Do it like the french do it

21st October 2010 by

Last Saturday hundreds of activists descended on Coryton oil refinery in Stanford-le-hope, the biggest oil refinery in the UK, and blockaded the only road in and out. The protest was entirely peaceful, there were no arrests and an estimated 375,000 gallons of oil were prevented from reaching factories, airports and petrol stations in and around London.

All well and good. But look what the french have been up to! France is facing an oil crisis after over 3.5 million people took to the streets. This week 4,000 petrol stations ran dry after a week long blockade of France’s 12 oil refineries. And they’re not even protesting about oil!

If we want our government to sit up and take notice of us whilst they up the retirement age and cut the public sector into smithereens, we’re going to have to shout a lot harder (possibly in french). And if we really want to move our economy, our infrastructure and our lives away from oil, we’re going to have to try a lot harder.

Here’s a little video of the Crude Awakening action at Coryton.

Tags: , , , , , , ,
Posted in energy, money, travel & transport | No Comments »

Josie Long & Otesha meet Climate Camp

2nd September 2010 by

Ta da!! Here is our first foray into film with our patron, comedian Josie Long! Over the next few months, we will be showcasing some of the coolest and best aspects of the social and environmental justice movement here in the UK and relating it back to our daily lives.

This month, we went to Climate Camp in Edinburgh. A thousand activists camping outside RBS headquarters and protesting against their investment in fossil fuels and destructive projects like the tar sands may not seem relevant to a lot of us, but when you think that the bank is 84% owned by the UK taxpayer, it makes you wonder where your money is going.

So this month, we’re not necessarily asking you to siege your local bank branch (although, that of course, is your individual choice). We are asking you to put your money where your ethics are, pester your parents about their pension and above all, be honourable. That’s the title of Josie’s current show (nominated for an Edinburgh Comedy Award!), which is about trying to act in line with your beliefs, saying goodbye to complacency and just being aware that there are people out there fighting for a cleaner, greener, fairer world. Sounds pretty good to us.

You’ll have to excuse some of the poor sound and light quality in the video – it was me, Josie, a flip cam and a bike light running around in the dark! The next one will be more fancy.

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in energy, money, Otesha's adventures, pop culture | 1 Comment »

You buy it you draw it

8th June 2010 by

This month we’re challenging you to draw everything that you buy. “Have you gone absolutely KE-RAY-ZEE over there at Otesha?” I hear you cry. Well, maybe.

Why? Because we want to get creative, we want to think before we buy and we want to make an artistic comment on our consumer-based society (call us high-minded).

We are taking our inspiration from the uber Kate Bingaman-Burt, author of Handmade Nation and creator of blog Obsessive Consumption – What Did You Buy Today? She has been documenting her purchases since 2002 and even drew all her credit card statements from 2004 until she became debt-free in February 2010. Blimey. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in money, monthly challenge | 1 Comment »

Can you do good with bad money?

7th June 2010 by

A few years ago I was at drama school, waiting to launch myself into the world of showbiz and being prepped for life out in the “industry”. This consisted mainly of being told to lose half my body weight, wear chicken fillets and look either more or less asian (pretty hard for a dual heritage, Anglo-Japanese girl!) but also, more practical tips, like how to audition for advertisements.

Sitting in that particular session, hearing about how advertising corporate brands can end up being the bread and butter of an actor’s life, I asked about principles – how could you appear in an advert for a company like McDonalds, and reconcile that with your principles? I was told that my tutor’s friend had managed to buy a house outright with the money earned from just such an advert – “Principles, schminciples!” I cried, much to the hilarity of my course-mates, and left it at that.

But it’s a question that has stayed with me. For struggling artists, more lucrative jobs such as advertising can end up funding work we might deem more “worthwhile”. Some might argue that this is an unfortunate, but necessary trade-off. That, to do good, sometimes you need “bad” money.

Read the rest of this post over at The Multicultural Politic.

Tags: ,
Posted in money | No Comments »

Pester your parents about their pensions

1st April 2010 by

Parents are tricky aren’t they? You can’t leave them alone for one minute, in case they go and invest their pension funds in huge energy-sucking, environment destroying initiatives like the tar sands.

Oh, what? They have already? Bad parents!

They deserve to be grounded, but since we can’t do that, our challenge this month is to (nicely) pester our parents about their pensions instead.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: , ,
Posted in money, monthly challenge | 1 Comment »

Put Your Money Where Your Ethics Are

3rd October 2009 by

This month we’re challenging you to put your money where your mouth is. Get the ethiscore on your bank and if you don’t like it, pester them to change it or change your bank. Commercial banks have been known to invest in arms, oil pipelines, tar sands oil extraction and operate in tax havens. In 2006, the carbon dioxide emissions embedded in RBS’s project finance was greater than the carbon dioxide emissions of Scotland itself- shocker !

But smile, there are other banking options out there, including Co-op (and their internet branch Smile ) and Triodos .

Statistically you’re more likely to get divorced than change your bank account, so we challenge you to prove statistics wrong. If you do feel wedded to your old bank, ask to see a copy of their ethical policy and tell them what they think about it. And if you are divorcing your bank, it’s always a good idea to tell them why you think their behaviour is so unreasonable.

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in money, monthly challenge | 1 Comment »

Newer Entries »

Search Blog

Get Social