e-Inclusion Recycling
July 24, 2008 Posted by Kevin in : Bristol , 1 comment so fare-Inclusion Recycling refurbish and redistribute used PC’s from private businesses and public bodies to individuals, organisations and communities in Newport. I visited the centre yesterday and was hugely impressed by the efficiency of the operation and by their focus on using the business as a force for social change.
The organisation is established as a Community Interest Company, giving it all the flexibility and certainty of the company format, but at the same time ensuring that the enterprise works for the benefit of the community rather than for owners or investors. Julie Traynor, the Founder and Managing Director or e-Inclusion Recycling, has put together a set of excellent online videos demonstrating all aspects of their work.
Do we need an Elected Mayor in Bristol?
July 18, 2008 Posted by Kevin in : Bristol , 4 commentsSince the introduction of the Local Government Act in 2000 districts across England and Wales have had the option of directly electing their Mayor. Whilst traditional Mayorships have been largely ceremonial positions, Elected Mayors assume a far more active political role, with powers similar to those of the Councils executive committee.
A few of the early Elected Mayors created something of a media sensation; Hartlepool memorably voted in H’Angus the Monkey and Middlesbrough elected Ray “Robocop” Mallon, a famously hardline ex-police chief.
Currently there are thirteen directly elected Mayors in England, including the Mayor of London Boris Johnson. Thirty five Local Authorities in total have held a referendum to establish the publics appetite for a directly elected mayor. So far one third of these have been successful. A campaign has just been started to gather the support for holding just such a referendum in Bristol. There are strong views and compelling arguments for and against, so which way should Bristol go?
A History of the Mayors of Bristol
What is a Carrot Mob?
July 16, 2008 Posted by Kevin in : Bristol , 3 commentsCampaigning, technology and the environment have been interests of ours at Connecting Bristol for quite some time, and I think one of the things that we have recognised is the power of using the technology to mount a positive campaign; promoting an appealing alternative can often have better results than simply railing against an existing situation.
John Bradford at JBSH has recently outlined the Carrot Mob model as a positive way for consumers to influence the decisions made by corporates. In essence customers organise their purchasing power to reward businesses which make environmentally friendly choices. Carrot Mob have produced a video about their first successful campaign in the US, and there is really no reason why similar things couldn’t happen in Bristol. With Pledge Bank and ePetitions software freely available all thats missing is someone with the passion to kick it off.
ICT: Green Problem or Green Solution?
July 7, 2008 Posted by Kevin in : Bristol , 1 comment so farIf you’ve read anything about Green ICT lately (including this blog) you can’t have missed the stat highlighting that ICT currently accounts for 2% of global CO2 emissions, as much as the airline industry. The Climate Group and the Global e‐Sustainability Initiative (GeSI) have just released their report “SMART 2020: Enabling the Low Carbon Economy in the Information Age“.
While confirming the current 2% figure it also suggests that this could double by 2020. But amongst these worrying figures they recognise the unique ability ICT has to monitor and maximise energy efficiency both within and outside of its own sector. This could potentially cut CO2 emissions by up to five times this amount and would represent a saving of 7.8 Giga‐tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent by 2020 – greater than the current annual emissions of either the US or China. Tele‐working, video‐conferencing, e‐paper, and e‐commerce are reconised to have a part to play but by far the biggest global opportunities lie in exploring smart building design and use, smart logistics, smart electricity grids, and smart industrial motor systems.
