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Occasionally you come across something that restores your faith in humanity. One such thing is the Freeplay Foundation and their Lifeline Radio projects. The Lifeline radio is a solar powered radio designed to be a robust as possible and is distributed in areas of Rwanda and South Africa. The Foundation focuses on families where for whatever reason the adults are missing and the family is headed by a child. The Lifeline radio enables them to keep in touch with vital education and health issues.

Through their buy1give1 scheme these radios have been offered for sale to the public in the UK. As part of a special arrangement, for every Lifeline wind-up radio purchased from Simplyradios via the buy1give1 website, one will automatically be donated free to the Freeplay Foundation to be sent to one of two projects in Rwanda or South Africa. You can find out much more about both these projects on their website.

Go on why not Buy 1 and Give 1!

It's also worth looking at the Freeplay site. They produce a large number of clockwork and solar products. Why carry-on putting expensive and polluting batteries in your radio when it can run free-of-charge! I have a Freeplay Ranger radio on my office windowsill which has never been charged since the day I bought it (about three years ago).

Have a great Bank Holiday weekend - Wildberry

Photo courtesy of Re~cycle.org

I had originally planned to start today's blog with the astonishingly disappointing 'No Waste Like Home', but more of that later. As a complete contrast I stumbled across a truly excellent website. Re-cycle.org is the website of a charity founded to provide recycled bicycles to those in need of transport.

I've taken the following from their website and I thought worth repeating in full.

The story behind ReCycle:

While Merlin Matthews was studying management at the London School of Economics (LSE), he became Dr Bike (a Student Union Society), fixing bikes in exchange for beers on Friday evenings.

Jo Dufort approached him for some advice about starting up a bike factory in Haiti, as she had seen the need for cheap, pollution free transport for the masses. Merlin decided it was such a good idea, he would like to help. He later realised that there are lots of bikes being thrown away which could be fixed. He was going to set up this project on his own and envisaged getting a "process" established in the UK, then spending most of his time in Haiti running the workshop.

Over time, he realised that he would be of more use to the Haitians and people in other countries if he spent most of the time in the UK, fund-raising, sorting out the bikes and shipping them.

The really big break came when Re~Cycle found out about that a US charity called the ITDP had been doing the same work in Haiti for 10 years. As they were a non-profit organization, Merlin decided to work with them and learn from their extensive experience.

Since then, Re~Cycle has linked up with two other US groups doing this work, Bikes Not Bombs and the International Bicycle Fund. Merlin has met the directors of both charities when they have been in the UK, finding them to be great people.

Re~Cycle now focuses on Africa, as the US organisations can 'service' Latin America.

Re~cycle benefit the community in three ways they save used bikes from being thrown away, they train people in repairing and renovating the bikes and they help those who receive the bikes. What a thoroughly fantastic project! If you have an old bike that's been lurking in the back of the garage unloved, the best thing you could do is get out and ride it! If you're not going to do that then why not give Re~cycle a call - I can't think of a better use for your unloved stead.

The other thing the site focuses on is load carrying by bicycle. Something we in the UK, with our car saturated culture very rarely see, but in some parts of the world the bicycle is a delivery vehicle, van and mobile shop. You can download and excellent step-by-step guide to building you own trailer out of an old cycle frame. I might just have a go at this. Link here.

Re~cycle also has a link to Xtracycle - the load carrying masters. Some of the photos on their site are quite amazing. Their profits support the Xtracycle Access foundation.

No Waste Like Home - What a waste of time!

What a missed opportunity that was. If you missed No Waste Like Home yesterday, don't worry you didn't miss much. We now seem incapable in the UK of making a television programme without reducing it to the lowest common denominator. This programme was a golden opportunity to show viewers how they could make sensible changes to their lives to help the environment. Instead we get the usual array of stupid stunts, a shot of a hot air balloon 'this is how much gas you use in a month'. So what - it tells us nothing! By taking away the families washing machine and giving them a scrubbing board and mangle, just reinforces the common conception that you have to be a sandal wearing hippy to care about the environment! I'm livid! BBC you should be ashamed of yourselves!

Keep those pedals turning - Wildberry

 

This evening in the UK the BBC will be screening their new environmental series No Waste Like Home.

I'm afraid it's another reality show, the BBC describe it as 'Britain’s most wasteful families are about to face the shock of a lifetime and a radical shift in living, as they follow Penney Poyzer's advice on how to cut down on waste and save money'.

Anyway it should be worth a look it's on tonight at 8.30pm on BBC2.

Happy viewing - Wildberry

 

I received the following in an email from the McLibel team. It's the story of a Canadian who is on hunger strike because of a dispute with McDonalds. I don't have enough of the background to be able to comment on the rights or wrongs, but it's a fascinating and very sad story.

This is a section of the email as I received it, you can read the full account at the website listed below.

Hunger Strike Against McDonalds (Canada) - plea for support

13th August 2005

Report from Sid Crowe, Barrie, Canada [Updated by McSpotlight]

McSpotlight Update: Joseph McNeil is now into his 55th day of a hunger strike outside and against the McDonald's on Bayfield Street, Barrie, Ontario, Canada. He is demanding that McDonald's act within the law. It has been reported that McDonald's response has been to ignore his protest, and spread malicious rumours about Joseph. But some of the local papers have begun to take up his story...

Full details and interviews: www.parxmedia.com/main.htm


He is homeless, and was a regular customer at that McDonald's. He would come in, buy something, and then hang around for an hour or so writing poetry. As the employees did their rounds, they got to know him a little. One day, one of the girls who works there asked him to bring some poetry for her to take to a poetry class. When he gave it to her (and before she had clocked in), the manager demanded the poems and read through them. This is illegal. All Canadian citizens have a right to their personal property, no matter if they are on their employer's property or not. Joseph was then told to leave, but he refused, as the privacy of both himself and the employee had been violated. He was then arrested without incident by the police for "trespassing," and banned from McDonald's.

He then began his hunger strike, insisting that McDonalds train its management and employees about their rights as employees and Canadian citizens. McDonald's has refused to do so. A manager then told him that he could come back as a customer as long as he left 20 minutes after making a purchase, and that he not write poetry while he is in the restaurant.

These conditions are both ridiculous and insulting. I have visited that McDonald's many times, and never have I been told to leave after 20 minutes. McNeil has continued his hunger strike, and as he did so, he has been in the hospital twice. Managers at that McDonald's have forbidden their employees from visiting McNeil in the hospital, even while they are on their own time. This is outrageous. This is a clear violation of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and fertile ground for a lawsuit against McDonald's, if only their young employees knew what a good chance they had at suing McDonald's, and collecting the $10,000.00 maximum at Small Claims Court.

There is a chance you may think the whole affair is petty, but we are talking about a man who has nothing. The cruelty and indifference of the management of the Bayfield Street McDonald's is despicable, to say the least. I have been making daily videos of him ever since I met him. You can download them for free here:  http://www.parxmedia.com/main.htm

As I say, I'm in no position to comment on the rights or wrongs of this case, but it does say something about McDonalds in the way they have reacted. They either assume they are so popular, with the majority of their customers, that whatever they do the customers will always come or their management are so stupid they don't see a PR disaster when it's staring them in the face.

For reports of more of McDonalds shenanigans have a look at the McSpotlight website.

Have a good lunch - Wildberry

An excellent Radio 4 programme about the lamentable state of bus travel in the UK reminded me of the bus riders groups I've heard about in the US and had me wondering if we have the equivalent here in the UK? Well we do have Bus Users UK, a group which represents the interests of bus users and helps to set-up local users groups. But we don't seem to have the very vocal groups like they have in the USA. But maybe that says more about the British than the state of British buses!

The Radio 4 programme is File on 4, you can listen again from the programme website or even download the programme to listen on your MP3 player.

One of the interesting facts that came out of the programme was that in the last 12 years bus use in the UK (excluding London) is down 48% whereas bus use in the Capital, over the same period, is up 46%! What is the difference? The buses in London haven't been privatised and are still under the direct control of the Mayor.

If you're interested in the US groups I mentioned have a look at the Bus Riders Union website (based in LA) or the Tuscon Area Bus Riders Union.

Hold tight - Wildberry

 

I was talking to a friend the other day, who is a regular web user, but they hadn't heard of Wikipedia! Astonishing! Which got me to thinking that great websites can exist for years and many people may not have come across them. So in what may prove to be a very short irregular series (of maybe one) we start today with 'Great Websites You May Never Have Heard of'.

I was trying to explain how Wikipedia works and struggled. So let me start by saying Wikipedia is an online encyclopaedia. But there are other online encyclopaedias of course Encarta, from our friends at Microsoft and there's Encyclopaedia Britannica, but I think you have to pay for that one. There is also Everything2 which seems to work on the same principle as Wikipedia, but maybe not so successful. So what makes Wikipaedia special? I'll let Wikipedia explain in their own words.

'Wikipedia is a Web-based, multi-language, free-content encyclopedia written collaboratively by volunteers and sponsored by the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation. It has editions in about 200 different languages (about 100 of which are active) and contains entries both on traditional encyclopedic topics and on almanac, gazetteer, and current events topics. Its purpose is to create and distribute a free international encyclopedia in as many languages as possible. Wikipedia is one of the most popular reference sites on the web,[1] receiving around 60 million hits per day.'

That really is it, if you go on to Wikipedia and disagree with one of the definitions you can change it! You would think this must lead to chaos and I'm sure there are some situations where articles get changed back and forth. But I understand they have ways to deal with such issues and generally it works. Just try it. The really good thing is that it covers subjects too minor to credit place in an encyclopaedia that has to pay its compilers.

In addition to running the web's biggest encyclopaedia in over 200 languages, the folks at Wiki decided they had a bit of spare time on their hands and so have branched out. They have set-up the following Wiki-sister sites.

Wiktionary - Dictionary and thesaurus
Wikibooks - Free textbooks and manuals
Wikiquote - Collection of quotations
Wikisource - Free source documents
Wikispecies - Directory of species
Wikinews - Free content news source
Commons - Free image, music, sound and video repository (I'm slightly disappointed this isn't Wiki-commons!)

It's true to say some of these are more developed than others and none is as established as Wikipedia, but it's not bad going.

Have a mind expanding day - Wildberry!

A new group and website has been set-up to try to combat the growing hold Tesco have on the UK grocery market. Tesco apparently now have 30% of the UK market and in 2005 announced profits of over £2 billion.

The new Tescopoly site is asking for the following:

A legally binding code of practice to ensure that all suppliers; throughout the supply chain at home and overseas, are treated fairly.

An independent watchdog to ensure the grocery market is operating in the interests of consumers, farmers and small retailers.

A block on any new take-overs by Tesco or other major supermarkets.
Support for local shops from local authorities and Government.

Measures to hold supermarkets accountable for internationally recognised workers’ rights throughout their supply chains.

The site also includes a lot of information about how Tesco affects farmers, its suppliers and its employees.

If you do nothing else please use their facility to email the government to lobby for the above four points are included in a code of practice.

Remember without their customers, they are nothing - Wildberry.

Living in an area that would have been significantly affected by the proposed airport on Cliffe Marshes I have real sympathy for the people living around Stansted Airport.

The proposed expansion of the airport would almost double its size, with the airport growing to the north and the east. The Stop Stansted Expansion (SSE) group is obviously very active and has a very impressive website with detailed information on all the various proposals. It also has detailed explanations of the implications with regard to noise surveys, flight paths, the homes that would be affected and reference material for local residents. I'm sure if you live in the area, you don't need me to tell you this. But I would also encourage those that don't live in an area that will be directly affected to get involved. The danger with the concept of providing for ever increasing air travel demand is that, this year it maybe Stansted that's affected, next year it could be your village or your town.

The plain fact is (no pun intended) that this country, this planet, cannot keep increasing the number of aircraft flights without further affecting our lives, our health, and our environment. We need to draw a line in the sand now.

We must realise that not only can we not increase the number of flights, but that the existing number should be reduced. We need to give back to those living around airports a good nights sleep by stopping night flights. We need to reduce the traffic on our already over stretched road system and we need to significantly reduce the amount of greenhouse gases going into the atmosphere.

Please look at the following sites for more information and let's stop this foolishness here and now!

Stop Stansted Expansion
AirportWatch
Friends of the Earth - Air travel pages
Aviation Environmental Federation
ELVAA (Nottingham East Midlands)
GACC (Gatwick)
HACAN ClearSkies (Heathrow)
LADACAN (Luton)
No Third Runway Action Group (Heathrow)
Pledge Against Airport Expansion
SSATAG (South Suffolk Air Traffic Action Group

Keep your head down - Wildberry.

Ethical Consumer magazine for me is a bit of an oxymoron. As an environmentalist I try to keep my consumption to a minimum, then when necessary buy products which I think are going to last a long time and if possible from a sustainable source. Subscribing to a magazine, which by its very nature is about consumption, sits slightly uneasily. However, the fact is we do all consume to some degree and should endeavour to spend our hard earned cash in as harmless a way as possible. That's where Ethical Consumer magazine comes in, they provide very detailed reviews on a huge variety of items everything from aardvarks to zoom lenses (one of those may be made up!). Each manufacturer is rated on a range of criteria from their environmental reporting to their involvement in oppressive regimes. A large number of their consumer reports are available to download free-of-charge from their website.

A relatively new sister site ethiscore.org allows you to subscribe online and download reports as required. There are discounts for Friends of the Earth.

Jackstuff

This is just a reminder about a site I mentioned sometime ago jackstuff is a photoblog by a guy in Sheffield (I think). jackstuff has recently celebrated it's first anniversary and the quality of the photographs, if anything, has got better over the last year. Worth checking out.

Wildberry