‘Fairtrade Town’- what do Birmingham’s authorities contribute? March 26, 2010

Looking back over my posts about Birmingham’s Fairtrade Town status, I decided that the subject should be investigated further.  Certain questions were left wholly unanswered: What does the Fairtrade Association Birmingham (FAB) actually do? How much funding are they given to carry out their business? Do they organise the fairtrade events that they publicise? How involved is the Council? This is what we aim to find out.

The Fairtrade Foundation (which runs the Fairtrade Town scheme) receives funding from the European Union. We are investigating how much funding is distributed to Birmingham’s Fairtrade Town cause and how they are spending it.

After speaking to several local fairtrade local businesses, the general consensus is that the Council and FAB don’t actively do much to maintain Birmingham’s status. We will be looking into this for you…

Extra info from Cadbury March 25, 2010

After a small nugget of information was gained from Cadbury about their green initiatives following my last post; Cadbury have finally returned my emails for more information.

At first, all the company could tell me, regarding the Kraft takeover and ‘green’ goals previously set by Cadbury, was:

‘Kraft has committed to maintaining our environmental pledges so there is no difference to the timetable or targets.’

I have now been sent a generic fact-sheet about Cadbury’s Easter products and their place within the ‘Purple Goes Green’ campaign.

This is the information I was given:

‘Purple Goes Green sets out Cadbury’s strategy for shrinking our environmental footprint. By cutting our energy and water use, as well as reducing excess packaging, we aim to reduce our net carbon emissions by 50% by 2020.’
‘Overall Cadbury have committed to a 25% reduction in weight in seasonal and gift packaging and have announced that 60% of our packaging is now biodegradable. We have also reduced our giant shell egg cartons by an average of 35% in 2010.’

‘Cadbury continues to invest in our ‘eco egg’ range, which includes Cadbury Treasure Eggs and Cadbury Egg Heads. These yummy Easter eggs are simply wrapped in foil, reducing plastic waster by 75% and cardboard waste by 65%. Cadbury’s Easter packaging reductions across the range to date have enabled us to remove over 2290 Cadbury lorry loads from the road.’

All very well one might say; however take a look at this picture of the miraculous ‘Treasure Eggs’

Cadbury Treasure Eggs use a questionably neccessary plastic tray for display on supermarket shelves

Yes, by the eggs not being packaged in their own individual boxes, Cadbury are certainly saving cardboard. I wonder however, why a plastic tray is used to house the eggs? Surely a paper/cardboard one would do the same job but would be far easier to recycle.

What are YOUR thoughts on this?

Cadbury’s Easter produce, eco or not so much? March 17, 2010

Cadbury's 'Treasure Eggs' at my local Tesco

After the last post, I tracked down the elusive Cadbury ‘Treasure Eggs’ in my local Tesco. Only a couple of varieties were found, but still, there they were.

The tagline boasting the reduction in packaging is clear to see as they are displayed on the shelf. A good idea, I’m sure many of you would agree?

However, my attention then turned to a Cadbury product sitting next to the hailed and praised ‘eco’ eggs. A product which was very similar, but somehow oh so different- the ‘Easter Egg Trail Pack‘

Take a look at this picture of said product. Why does Cadbury feel the need to wrap the eggs in more packaging than that necklace in Love Actually (you know the one)?

The over-packaged Easter Egg Trail Packs

The eggs do the same job as the ‘Treasure Eggs’, they are for Easter Egg hunts. So why the unneccessary packaging?

I emailed Cadbury to get some answers:

‘It came to my attention that Cabury won a ‘Green Award’ in 2008 for Best Packaging, in regard to the ecological ‘Treasure Eggs’ distributed for Easter. I have also looked in the Fairtrade aspects of the company and the ‘Purple Goes Green campaign’.

I am looking for some comment and information about Kraft’s position following Cadbury’s good work. Cadbury set some goals to reduce its global impact as a brand and I’d like to know if Kraft will carry these goals on under the Cadbury name. Will these be carried out in the timeframe that Cadbury set? Are there any new ecological ventures that Kraft aim to carry out, unstated by Cadbury?

I also would like to know more about the ‘Treasure Eggs’. I think that these are a great idea, however I feel that there would be greater benefits if some other products followed suit. I came accross other Cadbury Easter ‘Treasure Hunt’-style eggs surrounded in lots of unneccessary packaging- Will packaging of these sorts of products reduce in the near future?’

Let’s hope they get back to me soon; I’m intrigued.

Cadbury ‘Eco’ Eggs- Where are they now? March 14, 2010

I have just come across a ‘past-winners’ case study on the 2010 Green Awards website for Cadbury‘s ‘Eco’ Eggs.

Cadbury apparently won the ‘Best Packaging’ Category in 2008 for the eggs which were foil wrapped and placed on ‘egg trays’ for the supermarket shelves rather in than individual boxes.

With Easter on the way, and taking Kraft’s recent takeover of the company into account, one wonders whether the eco-friendly chocolate eggs still exist?

From what I can see on Cadbury’s website, the eggs were called ‘Treasure Eggs’. All I have found so far is a product called ‘Eggheads‘ and these don’t carry the packaging claim on the wrapper so I am dubious as to whether these are so eco-friendly.

I must investigate further…

Have YOU seen this egg?

‘Fairtrade Town’- Authority-run, community-supported March 13, 2010

After chasing up many different people about Birmingham’s ‘Fairtrade Town‘ title, it became apparent that the designated authorities, i.e. the Council and the Fairtrade Association Birmingham (the ill-fittingly abreviated FAB), didn’t have much to say for themselves.

Those who did seem to care about Birmingham’s green credentials were dedicated businesses and local shop owners. I spoke with George Howell of Indigo Wholefoods in Moseley and Kate Stafford of the Shared Earth shop on New St.- both very passionate individuals who had plenty to say about Fairtrade and its vast ranging benefits.

I was suprised to hear that FAB doesn’t actively approach businesses to persuade them to go Fairtrade. The merit lies entirely with the owners themselves.

Thankfully, Birmingham has plenty of Fairtrade supporters; otherwise I doubt dwellers would have even heard the term ‘Fairtrade Town’…

Birmingham’s Fairtrade status- Is it safe? March 11, 2010

Birmingham currently holds the title of being a ‘Fairtrade Town’ (well, city) and has done since November 2005.

According to the Fairtrade Towns scheme,

“A Fairtrade Town is any community that:
• supports Fairtrade and deepens understanding of the benefits Fairtrade brings
• takes action by choosing Fairtrade products whenever possible and encourages others to do likewise
• achieves and continues to take action on the five Fairtrade Town goals set by the Fairtrade Foundation.”

There are 5 criterion to fulfill in order to become a Fairtrade Town. These are:

1. Local council passes a resolution supporting Fairtrade, and agrees to serve Fairtrade products (for example, in meetings, offices and canteens).

2. A range of (at least two) Fairtrade products are readily available in the area’s retail outlets (shops, supermarkets, newsagents, petrol stations) and served in local catering outlets (cafés, restaurants, pubs).

3. Local workplaces and community organisations (places of worship, schools,universities, colleges and other communityorganisations) support Fairtrade and use Fairtrade products whenever possible. Populations over 100,000 will also need a flagship employer.

4. Media coverage and events raise awareness and understanding of Fairtrade across the community.

5. A local Fairtrade steering group is convened to ensure the Fairtrade Town campaign continues to develop and gain new support.

Birmingham’s Fairtrade campaign group is the Fairtrade Association Birmingham (FAB), which is supported by the city council.

I have contacted a few of the relevant authorities as I aim to find out how much Birmingham is doing to hold onto its green credentials.

For more info on ‘Fairtrade Towns’ see the guide published by the movement.

Can Birmingham stay 'green'?

Huge queues for today’s vintage Fair March 6, 2010

Crowds of people queuing for Vintage Fair today outside Custard Factory

If anyone attempted to get down to the Vintage Fair at Birmingham’s Custard Factory today, no doubt they’ll have been met with a huge queue like this.

Yes, the Vintage Fair was back in the ‘Old Library‘ and record numbers turned out to try and grab themselves a bargain. I’ve been to the fair a few times and have honestly never seen as many people in attendence!

I arrived at the Custard Factory at 2′o’clock and didn’t get inside ’til 45 minutes later! One of the girls on the entrance desk said, “it’s mad, it’s been so crazy”.

The fair ran from 12pm-5pm and held numerous stalls selling vintage and recycled clothes, accessories and more. Having stood in the queue for about as long as I was inside, I assumed that there wouldn’t be much left to buy! But luckily there was still plenty.

I’m still waiting to hear back from the event’s organiser for her thoughts on how she felt the event went. Did you attend? What did you think? Let me know!

Could YOU go meatless for Mondays?

The initiative Meatless Monday aims to reduce the amount of meat that gets eaten by 15% in order to reduce global carbon. With stars like Paul McCartney, Chris Martin, Joanna Lumley and Ricky Gervais supporting the campaign, I was interested to find out why.

According to the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization, the process of meat production for consumption generates around a fifth of greenhouse gas emissions. The meat industry also uses more resources than other froms of food production; water is heavily relied on, as is fossil fuel.

Believe it or not, there are also health benefits as well as environmental ones. Eating less meat and eating more plants means your diet will be higher in fibre- essential for the digestive system and maintaining your weight. It also stands to reason that eating more vegetables, plants and pulses probably means consuming less saturated fat and in turn may reduce the risk of high cholesterol and heart disease.

Having a meatless Monday may be something to try for the rest of lent, if you enjoy it why not carry it on?!