Tuesday saw The Guardian and The Sun jointly launch the 10:10 initiative.

I had a couple of meetings with the creator of the initiative, Franny Armstrong, prior to the launch. It was like having a whirlwind visit the office.  She was brimful full of energy, true belief and a stubborn irrational confidence that the initiative would work - you could see how she succeeded in making The Age of Stupid.

The idea behind 10:10 is incredibly simple. It is asking everybody to cut their emissions by 10% in 2010. The environmental sector tends to tie itself in confused knots about target setting and it is refreshing to see such a clear and simple statement. Global Action Plan is fully behind the initiative because we are utterly convinced that we should be trying to cut as much carbon out of the atmosphere as quickly as possible.

Yes the initiative does have flaws, it is not entirely thought through and there is a danger that it could be a bit of a hollow PR exercise unless the measurement and accountability elements are sorted, but it has huge support, great energy behind it and is all about action rather than talk.

Carbon confusion

One of the reasons I like 10:10 is that its simplicity is unlike virtually every other aspect of our work. We are spending more and more time trying to understand and knit together an ever increasing number of unconnected initiatives. 

This complexity was brilliantly highlighted in a recent Local Government Association report which identified that the Government has made available nearly £7 billion for home energy efficiency projects spread across six different programmes.

The responsibility for delivering these programmes varies. Two of the larger programmes are delivered by the energy companies and the Local Government Association argues that they are more interested in delivering easy-to-administer schemes rather than long-term carbon savings. The facts back them up. Energy companies have sent out 3.7 unsolicited energy efficient light bulbs per UK household rather than invest in more complicated insulation or micro-generation.

The LGA is proposing that rather than have this myriad of unconnected initiatives there should be one large pot of money that can be used to deliver solutions that meet local community needs - they have a very strong case.

Power of the consumer

Every month in the specialist environmental press I read about companies that are causing environmental damage or are flouting regulations. What surprises me is that this information rarely turns into campaigns encouraging consumers to shift purchasing habits away from those companies. 

This month for instance Red Bull had its wings clipped with a record fine for 16 packaging waste offences. The charges related to a failure to recover and recycle packaging waste from 1999 to 2006.

Those of you concerned about the rainforests might be interested in a Greenpeace report accusing Nike, Adidas, Reebok and other big brands of selling leather products from cattle raised on illegally cleared land in the rainforests.

Companies are highly sensitive to consumer campaigns and there is definitely more potential for putting pressure on those companies that are not operating to the highest standards.

Make-do-and-mend

Staying on the theme of leather shoes, we were told this week that banana skins double as very effective shoe polish. If your shoes are badly scuffed simply rub them with half a raw potato first. This advice comes in an up-date of the 1943 Make-do-and Mend booklet originally printed by the Ministry of Information.  The new version has been produced by the John Lewis Partnership and is apparently part of the new ‘austerity chic' movement.

As I have mentioned in previous blogs there is definitely a shift in consumer habits caused by the recession. I am still skeptical as to whether these changes are truly embedded in our society or whether they will change if/when economic pressures relax.