Sim-O

What’s with this ad?

Lets celebrate everything that human race have acheived. The extra-ordinary world that we have created that is so far from the trees and caves from whence we came.

You can do that at 8.30pm 27th March with the Human Achievement Hour.

During Human Achievement Hour, people around the world will be recognising the incredible accomplishments of the human race.

Originally conceived by the Competitive Enterprise Institute in 2009, Human Achievement Hour coincides with the earth hour campaign but salutes those who keep the lights on and produce the energy that makes human achievement possible.

Damn. It coincides with Earth Hour. I’m sure there’s a good reason the exact same hour was chosen. Gotta choose which to do then. Decisions, decisions. They’re both important things, really aren’t they? We got to look after the planet. Whether man made climate change is real or not, we don’t don’t want to mess our home up. You wouldn’t shit on your living room carpet, would you? Would you?

On the other hand, look what humans have acheived. flight, wireless communications, men walking on the moon. We truly are an incredible animal. That surely deserves our support.

I’m gonna go with the Human achievement hour. Let’s celebrate people for a change. We are down on ourselves a lot recently, a big pat on the back would do us good. What have I gotta do to praise the demi-god (and compared to mere animals, we are gods) that is the human?

Millions of people around the world will be showing their support for human achievement by simply going about their daily lives. While earth hour activists will be left in the dark, Human Achievement Hour participants will be going to the cinema, enjoying a hot meal, driving their car or watching television.

What? But I simply ‘go about my daily life’ er, daily. Does that mean that even if I didn’t know about this hour I would still be celebrating it?
Surely then, I celebrate with a human achievement hour 8736 times a year?

This isn’t a celebration. It’s a…

Now, where’s my lentil meusli…?

I was just thinking this morning about how much longer I would have to wait for a reply to this email to Ocado about their claim to be ‘as green as walking to the supermarket’ when early this afternoon a response plops into my inbox…

Dear Sim-O,

Thank you for your e-mail.

The claim that ?Ocado is greener than walking to the supermarket? was a conclusion that was reached by an independent Carbon Footprint Assessment agency called Greenstone and not by Ocado.

The centralised warehouse which every order is picked from means a small supply chain and massive energy/resource efficiency at every level of the business.

Greenstone compared our unique picking model to several well known supermarket chains. These chains emit huge amounts of carbon as they have countless stores around the country, all consuming electricity, using chillers etc. All of these stores have long supply chains from suppliers driving up and down the country. Building new stores generates high amounts of carbon, while Ocado can still grow within one Warehouse.

The most recent comparison in May 2009 of Ocado to ?traditional supermarkets? across the same detailed categories showed that we had a lower carbon footprint. This did not take into account the huge additional carbon footprint of traditional stores from customers traveling to them each week by car.

Hence it was concluded independently that Ocado is greener than walking to a supermarket

For more information on the survey itself, you can contact Greenstone in the following ways:

Greenstone Carbon Management Ltd,
4th Floor,
Vigo House,
1-4 Vigo Street,
London W1S 3HT.

T: +44 (0) 20 3031 4000
F: +44 (0) 20 3031 4001

E: info@greenstonecarbon.com

I hope this has been of assistance.

A customer service bod

Fair enough*. I’m not gonna try and see the survey for myself as, frankly, I can’t be arsed.

*I think I was a little unfair in this tweet as I read it quick and misread it.

Ocado, online grocery home delivery service, claim on their vans that they are ‘as green as walking to the supermarket’ and on their website has the statement…

With such a lean, efficient operation, we’ve been able to lower our carbon emissions to the point where each Ocado delivery now has a lower carbon footprint (CO2 per £ of sales) than walking to a supermarket.

I’m buggered if I think how driving a van can produce less CO2 than walking, especially as at the moment they are using biodiesel and not something like hydrogen fuel cells which produce only water (not counting all the CO2 produced in the ‘manufacture’ of the hydrogen). I wouldn’t have given it much thought if the claim had been nearly as little as walking, but less…?

So I sent them an email…

To: ocado@ocado.com
from: Sim-O
Subject: your CO2 output

Sri or Madam,

On your vans you claim…

We’re as green as walking to the supermarket

and your website also carries the statement…

With such a lean, efficient operation, we’ve been able to lower our carbon emissions to the point where each Ocado delivery now has a lower carbon footprint (CO2 per £ of sales) than walking to a supermarket.

Could you substantiate that claim, please. It is a big claim and it has to be true otherwise you would not be able to make it, but I am puzzled as to how.

What are you counting as producing CO2 in each type of journey? How far back through the delivery chain are you going? What, exactly, are you comparing for each type of journey?

What are the figures and the maths that enable you to make such a claim?

Kind Regards

I’m not trying make a point, get some info so I can point my finger and yell ‘Cpaitalist Charlatan Pigs!’, but genuinely puzzled. Just by the fact that the van has a driver puts the van on an equal footing with the pedestrian. Doesn’t it?

Our friendly local power station, nPower owned Didcot Power Station, was going to fill in some old gravel pits with ash.
The trouble is those lakes have become established lakes with lots of wildlife.

But now those lakes are secure.

(photo shamelessly stolen from This Abingdon. His post, with a couple more pictures is here)

How beautiful is that lake? Look how established the greenery is around it. Can you believe it they were gonna just fill them with ash?

The Guardian:

“The opposition is overwhelming but the government has decided to side with big business rather than listen to the people who put them where they are and the people can remove them again,” said Geraldine Nicholson, chair of the No Third Runway Action Group. “This is the biggest environmental disaster we’ve ever known in this country.”

Gathered in the King William IV pub, some local residents were in tears but most said they were not surprised and would redouble their efforts to save their historic village, which was first recorded as Sibwineston in 1150.

Greenpeace:

Welcome to airplot
That’s it, you’re in, you’re now a part of the plot to stop airport expansion.

You’ll hear more from us shortly about what you can do to help stop a third runway at Heathrow – we only got the papers through on the land last week, but there’s much more to come.

Welcome aboard.
the Airplot team