BBC's Ethical Man

steve_r123

Saw this on the news this morning and thought I would pass it on as some of it makes a good read.

Basically Newsnight man Justin Rowlatt has agreed to turn ethical for a year, and this is some of the things he has found.

The website for it is here http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/newsnight/ethical_man/default.stm with some good links and food for thought.

I also enjoyed reading some of the aticles on his blog about how he is getting on http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/newsnight/ethical_man_justin_rowlatt/

Just incase anyone is interested

MaureenHB

I have just watched the Panorama programme on Ethical Man, and was intrigued by the electricity "meter" that he had fitted. It showed how much energy each appliance was using. I wondered if these are easily available, and where I could get one from?

Blade26

Didnt get chance to watch it as I was up a ladder painting, but I found this link

https://www.electrisave.co.uk

HTH

sandieb

I saw the programme too - very interesting.

I can't work out though whether he is continuing to be as ethical after the one year? Is he still without a car? Is he still composting everything? What permanent changes has the family made?

I may have fallen asleep and missed the end!

Fritha_2

Sandie, I watched the programme, they're not keeping the car, they gave it to a friend who then scrapped his car and the friend is letting them borrow it occassionally. At the endof the programme Mrs Ethical Man said the only thing they were changing was that they were going to fly on holiday but only once a year.

All in all I thought it was very disappointing programme, there weren't enough practical tips, not all of us can get rid of our car. No mention of reusuable nappies, water saving devices, cleaning products, recycling, stuff that the ordinary Joe can do. They also made out that carbon offsetting is pointless, but I figure if you're going to fly (which I am on my honeymoon) then Carbon Offsetting (or the buy a couple of trees scheme as it's known in this house) is better than nothing?

I figure tho it was a small part of a large scheme, I just found the programme, as a stand alone, disappointing.

P.S. The Gadget is here http://www.!!!!!!/products/electrisave/electricity-monitor/ If you want it, look in the discounts forum bit as there's a £5 for ethical superstore :-)

speedyjoe

Fritha wrote:

They also made out that carbon offsetting is pointless, but I figure if you're going to fly (which I am on my honeymoon) then Carbon Offsetting (or the buy a couple of trees scheme as it's known in this house) is better than nothing?

You can stand on your head for half an hour a day if that makes you feel any better about your environmentally unfriendly consumption but like carbon offsetting it won't make b*gger all difference. Once that carbon is released from the Earth, where it has lain locked up for millions of years, planting a few trees ain't gonna put it back again.

Not that planting trees is a bad thing - you should just do that anyway :-)

maninthestreet

....and carbon offsetting will have no effect whatsoever on the output of the sun, which is THE most important variable to be considered with regards to climate.

yell25

I've got an electrisave it cut my Electrcity bills by 20% last year and is worth every penny. You'd really be surprised what a diffrence energy saving bulbs and switching off the standby button makes. If you don't want to cut your carbon but saving money is your thing then the electrisave gets my vote again and again!

redballoon_2

Where is the cheapest place to get the electrisave from?

speedyjoe

redballoon wrote:

Where is the cheapest place to get the electrisave from?

Ebay sellers are the cheapest I have found so far.

redballoon_2

Thanks joe! I will look on there