So day three is here and what a surprise, news gets around this tiny world of ours amazingly fast, because I have had 2 US companies joining the project, firstly one called Art Fact based in Boston and the other called "Wakeupontime" based in New Jersey. Apart from that there are a number of other UK websites that will appear on the homepage in the next couple of days. I am very happy with this progress in only the third day. Tomorrow is Sunday so I expect things will be quiet, so that will give be a chance to catch up on bits and bobs.

Recently people have said , What is the conection betweeen Fairtrade and  Climate Change ? Well an interesting article in a magazine gives the answers to some of these issues.

Most Fairtrade products are transported by air, True or False ?

FALSE - Fresh flowers are the only Fairtrade product to be routinely transported by air as they must be stored quickly to ensure their freshness. Most Fairtrade certified products are shipped not flown - per mile international shipping is less carbon intensive than trucking within the UK.

Food miles are the biggest element of a product's carbon footprint, True or False ?

FALSE - Transportation is usually a small proportion of the overall carbon footprint of a product. The carbon footprint includes the method of growing and production, how and where it is sold, the customer journey, the packaging, consumption and final disposal. Air freight is 0.1% of the total UK emissions, and transportation of Fairtrade products in 2005 was estimated to be just 0.03% of UK food mile emissions. Remember that during this project I will be working out how many miles I have travelled, and by what form of transport to calculate the carbon footprint created by this project. I then intend to donate to the United Nations Enviromental Programme to balance out by CO2 emissions.

Buying locally is always better for the enviroment, True or False ?

FALSE - Whilst buying in season from sustainable local producers can be a very positive way of reducing impact on the climate, its important to consider not just where a product comes from, but how it has been produced, including use of land, chemicals,hothouses or natural resources. Research has found that a flower grown in Kenya and flown to the UK emits five times less carbon than one that has been industrially hot-housed in the Netherlands. Many everyday items such as sugar cane,cotton, bananas,coca,coffee and tea are grown in tropical climates of developing countries with minimal use of carbon-producing energy.

Buying Fairtrade products can help to tackle climate change ,True or False ?

TRUE - Buying products from developing countries is vital for the economic and social development and provides a livelihood for millions of farmers and workers. With premiums from Fairtrade, farmers can implement enviromental protection programmes that will benefit all of us. Coffee farmers in Costa Rica have invested in replanting native trees to prevent soil erosion and have purchased enviromentally friendly ovens that are fuelled by recycled coffee hulls and the dried shells of macadamia nuts. In India, tea farmers have invested part of the Fairtrade premium in a solar panelled heating system for the local health centre, replacing the wood burning one. On another Fairtrade certified tea estate, workers have created their own communal compost heep which families maintain and which the estate purchases as organic fertiliser for the tea bushes.

source-fair comment spring 07

CO2 report- Car travel 34 miles