millioneurosin90days

Day 15 - Wednesday 28th March

Today will allow me the chance to reflect on the weeks work. It is also an opportunity to catch up with all the news and read some papers and magazines.If you have read my Terms and Conditions section, you will know that I bank with the Co-operative Bank who follow an ethical stance with regard to their customers investments. Green issues and ethics are today’s hot topics - with consumers increasingly concerned about where and how they use their money. There are a number of options for those looking to save or borrow ethically these days. Ecology Building Society, which was set up in 1981, offers a range of ethical savings accounts and green mortgages. The society gives mortgages only on properties that have some environmental benefit. I will be looking to apply to them when I expand my property, which include made environmentally friendly features. The Ecology Building Society also lends to new ecologically built homes, and those that have had energy-saving measures installed. The Society’s savings products include an instant access account, a notice account and a mini cash isa, but rates are not especially competitive, for example the Earth wise mini cash isa pays 5.1% including an introductory bonus, while Barclays pays 6.31%, including an introductory bonus. Norwich & Peterborough Building Society also offers a range of four green mortgage products, available on both fixed and discount rates. For every green mortgage taken out the society promises to plant 40 trees over a period of five years. This is to ofset the carbon emissions that the use of electricity, gas and water in the house will create. This is very similar to the plan I have adopted to donate trees against the CO2 that I will clock up over the period of the next three months, through travel alone.

CO2 Report - 6 miles car travel

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Day 14 - Tuesday 27th March

I am spending the day at my store - Caffe-Society, in Newport on the Isle of Wight. I have not been to the Fairtrade Store for a few days so it will be good to catch up with all the staff and customers.

CO2 Report 37 miles car travel

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Day 13 - Monday 26th March

 I would say I have made some good progress, however I am looking forward to next week, as I believe the next 7 days will see a surge in activity. I am talking a great number of media contacts which will spread the word quickly. I am also going to explain an exciting new way people who have not got a website to also take part in this project, millioneurosin90days.com, and be entered into a free prize draw. Watch this space for more details.

CO2 Report - 28 miles car travel

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The Weekend

Two weeks have passed, and things are getting busy. I am talking to a number of local papers about the project, and a possible national TV piece next week. All this publicity is good news for the businesses that have taken part so far, as it should generate interest in what they do. I admit that the one sport I follow more than any other in F1. I know this may not be very enviromentally friendly sport, unlike Golf or Cricket, at least not until now ! . I got my monthly copy of F1 magazine today, and there was a green issue inside the main magazine. The Honda Team have this year done away with conventional sponsorship on their car in favour of a picture of Planet Earth. They have called this the “Earth Car”. Its the first steps towards a greener racing car. To quote Gary Anderson, “I’m not sure green is the right word. Green is a very vague concept, but greater efficiency has to be a target”. If you can get hold of a copy there are over sixty pages of interesting facts and comments to do with how motorsport are combating the job of making their industry more enviromentally friendly.

CO2 Report - 6 miles car travel today - worked from home all day

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Day 12 - Friday 23rd March

Hi and welcome to my blog on Day 12. Some more websites want to join the project, and these will appear in the next week or so on the Millioneurosin90days homepage. The Government’s Budget this week gave a clear signal that enviromental issues are up there with all the other major topics of converation, and this project will take it a stage further by developing a virtual all green eco friendly high street store. Help me to achieve this by sponsoring a sqaure. The money raised will be divided in  half, of which half will go to Charity, and the other half to the new store. It was suggested today that individuals should be allowed to be part of this project. With this in mind I am creating an opportunity to allow individuals who do not have a website of their own to join in, by sponsoring a sqaure. They can choose form the three charitiy logos on the homepage. Each time someone buys a square, the logo of their choice gets steadily larger. The logos on the homepage are linked to the individual charities website, so you can have a look at the good work they do, and then decide. You may notice that there are only two Charities on the homepage at present. I am in talks with another good cause and once this is complete then the three choices will be complete. There will  also an opportunity to take part in a free chance to win an unusal prize. Each square has been allocated a number, and each time a square is sold for sponsorship, that person/business will receive a number. At the end of the 90 days the lucky number will chosen by an independant person at a venue in London, details to follow.

CO2 Report 43 miles travel - Car

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Day 11 Thursday 22nd March

In to the second week, and I hope it will be a busy week. I have contacted a number of businesses who have web site who might be interested in having their website on the home page. Its the budget this week , and there is talk about green issues, and financial help with the installation of enviromentally friendly products, like wind power, solar power etc. I want to as part of this project raise enough money to design and build a new type of high street Caffe-Society Store. A store that includes as many enviromentally friendly devices as possible. So far most of the attention in the press has been focused on domestic property, so this is my attempt to steer the debate back towards the commercial sector. It is in my view just as important.

CO2 Report - 26 miles travel by car

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Day 10 - Wednesday 21st March

Wednesday 21st March 2007 - Day 10 As I am writing this very early in the morning I have not much to say however, I will be talking to some interesting people about an interesting idea that I mentioned a few days ago. I will give you part two of this story later on, so see you later. END OF PART ONE OF TODAYS BLOG

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Day 9 - Tuesday 20th March

Its Tuesday, a day off and I really like rest days  not so much for the fact that it is a day of rest and relaxation, more for the fact, certainly in my case its a day for thinking and ideas. I feel you can reflect on the past and plan for the future. It was great news that Comic Relief did so well, getting donations in excess of £ 40 million. The show on Friday evening was great fun, and the heart felt stories especially of Africa, only motivates me even more to ensure I reach my target, with your help within the next 90 days. Today is Mothers Day so busy cooking lunch, as well as working on some ideas for tomorrow. Watch this space.

CO 2 Report - 12 miles Travel. 

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Day 8 - Monday 19th March

 I was in so much pain last night, I made an appointment to visit the dentist on Monday next. Just before I started the project I was coughing badly, from a cold which made it impossible to talk to people on the phone, and then that went, then it was painful because of toothache. Never mind, I have some more companies supporting me and should have about 30 by next week. I have sent of the invoice to pay for the sponsorship they are offering. I will spend the weekend preparing for next week as many people are no at work over the weekend. One of my great passions is F1 and this weekend sees the start of the season, starting in Australia. I have come up with an idea that could benefit this project by way of further sponsorship and involve F1. I will tell you more about this idea next week as I need to make some calls to some people involved in the sport. If it comes off it will certainly turn this project around in a big way. Stay tuned for the great idea, only available on this blog - your way to keep up with my progress as I try to reach millioneurosin90days.

CO2 Report 25 miles car travel 

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The Weekend

I have been busy contacting fellow Fair Trade people, such as wholesalers, and retailers shop keepers and supports in general. Again I have been very excited by the positive response that I have had towards this project. The National Show for catering IFE starts on Sunday 18th for 4 days, in London and many companies are preparing for this. It has to be the must see show if you want to start a business in any kind of Catering. I will not make it this year, as I am so busy with this project. I have managed to work from home all day so no travel to report on my CO2 report.

CO2 Report - No Travel

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Day 7 - Friday 16th March

Its the end of the first week, and in only the last few days I have raised some 4000 Euros, which is truly amazing. I am so pleased to have achieved this in such a short space of time and with out any real advertising or promotion. That is about to change as next week I will be talking to media groups to try encourage more interest in the website, millioneurosin90days.com .

On a personal level, I have still been feeling a little unwell, as I try to get rid of this virus I have. Still life goes on and it does not stop me from doing this project. I have been filming myself for the video diary here at home, as I do every few days.

CO2 Report - Travel –10 miles by car

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Day 6 - Thursday 15th March

Well what a fantastic day its been . I have a number of new sponsors mainly from the UK but one from the USA. The sponsor in America is being interviewed tomorrow by CBS Television and will be mentioning my project, www.millioneurosin90days. All the new sponsor sites will be on the homepage in the next few days. In addition to this I have been busy talking to various media in my bid to promote this unique and exciting project, and I should have some news about that shortly. To all the new sponsors, a very big thank you and lets hope your participation in my project will generate interest and sales in your business as well as helping charities in the Third World.

CO2 Report - No Travel today as I worked from home

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Day 5 - Wednesday 14th March

I woke up today with toothache, too many sweets, its my one vice, chocolate or anything with sugar. I expect it will mean a visit to the dentist. A quiet day, doing research on companies, making calls, checking my shop is fully stocked, all very hum drum. I have more websites on the homepage so slowly starting to take shape. If you have a website and want to be onit for as little as £66 then contact me soon. There is only 85 days to go before we complete this project.

CO2 Report- No car travel today, but did walk a bit which has to be good for the enviroment and my health.

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Day 4 - Tuesday 13th March

Tuesday morning and Day 4. I have been busy sending e.mail’s off and promoting the site through the media. I have been asked by the production company to film myself and record a regular diary so that it can be shown in the final production. I have recently bought a new DVD minicam , so I am still getting used to all the features.I plan to record as many highs and lows as and when they occur. In addition to this Five News have asked for film footage to screen a possible piece about the project in the next few weeks, which will create some interest from people who have not heard of millioneurosin90days. I have described in some detail about Fairtrade and the Charities that work in these countries where Fairtrade comes from and also tell my story of how I started my business, so keep a look out for that. There will also be some newspaper articles out soon as well, and I will give you more details of these shortly.

CO2 Report -Car Travel 24miles

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Day 3 - Monday 12th March

I have just switched to the co-operative bank for this project. The reason is that they have an ethical policy which is more than many other banks in the UK seem to have. They allow their customers to have control over where their money is managed. For more details go to www.co-operativebank.co.uk

Ben & Jerry Ice Cream, my fav !, have brought out a Fairtrade Vanilla Ice Cream which I will be selling in my Caffe-Society store. I will also be giving you some interesting menus in the next few weeks that include many Fairtrade products. I am from a catering backgound and so I should be able to create something pretty tasty.

At the Movies - BLACK GOLD - wake up and smell the coffee. The film traces the route of Ethiopian coffee beans from farm to cafe and how they have to battle to negotiate a fair deal for the farmers. The film will be released in the first weekend of May. www.blackgoldmovie.com

CO2 Report -Car Travel - 26 miles

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The weekend -

So day three is here and what a surprise, news gets around this tiny world of ours amazingly fast, because I have had 2 US companies joining the project, firstly one called Art Fact based in Boston and the other called “Wakeupontime” based in New Jersey. Apart from that there are a number of other UK websites that will appear on the homepage in the next couple of days. I am very happy with this progress in only the third day. Tomorrow is Sunday so I expect things will be quiet, so that will give be a chance to catch up on bits and bobs.

Recently people have said , What is the conection betweeen Fairtrade and  Climate Change ? Well an interesting article in a magazine gives the answers to some of these issues.

Most Fairtrade products are transported by air, True or False ?

FALSE - Fresh flowers are the only Fairtrade product to be routinely transported by air as they must be stored quickly to ensure their freshness. Most Fairtrade certified products are shipped not flown - per mile international shipping is less carbon intensive than trucking within the UK.

Food miles are the biggest element of a product’s carbon footprint, True or False ?

FALSE - Transportation is usually a small proportion of the overall carbon footprint of a product. The carbon footprint includes the method of growing and production, how and where it is sold, the customer journey, the packaging, consumption and final disposal. Air freight is 0.1% of the total UK emissions, and transportation of Fairtrade products in 2005 was estimated to be just 0.03% of UK food mile emissions. Remember that during this project I will be working out how many miles I have travelled, and by what form of transport to calculate the carbon footprint created by this project. I then intend to donate to the United Nations Enviromental Programme to balance out by CO2 emissions.

Buying locally is always better for the enviroment, True or False ?

FALSE - Whilst buying in season from sustainable local producers can be a very positive way of reducing impact on the climate, its important to consider not just where a product comes from, but how it has been produced, including use of land, chemicals,hothouses or natural resources. Research has found that a flower grown in Kenya and flown to the UK emits five times less carbon than one that has been industrially hot-housed in the Netherlands. Many everyday items such as sugar cane,cotton, bananas,coca,coffee and tea are grown in tropical climates of developing countries with minimal use of carbon-producing energy.

 

Buying Fairtrade products can help to tackle climate change ,True or False ?

TRUE - Buying products from developing countries is vital for the economic and social development and provides a livelihood for millions of farmers and workers. With premiums from Fairtrade, farmers can implement enviromental protection programmes that will benefit all of us. Coffee farmers in Costa Rica have invested in replanting native trees to prevent soil erosion and have purchased enviromentally friendly ovens that are fuelled by recycled coffee hulls and the dried shells of macadamia nuts. In India, tea farmers have invested part of the Fairtrade premium in a solar panelled heating system for the local health centre, replacing the wood burning one. On another Fairtrade certified tea estate, workers have created their own communal compost heep which families maintain and which the estate purchases as organic fertiliser for the tea bushes.

source-fair comment spring 07

CO2 report- Car travel 34 miles

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Day 2 Friday 9th March

I have just made a video of my project, what I hope to achieve and the history of my business, Caffe-Society and much more. Why not watch it now on www.youtube.com simple click on the link and choose Millioneurosin90days as the subject. You can see and hear me talk about this great project.

CO2 Report, today Car travel 26 miles

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Day 1 of the project Thursday 8th March

Well the great day has finally arrived, and wow what a day. I was in London today, Thursday 8th,  meeting various people who may be interested in being part of this project,  people who have businesses with websites and share my feelings about the same issues as me. I want to make ever effort to make this project a success and I hope you will be able to watch my progress over the next 3 months.

Remember to check my progress on the blog.

CO2 report for today - Car Travel 26 miles, Train travel 140 miles  Red Jet Ferry - 20 miles, Bus travel 2 miles. (While in London, I walked everywhere, sunny day helped ! )

 

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1 Day to go

At 2pm tomorrow, Thursday 8th March 2007 I will start my project to raise sponsorship of 1 Million Euros in 90 days. Things have been hectic here this week as the final preparations are put into place. A number of you have been in touch to find out more about it and I have had companies who would like their business to be part of this project. You can of course keep up to date on a daily basis as to my progress, and there is a clock on the homepage giving a countdown to the end of this project. I plan to celebrate the final day in a very different way but more about that great day at a latter date. Just keep blogging ! and wish me luck

Julian

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