethically produced?  Sometimes its just about affordability.  Often enough its about taking the time to find or travel to an ethical shop rather than popping into the mega-shop on my high road and sometimes its simply about taking risk buying shoes by post for example always causes me anxiety.

All for today – must away and do some research.

Inky

ps please feel free to leave comments about these posts.  I particularly would love to hear what you’d like to have included on the site.  www.ajustlife.com

Hope you’re all having a great holiday!

I’ve just bought this great little program that allows me to add youtube links to my website.  The links get feeds according to the tags I’ve choosen.  Better still the links are automatically updated when new videos matching the tags are uploaded to youtube.  Cool eh!

Now all I’ve got to do is work out how to install it.   I’m using a new web hosting company so need to get familiarised with it.  So don’t hold your breath!

Happy Christmas

Inky

I reckon I’ve been sitting on the side-lines for way too long and its time I spoke out about the things that really concern me.

• The way we treat each other
• The way we treat animals
• The way we treat our planet

I’m not a politician – nor do I want to be one – but I do want to make some difference.

I’ve a lot of ideas how I’m going to be using my new web space (www.ajustlife.com) but I’d love to have your comments and suggestions too.

All for today.

Inky