Beyond the High Street - extending the concept of sustainable shopping

Buy locally and keep the air miles down. We’ve all heard it, and probably ad nauseum. And, like me, you probably associate sustainable shopping with buying fruit and veg and checking the labels to see the country of origin. However, Der Nachhaltige Warenkorb (The Sustainable Shopping Basket) published by the Rat für Nachhaltige Entwicklung (The German Council for Sustainable Development (RNE)) goes further. Much further.

It covers everything from computers to cosmetics, DIY to driving, T-shirts to toys and white goods to washing powder. But although the title is about shopping, the message is more about lifestyle choices. You are asked to consider where you put your savings, to evaluate your travel choices, to rethink how you spend your free time.

So many of the ‘think green, act green’ messages, seem to be about making daily life more grey, coming as they do laden with things that you shouldn’t do if you want to be a responsible member of society. This publication, however, is more realistic. It recognises that some people have more limited budgets or less time than others. It says making responsible choices can be fun – for example, spending more time with friends can be a sustainable practice.

The message is to work out your priorities, your financial constrainst and the limits on your time, then to consider how you can incorporate an element of socially responsible consumerism into your existence. As a result, you will make changes to your routines that will be, and will feel more, positive than painful, and your life will be enriched as a result. Changing your routines will lead you to try new things which will in turn reveal different options which will be sustainable - and fun.

My experience of Germans is that they are in tune with where their food comes from and what grows in what season. However, just in case there are readers who don't fit into this generalisation, the Nachhaltige Warenkorb includes two calendars, one for fruit and one for vegetables, of what is in season, when. For me, looking down the list of items introduced a further element of sustainable consumerism, the reminder that some nations eat more parts of a product than others, for example, the leaves which Brits simply put onto the compost.

Every product is now splattered with symbols that purport to tell the consumer he or she has made the right choice by buying that brand or that item. But, assailed as we are by labels, how can we know which is of value? This is not only a jungle but a minefield. Thankfully, help is at hand! This publication also provides an explanation of what such labels mean. Further, the editors have also shown whether the awarding of the symbol recognises social considerations such as whether the producers are paid a fair wage for their work. For example, the designer of the new RCE leaflets, 'Learning together to create a sustainable world' and 'Gemeinsam lernen für eine nachhaltige Welt', told me our choice of paper means we can use the Blue Angel symbol. I hadn't heard of this. Der Nachhaltige Warenkorb tells me that this label refers to the ecological impact of a product, not to social considerations.

The publication is extremely well designed. Despite being jampacked with information, the reader does not feel overwhelmed. This is because the design means you can read it in one go, by looking only at the running text; you can look up only the chapters as and when you need them, for example, ahead of renovating your house; you can read the quotes from personalities or the tips; or you can really get to grips with the subject and read all the boxouts, examine the graphics and look up the links.

The introduction says the booklet came about as a result of requests and suggestions, and invites people to send more. I would like to add one that the authors might include in the next issue - libraries. Most readers will have engaged with this enjoyable and sustainable form of entertainment since they were small. Likewise, although the publication notes that many children have mountains of toys and suggests that fewer items, of higher quality, would not only be more sustainable but safer and more fun for the child, it doesn't mention the existence of toy libraries. These do exist in Germany. I checked! According to Der Verband Deutscher Spieliotheken/Ludotheken e.V they are known by different names depending on which part of the country you live in. It seems 'Spieliothek' is used in the north of Germany, and 'Ludothek' in the east and south.

You can download English and German versions of the sustainable shopping guide from the links above. For larger numbers contact Yvonne Zwick (yvonne.zwick at nachhaltigkeitsrat.de) at Der Rat für Nachhaltige Entwicklung.

Low awareness of low energy housing

One of the two English women at the AZB for work experience relating to sustainable building practices has studied architecture.

The terms 'passive house', 'low energy house' and 'energy plus house' meant something to her before she came to the AZB. I am the second person and I hadn't heard of these concepts. This is despite my reading the two 'quality' English newspapers each weekend, being engaged in eco-campaigning work and, I thought, generally being aware and receptive to topics relating to sustainability.

I felt it would therefore be a useful exercise to ask 10 of my friends in England, two questions:

a) have you heard the terms 'passive house', 'low energy house', and 'energy plus house'?
b) can you explain them?

The receipients were chosen solely on the basis of being a friend. None is an architect or to my knowledge has studied architecture or lives with someone who is qualified in this field. Several are actively engaged in promoting green issues, most are graduates and some have completed, or are engaged in, further study.

Mr Jens Schwarz, the Co-ordinator of the RCE Hamburg and Region, feels the exercise is sufficiently interesting to roll it out among the trainees who come to the AZB.

Of the 10 emails I sent, one person had heard the term passive house but only that person said they could explain it. Three people had heard the term low energy house of whom two responded that they could explain it. No-one had heard the term energy plus house.

People living, working or studying in, Hamburg or visitors to this city (perhaps for the Third European Fair on Education for Sustainable Development which takes place at the AZB this week, ie Wednesday 28 to Friday 30 October 2009) or for the Christmas Markets (23 November to 23 December 2009), have a chance to find out what an energy plus house is.

Next to Hamburg's main rail station an energy plus house has been set up. It will be there until 25 January 2010. See ZEBAU GmbH for details and related events.

New RCE leaflets for Fair visitors

Two new leaflets about the RCE Hamburg and Region are now available. The English version is called 'Learning together to create a sustainable world'. The title of the German brochure is 'Gemeinsam lernen für eine nachhaltige Welt'.



They have been produced by the RCE Co-ordinator in time for the Third European Fair on Education for Sustainable Development which takes place at the AZB between Wednesday 28 and Friday 30 October 2009.

If you didn't attend the Fair and would like a copy of the English version click here, for the German version click here.

Sustainability starts on the way to school

An invitation to present current and recent initiatives on the theme of motivating young people in Hamburg to choose sustainable forms of transport to get to school, revealed a very wide range projects.

The occasion was the 25th meeting of the members of the “Hamburg lernt Nachhaltigkeit” (Hamburg learns Sustainability) initiative in September 2009.

It was organised by the Hamburg Behörde für Stadtentwicklung und Umwelt - BSU - (the Hamburg Department for Urban Development and Environment).

Mr Gunter Bleyer from the Hamburg Behörde für Schule und Berufsbildung (Department for Schools and Vocational Training) outlined the reasons that the subject was important.

The transport choices people have while young and the decisions they make, influence their thinking and practices throughout the rest of their lives. Children and young people who don’t get into the habit of walking, cycling or using public transport will find their personal mobility restricted later in life. The way children and young people get around or are ferried about, affects the levels and patterns of traffic in Hamburg which further impacts upon their lives.

Mr Bleyer set out some uncomfortable statistics… Just 30 years ago children and young people were responsible for their own mobility. In 1970 there was one car in circulation per child, by 2008, the figure was four cars for each child.

Mr Gorch von Blomberg described projects to increase the uptake of cycling in Wilhelmsburg.

In 2006, the initiative Aktiv-Rad (realised with "Ein-Euro-Jobs") saw 50 young people and three teachers exploring their locality by bike. Despite its success, the project could not be repeated in subsequent years as insufficient pupils had access to a bike or knew how to ride one. To address these issues a new project was devised: “bikes 4 kids – Fahrradspenden für Wilhelmsburger Schulen” (bikes 4 kids – bike donation scheme for schools in Wilhelmsburg) and “Ein-Euro-Aktive-Jobs”.

The aim is to enable and encourage people living, working, studying and attending school in Wilhelmsburg to use bicycles. Not only is cycling a way to improve physical and mental health, it is indisputable that personal mobility is also key to enabling people to be able to get back into work or to have access to a wider variety of employment opportunities.

One source of bikes is abandoned or unclaimed bikes from police stations. However, if you have a bike you no longer need, the organisers would like to hear from you. Please contact aktiv-rad@sbb-hamburg.de or 040-2190367-45.

Mr Martin Wachowiak showed attendees the materials that the Hamburger Verkehrs Verein (Hamburg Transport Association) produces for use in schools as part of its “Mobilitätsbildung – HVV-Schulberatung” (Mobility education – HVV Schools Advisory Service).

To further encourage children and young people to see public transport as an attractive and practical way of getting around, he goes into schools to talk to pupils. There is no charge for this service and the sessions are active and, as participants saw, the materials are comprehensive, attractive and socially inclusive.

Fear was one reason given for young people’s lack of enthusiasm for using public transport. Dr Andreas Huber, a colleague of Mr Wachowiak at the Hamburger Verkehrs Verein (HVV), outlined a project “Theater macht Schule” (Taking teaching onto the stage) run as a competition and which involved pupils performing in the city’s underground, buses and on ferries, for example.

The aim was for the young people involved to ‘reclaim’ public spaces and populate these in a way that made them comfortable using them. Dr Huber showed two of the results from the 2008 competition – ‘Underground Clips'. They were not only entertaining for his audience but had clearly engaged a great many of the passengers who were travelling when the pieces were performed.

In addition to offering reduced price travel for school classes travelling on the HVV network and staff to accompany them, the Hamburg Transport Association sets out to engage young people between the ages of 12 and 20 (classes 7-13) and teach them about sustainable mobility by means of a competition - the Futuretour.

Other areas of the site starting with the 'Info-Pool' page, offer information on the themes of 'mobility', 'traffic' and 'environnment', from the local and the global perspective.

For more information or to take part in future discussions

Teachers and others who can influence young people in their choice of transport are invited to attend the forum. Guests with an interest in the subject are also welcome. The contact is Mr Jürgen Forkel-Schubert at the BSU.

A 3D overview of Hamburg’s future

I’ve never understood the attraction of the cutesy miniature models of towns and villages however, I am fascinated by representations of the places I know.

These include the photo printed onto the flooring in the basement of the GLA building, the home of London’s government. Part of the attraction, of course, is to locate your own home - and possibly to decide where you’d really like to live if money were no object. However, you can walk the Thames without getting your feet wet and plan a bike tour seeking out routes along green corridors and through parks.

I’m a regular visitor to The Building Centre in London for its exhibitions. But while there it’s almost obligatory to have (yet) another look at the 1:1500 scale model in the main gallery. It was built to illustrate actual and proposed planning submissions, including the area being developed for the Olympics in London in summer 2012.

I was pleased to learn from a colleague that Hamburg has such a scale model, too, and on a day when it was raining so hard that I didn’t even think about getting there by bike, I went to have a look.

The ‘Stadtmodell Hamburg’ is impressively large. I could have done without the radio playing English language hits of the 70s and 80s loudly but I did appreciate the chance to use the toilet for free (I must have spent a fortune in 50 cent pieces for using the facilities in the city and surrounding area). Plus, by looking at the scale model, I was also able to work out where I had gone wrong when trying to cycle to a couple of places round town.

However, as with the London model, the point of this exhibit is to show existing buildings plus those which are planned. For example, you can see the extent of the area known as HafenCity which is under construction. You can also see its proximity to the main station and the central shopping area of Hamburg and understand why the city’s authorities and the developers consider it to have great potential.

On the walls around the model are information boards providing key facts about the city and its inhabitants. You can read such details as how much of Hamburg’s surface area (755,2 km3)comprises water (8%). However, such figures make much more sense and impact when you can ‘see’ what they mean, and, in this case truly appreciate why German's second largest city is known as the "green metropolis on the waterfront".

Until 31 October, there is also information about the Emporio development in the centre of Hamburg by Union Investment Real Estate AG [then search the site for ‘Emporio’ to get more information in English], which is due to be completed in 2011.

Much is made of the sustainable aspects of the conservation of the existing building and of the construction of a sister structure. The display boards explain how the exterior of the existing building, was built for Unilever in the early 60s and is listed, will be retained. They set out the sustainability criteria the redevelopment of the site has to meet and how this will be achieved.

The wall panels explain why so much is made about the importance of sustainable building practices. "In the area of sustainability, the construction industry has a special responsibility. More than half of the world's energy - and resources - as well as 60% of all waste materials result from the construction and subsequent use of buildings."

The exhibition is definitely worth a visit, even in good weather.

Passivhaus Wochenende (nach Rainer Maria Rilke)

Wer jetzt kein Passivhaus hat, baut sich keines mehr.
Wer jetzt in einer normalen Wohnung lebt, wird da lange bleiben,
wird wachen, fachspezifische Hefte lesen, neue Pläne schreiben
und wird am Wochenende von 7-9 November hin und her
unruhig wandern, während die Flugblätter treiben.


(Herbsttag in German, and four versions in English) von Rainer Maria Rilke (site in German) (pages in English) *4. Dezember 1875 † 29. Dezember 1926)

Everything in Moderation(skoffer) for the Fair

The countdown to the Third European Fair on Education for Sustainable Development (28-30 October 2009) began many months ago.

But production has cranked up a level here at the AZB which is hosting it and now even I've been conscripted. While others are doing clever things with graphics packages to illustrate polysyllabic phrases I can't get my tongue, let alone my brain round, I've been introduced to the delight that is a 'Moderationskoffer'.

The site we use for online translation is Leo. Look up 'Moderationskoffer' and you get the wonderful phrase 'facilitator's toolkit'. Open the box itself and it's a box of handicraft treats... stickers in a range of colours, 2 sizes of circular card in everything from yellow to shocking pink, scissors, pin tacks in primary colours.

As befits the daughter of an erstwhile infant school teacher, I have been plundering the rainbow coloured stationery supplies and sticking and cutting, plus working my way through the fonts in Word that most resemble handwriting. Look out for my contribution to the Fair and be sure to award me a gold star for my efforts.