The thing people love most about economic growth is that it creates jobs, and prevents existing jobs from being cut. Similarly, the worst thing about recession is that people lose their jobs. This is totally reasonable, seeing as in this world we need a paying job to get by, not to mention the fact that … Continue reading
This is another post along the post-growth vein, please read We’ve had Enough Growth for some background on this. Subject for this evening: business models. We’re used to two major business models in the West today: corporations and private companies. Corporations are legally obliged to maximise profit margins for shareholders above all other concerns. Shareholders … Continue reading
Hello lovely readers! I’m sorry to admit I’ve been neglecting my blog slightly these last few weeks, and I’ve only just noticed why. It’s my summer holiday from university and I’m back in my hometown for a couple of months, visiting my family and my old friends. I realised today that the reason I haven’t … Continue reading
I personally really don’t like the big energy companies. I’d quite like to see them crash and burn. Individual satisfaction aside, it turns out that’s not particularly likely nor as good as it sounds. This is because: They will fight tooth and claw against carbon regulations, and are in fact already doing this. And they … Continue reading
As you may know, I’m a university student. I may be incredibly wealthy compared with many people around the world, but compared with other people in the UK I’m pretty skint. This means that for the last year I haven’t been shopping in my local healthfood store nearly as often as I’d like and have instead been … Continue reading
I’ve always been a big fan of Innocent Smoothies. They taste delicious, they’re healthy, they sometimes come with little hats and they always come with jokes and witty quips on their bottles. What’s not to like? Well, a month ago I would have simply answered that with “well, they’re pretty overpriced and they’re not organic” … Continue reading
To supplement my student loan, I have a part-time job working in the cafe and shop at my university campus. This is all hunky dory generally, but today I had a very dismaying interaction with one of my bosses, the chef in the cafe. Basically I casually queried why we always use paper cups for tea and coffee … Continue reading
Some businesses make lots of money while doing really bad stuff, such as exploiting people and causing pollution. Some businesses make lots of money while doing some good things, often by having some kind of foundation linked to the company. And some businesses make money by doing good things, such as Ecotricity, for example. This … Continue reading
People like shifting blame. There’s a famous psychological study that suggests that the more people witness a victim in distress, the less likely any one onlooker is to do anything. This is because everyone’s thinking ‘’someone else will do something’’. Hmm… Dangerous. A similar thing happens on a much broader scale with all sorts of … Continue reading
In my last post, I wrote about cute ‘product image’ and use of humour making green products more lovable and successful. And of course you can’t really talk about this cutesy friendly style of marketing without mentioning who brought it to popularity: Innocent Smoothies. I love Innocent smoothies. They have adorable ingredients lists reassuring the … Continue reading
There’s this bizarre thing where all too often you see really ethical innovative things that just aren’t that successful because their marketing, packaging, advertising and general PR just aren’t very good. It’s really annoying. I think it’s because they’re run by people who have admirable passion but little business skill. Anyway, here are my favourite … Continue reading
Earth Baby 