A parade of Santa Claus descended upon the city centre’s shopping district to promote the values that less is more as a way of saving the planet.

The parade was even briefly joined by Oxfam to take part in a Guitar Wave, an occasion that was a run up to the national event The Wave, put pressure on politicians in the run-up to the Copenhagen Climate Summit.

Buy Nothing Day is a worldwide event that aims to make people think about consumerism.

It also encourages companies and big businesses to realise that consumers can react against prices, quality and environmental impact of goods.

Andy Pryke who has organised this year’s event in Birmingham believes that the need for such a day is especially relevant this year because:

“With the crucial international climate change talks in Copenhagen we should also look at the unsustainable cycle of consumption and waste.

The current financial and ecological crisis should be an opportunity to re-examine what money is spent on and how resources are managed.”

The Santa Clauses were all equipped with placards with satirical slogans such as “Buy more, be happy” and “Spend, don’t think” as well as leaflets. One volunteer explained:

“The public’s reaction is great. They look at our placards and go: hang on, that’s not right!”

Campaigns Support Worker at Birmingham Friends of the Earth, Joe Peacock, said:

“This is a simple message; we are not telling people what to do, but asking them to consider what impact their actions have on themselves and the environment.

Rich Western countries have 20% of the world’s population, but consume 80% of its resources.

We’re not anti-Christmas or anti-shops, we want to promote the use of small local businesses, and locally sourced or fair-trade products that don’t contribute to damaging the world’s ecosystems.”

Andy Atkins who has been leading the internationally known organisation since March 2008, was joined by Mohammed Shamsuddoha from Equity Bangladesh and Hilary Thorndike of the West Midlands Refugee Council.

“We are 16 days away from the biggest negotiations the world has ever seen”. It is with this sentence that Andy Atkins opened his speech in front of 60 people assembled at the Birmingham University in Edgbaston to hear about Climate Justice in the run-up to the Copenhagen Climate Conference.

Both Atkins and Bangladeshi Shamsuddoha stressed the fact that the fight against climate change was heavily chained down by politics and especially the distrust poor countries felt for their wealthier counterparts who have broken many of their promises in the past.

With “little room for manoeuvre” as Atkins put it, putting pressure on politicians is fundamental. One of the major question hanging over the Copenhagen conference remains whether or not the US will ratify its treaty. But for it to happen, both panel members emphasised the need for a legally binding deal. However, Obama faces a tough challenge ahead of him as signing the treaty and agreeing to more than the Senate is likely to agree to, would only irritate the latter which might retaliate by not signing his legislation on carbon emissions. It might also severely affect his party chances at the mid-term elections of 2010.

Furthermore, Shamsuddoha went on to explain the economic impact climate change has had on its country, as natural disasters (particularly floods) had struck more often than the country was used to, taking in its wake billions of dollars that could have been used to fight poverty.

Therefore, they argued,  climate justice would have to be implemented as for emerging countries to be allowed to develop in a green way they would have to be helped. The main points to ratify would be a 40% carbon emissions reduction by rich countries before 2020, adaption money to be given each year to poor countries to develop, combined with international technology cooperation and transfer.

Final speaker of the evening, Hilary Thorndike offered a new interesting perspective on climate change. As part of the Refugee Council, she explained that as of today environmental migration was not recognised by international law but that by 2050, about 150 million people would be displaced because of global warming. These migrations will mostly occur in the South and will be the source of many conflicts as people will have to fight for food and water.

In order for these migrations to be contained, support will have to be given to poor countries to protect their people. She ended the evening by stating that there were “no borders when it comes to climate change and we are kidding ourselves if we think there are”.

Reusable nappies have, in the past few years, managed to become fashionable again. Not only are several charities built around the concept of using reusable or “real” nappies but local councils themselves advise citizens to use them.

While it may be harder for parents to find and buy reusable nappies at their local supermarkets, these “green” nappies are hailed as having many qualities for toddlers and parents alike.

According to Go Real, a brand for real nappy advice and support, using real nappies over disposables will help parents save up to £500, and more if they use the same nappies on subsequent children. They also highlight the fact that they are called green for a reason and that by using them parents should be able to reduce their weekly rubbish and carbon footprint by up to 40%.

These nappies that come in all kind of shapes and colours are because of the fabric used, free of chemicals. Fabrics used to produce them include cotton, bamboo, fleece, wool, microfiber and hemp.

Go Real, historically known as Real Nappy Campaign, have for the past 13 years now, organised an annual Real Nappy Week which aim is to promote the benefits of using reusable nappies, by organising events.

This year the Real Nappy Week was taking place from April 27 to May 3. Several events were organised in the West Midlands, in Birmingham and Solihull. One of those was a Real Nappy Celebration, free of charge, with entertainment for children, a real nappy fashion show, and information.

However hard these charities work, disposable nappies remain the trend. One of the major concerns raised by this is the overwhelming amount of them ending up in UK landfill.

Each year, about 700,000 tonnes of nappy waste is disposed of in landfill. Not only is that environmentally wrong it is also incredibly expensive for local councils, as an European directive has set targets to reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill by 2010. To reach these targets and to make sure local authorities follow them, the Treasury has decided to increase the rate of the landfill tax (£32 a tonne in October 2008) each year until 2011.

Furthermore, one of the main arguments used by charities has been challenged by a report made by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). This report found that using washable nappies, while reducing weekly rubbish, does not reduce parents’ carbon footprint. Surprisingly, they have a higher carbon footprint than their disposable equivalents.

Indeed, the report showed that while disposable nappies used over two and a half years would have a global warming impact of 550kg of CO2, reusable nappies produced 570kg of CO2 on average. But if parents used tumble dryers and washed the reusable nappies at 90C, the impact would reach an alarming 993kg of CO2.

To answer the landfill problem, England is to open its first nappy recycling plant in Tyseley, Birmingham. Knowaste, a Canadian company which recycles nappies and other products in the US, will invest more than £20m in the UK plant in the next 5 years.

The facility will recycle around 30,000 tonnes of nappies, approximately 4% of Britain’s nappy waste a year, and aim to eventually recycle up to 13% by opening other recycling plant. The waste will then be turned into a material that will be used to produce a variety of plastic-based products, including roof cladding tiles, cycle helmets and plastic injections for home insulation.

Knowaste says that 98% of a disposable nappy or incontinence pad can be removed from the waste stream and that the costs for recycling are competitive compared to sending the material to landfill.

Environmental groups such as Go Real argue that recycling is not the solution to the landfill problem and believe that a change in consumer behaviour is needed. They are partially right, as 4% or 13 % is not nearly high enough and that most of the waste will undeniably end up in landfill. Environmentally speaking, the choice is between using disposable nappies that would most likely be sent to landfill or use reusable nappies that produce a higher carbon footprint.

The winners were announced on March 10 during a ceremony during the Cleaning show at the NEC. Birmingham which was entered in the City category received 5 Star Grade, the highest grade possible, along with eleven other cities such as Bristol, Cardiff or Sheffield.

The Clean Britain Awards which succeeds Britain’s Cleanest City Awards, was first introduced in 1988 and with the mission “to provide cleanliness recognition for both the custodians of public spaces and the people who use them, through the development of a sense of civic pride and respect for the environment in which people live, work or visit, throughout the UK”.

The awards which are becoming increasingly popular, run every two years, and have had for 2008/2009 a total of 63 entries from local authorities all over the UK in three different categories: City, Town and District.

To keep the results as truthful and fair as possible, inspection visits are unannounced and last a minimum of half a day during which the team looks at a number of criteria relating to standards of cleanliness.

These criteria include roadways, pavements, any parks, public toilets, litter/waste bins and public areas (bus and train stations and shopping areas).