December 2016 Newsletter

A round up of news and views

Stop the Attack on the Solar Industry - The government is about to attack solar power yet again. Unbelievably, ministers are planning to hit schools and businesses that invest in solar power with a huge tax hike. Recent government cuts to the solar industry have already triggered an estimated 12,000 job losses. But now it’s been revealed the government is on the cusp of inflicting a huge new tax hike, one that could leave businesses and schools that install solar panels with a 6-8 times higher tax bill. Read more and sign the Greenpeace petition, here...

New Scientist says 'organic' is mumbo-jumbo! - The December 3rd issue of the New Scientist magazine featured an article by Michael Le Pen, entitled: ‘Care About Earth? Ditch Organic Food’. Permaculture activist Milly Carmichael immediately responded with a letter pointing out that industrial agriculture depends on fossil fuels: nitrogen-based fertilizers only came about in the early 1900s when Fritz Haber developed a process to synthesize nitrate from the abundant nitrogen in the air. Creating this plant-available form of a crucial nutrient is a very high-temperature, energy-intensive process that has used vast quantities of fossil fuels over the past 100+ years and continues to do so. Nitrate is also explosive and fuelled the munitions industry and all its associated human death and misery before a grain of it enhanced a single wheat yield. She also drew the Editor's attention to the fact that elsewhere in the magazine, Parkinson's disease had been linked to drinking water contaminated with pesticides. You can read Milly's brilliant letter in full, here...

Ethical/Fair Trade Gadgets - as its Christmas we have pleasure in bringing you the following ethical and environmentally-friendly gadgets: 

G-Wiz Electric Car, Amazon green, 40 mile range - realistically 30 in this locality, top speed 40 mph. About half the battery life left. £1200 ono.  Contact Robin Brookes, via robin@environomic.co.uk if you're interested.

Fairphone - A smarter phone for a better planet.

Join the fair trade movement by buying a mobile that’s made to last – the Fairphone 2. It is the first ethical smartphone, modular so you can upgrade and repair it, plus it is also 4G.

Why choose Fairphone?

• Made using conflict-free minerals
• Created by a Social Enterprise with total transparency in the production and supply chain
• Produced in a factory that ensures health and safety working conditions as well as decent wages to its workers
• Made to last, because it is modular you can repair it and upgrade it yourself prolonging the handset life
• Eco-friendly, because it lasts longer you are generating less electronic waste, plus it comes without a charger so you can reuse any old micro USB charger you have around the house

From 1st January, the price of the Fairphone handset and the one-off setup fee will be going up so order before then to avoid the price increase. Check out the website, here... or call them on 01608 434084.

Merry Christmas to everyone - we'll need to work even harder to hold the government to account re its committments to the Climate Change Act and the Paris Agreement in 2017. 

Thanks

The Transition Marlborough team