Currently working as an intern, I am the newest edition to the team here at Container City. I am being introduced to ‘the BLOG’ by blogging enthusiast Andrew: He is encouraging me to share with you my recent findings from research into sustainable products, and suppliers with a conscience.

Over the next few weeks I will post any hot topics or exciting inventions that grabbed my attention, you might discover ways to make your office/home more sustainable in places you hadn’t even realised were wasteful or unethical.

More news from me next week….

It’s easy to think of the current efforts of people to save resources, eat organic food and recycle waste as something new, but it seems back in the 40s we were doing an even better job of it. A bit of wartime spirit and make do and mend could come in handy today, reminding us that sustainability, efficiency and eating well don’t have to be a costly luxury but could actually save us money. And home grown veg are much more interesting than the supermarket ones. Purple carrots!

…spotting Colin Firth and wife Livia pulling up in a Green Tomato cab and sneaking them in the side door to avoid the papparazzi.
…Beth Rowley’s amazing set - sure to be one of the hits of the summer.
…the fantastic furniture from Ryan Frank.
…Annie Lennox and her patriotic announcement of a Scottish winner in the Conservation category
…the amazing reaction from all of our guests.

Many thanks to our friends at The First Mile for taking care of our recycling.

We’re all looking forward to seeing the Awards continue to flourish in 2009! Until then we’ve got the CIPD Awards next week to keep us busy. Photos to follow soon from Ethical and a full case study.

We were also able to attend the Greenprint conference on Thursday, which featured a fantastic line up of ethical talks and debates. Tim Smit was the main attraction, good fun as always, but we also enjoyed contributions from Jo Confin, Ben Stimson and Juliet Davenport. Top marks to Andy Fryers for organising a great day.

We also managed to catch Sir Stuart Rose, Cherie Blair, Jamie Oliver and the incendiary George Monbiot. And the pea and mint soup at the Swan was ace.

PS - you can choose where you think I got this blog title - either the Belle & Sebastian song or Harvey Williams’ fantastic alter ego…

Seventeen Events deliver BS8901 as standard – a first for green events in the UK.

Seventeen Events, the sustainable event management agency, has announced a new initiative which marks a first in the UK events industry. Last year Seventeen helped to trial the new British Standard for sustainable event management, BS8901. Now, Seventeen are offering clients compliance with the standard for all events which Seventeen are appointed to manage. This service is offered at no extra cost to the client - Seventeen pride themselves on producing sustainable events without charging a “green” premium, or adding on hidden commissions or mark-ups.

This unique initiative will allow all clients appointing Seventeen to manage their events to see transparently the sustainable approach they take. All sustainable factors connected to the event will be tracked and monitored in order to ensure that events become more environmentally friendly over time.

Seventeen have sustainability at the heart of their business, combing stylish delivery with an ethical approach. Last year they were one of six groups chosen to trial the new BS8901 standard. For Seventeen this involved managing the Guardian and Observer areas of the Innocent Village Fete.

Sara Rhodes, Head of Sponsorship & Events at Guardian News & Media said:
“We were delighted to be working with Seventeen on our sponsorship of the Innocent Village Fete. We chose to work with them because of their professional and creative approach, their understanding of the Guardian and Observer brands and the priority they give to an environmentally friendly approach to all areas of event management.”

Andrew Williams, Managing Director of Seventeen Events, is excited about this new initiative and commented, “We have always stressed to clients that we want to make their events more sustainable without making life more difficult for them. Offering BS8901 as standard is a natural progression of the work we have been doing over the past year to embed BS8901 into the heart of how we do business. I’ve never believed that clients should be expected to pay more to be sustainable – it should be the norm. So we won’t be charging extra to ensure BS8901 compliance for projects we are managing.”

Among the first events to be BS8901 compliant will be the Observer Ethical Awards and the CIPD Recruitment Marketing Awards.

Notes to Editors:
Seventeen Events is an ethically and environmentally conscious event management agency based at Container City, East London – www.seventeenevents.co.uk.
Andrew Williams is available on 020 7515 8402 to discuss your event or to arrange a visit to Seventeen’s eco-offices in east London.

About BSI British Standards

For media information:
Lucy Fulton
Public Relations Officer
BSI British Standards
Tel: +44 (0) 20 8996 7248
Mob: +44 (0) 7717 451 990
Email: lucy.fulton@bsi-global.com
Website: www.bsi-global.com

BSI British Standards works with businesses, consumers and government to represent UK interests and facilitate the production of British, European and international standards to meet economic and social needs. For further information please go to www.bsi-global.com/british_standards.

BSI British Standards is part of BSI Group, a global independent business services organization that inspires confidence and delivers assurance to customers with standards-based solutions. Originating as the world’s first national standards body, the Group has over 2,250 staff in more than 50 global offices. The Group’s key offerings are:
• the development and sale of private, national and international standards and supporting information
• second and third-party management systems assessment and certification
• product testing and certification of services and products
• performance management software solutions
• training services in support of standards implementation and business best practice

Observer Ethical Awards judging days - a fantastic couple of days assessing some truly inspiring ethical entries. Can’t wait til the event on 5th June!

Reception for the Mayor of Wandsworth - this was last night at the Toyo Ito Pavilion next to Battersea Power Station. An amazing venue and a really great night with yummy food from Passion Organic.

CIPD Recruitment Marketing Awards judging days - more high level debate around the best creative work in the field of recruitment.

Julie’s Bicycle conference - we were delighted to be asked to help out at this, a really exciting event launching some seriously influential research into the carbon footprint of the music industry. We can’t wait to work with the JB team again.

So now we’ve got a bit of time to reorganise our diaries, clear our desks and feed the worms before we’re off at it again - but hopefully we’ll manage more blog updates for the next week or two.