A few months ago I wrote about the highly questionable presence of Bounty packs in maternity wards (see this post for a reminder) and the unpleasant form of ‘captive consumerism’ they seem to enforce on new parents. In the last week the Independent has also covered this issue in an article that explains more of
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Here’s our new, improved summary of the social need for Life Squared and what the organisation does to address it… Click here to download the summary.
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Everyone seems to love the latest BBC popular science programme ‘The Wonders of the Universe‘ and it’s no surprise – apart from having everyone’s favourite former-pop-star-prof as a presenter, it provides an awe-inspiring view of the universe that we live in. I think having a regular dose of this sort of perspective is important in
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It’s been a while since my last post because of a particularly busy period of work and the arrival of a new member of the Docwra household. The process of having a child has opened a door to a whole new world that many non-parents may be unaware of – and consumerism seems to have
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In recent days there’s been much discussion about the ‘banned’ advert from the 10:10 climate change campaign, which was withdrawn after it had upset a number of people with its cartoon violence images of environmental campaigners blowing up recalcitrant members of the public. Find out more background on the ad and see the video itself
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Many of the most vibrant and important organisations seeking change operate with very small budgets or staff numbers, and can find it difficult to access the help and support open to larger orgainsations. Also, smaller not-for-profit organisations can face quite specific challenges and issues that larger consultancy organisations do not cater for – such as
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Recently, the New Economics Foundation (nef) published a follow up to their influential 2005 ‘Clone Town Britain’ report. The updated report has surveyed Britain again and found that 41 per cent of UK towns are clone towns and a further 23 per cent are on the verge of becoming clone towns. The original report explored
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‘Freedom’ is often held up as an unequivocal good in our modern individualistic society, and many people (and politicians) justify their actions or views on the basis of this. The short paper available I wrote for ChangeStar here explores the idea of freedom and our desire for it. It reaches what I hope is a
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Whatever you may think of the coalition government’s ‘Big Society’ idea (and I have my reservations), it needs a certain type of population to make it happen – one that is politically engaged, community-minded and willing to give up time for the greater good. I hate to say it, but this doesn’t sound like modern
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This article in the Business section of the New York Times is interesting, as it illustrates the difficulty that the mainstream media still have in coming to terms with the idea that living simply and buying less can make one happy. There are glimmers of clarity in the article – for example, the opening paragraphs
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