Ok, here's one thing that came off. I heard that a senior cleric in the CofE was addressing the General Synod on the subject of the environment. I told him about the very clever hippo's you can get for free from Thames Water for putting in the cistern – saving lots and lots of water with every flush. The very senior cleric said he'd use the hippo as an illustration in his talk – then we thought if I could get them, he would distribute free hippo's to everyone at the debate. I called Thames Water PR and they said they'd love to deliver 900 hippo's to his office. So they did and so he distributed them as part of his talk. By Martin Wroe
National Transplant Week [new]
14 Jul 2010 by Paul Northup
As National Transplant Week draws to a close it's not too late for you to register your name online. Organised by the charity Transplants in Mind, this year's appeal had the tag line 'What are you waiting for?'. It's a Generous question, if ever we heard one.
It's a Generous action already – and it would be great to have more of committing to it (the link to the online sign-up form can be found through the Generous action page).
You can read more about Transplant Week here.
http://www.srft.nhs.uk/about-us/our-departments/renal-services/patient-news/national-transplant-week/
Co-Operatives Fortnight is underway.
19 Jun 2010 by Martin Wroe
For 14 days co-operatives are promoting their work, neighbours are working together, businesses are trying new things and people are talking about the co-operative alternative.
Co-Operatives, says one contributor on a new video released today, 'Are about the value of people instead of the value of money'.
If you have a feeling they're right about 'a decline in community as people spend less and less time with their neighbours', you might also agree that the co-operative movement is part of the solution.
They've even come up with a 'scientific' formula for co-operation based on the seven principles of the co-operative movement. 'It determines the personal and group components of shared commitment, common interest and mutual trust needed for co-operation to occur in both an organisation and an individual.'
If that sounds a bit complex, why not set up a food co-operative instead.
Or start to buy things to co-own with neighbours – lawnmowers, solar panels, cars.
Or start a school.
Or open an account with The Co-Operative Bank.
A good place to get thinking is by checking out Co-Operatives Fortnight.
Watch the World Cup Generously
It's almost here. Four weeks of agony as we manage and massage our disappointment about how England tend to fare in a major footballing championships. According to most pundits, though, this time it could all be different … But just in case it's not, you can make the World Cup different yourself, Generous-style, by always:
•getting together with others to watch it
•inviting in those on the fringes to share the agony with you
•and, of course, making sure you switch the set right off (not just to standby) after extra time and penalties.
Commit to having a Generous World Cup 2010 here.
Recycling. But more exciting. 
14 May 2010 by Paul Northup
If you've ever got a kick out of the thrill of smashing the bottles as you force them into the recycling bank, then you'll be pleased to hear you're not alone.
David Belt and co. Macro Sea have built a recycling bank that caters to those very same destructive instincts. It's called Glassphemy and it works like this: recyclers stand on a high platform at one end of a 6m-long, 9m-tall box made out of bulletproof glass and steel and they chuck their bottles inside, watching them shatter at the bottom.
Not only that.
Lights hooked up to vibration sensors flash when a bottle impacts, and people on platforms around the cage can get a closer look at the whole violent process from behind the safety of a shield of bulletproof glass. Recyclers can even aim at the observers if they so desire.
"Recycling's so boring," Belt told the New York Times. "We tried to make it a little bit more exciting".
What A Difference A Day Makes (Another Small Idea)
24 Apr 2010 by Martin Wroe
If everyone in the UK gave up meat for one day a week, the reduction in greenhouse gases would be like taking 5million cars off the roads. How come we don't hear this kind of green-sky thinking from the mainstream political parties.
We could tell you that the UN says the farming and slaughtering of animals is one of the top three causes of major environmental problems confronting the world, from land degradation and climate change to air pollution and water shortages. And that animal farming accounts for 18% of greenhouse gas emissions, more than the entire transport sector. But it'd be more fun if you just watched this brilliant video instead. (And then go meat-free one day a week…)
So all the main parties in the UK election campaign tell us that our future energy needs can be met by a combination of fossil fuels, wind, wave and solar power and clean nuclear energy. And that if we all get our homes insulated, we'll be burning less energy and finally halting climate change. But if insulation and micro-energy generation can be government subsidised to speed public uptake, why doesn't government intervene in the market to accelerate moves to a less meat-based diet? If government can fund public education to convert people to healthier lifestyles, why not persuade the public to eat less meat. Healthier diet, healthier planet.
Encourage Others To Go Generous
If You Could Give Away Your Vote
16 Apr 2010 by Martin Wroe
Supposing you could give away your vote. That your decision on where to mark your X was not about how much tax you want to pay. About who will create the best schools or protect the NHS. Not about the most trustworthy leader, how soon we pay down the national debt or deal with greedy bankers.
Supposing you could give away your vote.
Supposing you could give it to Blessings, in Tanzania, who doesn't go to school because there are no separate girls toilets.
Or to Richard, in Uganda, raising his younger brothers alone, since losing his parents to AIDS.
Or to Mohammed, in Eritrea, who has to walk miles every morning to get water for his family.
Or to Aminul in Bangladesh, whose land is periodically submerged since the climate starting pushing up the tide.
Or Mary, in Ghana, whose wages are so low because rich countries subsidise their agriculture.
Supposing you could give your vote to Blessings or Aminul? To Richard or Mohammed?
To a member of your family you have never met, in a country you have never visited.
Who would the vote you give them be cast for?
Who would you vote for if you could see life through their eyes ?
One Vote 2010 is a campaign to get UK voters to put fighting poverty at the heart of the coming election.
This is Oxfam's Election guide to tackling poverty
Here's Christian Aid's Election Manifesto for the poorest countries
A Generous Election
What's The Small Idea?
08 Mar 2010 by Paul Northup
Generation or insulation? Time to get our houses in order.
The government's recently announced micro-generation scheme is great news. Isn't it? If you install small-scale renewable energy generating capability into your house there will be a guaranteed pay-back per kw on all the electricity you produce for 25 years – no matter if you use that energy yourself or sell it back to the Grid. (Read more about these 'feed in tariffs' here.)
'If the government offered to pay you £1,000 a year for the next 25 years, in return for an up-front investment of £12,500, you'd snap it up in a second.'
Not everyone thinks this is good news. The biggest detractor is environmental campaigner George Monbiot.
'Buying a solar panel is now the best investment a householder can make … If you own a house and can afford the investment, you'd be crazy not to cash in … Had this money been spent instead on insulation or double glazing, it could have helped relieve fuel poverty at the same time as cutting emissions. But the feed-in tax is both wasteful and regressive. The government has now decided not to oblige people to improve the efficiency of their homes before they can claim a tariff: you'll be paid to put a solar panel on your roof even if the roof contains no insulation.'
Strong stuff.
At the same time, Energy Secretary Ed Milliband has announced a green loans scheme which would help overcome the financial barriers and upfront costs people face when trying make their homes greener. The loans made would remain attached to the house where insulation, solar panels or other green technology was installed.
So what's a Generous take on this? Well, there's probably several (add your comments below) but here's a small idea from me: let's persuade the next government to introduce measures that stand to benefit everyone in the country at the same time as moving us towards our carbon emission reduction goals.
For my money this would be about grants/loans for insulation and energy efficiency and grants for renewable technology insulation, and arguably without the guaranteed pay-pack tariffs.* The really important thing would be that these grants/loans should only be made available in a certain order – in other words, you can't have a loan/grant for renewable energy generating capability in your house until you've had all the right insulation done, with or without loans/grants. In other words, a household would have to show that it's taken all the energy efficiency measures it can before being eligible for micro-generation help.
Insulation precedes micro-generation is what should be part of a Generous election manifesto.
Agree? Disagree?
http://www.generous.org.uk/
Say No To Phonebooks
12 Mar 2010 by Paul Northup
Environmental petition attracts 10,000 signatures as UK citizens make a stand against phonebooks and anti-junk mail sentiment grows.
The 'Say No To Phonebooks' Downing St ePetition, setup by 192.com, reached its target of 10,000 signatures this week.
Telephone directories constitute the single biggest piece of junk mail that households receive each year and recently spawned a new Generous action after one Generous member started a Twitterstorm about the waste involved.
With 41%* of people no longer using printed directories at all, delivering phonebooks to only households that request them is the most environmentally friendly and non-intrusive way to distribute them.
Dominic Blackburn, Product Director, 192.com said, "10,000 signatures on the 'Say No To Phonebooks' ePetition speaks volumes as to how the public feel about this issue. It's time that the government started listening to these voices and looked towards an 'on request only' delivery option for phonebooks."
Will post various Generous News items here from time to time. The Generous site is well worth visiting. It has very practical ideas and suggestions. You might even llike to join and take part in some of the actions they recommend.
