Archive for the ‘Environmental Issues’ category

A Tree for a Tree

November 29th, 2010

‘A Tree for a Tree’ was the headline to a newspaper article which featured yours truly all those years ago when I looked more cherub-like.

I’ve recently managed to get hold of an original cutting of the article, as I thought it was a nice example of how I guess I was always destined to end up linked to Trees.  After all, our world’s beautiful species and, in my opinion, most needed plant-life are my namesake.

Tree for a Tree at Conservatree4u News Article Image

Tree for a Tree at Conservatree4u News Article Image

 

If you can’t read the article from the image, then it was taken by a photographer from the paper who happened to be at the plantation in Cannock, Staffordshire doing a piece on real Christmas Trees. When he found out that my name was indeed Tree, Chris Tree no less, then as the story goes, he couldn’t believe his luck. So here I am only 4 or 5 years old, dragging our new Christmas tree back to the car.

There is a bit of an underlying reason for this post though, other than to get you all going ‘ahhhhh’, and that is to urge you all where possible to do your bit this upcoming Christmas period and ditch the fake tree this year. Go out and but yourself a nice real one. Get one with roots and after Christmas simply go outside and plant it. If you don’t have room in your own garden, then see if you can donate it to a local school, community center or park even (do make sure you get permission from whoever owns the land first though). That way, you can do a little bit to help in our campaign for a better environment.

Trust me, you’ll feel a real sense of purpose, and who could resist this face? Thanks all and merry Xmas.

Tree for a Tree News Article Lil Chris Image

 

 

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Posted in Environment, Environmental Issues, tree conservation, trees

10:10:10 – A Global Day of Doing

September 29th, 2010

Some of you may recall an older post, talking about 10:10 and the attempt to cut the UK’s carbon emissions by 10%. Well, the campaign is rolling along and I’m sure some of you may now be part of it too. I was speaking with Lucy from 10:10 the other day and promised I’d write a quick post to help push the message to as many people as possible.

So, what is A Global Day of Doing. Well, read the paragraph below, which I have used straight from the 10:10 Facebook page, which incidentally you could go and become a fan of too:

On October 10, 2010, thousands of individuals, families, schools, businesses and other organisations will take simple steps to save energy and reduce emissions. These ordinary actions, combined with a series of bold, iconic stunts, will make an extraordinary difference. Not only will they cut carbon directly; they will also send a powerful message to world leaders that people and organisations everywhere are ready to tackle climate change.

I think that sums it up quite succinctly.  So whether you’re an individual, a business or any kind of organisation, please get behind 10:10 and do even just a small act to help A Global Day of Doing

For our business, I’ll be making sure all computers and equipment is switched off for the full 24 hours (sorry all you Sunday DIYers, we won’t be contactable). Not only will it help just a little but it should ensure we all take a day off.

On a personal note, I’m going to propose that as a family we leave all TVs, PCs and Game Stations turned off for the day too, so we can help a little more (but shhhhh, don’t let on as I’ve not told the family yet).


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Posted in Carbon Emissions, energy efficiency, Environment, Environmental Issues

Oil Reserves: Seriously, UPVC products can help!

November 10th, 2009
Having just read on The Guardian blog regarding the level of oil which is reported to be left in the world’s reserves, I felt an underlying urge to air my thoughts again. Whilst it is reasonable to accept (as is reflected in some of the comments left) the amount left in the reserves and the amount left which is available for supply could be greatly different, it still doesn’t alter the fact that we are running out.
Obviously, as you’d expect, this causes me to highlight our industry. UPVC is an Ethylene based product. UPVC is currently using these oil reserves to contribute to it’s manufacture, but let me quote Fighting Back with Facts;
“Ethylene is the most widely produced organic compound in the world. Most ethylene is produced (like petrol) by refining oil. However, ethylene can also be produced from renewable vegetable oil crops so it isn’t dependent on diminishing oil reserves.”
Let me just give some quick further points about UPVC;
  • 100% recyclable
  • A thermally efficient material
  • A Low maintenance option
  • Often a more cost effective option than alternative materials

On the final bullet point listed though. Cost isn’t everything. As consumers, particularly in these uncertain financial times, we are all too quick to buy cheap. How effective is this really in the long term from both a cost and environmental aspect. Even with DIY Conservatories, Windows and Doors there are many energy efficiency options available that will reap benefits for both your pocket and the planet. Lets face it, if you can save on your bills time and time again, surely that’s better than saving just a few quid right now.

Bringing it back to the point of oil usage, if more is done now to tackle issues such as reducing energy output, recycling materials and using alternative sources for manufacture of the base product, this in turn will result in a reduction in oil usage, thus extending it’s term (whether it truly be 42 years or 100 years).

Contrary to popular belief, the Double Glazing Industry isn’t all bad and more and more of us want to make a difference for the right reasons. Hopefully as people become more aware of the facts it will help to combat the misinformation which exists. We are doing our bit to help (see recent Blog post) and you can read more about our environmental and ethical business ethos on our website.

As always please feel free to comment or get in touch if you’d like to help in any way you think you can.

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Posted in energy efficiency, Environmental Issues, UPVC

A Conservatory for You? We’ll Conserve a Tree for You!

November 9th, 2009

Conservatree4u are very pleased to publicly announce our ‘Conserv-a-Tree’ message.

What’s it all about then?
For quite some time now we have been debating the effect of our industry on the environment along with the general issue of climate change and as a socially responsible company we have been developing our way of ‘Giving Something Back For Putting Something Up’. Sorry, we tried to think of something a little less cheesy.

Our Business is based not only on supplying DIY conservatories to you in a fresh no pressure policy way, but also with an ethical stance. Whilst it is great that UPVC is in itself recyclable (more on that to come in the future), the manufacture of it is in part fossil fuel reliant. It is a part oil based product and that means we are having an effect on our environment and our planet. It’s not as bad as others would have you believe, but nonetheless we’re not going to shy away from any implication.
Afterall, someone who champions the use of timber, surely has to take the point that deforestation is taking place to utilise the wood and carbon emissions are also a product of their industry.
As time progresses we will continue to post further articles to champion the cause of UPVC, but for a great head start check out the Fighting back with facts website. We’ll be extracting some of the information published on there as time goes on to help to spread the wider message.
So what are we doing?
Well a clue has always been in our name right from the start!
Within our Business Model we are commited to donating a percentage of our annual turnover to programmes that help to conserve our trees, woods and forests. So, for every sale, 1% of that price will go towards ‘conserving a tree’ somewhere out there in the UK!. That means if you buy one of our products you will be directly donating to this campaign and ultimately playing your part in helping the environment. The Woodland Trust say it costs around £15 to plant, nurture and mature one tree, so an average conservatory purchase will lead to the donation towards the 12 year maturity life cycle of 2 trees.

But it’s more than that… it’s about spreading the word.
As people become more environmentally aware as they buy products – from where their vegetables come from – to how and where they are grown, we too understand that it will become an increasingly significant factor in purchasing trends in the years to come. As such we want to help this industry to change the way it operates by being at the forefront of such a campaign and spread the message to the industry as a whole It would give us great satisfaction to see this view being adopted by others to join us in ‘giving something back’.
So what next?
Well, this is just the start. There is much more to do and much more to understand about how we can make a real difference out there in our world. As time passes we will post more on here about what we have found out and what we have been up to. In the meantime lets get the message out there! So as we say, ‘from little acorns …’
For further info on our company policies and ethics visit our About Us page and we’d love to hear your comments, so please post and let’s get the message out there.

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Posted in Environmental Issues, tree conservation, UPVC

Cut the UK’s Carbon Emissions by 10% in just one year, 2010.

October 15th, 2009

Having just watched a really engaging debate on newsnight tonight regarding climate change. I have felt impelled to go and sign our company up for the 10:10 campaign. For anyone who hasn’t heard of the campaign, to quote the website itself;

“What is 10:10?

10:10 is an ambitious project to unite every sector of British society behind one simple idea: that by working together we can achieve a 10% cut in the UK’s carbon emissions in 2010.”

Having listened to the debate on the TV and subsequently read the detail on the 10:10 website, it doesn’t seem that hard to do, and without going in to all the detail (you can read that on their site), it would appear that we could only have around 6 years to actually start to have an effect before we hit the dreaded 2° increase in global temperature . Politicians are dithering and we can all show them (and the rest of the world) that a little from everyone can count alot.

As you’ll probably tell, it’s something we’re very passionate about, but we’re not the only ones, there are already some major companies, public figures, celebrities, and many others already on board. I think the main reason for this is that it really is an acheivable target to hit.

If you want to read more then you can get to the 10:10 website here and also hopefully you’ll sign up too.

Any comments, as always, are welcome. but I urge you all to go and sign up and do your bit along with the rest of us.

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Posted in Carbon Emissions, Environmental Issues