Eco Worrier - Times Online - WBLG

I salute the Strawbridge family

If you missed BBC2's It's Not Easy Being Green last night, I recommend you secure a spot on the sofa for next Tuesday, 8pm. Here is a family doing astonishingly worthy things - namely relocating from suburban comfort to Cornish self-sufficiency - and encouraging us to do them too. One of the green messages smoothly inserted into the first episode was to swap to a green energy supplier.

Water saving

It might not look it, but our green and pleasant land is thirsty. Last year was the third driest since records began and reservoirs in southern England have dropped to record lows. From next weekend, one fifth of the population will be affected by some kind of water restriction, from curbs on sprinklers to compulsory water meters. This week, three water companies in the South East applied for emergency measures to ban non-essential use of water, which includes car-washing and filling swimming pools.

Gas guzzlers: what do you think about 4x4s?

Has Gordon Brown gone far enough with an increase in road tax to £210? What else can be done to encourage people to drive green cars? Let me know what you think.

Here you can read an interview with Sian Berry, who heads up the Alliance Against Urban 4x4s.

Unloved kettles

Q: Not one but two kettles broke in my office this week. What should I do with them?

This goes to the heart of a hot green topic: what to do with electronic waste. As chunky TVs and computers are dumped in favour of flat screens and laptops, we face a growing problem of gadget disposal. A new set of European rules, known as the WEEE directive (on waste electrical and electronic equipment) was supposed to be implemented last August forcing those who make and sell electronic goods to be responsible for recycling them.

Ditching the dry-cleaner

Q: The film company I work for gets through a huge amount of dry-cleaning. What can I do?

Tell me, is it that pesky carcinogenic perc (perchloroethylene), the solvent used in the dry-cleaning process, that troubles you? The swaths of plastic your clothes are dressed in? Or perhaps the left-over clothes hangers? It’s enough to drive a planet- loving employee to extreme measures. But before you use one of those pointless safety pins to attach your resignation letter to your boss’s forehead, there are other options.

Yellow Pages

Q: My recycling bank won’t accept Yellow Pages. What can I do with them?

This bulky catalogue has a reputation as a tricky customer in recycling circles. Rumours are circulating about an intensive dye — and this is given as a convenient explanation for why some local councils bar it from green boxes.

But Yell, the owner of the Yellow Pages, is at pains to point out that times as well as phone numbers have changed. About 94 per cent of local authorities now recycle it. Either you’re in an unlucky minority or the sign on your bin needs updating.

Pints of goodness

Q: My local has started selling organic beer. Should I bother buying it?

Well, it’s tough but there’s only one way to find out. Glug back a bottle or two, let it swirl around your digestive system and see how you feel. The next day, take a wallet and a head check. Organic converts swear that while the eco-choice may weigh slightly more heavily on your pocket, it makes light of your hangover — they say the use of organic hops and fewer artificial ingredients is responsible. However, there is not yet substantial evidence to back this up. We know that organic wines, which use lower levels of the hangover- inducing ingredient sulphur dioxide, are easier on the head but for organic beer the jury is still out.

Men's Eco Fashion

An email from James Gains, in Leeds, notes the rise of eco-fashion sweeping the country but wonders why there's not more out there for men. "It seems to be happening in Topshop, which now has a Fairtrade line, and Marks and Spencer, which sells organic cotton, but what about the kind of high street retailers most men shop at – as let’s face it, who’d be seen dead in Marks and Sparks?"

Well, I would steer James towards Howies, a cult clothing label which uses organic and recycled textiles. It currently sells a fine looking men's recycled shirt made from scrap material that ended up on the factory floor.

Also, what about a trip to the Crafts Council in London to see Well Fashioned: Eco Style in the UK, from March 23- June 4th? Plenty of menswear designers are featured in the exhibition.

Does anyone else have any advice to spare James from greening up his look in M&S?

Coffee shops: a load of old froth?

Time was when a cup of coffee meant a cheap jar of instant. Now it’s a multimillion-dollar industry, a lifestyle, and a moral minefield. The high street chains are rushing to offer us Fairtrade brew.

First, Costa Coffee offered it for an extra 10p. Pret A Manger followed suit, along with Marks & Spencer’s cafés, which serve 100 per cent Fairtrade coffee, as does the Slug and Lettuce pub chain. And then there’s Starbucks, the world’s largest coffee retailer.