www.everythingsgonegreen.co.uk

Modbury in Devon, population just 1553, has today banned the plastic carrier bag.

After Richard Branson’s £1.6 billion Pledge towards green fuels last year comes a new ‘green’ deal with Branson’s Virgin Atlantic ordering 15 of Boeing’s new ‘green’ Dreamliner passenger jets.

Boeing’s new Dreamliner plane, the 787, is supposedly around 25% more fuel efficient than Virgin Atlantic’s current airliner, the Airbus A340. The plane is also reported to be quieter which it is believed will come as a relief to communities living near airports. [When one of the new Virgin plane flies in, that may be the case, but in the grand scheme of things that sounds a little patheric to us - Ed.]

This move to buy new fuel-efficient Boeing planes, coupled with Richard Branson’s Virgin Fuels research into a green aviation fuel, means that there is a possibility that there could be ‘green’ air travel when the planes are delivered in 2011. Virgin and Boeing have entered into a partnership to develop a new biofuel for their commercial jets as part of the effort to reduce carbon emissions.

However, with world air travel supposedly set to double over the next decade, an initial 25% fuel efficiency seems pretty minimal compared to a 100% increase in air traffic and aircraft pollution.

Which green fuel is to be used in the new Virgin fleet is not yet established with ethanol, a popular fuel in the emerging green car market but not at all poular with the Mexican people, being out of contention as it freezes at an altitude of 15,000 feet.

We’ve long been fans of the Tom’s of Maine deodorant sticks because of the company’s ethics and great products but someone said the other day:

“Why don’t you try one of those crystals?”

Now, rubbing crystals under your armpits doesn’t sound like the normal sort of way to prevent sweat & odour, and seemed a pretty peculiar idea, but what is “normal”? Aluminium Sulphates or Aluminium Chlorhydrates and propellants usually, with huge multi-million funded marketing campaigns, so we decided yeah, why not.

Now, these Crystals are actually sticks of “crystallised salts from Thailand” so it says on the case, with the Crystal Spring website states that they’re made with Ammonium Alum, apparently widely used in the Far East.

In addition the Crystal Spring deodorant sticks are:

• Long-lasting
• Hypoallergenic
• Fragrance Free
• Non-staining.

You basically wet the crystal, apply it, though not if you have damaged or broken skin, and then rinse the crystal after use. We’ve been using the Crystal Spring natural body deodorant for a couple of weeks now and we like it.

You can get Crystal Spring deodorants directly from the Crystal Spring shop.

Tip of the day to prevent flies in your compost bin: wrap all your old kitchen scraps in a sheet or two of old newspaper before dropping them in your compost bin. This should keep flies from laying their eggs on the organic waste.

This follows the prinicple of mixing “green” and “brown” waste, so a really good layer of shredded paper will do the trick but not so well as wrapping old fruit and veg in newspaper.

Also keep the lid on and make sure there are no gaps into the bin.

What do you get for the green person who has everything?

An Ecoffin, an Eco Coffin! Ecoffins are environmentally-friendly coffins in bamboo, willow or pine and are completely natural.

What better way to make sure your final environmental footprint is as small as possible?

As we reported back in January, Marks & Spencer decided to go public about going green with their great Plan A. Because there is no Plan B.

Spotted in an M&S store window in Scotland M&S’s Plan A statement says simply:

Five Years.

Five Comittments.

One World.

100 things to change.

And their five comittments are:

1. Climate Change
2. Waste
3. Sustainable Raw Materials
4. Fair Partner
5. Health

And just to elaborate on each of these:

1. Climate Change - To make UK and Irish M&S operations carbon neutral in 5 years.
2. Waste - By 2012, no M&S clothing or packaging to end up as landfill.
3. Sustainable Raw Materials - Making sure M&S raw materials come from the most sustainable sources available.
4. Fair Partner - M&S aim to be a fair partner to improve the lives of all in the supply chain.
5. Health - M&S want to help their customers & employees to choose a healthier lifestyle.

Now, let’s see if any other retailer is bold enough to genuinely jump on the green bandwagon and do something about this mess we’re cruising toward before it’s too late.