Steve Litchfield

Or so sang Hawkwind in the 70s, along with plenty of others in the 'hippy' music business. And yes, I know it's wonderful to have hindsight and we're now almost 40 years down the line, but I do believe that it's not too late to save the environment, to (literally) save planet Earth. There's no point in a long rant here, since you'll see appeals and reports from 'green' organisations almost every day in mainstream media. But I felt I wanted to comment on the latest little freebie from Nokia: we:offset , a Carbon footprint calculator, along with a facility to donate an appropriate amount to projects that aim to balance your footprint out. It's a worthy release, don't get me wrong , every little helps, and full credit to Nokia for good intentions. But the trouble is that it is just that - little - and way too late in the grand scheme of things. We're talking here mainly about transport, i.e. the energy expended and Carbon footprint incurred...

Carbon what? Yes, I know it sounds strange. But fear not, go and download Tear Fund's excellent leaflet: http://www.tearfund.org/webdocs/Website/Churches/Carbon%20Fast.pdf (aimed at families). Judging from the careless attitude of my own daughter to energy, I can't emphasise teaching green principles to the upcoming generation enough. Make sure your kids read though the leaflet and implement as much as you can etc.

So many reasons why Google are so great. Superb web searching and general time saving. Great online tools that save you having to worry about local apps. Free spam-free email with unlimited storage, the list goes on and on. But THIS is why Google are so great. Using their might to help save the earth. http://blogs.business2.com/greenwombat/2007/11/googles-green-p.html Investing 100s of millions of dollars, etc. I know they're not the only green company out here, but this sure is one more reason why I love Google!

Here I go, sounding like an old grumpy guy again, but.... As my daughter and I strolled through the park, we passed a group of 30 or so late teenagers, idling away their time in the sun. OK, so apart from not doing anything productive, they've got as much right to relax as the next person. Fair enough. An hour later, we passed the same spot, to see a sea of litter. Sweet wrappers, drinks cans, bun bags, the lot. Just left on the grass with no thought whatsoever to how they were leaving the environment. Quite staggering. And there were 3 litter bins within 20 metres of the spot that could have been used. It's so tempting to just not worry about the Earth we're leaving to the next generation - heck, they don't seem to care about it - let them reap what they sow. **MAD**