Daily Archives: 8 July 2011

Banned Greenpeace video – Volkswagen has been campaigning against cuts in carbon dioxide emissions

Despite its green image, Volkswagen is spending millions of Euros every year funding lobby groups who are trying to stop Europe increasing its commitment to greenhouse gas reductions from 20% to 30% by 2020. Progressive companies – from Google to Ikea, Sony, Unilever and Philips – support the target. Volkswagen can’t afford to be left behind.

More efficient cars are cheaper to run, use less oil and emit less CO2. Volkswagen has a history of lobbying against the strong European standards that we need to kick our oil addiction. As the biggest car company in Europe, with the biggest responsibility, VW must change and support strong standards from now on.

Volkswagen says it wants to be “the most eco-friendly automaker in the world”, but only 6% of the cars it sold in 2010 were its most efficient models. It has the technology to do better. VW must set out its plan to make its entire fleet oil-free by 2040.

Read the full report on VW from Greenpeace. The video above was taken down from youtube and vimeo. Join the rebellion here.

The Appalachian Trail makes the South Downs Way look like a walk in the park

Richmond, Virginia, resident Kevin Gallagher spent half of 2005, his first year out of college, traversing all 2,200 miles of the Appalachian Trail, beginning in Georgia and ending in Mount Katahdin, Maine. As if that weren’t impressive enough, Gallagher, a former film student, then condensed that six-month journey by using 4,000 photo slides he’d made along the hike to create a stop-motion film.

Slightly less fat scrapper

Since confessing to having joined Weightwatchers in Brighton, I’ve been asked about my progress. Unfortunately it has not been as steady as I would have liked. There has been a certain amount of backsliding on my part. However, I am still on mission, as this chart shows. Please note, I do not normally measure myself in kilos. It was just less fiddly to do the chart in kilos than in stone, pounds and ounces.

15 weeks of weightwatchers