VW have launched a website and some great videos with the concept that “that something as simple as fun is the easiest way to change people’s behaviour for the better”
Here they have approached, throwing rubbish in the bin, recycling and using the stairs. Here’s the latest video;
VW have also launch a competition. they are looking for fun ways to change peoples behaviour for the better.
The competition closes on the 15th November with the best 10 entries being put on display and the winner awarded 2500Euros.
What fun ways can we make ourselves change?
- stop picking our noses
- turn lights off when we leave the room
- use less water brushing our teeth
- excersize more
- washing our hands before eating
- drink more water
- eat less saturated fats
- reduce food waste
- smoke less/stop
There’s plenty of things out there - we’d best get cracking!
I’ve just got back from a fantastic night out in Central London at one of this weeks many film festivals, and yes, ok the jokes were much better than my headline.
It wasn’t so much about who was wearing what on the ‘brown carpet’ but it was definitely an event that brought the who’s who of water, sanitation and hygiene promotion out on the tiles.
The Golden Poo Awards was organised by DFID, London School of Health and Tropical Medicine and Poop Creative, on Global Handwashing Day, to raise awareness on the importance of handwashing in tackling the transmission of diseases from cholera to swine flu, and MRMA to typhoid.
During the night we were given the opportunity to view and cast votes on 6 excellent short films on handwashing. Check them out: http://www.thegoldenpooawards.org/films.html
Some of the films were pretty shocking and grotesquely funny but as Val Curtis at the School of Health and Tropical Medicine (or later termed London School of Poo) put it, “old health messages don’t work anymore, no one’s listening… we’re trying something new.”
Golden Poo Awards were then given to Individuals who have made considerable contributions to the advancement of knowledge in hygiene, successfully advocated for improved hygiene practices, or brought innovation to the field of hygiene technology or promotion.
Plus this has to be the best goodie bag ever received! Bottle of bleach, handwash and a bar of soap! I love it!
Thanks to everyone involved in organising the event – it was FABULOUS!
The BBC today reported a new form of green fuel being used in Sweden.
Rabbit Power.
Every year the city has a cull of the non-native animal, this year there were 3,000 rabbits, last year 6,000. These are sent to an incinerator where they are mixed with wood chips/waste and burnt to provide heat for homes in Karlskoga.
This is one of several ‘biomal’ projects funded by the EU. Now I eat as much meat as the next person and wear leather shoes but there’s something about burning rabbits to heat my home which makes me feel very uncomfortable.
Not so apparently for the Swedes who are reported as being ‘very relaxed’.
In addition to it being blog action day, today is also Global Handwashing Day. Aimed principally at children and schools, the objective of the Global Handwashing Day is to:
- Foster & Support a global and local culture of handwashing with soap
- Put a spotlight on the state of handwashing in every country
- Raise awareness about the benefits of handwashing with soap
Tonight, as part of the day, London is hosting the Golden Poo Awards (yes, you heard right!) . This is a film festival for handwashing related short films.
Short-listed films:
- A Film About Poo - Emily Howells & Anne Wilkins
- Dancing in the Loo - Delphine Mandin
- For Your Convenience - Dan Castro
- Poo In Passing - Peter J Speed
- Are You Spreading Poo? - Rob and Tom Sears
- Why Wash - Staffordshire University
My favourite so far is:
If you think that that is something only important for developing countries, this research by London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine might shock you!
The Dirty Hands Study
The Dirty Hands Study was conducted in order to provide a snapshot of the nation’s hand hygiene habits, as part of the world’s first Global Handwashing Day today. Commuters’ hands were swabbed at bus stops outside five train stations around the UK (Newcastle, Liverpool, Birmingham, Euston and Cardiff).
The results indicated that commuters in Newcastle were up to three times more likely than those in London to have faecal bacteria on their hands (44% compared to 13%) while those in Birmingham and Cardiff were roughly equal in the hand hygiene stakes (23% and 24% respectively). Commuters in Liverpool also registered a high score for faecal bacteria, with a contamination rate of 34%.
Dr Val Curtis, Director of the Hygiene Centre at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, comments: ‘We were flabbergasted by the finding that so many people had faecal bugs on their hands. The figures were far higher than we had anticipated, and suggest that there is a real problem with people washing their hands in the UK. If any of these people had been suffering from a diarrhoeal disease, the potential for it to be passed around would be greatly increased by their failure to wash their hands after going to the toilet’.
So be sure to wash your hands after going to the loo, being on the tube, and before eating food!
As this blog action day is all about climate change. I felt that it was important that I also raise an issue which many overlook when thinking about sea levels rising and icebergs melting. Safe water, sanitation and hygiene are intrinsically linked to water availability and climate change.
In a conference last night, Robin Farrington of WWF projected that as weather patterns change, upto 7 billion people in 60 countries across the world could be living in water scarce areas by 2050. This will be vastly increased by uncontrolled pollution destroying water sources, greater population densities, changing diets and poor water governance.
Last year U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon addressed the World Economic Forum in Davos, here he focussed, not on the global economic recession but on the world’s water crisis. He said that firstly “A shortage of water resources could spell increased conflicts in the future,” and that this is likely to increase as populations increased and concentrated around economic hubs, and as the effects of climate change are greater felt.
Thats all for now folks - but I’ll update you soon on the gossip from the ‘brown carpet’ from tonights awards!
Stand by for some exciting news from Planet Positive!