Marks & Spencer sought positive green PR

Today's decision by Marks & Spencer to charge for carrier plastic bags is a first step in the right direction. We always carry an empty backpack (not those designer totes) whenever we do our groceries anyway, so we won't be affected by it. The main problem yet to be addressed however are imported food goods, and here M&S is still guilty. For example M&S sells organic spring onions imported from Kenya! I understand certain food produces (like bananas) has to be imported, but spring onions are also grown here. Another example is asparagus, a native to mainland Europe, are mainly imported from South America and China.

So while it is great that the latest campaign by M&S will do good in reducing carrier plastic consumption, in my opinion this is merely a PR stunt aimed at receiving some good willed green publicity. I highly doubt that M&S is any more sustainable than they were a year ago. Visit their lunch section and you will find plenty of sliced fruits pre-bagged. I find it silly that people can't be bothered to slice up their own fruits. Even whole fresh fruits are pre-packed!

Sustainable computers

Remember Energy Star? I use to see them on all sorts of computer products, especially on the system BIOS. Perhaps it is because it is a US based program, but today I encounter a single Energy Star sticker on my mobo or CPU box or logo on a BIOS screen. Never mind about that now. Today, 40 companies and organisations including Intel, IBM, Dell, AMD, Microsoft, HP, Sun, MIT, WWF, etc. and bizarrely Starbucks, announced an initiative to tackle energy wastage due to the inefficient nature of our computers.

Called the Climate Savers Computing Initiative, the aim of the group is to promote the creation of products that meets or surpass the Environmental Protection Agency's own Energy Star strict guidelines on efficiency, with a goal of reaching 90% efficiency and reduce power consumption by 50% by 2010. The initial goal is to follow the guidelines laid out by Energy Star and aims to introduce stricter guidelines in 2009.

The biggest culprit are of course ACs and PSUs. Everytime I accidentally brush my bare feet against a laptop's AC it would be burning hot indicating just how much energy is actually lost. Desktop's PSU are even worse with requirements to purchase 600W PSU just to run newer inefficient graphic cards. ATi and nVidia needs to follow the footsteps of Intel in producing processors which gives more bang per wattage rather than just pumping more transistors into GPU cores and slapping a huge heat sink on it. Apparently 50% of power from the wall socket is never utilised and is thus wasted.

I hope these companies aren't just doing this for purely as a PR exercise. Like many others I would pay more if the products are more energy efficient and are labelled in a way that would not confuse consumers. Perhaps a sticker like the one on the right would soon make its way onto our PCs. Make it happen.

And please no more junk mails. I have collected my fair share of environmentally unfriendly AOL CDs.

via Ars & PCWorld

Irresponsible commuters

Utter disbelief was what I felt when I read this BBC magazine feature (The new commuter belt). That people would even consider commuting weekly or almost daily to work by plane and that the article seems to be treating such a practice as acceptable just boggles the mind. I can understand if you plan to live in Lille and travel daily to London on the Eurostar, but to do so by plane from Barcelona?

Sure London may be a expensive but you can easily move to a town just outside Greater London. If you are desperate for more disposable income then walk or cycle to work. I just could not imagine people would even consider commuting by plane to work. My only hope is that oil prices continue upwards and that the Treasury considers implementing a huge aviation tax.

Technorati tags: Commuting Environment Air Travel