Chocolate to die for, pushbikes overtake cars, modular homes
A collection of climate stories mostly
Brands behaving badly
Brands that don’t care enough, if at all
Godiva chocolate
Is Godiva a classic brand putting profit before ethics?
Godiva was founded in 1926 and is currently owned by the Turkish-based Iker Group. The source of its cocoa beans continues to remain a closely guarded secret, which is either a marketing ploy or a reflection of what it really thinks about child exploitation. The chocolate is certainly not made where the cocoa is grown, which you can read more about below and the ethical chocolate you could be spending your money on instead.
Green discovery
Something green enough to generate hope rather than carbon
Chocolate to die for
Courtesy of Ethical Consumer
I was always amazed at how many Easter eggs my children received. Over-packaged eggs were swiftly relocated to bedrooms where they became chocolate store cupboards, keeping each of them supplied for weeks, long after school had resumed.
I was a little bit jealous and even more so, now that my sweet tooth has come out of the closet. Perhaps it’s the lack of wine these days?
When I was at school, I had to rely on my aunty, who probably bought me and my sister an egg each, just to irritate Mum, who didn’t approve. If Aunty Joan didn’t agree with something, she invariably ignored the rule, preferring to ask for forgiveness later. We were grateful that she was a rule breaker looking out for us.
Chocolate is still a contentious subject for far more serious reasons. The persistent use of child labour and poverty continues, especially in West Africa - Ghana and The Ivory Coast, where a lot of cocoa is grown.
A report funded by the US government and University of Chicago in 2020, estimates that two million children work in the cocoa industry, that’s 43% of the children living in cocoa producing areas.
It also means there has been no progress since chocolate manufacturers signed the Harkin-Engel Protocol 20 years ago to help tackle child labour.
This was a voluntary code, signed by interested parties, drafted by two US politicians back in 2001, but lacked any incentive for chocolate manufacturers to take action aside from the chance of further exposure and resultant fallout at some point.
The Ethical Consumer identified 7 ethical chocolate brands, of which I’m familiar with at least two and pleased to see that one is available in many UK retailers nationally.
The questions posed to establish better brands, include whether the company’s cocoa is certified by the Rainforest Alliance or Fairtrade? Is the chocolate manufacturer intimately connected to the farmers, either working directly with them or partially through ownership. A very promising model is also whether the chocolate is then produced in the country where the cocoa is grown, which helps to tackle poverty at source?
Most of the good guys make their chocolate in the source country:
Pacari - organic and vegan, made in Ecuador
Beyond Good - organic and vegan, made in Madagascar
MIA - vegan, made in Madagascar
Chocolat Madagascar - made in Madagascar
Fairafric - made in Ghana
Divine - part-owned by Ghanaian cocoa farmers’ co-operative
Tony’s Chocolonely - sources from co-ops in Ghana and Ivory Coast and highlights child labour with public campaigns
Ethical chocolate is often more expensive and is not readily available unless you live near a local health food shop. The increased expense is because we’re paying the real price, rather than the exploitative one from some of those better known brands.
There are also brands hiding in plain sight. Godiva charges £3.60 per 100g, (70% dark chocolate), more than nearly all the ethical brands mentioned above, but has no certifications at all about its cocoa sourcing. Their web site provides plenty of ethical platitudes, lots of good intentions, but nothing quantifiable.
Pushbikes outnumber cars in London
Courtesy of BBC
A recent transport committee report for the City of London has highlighted that bicycles now outnumber cars during peak commuter hours. A count that apparently took place on a wet and windy day last November. Bikes were 40% of the non-pedestrian traffic and were counted alongside buses, taxis, motorcycles and cars.
It appears to be a long-term trend as the data collected from 12 sites across the city, shows that car traffic has fallen 64%, while the bicycle count has increased 386% since 1999.
Driving a car in London has increasingly been penalised through the congestion charge and the creation of ultra low emission zones (ULEZ), leading to a reduction in toxic nitrogen dioxide by 50%.
Why then have the outer London Conservative boroughs of Bexley, Bromley, Harrow and Hillingdon and Surrey County Council, now decided to bring legal action against Transport for London (TFL) and London’s mayor, Sadiq Khan, because of further ULEZ expansion?
Their argument is they better understand outer London and the connectivity issues which exist and therefore cannot support the punitive tax of £12.50 per day for smelly, older, coughing billies.
It’s another good example of political legislation forcing the public into action, even if some councils and an ex-Prime Minister remain opposed.
Be happy
An uplifting stories to round off your week
Modular home renaissance
Courtesy of Manchester Evening News
I expect when most of us think about modular homes, one of the images conjured up, if you’re of a certain age are the prefabs which were built in the 1950s in the UK. Designed to last for a decade as temporary housing after the second world war, many were still going strong 50 years later.
Driving out of London on the A40, I was impressed to see a student hall of residence quickly take shape recently, where the building block used was a shipping container rather than a brick.
Meath Court in London
Modular living is an obvious solution to the on-going housing crisis which exists in the UK. The clear advantage is hopefully a reduced cost and an efficient build process, with much of the construction or manufacture taking place in a factory, rather than on a building site. It also means these new homes are likely to come with top energy performance built-in.
According to The Guardian this week, one of the biggest modular house builders is L&G, better known for being a leading UK insurance and pension company. The example quoted was the Bennington site in Bristol, where a mixture of 185 modular flats and houses will be finished in early 2024.
While modular construction maybe more popular in Germany and Japan, it’s clear from a quick search that plenty of modular builders now exist in the UK.
Boutique Modern, for instance, is a main contractor and modular manufacturer, specialising in housing projects for local authorities and housing associations.
One of their projects in Newhaven saw the completion of 13 sustainable, affordable council appartments on a disused office site, derelict since 2015.
98% of the demolition waste was recycled and the solar panels installed as part of the build provide 3 months of off-grid energy every year to the new home owners.