NEWS - RECENT HIGHLIGHTS

Here are some of the things I've been up to.  

Click on the links in the table to find out more. 

And have a look at news for previous years by clicking on the hats.

 RECENT NEWS

 WASTE WATCH BOARD (Feb10)

I've joined the Waste Watch board of trustees and will helping them with a new strategy focusing on reducing resource consumption.

Waste Watch

 


SPEAKING IN THE HOUSE OF COMMONS FOR GENERATION GREEN
 (Feb10)

Launching the Generation Green youth manifesto.

Houses of Parliament

 

 

GREEN DISHWASHING
I've written a leaflet for Procter & Gamble, makers of Fairy, on how to 'green' wash your dishes, whether by hand or in the dishwasher...

Green dish washing

 CHILLING FACTS CAMPAIGN - SECOND YEAR RESULTS  WERE LAUNCHED ON FEBRUARY 1ST !!! 

Campaign on supermarket refrigeration

Sky News

 

 Guardian
 Chilling Facts Campaign on Supermarket Refrigeration
HK-Kowloon 

HONG KONG

Speech for CIO Connect - Chief Information Oficers in Hong Kong corporates.
(Dec09)

SOMERSET WASTE PARTNERSHIP WORKSHOP

Challenging assumptions about waste and packaging. (Nov09)

 2K RECYCLING
Julia visited plant where they recycle mixed plastics to replace plywood for building industry.

RUSHLIGHT AWARDS

Judging overall winner and green products category in clean tech awards.

 WRAP
Conference on Resource Efficiency  (Nov09)

CHOCOLATE & SWEETS
Speech to the European trade Association in Brussels - CAOBISCO - Sep09

VISITING BEDZED
with Generation Green

Bedzed2 - nov09

DISPOSABLE HYGIENE PRODUCTS
Speech in Malta for EDANA - Sep09
BIG GREEN HOME SHOW
Talk on Eco Renovation (Sep09)
 AMSTERDAM CONFERENCE
with Gorbachev as keynote speaker
BABY CARE FOR P&G
EXpert Advisory Panel on baby care meeting in Geneva - Aug09
GENERATION GREEN
Visit the Met Office in Exeter Sep09
PACKAGING FOR M&S
Expert Advisory Panel
MORRISONS
Advising the company on environmental issues and sitting on the Chemicals Working Group
 

LAUNCHING GENERATION GREEN YOUTH MANIFESTO

Greg Barker, Shadow Minister for Climate hosted the reception at the House of Commons.  It was attended by a number of MPs, including John Gummer, as well as organisations like Global Action Plan, Waste Watch and education bodies, as well as the members of the Generation Green Youth think tank, and their parents.   The event was organised for the team to present their manifesto ideas to Government - they met Ed Milliband, Minister for Climate Change in the morning.   I have been the expert advisor taking the children round some environmental projects and helping pull together their thoughts.

Greg Barker - Shadow Minister for Climate

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JOINING THE WASTE WATCH BOARD (Feb10)

Recruited by Stewart Crocker, the executive director of Waste Watch, my first board meeting was early in February 2010. It's a really exciting time to be a part of this organisation as it's revising its strategy putting less emphasis on recycling and more on reducing the amount we consume. I think we should be making more of what we have, both in terms of resources and the planet.

"I really appreciate the energy, imagination and shear spirit of enterprise which you are bringing to Waste Watch.  Thank you so much."
 
Stewart Crocker, Director of Waste Watch (Feb10)

 

Waste Watch

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CHILLING FACTS CAMPAIGN ON SUPERMARKET REFRIGERATION (Feb10)

Launched on 1st February, 2010, the second Chilling Facts survey has been very successful in drawing attention to the huge impact of supermarket refrigeration on climate change.

  I've been working with the Environmental Investigation Agency  on their campaign to get the supermarkets to switch to climate-friendly refrigeration gases.   We ranked the retailers on their performance and gave them detailed feedback on our assessment, covering in-store refrigeration, distribution and warehouses.  Next year, we plan to include air conditioning too as these systems also contain HFCs, a gas that is about 3,800 times worse than CO2 in terms of its global warming impact.  And there are viable alternatives. 

Media coverage on the first day included a full page spread in the Guardian and rolling news story on Sky, as well as Channel Five News.   I helped set up this campaign and along with Fioannuala Walravens from the Environmental Investigation Agency and Nick Cox from Earthcare News am a judge.  The three of us created a scoring system to rank the supermarkets on how well they have performed.   Waitrose, the winner this year, was close to the bottom last year.  And Co-op are the only store to have actually reduced their point count. 

Click on the icons below for Sky News and guardian coverage.  

Sky News  Guardian 

Chilling Facts Website

Chilling Facts Campaign Team - Julia Hailes, Nick Cox and Finnuala Walravens

Chilling Facts Logo

 

HONG KONG SPEECH (Dec09)

   
Think of the large Hong Kong businesses - Cathay Pacific, HSBC, Jardines and Swires.  They were all represented at the workshops I spoke at organised by CIO Connect, a trade association for Information Officers working in corporates.   The topic was 'A Climate for Change' - rather appropriate just a few days in advance of the Copenhagen Conference.  Hong Kong Kowloon Street Scene

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RUSHLIGHT AWARDS

Rushlight Awards Logo

Since the Rushlight Awards, for clean technology, started three years ago, I have been a judge for the overall award winner.  This year I was also judging the green products category.   Winners will be announced at a dinner on 28th January 2010, which is preceded by a showcase, where technologies can be viewed. 

 

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THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF FOOD AND DRINK  (Nov09)

Tim Lang

Sustainable Diet

Sustainable Diet

Tim Lang, who has almost as many titles as Peter Mandelson, one of which is sitting on the Sustainable Development Commission, admitted that no-one was yet clear about what exactly a sustainable diet was.   He told the food industry audience at a Westminster seminar that there was much more clarity about what wasn’t sustainable.   I asked him about whether a vegetarian ready meal might actually fit the bill, given that the food processing industry was far less wasteful of resources than millions of individual households both in preparation and cooking.   He agreed that this might be the case and that it’s important ‘not to demonise food processing’. But he also pointed out that home cooking had cultural and social benefits that shouldn’t be over-looked.

Another hot topic was the significant impact of meat on climate change emissions and how it might be possible to reduce global consumption – this was presented by Tom Macmillan, director of the Food Ethics Council.   But the highlight for me was a presentation from the National Consumer Federation illustrating how incredibly confused most members of the public are about sustainable food issues.   She said that she simply didn’t know what to do or what to think when faced with so much information and such complexity.   And that just about summed it up.  

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SOMERSET WASTE PARTNERSHIP WORKSHOP (Nov09)TEXT

I gave a key note presentation at a workshop organised by the Somerset Waste Partnership, who are responsible for waste throughout the county. My speech highlighted some of the public misperceptions about waste, packaging and plastic bags. I also illustrated the shocking problem that we have in what's known as WEEE waste. This rather cute acronym stands for ' Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment'. 

See blog for an article I wrote on this.  And Click here for links to packaging briefing sheets I wrote for M&S.  And click her for links to plastic bags.

Steve Read, MD of Somerset Waste Partnership said this about my presentation:

"Julia brings a fresh and challenging perspective to the issue of packaging. She's keen to puncture the myths and misconceptions consumers have about packaging but she doesn't let the retailers off the hook. Not afraid to be controversial, Julia's presentation got people talking at a higher level"

Somerset Waste

Somerset Waste

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VISITING BEDZED WITH GENERATION GREEN (nov09)

Bedzed

Bedzed

This was my second visit to Bedzed - the first was about a year after it started in 2003. This time I came with about 20 school children as part of the British Gas Generation Green Think Tank, that I am leading. It is our third visit to a 'green' project. The first was to Closed Loop Recycling in Dagenham, where they recycle plastic bottles. The second was the Met Office in Exeter, where the children learnt something about the science of climate change.   And our next meeting will be at the Houses of Parliament, where we’re going to present the children’s policy ideas to Government.   We’re hoping that Gordon Brown may attend – or at least Ed Milliband – and perhaps some Conservative MPs too.  Greg Barker, Shadow Minister for the Environment has booked the room for us, so that’s a good start.

See Blog for more about Bedzed….

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CHILLING FACTS (Nov09)

I met up with Nick Cox from Earthcare Products and Fin Walravens from the Environmental Investigation Agency.   We reviewed the results of our second survey on supermarket refrigeration for our Chilling Facts campaign  www.chillingfacts.co.uk (see the blog I have written on this). The first survey launched on Radio 4’s Costing the Earth programme in January this year, showed that supermarket refrigeration is a huge contributor to climate change.  Worryingly, it also revealed that although there are viable climate-friendly alternatives none of the supermarkets had made much progress in switching their technology.    As much as 1/3rd of the carbon footprint of most supermarkets can come from the coolants in their refrigeration and a further 1/3rd from the energy used to power their cooling systems.    This year the results of our survey were more encouraging.  But we won’t be reporting them until early next year, so you’ll need to wait until then to hear more….  

 Chilling Facts - EIA

Chilling Facts

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2k RECYCLING  (Nov 09)

In the UK we throw away mountains of plastic waste and use lots of plywood.   Apart from a small amount of plastic bottles and an even smaller number of plastic bags, pretty well all the rest of our plastic debris is discarded, never to be used again.   Omer Kutluoglu, a Turkish entrepreneur and INSEAD graduate, thinks this is ludicrous. 

I visited Omer at the site of his new factory near Luton.   His business, 2k Manufacturing is setting up to start recycling large quantities of mixed plastic, including electronic waste, into a product called Eco Sheet.  See my blog for more about this

Recycling 2K

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WRAP  (Nov09)

 Wrap

I was a bit frustrated watching the panel session at the WRAP conference on Resource Efficiency, at the Royal Society.   John Humprhies, from Radio 4’s Today programme was typically witty in his introductions, and the contributions from Hilary Benn, Minister of State for the Environment and Marc Bolland, CEO of Morrisons were worth listening to.  My frustration was because I had been invited to be one of the panellists but had had to decline because of a previous commitment, which was then cancelled at the last minute.  So I had to content myself with a couple of questions from the floor.   In my place, giving the consumer perspective, was Joanna Yarrow from Beyond Green.   There was also David Palmer-Jones, Chief Executive of SITA UK, Will Day from the Sustainable Development Commission and Nick Pollard, CEO of Bovis Lend Lease.  Bovis had a number of initiatives focused on reducing waste.   However, given that the building industry is possibly the most wasteful industry on the planet, this is long overdue.  And I was a little disappointed that their targets for Passiv Buildings (super insulated low energy buildingS) would not be fully implemented until 2050 – too far in the future.

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BIG GREEN HOME SHOW (Oct09)

My talk was on eco-renovation.   I explained that knocking down a building and starting again is generally not the greenest option.  We should be making do with what we’ve got.   Apparently you could drive around the world about 10 times and use the same amount of energy as is embodied in the bricks of a typical Victorian house.  I also talked about what I’d done at my home and – just as importantly – what I haven’t yet done.   The Big Green Home show was organised by the National Self Build & Renovation Centre.  Their events manager wrote to me afterwards saying:

"I had to drop you a line to say 'a huge thank-you' to you for being such a fantastic guest speaker  - you were absolutely superb!....  You made a very inspiring speech and I would have no hesitation whatsoever in recommending you to other event organisers as a guest speaker on eco or renovation matters as a whole - or as an after-dinner speaker - as you have such a warm and welcoming 'touch' to your delivery."

Naomi Handford-Jones, Big Green Home Show, Centre Events Manager
The National Self Build & Renovation Centre,  Oct09

Big Green Home Show

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AMSTERDAM DECLARATION – CLUB OF ROME  (Oct09)

The two day conference in Amsterdam was organised by the Club of Rome, famous for its Limits to Growth Report in the early 1970s.  Worryingly, the over-riding theme was that their concerns and predictions about the depletion of the world’s natural resources were proving to be rather accurate.   And that the threats from climate change would shortly be irreversible unless there was a very dramatic change in the world’s response.  The culminated with a document called the Amsterdam Declaration.  The plan was to present this to the Copenhagen Summit in December as further reinforcement to some significant global commitments.   Gorbachev was one of many high profile speakers – Click here to see my blog.

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AGE OF STUPID (Oct09)

I’ve been wanting to see this film for some time, so when I discovered there was a screening close to my home in Somerset I signed up.  Actually, I sent out information about the film and managed to recruit about 20 people to come along too, including my children.  I did find it interesting but I have to admit, not as compelling as An Inconvenient Truth.  See my blog about it

Age of Stupid

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CAOBISCO - CHOCOLATE & CONFECTIONARY (Sep09)

The European trade association for the chocolate and confectionary industry - CAOBISCO held its 50th Anniversary event in Brussels.  My speech on sustainability issues focused on traceability in the supply chain, sustainable agriculture, climate change and packaging.   But I didn't forget to mention obesity and fair trade.   At the dinner after the event I was presented a gift for giving a challenging and provocative speech. 

Cadbury's research shows that 64% of the carbon footprint of a milk chocolate bar comes from the dairy component.

Caobisco

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PROCTER & GAMBLE - BABY CARE AND DETERGENTS (Aug09)

Proctor and Gamble

I sit on Expert advisory panels for Procter & Gamble on both babycare - chiefly nappies - and detergents, which includes cleaning products.  At a recent meeting we've also advised on batteries, as P&G now own Duracell.   The most recent baby care meeting was in August 2009, although I met up with some of the P&G team, whilst giving a speech in Malta to the disposable hygiene products industry, in September.

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EDANA - DISPOSABLE HYGIENE PRODUCTS (Sep09)

The European trade association for disposable hygiene products held their annual event in Malta.  My speech highlighted concerns about our disposable society, explained the public confusion over what is the greenest nappy option and looked at whether eco-labelling will help or hinder environmental improvements. 

  EDANA in Malta

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GENERATION GREEN VISITS THE MET OFFICE IN EXETER (Sep09)

This was the second trip for the Generation Green youth think tank.  The first was to see a plant recycling plastic bottles in Dagenham.  This time round we went to the Met office in Exeter.  It was a real eye opener into the science of climate change.  The meterologists at the centre didn't differentiate between those studying long term trends and those focusing on the weather in the next few hours or days.  They were in no doubt that climate change is real - and they should know.  The children were given the chance to present an imaginery e weather forecast for their area in 50 years time. 

The Met Office in Exeter

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MARKS &  SPENCER  (Sep/Oct08)

M&S Packaging

Having written a consumer briefing sheet (and done a video) on carrier bags for M&S, I am now working on a similar briefing on packaging issues, which will be published online.  This will be followed by a briefing paper, also on packaging issues but targeted at businesses, government and NGOs, explaining in more detail M&S's strategy, approach and policy recommendations.  And, alongside Jane Bickerstaffe from Incpen (Industry Council for Packaging and the Environment) and Mark Barthel from WRAP (Material Change for a Better Environment) I sit on an expert advisory panel at M&S focusing on packaging too! 

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