Communities Fight Ecological Effects Of Climate Change

Nick from Big Green Smile has written an interesting post on how the Government is rewarding communities trying to stop climate change:

Communities battling to stop the ecological damage of climate change could receive a share of a £10 million government fund.

Twenty successful communities will receive funding from the Low Carbon Communities Challenge, which will be used to pay for energy saving measures chosen by the residents themselves, such as electric car charge points.

If measures put in place by the project are successful at cutting emissions on a local scale then they could be rolled out nationally.

Currently around one-quarter of the UK’s carbon emissions come from powering heating, lighting and electrical appliances around the home, and this number needs to fall to almost zero by 2050 if the country is to meet government energy saving targets.

The Government also wants to see around 40 per cent of energy produced by low carbon sources by 2020.

Energy and Climate Change Secretary, Ed Miliband, explained that the project is a chance for communities across the county to play their part in tackling climate change.

He said: “The UK has the most ambitious emissions reduction commitments in the world and projects like this will develop the policies we need to be successful.”

Ode Magazine Walks the Green Talk

Ode magazine comes highly recommended by a green friend of mine who describes it as “a beacon of grounded, real positivity in these challenging times”. It’s about positive change – about the innovations and ideas that are changing the planet for the better. While most media focus on what’s going wrong, Ode looks at what’s going right, and spreads good news by telling the stories of people who are making a difference.

It actively reaches out to readers and gives them ways to contribute content and connect with each other, amplifying the impact they can have in the world. Everybody is welcome to contribute to the Exchange section, where original and found articles are and they have a rotating featured blogger each month.

How can a magazine be green? Ode is printed on recycled paper, but they also offer a digital edition, replicating the experience of thumbing through a magazine, on your computer, minus the paper. A sample of that can be found here.

It has different sections that cover books, music, film, the web. Travel and nature. Food. Beauty, health, and fitness. Spirit and meditation. Gadgets and technology. Ode to people, passion, and possibilities, in sections such as:

Business – Entrepreneurs and businesses doing well by doing good
Energy – Exploring how the balance of power is shifting in the energy sector
News – Good, not bad; solutions, not problems
Health & Science – Alternative methods to help and to heal
Life – Real stories about people making real changes
Spirit – Spirituality in our daily minds and our daily lives
Marketplace – Products that make a difference
Ode to Possibilities – New, inspiring ways to solve problems

They’ve also got three columnists giving you something to think about, be inspired by, and take action, in your life, your community, and your heart: Paolo Coelho, bestselling Brazilian author of The Alchemist; Amy Domini, an innovator and expert on sustainable and ethical investing; David Servan-Shreiber, French author and psychiatrist .

We have a blogger exclusive deal to get you an issue of Ode for free, then it’s $19.95 for a year, $10 less then the already good rate, they plant a tree in your name, and your get a Thich Nhat Hanh meditation CD. If you decide it’s not for you, just return the bill marked “cancel.” and you’ve spent nothing, owe nothing but keep the Free Preview issue no matter what.

I think I may actually break my habit of a lifetime and give it a go myself.

Natural Collection Launches Ooffoo.com

Online eco shop Natural Collection has launched a community-based website called Oofoo.

It’s hard to succinctly explain what the site is, so I’ll quote the company’s press release:
“We have decided to extend our offering to our customers by creating a new online community marketplace called ooffoo. Ooffoo is a place where like-minded thinkers can discuss, swap, inspire, blog, recycle, recommend, advertise and much more.”

It’s pretty new but there seems to be a lot on there and Life Goggles has even uploaded a few of its articles. Personally, I’ve found it a little tricky navigating around the site and classified adverts (which are free to sellers and buyers) seem to be mixed in with other articles. You have to navigate by tags (there are more than 500) or just enter a search term, but it’s early days and I hope that will improve, with around 200,000 visitors to its website every month, I’m sure it’ll be popular.

Nvohk Crowd Funded and Eco Conscious T-Shirts Launched

nvohk, the crowd funded (i.e. by members like you and me) eco-friendly t-shirt company that I’ve written about here,and many other places, has finally started selling eco-friendly t-shirts. As I’ve promised to keep you updated I though I would show you the t-shirts that I received a couple of weeks ago.

First, the co-founders who invested in the company voted on several designs to be printed in limited runs. They also voted on a new lovely logo, and have had various discussions regarding pricing and postage rates.

As you can see from the image, a tiny 10″x7″ package arrived containing my order. I was most impressed there was no further padding and this helps reduce waste and also keep the cost down. It contained three t-shirts so I was pretty happy. Of course they were very wrinkly, but that’s what an iron is for.

The photo below shows my order that contained two co-founder t-shirts and an ordered shirt (the tree of change). The co-founder t-shirts have changed a little since I posted a video of my previous shirt, and this time I also got a female version of it for my wife (the little t-shirt on the right obviously!).

The t-shirts are made from 100% organic cotton, and are now available for a nice $24.95 from the nvohk shop. I’ve been most impressed with the way Brendon and Sergio have been running things, some interesting discussions have been made, and I feel my views (and everyone’s views of course!) are listened to and acted upon where possible. You can of course, buy the t-shirts, but I also encourage you to join the other 500 or so people and consider becoming a member – this is how it works. Depending on how many t-shirts you want to order, the discounts available to members make joining worth it alone!

nvohk Co-Founder T-Shirt Arrives

Nvohk, the “crowd-funded” eco clothing company that we’ve written about a couple of times send each of the co-founders a t-shirt. As part of my pledge to keep you up to date with how it’s going, a little ahead of the general mailing of t-shirts, I was lucky enough to be sent one as a preview. So I took a quick (28 seconds) video of it to show you what it’s like. I really like the tree logo and it’s made of 100% organic cotton.

If you can’t see the video below, please click here.

nvohk Crowd Funding Clothing Company Goes Live

The eco clothing company that is managed by it’s members, nvohk, has gone live today. Previously we’ve written about the company here, but in brief members will contribute $50 in annual membership dues to…

• Receive regular business updates and provide ongoing feedback via message boards
• Help make major business decisions including logo design, product designs, advertising, sponsored athletes and musicians, etc.
• Members will be invited via email to login to nvohk.com and read about specific business decisions on the table. Members will then vote on their preferred outcome. when members reach a consensus of 60%+ (active votes), the decision will be executed via nvohk’s management.
• Earn reward points based on 35% of net profits (1 to 1 ratio of dollars to points)
• Identify and select beneficiaries for corporate charitable donations (10% of net profits to environmental charities)

I will be signing up and plan to keep you all updated on the progress of the company and how well things are going. You can join up too for $50 if the idea and terms appeal to you.

nvokh – An Eco Clothing Company Run By You

nvohkâ„¢ (pronounced ‘invoke’), are a company I signed up a while ago but realised I have never written about. They’re the first community-managed, eco-friendly, surf-inspired clothing company that began recruiting members via www.projectnvohk.com on December 4, 2007 and now have over 2,200 future members.

So what does this mean?! Essentially, you enter your email on their website, and once they hit 5,000 people you will be asked to contribute $50 per year to running a brand new eco-friendly clothing company. You are involved in making the decisions, and choosing designs. You even get a limted edition “founder” t-shirt if you actually become a founder. 10% of net profits go to environmental charities and 35% to members based on how much they have invested.

The full details are:

• members will contribute $50 in annual membership dues (YOU ARE NOT OBLIGATED TO PAY ANYTHING TODAY) to…
• receive regular business updates and provide ongoing feedback via message boards
• help make major business decisions including logo design, product designs, advertising, sponsored athletes and musicians, etc.
• members will be invited via email to login to nvohk.com and read about specific business decisions on the table. members will then vote on their preferred outcome. when members reach a consensus of 60%+ (active votes), the decision will be executed via nvohk’s management.
• earn reward points based on 35% of net profits (1 to 1 ratio of dollars to points!)
• identify and select beneficiaries for corporate charitable donations (10% of net profits!)
• YES, as a member, you really are in charge