Archive for Environment

Get to work green

January 8, 2009 at 4:43 pm · Filed under Environment, ethical jobs ·Tagged , , , , ,

So, perhaps you have found that fantastic environmental job you’ve always hoped for, or made it into a nice ethical job with a charity that makes your social conscience significantly lighter. You’ve already improved the office’s recycling system, swapped all the old lightbulbs for energy saving ones, ensured all lights are turned off at 5pm on pain of death, and so on. How much more environmentally responsible could you be at work?

Well, there is something you may need to improve; the daily journey to work. According to national statistics, we are travelling further to work than we ever did before. With more cars on the road than there have ever been, a significant proportion of work-travel is done by car. Two journeys a day, five days a week, 50 weeks a year; it all adds up to a big green headache.

There are, several ways you can make a difference as you get to work every day. Take a look at our guide to getting to work green, for a guilt-free and more harmonious daily commute:

  1. Public Transport: Here in the UK we have all become so accustomed to using our cars that we see it as our right to own and use one as much as possible. It can actually be quicker to take the train, however; there are no traffic jams on the railtracks. If your commute is the same every day, you may find that a season ticket on the bus or the train can be cheaper than running a car, once fuel costs, insurance, repairs, road tax and MOTs are taken into account.
  2. Efficient cars: If you must use a car for work, that car need not be a gas-guzzler. A more efficient car will save you money on fuel, and even if your employer pays your petrol expenses, you will feel better about your effect on the environment.
  3. Sharing: Car sharing can be a great way to reduce carbon emissions. If five single people living in the same office drive roughly the same way at the same time, how difficult could it be to work out a car-pooling system? Everyone would save money on fuel, everyone would reduce their carbon footprint, and you may even have a chance to get to know each other better too!
  4. Conferences: If you are required to travel for work to attend conferences and the like further afield, it might be worth organising a minibus for you and your colleagues. It can work out cheaper for your employer to pay for a single minibus than for the petrol expenses of eight separate cars, and saving your boss money will earn you special brownie points.
  5. Your own steam: feeling a little heavier following the Christmas period? Trying all sorts of diets and forcing yourself to eat fruit all day? There is an easier way to fit a little slimming into your day. Why not walk or cycle to work once in a while? Those extra 20 or 30 minutes exercise a day can really make a difference, and gets your fitness effort out of the way before 9am, leaving you to concentrate on work rather than detoxing.

Follow these tips and you’ll soon be the greenest commuter in the office, and in the meantime, JuicyJobs.biz has plenty more green job listings just waiting for you.

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Green careers lead to top accolades

December 2, 2008 at 10:40 am · Filed under Environment, Green News, green jobs ·Tagged , , , , , , , ,

The edie awards on 13th November demonstrated the growing visibility of green careers as professional and highly-respected.

The second annual edie Awards for Environmental Excellence took place at London’s Natural History Museum, hosted by comedian and environmentalist Alistair McGowan (of Big Impression fame).

Mr McGowan said: “It is a wonderful pleasure to be in this room with so many top environmental brains.”

The awards are to recognise improvements and ingenuity in environment and business practices. Both green organisations, such as environmental consultants, and companies who had made ethical changes to their production were recognised for their efforts.

Winners included Jonathon Porrit, the founder of Forum for the Future and chairman of the Sustainable Development Commission, who was awarded for raising public awareness of environmental issues.

Mr Porrit said that it is increasingly important to “keep green issues right at the top of the agenda in such difficult economic conditions.”

Environmental consultants were also amongst the award winners. Arup received an award for being the employer those working in the industry would most like to work for, whilst Atkins was named best environmental consultancy overall. ERM took five of the seven consultancy awards available in their sector.

Outside of the environmental sector, awards went to Mitsubishi, for its innovating heating and cooling systems for buildings, predicted to save 3 million tonnes of carbon in the next eight years. Coca Cola was also recognised for using football to promote recycling amongst consumers.

The edie Awards demonstrate a few things. First, how environmental careers are becoming the cutting edge of science, technology, and public policy. If these are areas you already work in, a green career is certainly a great way to get ahead. Second, the awards show that even companies such as Coca Cola, which have had less than perfect ethical and environmental records in the past, are beginning to take the initiative. This in turn shows how environmental initiatives are climbing to the top of companies’ agendas, and that green jobs or ethical careers are becoming possible and available in all sorts of industries. The advice from JuicyJobs.biz on this is; don’t pass over a company when searching for a green job. There could be a great green role for you lurking in the most unexpected of places, and it is in these places that you could really make a difference and build your reputation. Keep checking JuicyJobs.biz for opportunities like this.

Author and resource box
Rachel Charman, a writer for Juicyjobs.biz Ethical Jobs UK – an environmentally friendly green job search board which offers free job listings to Environmental, NGO’s, NFP’s and ethical companies promoting green, fair trade services and support sustainable living.  For job seekers Juicyjobs can help you find the ideal ethical jobs in London.

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Credit crunch spells success for environmental sector

November 10, 2008 at 12:24 pm · Filed under Environment, ethical jobs, green jobs ·Tagged , , , , , ,

Industrial manufacturing has been the propeller of growth for the past two centuries.  With industry so developed, widespread and seemingly necessary, it is almost impossible to imagine it changing to become greener.  Those seeking environmental careers in engineering or manufacturing may despair; it can seem highly improbable to find an ethical career in this area.

Experts are now saying, however, that the green revolution may spread through industry faster than thought.  The cause of this change is an unexpected one; the credit crunch. According to analysts, the financial turmoil could have a silver lining for the environmental movement.

Market analysts have predicted that the credit crunch will provide a boost for the environmental movement.

Due to the financial crisis, industry and mass-production have decreased, as bosses attempt to cut costs in the face of rising prices.

Commentators on industry have claimed that, due to this drop in manufacturing, carbon demand will decrease.  This in turn means that green corporate initiatives will become more popular as carbon consumption falls.

Carbon market research firm IDEAcarbon predicts that industrial growth in the EU will only reach one per cent this year.  Furthermore, the firm speculates that industrial growth will fall by a further seven per cent in 2009.

“The price implications of the recession are already being seen,” said Alessandro Vitelli, director of IDEAcarbon.

With green initiatives and energy saving schemes proliferating through industry, the days when finding a green career in manufacturing was impossible may be drawing to a close.  For those ethical job seekers out there with engineering degrees, architectural training or an interest in production and building, the credit crunch might spell good news for industry, and for your career.  Keep checking JuicyJobs.biz for job opportunities, and stay up to date on the latest green issues here.

Author and resource box
Rachel Charman, a writer for Juicyjobs.biz Ethical Jobs UK – an environmentally friendly green job search board which offers free job listings to Environmental, NGO’s, NFP’s and ethical companies promoting green, fair trade services and support sustainable living.  For job seekers Juicyjobs can help you find the ideal ethical jobs in London.

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Climate change bill passed

November 10, 2008 at 12:19 pm · Filed under Environment, Green News ·Tagged , , , , ,

There was a time when green politics were restricted to obscure political parties and students, and green careers or ethical jobs were never to be heard of.  Recent activity in Parliament, however, demonstrates how climate change and the fight to reduce its harmful effects are climbing further up the political agenda every day.

At the end of October, for example, The UK parliament passed a Bill to make carbon emission reductions legally binding.

MPs voted in favour of the Climate Change Bill after hours of intense debating.  The UK is now committed to reducing carbon emissions by 80% by 2050, as was recommended by the Climate Change Committee.

The Bill, which also includes emissions reduction targets for aviation and shipping, makes the UK the first country in the world to be legally bound to such goals.  It will officially become law at the end of November, following Royal Assent.

Politicians from both sides of the ideological spectrum were behind the Bill, demonstrating the new green theme running through David Cameron’s Conservatives.  Shadow Climate Change Secretary Greg Clark stated that although the Conservatives had concerns about the Bill, they still supported it.  He added positively that the new Bill would secure long-term action, rather than quick-fix measures.

Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Milliband is one of the main politicians driving the Bill through parliament.  He told the House of Commons during the debate that the Bill “commanded a near-universal consensus in this House.”

Environmental campaign group Friends of the Earth Europe, however, have expressed mixed reactions to the Bill.  Spokesperson Sonja Meister said that the Bill was “ambitious”, and must be used to convince other European states to take more stringent green measures.  There were also concerns that the Bill did not give a limit for offsetting carbon emissions by purchasing carbon credits from countries outside Europe, which would effectively allow the UK to cheat the new laws.

With carbon emission reduction now so important in politics and protected by law, along with the effect of the credit crunch, it is likely that the environmental sector is about to expand. Carbon-reducing initiatives within companies require people to implement them, and that means that many hundreds of new environmental careers or green jobs may be created very soon.

Author and resource box
Rachel Charman, a writer for Juicyjobs.biz Ethical Jobs UK – an environmentally friendly green job search board which offers free job listings to Environmental, NGO’s, NFP’s and ethical companies promoting green, fair trade services and support sustainable living.  For job seekers Juicyjobs can help you find the ideal ethical jobs in London.

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Signs your workplace could be greener

November 10, 2008 at 11:20 am · Filed under Environment, green jobs ·Tagged , , , , , , , , , , ,

Sustainability is a keyword in today’s politics, and even more so in today’s workplaces.  You may already be looking for an environmental career or a more ethical job, but why not start by looking at your own workplace?  Does your office need to catch up with the sustainable revolution?  To help you along, we’ve created a short list of checkpoints to see how much greener your workplace could be.

How much recycling gets done?

Offices are notorious for wasting paper and card; hundreds of tonnes are thrown out every year without a second thought.  Look around you.  Are there separate bins for recycling material and other waste?  If so, how many?  Are they at everyone’s desks, in the middle of the room, or is there only one on the eighth floor of the building where nobody goes?  If your answer is the latter, it’s time for change.

How necessary is all your energy consumption?

When you leave the office at night, who turns out the lights?  Or, does everyone simply assume that someone else will do it, leaving the lights on all night?  Many employers feel that their offices are safer at night with lights on, as this will deter burglaries and vandalism, but all the lights do not have to be on full power to achieve this sense of safety.  It is a good idea to either have a night time setting for the lights, or switch them off altogether.  Some workplaces have timed lighting, so that no lights are forgotten; this may be a great suggestion to make to the boss.

Where does the waste food go in the canteen?

Food is another recyclable resource, but hardly anyone maximises on this possibility. In your work canteen, where do all those half-eaten sandwiches and baked potato skins end up?  There may be a waste-food collection scheme in your area, which will allow your company to dispose of your waste food in a sustainable way, for free.  The waste food is taken for use as compost, creating a cheap and nutritious resource for local farmers.

How does everyone get to work?

Ever spent two years working on the next desk to someone, and then discovered that they live in the next street to you to?  Many people do.  Car sharing can be a fantastic way to decrease everyone’s carbon emissions, and will save your petrol money too if you take turns to drive.  Try putting a notice up and send out a group email that encourages people to share their journeys to work with you.  You would be surprised how keen people are when they know they can save money too!

Using this simple guide is just the start, but it can be very effective.  Showing initiative in your workplace could also stand you in good stead when you eventually interview for a more environmental job; employers like to know that you care.  Why not email this guide to your work colleagues, and start “greening up” today!

Author and resource box
Rachel Charman, a writer for Juicyjobs.biz Ethical Jobs UK – an environmentally friendly green job search board which offers free job listings to Environmental, NGO’s, NFP’s and ethical companies promoting green, fair trade services and support sustainable living.  For job seekers Juicyjobs can help you find the ideal ethical jobs in London.

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