carbonneutraltourism.co.uk

Waitrose a leading grocery chain in the UK have started a home delivery trial using pedal power assisted bicycles.  The scheme is being trialled in Cambridg, a bike friendly city.

Despite the gloomy economic outlook there’s a ray of sun for responsibletravel.com, reporting sales growth of +37% for Jan -Jun 2008 as the responsible tourism sector becomes better established. While the holiday market remains tough responsible travel & tourism is one of the few areas showing growth.

The big winner is England - which knocks Thailand off the number 1 most booked country on the site (up from 14 with sales growth of +95%) as travellers look to stay closer to home. Other winners include Turkey, outside the Euro and good value, which is up from 10th to 5th most popular destination.

Losers include Kenya - with sales down 40% and dropping from number 4 to number 20 after the (now resolved) political problems earlier in the year. Other, perhaps more surprising, losers include China down from number 7 to number 23 after publicity around pre Olympic human rights issues increases.

The top 10 destinations in 2008 so far (with 2007 ranking in brackets) -

1. England (14)
2. Thailand (1)
3. Egypt (3)
4. Italy (2)
5. Turkey (10)
6. Spain (12)
7. Peru (5)
8. Malaysia (8)
9. Morocco (9)
10. Tanzania (6)

Justin Francis, responsibletravel.com Managing Director said – “Although a far newer category than say organic or fair trade food the responsible travel & tourism market is slowly becoming better established. As in the food sector increasing numbers of consumers want to know how products (holidays) are made, by whom and with what
consequences for the environment and local people.

However, perhaps the key to our growth is that tourists increasingly want locally distinctive holiday experiences rather than cloned resorts, and travellers are discovering responsible travel is a more enjoyable way to travel.

Although only 25% of the companies that approach us end up meeting our criteria and joining our site we have increased our product range by 20% as more hotels and tour operators turn to responsible tourism. Over the past year we’ve focussed on growing our closer-to-home UK and European holiday offers.”

The Lowestoft Energy Challenge is something very interesting from Nesta and the Make Your Mark campaign.    The pilot programme identified that young people have a significant role to play in helping to combat climate change.  Read more on Nesta’s website here also don’t forget to look at Nesta’s Big Green Challenge.

This September, Green Roof Safari will run North America’s first guided ‘green roof study tour’ of Germany and Switzerland.  Organized by green roof specialists, the tours will visit a variety of projects, meet and converse with local experts, and experience urban sustainable design from the rooftop vantage.  VANCOUVER, B.C. CANADA – June 2, 2008

Green Roof Safari, a collaborative venture between Jörg Breuning (Green Roof Service LLC) and Christine Thüring (Chlorophyllocity), has begun accepting registrations for two 6-day tours (Sept 8 – 13; Sept 21 – 27, 2008) focused on green roofs. With a maximum of 30 seats per tour, Green Roof Safari provides on-hand translation and expertise, comfortable travel, and guarantees experiential learning, networking opportunities, and cultural jaunts.

Extensive green roofs evolved in Germany as lightweight adaptations from the medieval sod roofs of Scandinavia. Since 2003, one in four flat roofs in Germany has been vegetated, with over 250 municipalities offering promotions, subsidies and/ or incentives for green roof implementation.

Green Roof Safari will spend 3 days and 2 nights in Stuttgart. An original Stuttgarter, Breuning comments: “Having worked in the German green roof industry from apprenticeship through independent business for +25 years, I look forward to re-visiting some of these projects with guests from North America.”  In 2003, Breuning came to the U.S. to start Green Roof Service LLC with Peter Philippi.

It is no coincidence that the study tours sandwich the World Green Roof Congress in London UK (Sept. 17-18). Thüring, who is Swiss-Canadian, helped to organize the 2005 World Green Roof Congress in Basel (Switzerland). Thüring comments: “I was deeply impressed by the positive impact the 2-day excursions from the Congress had on participants. Green Roof Safari will foster the same spirit for sharing and community.” Following 2 nights in Basel, Green Roof Safari will pass one night in the Swiss Alps and close its itinerary in Zurich.

Private and public professionals engaged in the North American green roof industry will take home broadened horizons, practical lessons, detailed documentation and valuable contacts. Steven Peck, Founder and President of Green Roofs for Healthy Cities, the North American green roof industry association, comments that “tours are an excellent, perhaps the best, way to network and learn firsthand about green roof designs and programs in other countries.”

Green Roof Safari moved from Breuning and Thüring’s collective backburners in January 2008.  Both are committed to the advancement of green roof technology in North America.

Find out more about Green Roof Safari click here.

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Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, the UK chef famous for his River Cottage television series, launched a shareholders’ resolution for Tescos to improve the welfare standards of the chickens which they sell.  However, the BBC reports that he received under 10% of the votes at the annual general meeting (he needed 75% of the votes).

A new report from management consultants Arthur D. Little looks at the notion that opportunities are being missed by companies which do not embrace sustainability. “Scratch the surface of many companies’ claims on sustainable performance and what lies beneath leaves much to be desired. Research by Arthur D. Little, for example, shows that even among Nordic companies, widely regarded as among the most environmentally responsible of corporate citizens, the response to the challenge of sustainability lacks rigour.”  You can download the report from their website.

Something a little bit different the Orange Wind Charger - find out more about GotWind here.

Mark Lynas’s Six Degrees - Our Future on a Hotter Planet has received The Royal Society Science Book prize.  Mark Lynas commented “I am delighted to be receiving a science writing prize from one of the most pre-eminent scientific institutions in the world. With climate change such a politicised issue, recognition from the Royal Society is hugely welcome and a tremendous honour for me.”

A short note from Shauna Chapman the Founder of Quail.

Quail By Mail is a new clothing label located in the South West which specialises in organic and Fairtrade cotton clothing which has been designed and made in England. Quail is operated by a husband and wife team in the historic seaside town of Brixham, South Devon. The business idea sprang from their desire to leave London for Devon and have a green career to accompany their already green lifestyle. Shauna Chapman, Founder commented, We were already fans of local and organic food and moved onto cosmetics and soaps made in England and certified organic by the Soil Association, but we wanted to buy ethical and organic clothes as well. It was difficult for me to buy green clothes that didn’t look like I stepped off a beach in Bali, as lovely as they were.

To introduce truly unique clothing designs I decided to work with pattern cutters and graders and design the clothes from scratch and source my own ethical and organic fabric, Shauna said. Quail believes in British ingenuity and only commissions British fashion graduates. Design elements such as functioning pockets, pleats, generous cuts etc are Quail’s speciality. Our aim is to add maximum design value to the organic and Fairtrade cotton fabric. We also source sustainable haberdashery such as wood, coconut or shell buttons. Recently we discovered that larger sizes were needed to include a wider audience so we will begin to introduce sizes up to 20 before the end of Summer 2008.

“Product Provenance” is a phrase Quail has been using to show customers exactly how their fashion purchase came to be. The cotton used in 92% of the clothing line is from a single co-operative in India. The cotton starts as a non-GM seed sown in the Kutch area of Gujerat in Northern India. There, the agricultural process is certified organic by the Dutch inspection body, Skal and the agricultural and harvest practices are also certified as Fairtrade. Once harvested and processed the cotton is dyed using non-Azo (non-petro chemical dyes). The cotton is hand-loomed by a weaving community in southern India, which again is overseen by the Fairtrade Foundation. The fabric is exported to the UK.

Since it was important to Quail’s founders that rural and traditional manufacturing is revitalised in the UK, Quail only utilises small, independent Cut, Make and Trim units in Devon (97%) and London (3%). In the1980’s the decline of British clothing manufacture was caused by the lure of cheap labour overseas. It’s that same cheap labour that is coming back to haunt us with impossibly priced £3 jeans and the reality of textile machinists in developing countries working under appalling conditions. I think that producing a British product for the British market has an alluring quality to it! Reduced transport miles might also be a green factor not yet realised.

Quail has sourced local models to represent the brand and marketing material for retailing online. The mail order packaging used is recycled and recyclable brown kraft paper and a raffia bow. The entire lifestyle of the Quail founders at the live/work studio in Brixham is devoted to energy-saving, buying local, organic produce, fairtrade, traditional, reuse, reduce and recycle.

Having produced clothing with provenance, which is also ethical, green and British it is Quail’s aim to grow the business sustainably and create artisan, limited edition clothing items.