Guilt Free Flying

Not going on holiday is one way in which we can cut down the amount of carbon emissions we are responsible for. This has a number of big disadvantages though. The days of affordable air travel may well be numbered,  you may never get another chance to see the world. Fortunately there are ways to reconcile I love of seeing the world with the desire to take care of it.

One of these ways is through carbon offsetting schemes. Even long haul flights actually work out as not costing too much to offset relative to the headline ticket price. For instance the cost of offsetting even lengthy journeys  such as flights to Bangkok from Manchester  is likely to be considerably less than the cost of your airport taxi. Here is a good video that explains some of the ins and outs:

Greener Businesses Can Save Money

Some thoughts about how going green can help a business save money.

A potentially money-saving, and greener way to conduct your business is online: conducting business online rather than at an office, completing transactions online instead of in a shop, and communicating by email instead of going on business trips are all ways that can save you a great deal of money and time. Conducting business online rather than at an office can save money on resources, heating, power, cleaning, and make your business more efficient- obviously not all businesses can go online totally, but they can downsize costs by switching many operations to internet-based activity.

Telecommunication can also make it easier, not only to set up your business, but to conduct transactions, provide services, and to solve any problems that may arise for the consumer.

Another reason to go green is a purely business one: it is getting ahead of the game. The green market is one of the fastest-expanding corners of the business world, with most of the world’s major companies (even Chevron and Exxon Mobil) looking into energy-efficient products and less polluting substances to use, as the old ways of doing things fade fast in a changing world, your business may have to adapt in order to survive. This will be a more painful process if it is done later, rather than sooner- when not being green means simply not being as competitive as those who are. If you can make the change now , and advertise yourself as a pioneer you will earn respect from green-minded customers and give yourself a head start on your competitors.

SmartStart from nPower reckons that most small to medium sized organisations can reduce their business energy bills by simply monitoring their gas and electricity usage – helping you get Smart with energy and Start saving on bills at the same time reduce your business’s carbon emissions.

The future matters. This truism will become increasingly meaningful as the state of the world begins to deteriorate and really feel the effects of climate change: economists have made grim predictions on the potential consequences of not adopting a green future on industry, infrastructure and even wider human survival.

In the Arctic, ice caps are melting (the ice is at a quarter of its level in the 1970s according to some sources), weather patterns are changing and temperatures are getting more extreme, and will continue to do so. Many scientists conclude that this is the result of anthropogenic (human-originating) climate change caused by carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere that are trapping in heat from the sun (the greenhouse effect). If something is not done multilaterally in the world, energy resources will get scarcer, prices will rise and much of the world could experience an environmental catastrophe.

If your business becomes self-sufficient it is more likely to survive, for example, if it sources its energy from cutting-edge solar panels, or from energy providers who offer start-up deals for businesses effectively investing in renewable energy providers, it will experience long-term cost savings. There are plenty of incentives offered by power companies who are marketing renewable energy to businesses considering using renewable sources for the energy in the long-term.

Whether or not one is concerned with the predicted fate of humanity, or if one believes the scientists about the causes of this dangerous shift in our weather, becoming energy-efficient will be unavoidable in the future. If you don’t begin to adapt with the times in the near future, your business will be very likely to find it more difficult to stay competitive.

The tiger might yet be able to recover

Study says species such as the Bengal tiger, of which there are fewer than 5,000, need not become extinct – source http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/science/biology/article3021819.ece

Even species whose wild populations have dwindled so far that it was believed they could not survive can be saved by reducing the threats they face, a study argues. Conservationists thought that populations below 5,000 were too small to recover. But British and American researchers claim that species such as the Bengal tiger, of which there are fewer than 5,000, need not become extinct.

Gregory Hayward, of the US Forest Service, said: “There’s a lot of work to do to arrest the effects of poaching, prey loss and habitat destruction. If that work is successful, the tiger might yet be able to recover.”

Philip Stephens, of Durham University, said the study was encouraging: “If we can remove the negative effects of human activities, even relatively small populations could be viable in the long term.”

Their paper, in the journal Trends in Ecology and Evolution, also said that threats to the orang-utan and the sun bear must be dealt with urgently to avert extinction, although more than 5,000 of each survive.

The authors suggest that the viable number varies between species, and that the Puerto Rican parrot, Siberian tiger and mountain gorilla could be saved, even though they number fewer than 70, 450 and 1,000 respectively.

Contesting a Will

When should you contest a Will?

Contesting a Will is a serious legal process, though many more people are doing it now days. So, should you ever contest a Will, what are the grounds and how is it done?

Video from Access Legal about contesting a will

Learn more about why making a will is very important in this free guide from Access Legal’s Wills and Family Wealth team

Wills are made as a person’s final wishes and can be seen as the way the person wanted their assets to be distributed so as to provide for whoever they though best after they passed on. Wills are binding contracts provided for by law, though sometimes a Will is not binding because of a set of circumstances of other reasons.

A Will is not considered binding for a number of reasons:

1) It was not properly made, in accordance with the law

2) There was duress or fraud during its making or undue influence when the Will was being made

3) A dependant was not properly provided for

4) Lack of disposing mind and memory or Testamentary capacity

5) The person making the will was delusional

Should a Will be broken and meet any of the three above reasons, then it is possible to contest a Will. Contesting a Will is a legal right that dependants or relations of the deceased have. It is a formal objection raised against the validity of the Will.

When contesting a will a number of emotional reasons should be taken into account, especially if the Will is contested between close families as it may cause familial issue in the future.

The first thing to do when contesting a Will is to apply to a court to ensure than no assets are given out to beneficiaries of the Will. It is advisable to get a solicitor for this, as to ensure everything is done correctly. This is done during a period of time after the deceased’s death called contentious probate. Contentious probate is the time it takes for all the deceased people’s assets to be reined in.

A solicitor will look at the Will and decide whether the Will is legally binding or there is the possibility there isn’t and aggrieved third party members have a case. There are no half measures here a Will is or is not legal.

In the case of a Will the last Will made is the legal document, this means that the most up to date Will is the one asset are distributed from.

One thing to consider after all of this is how much you will spend on contesting a Will. Contesting a Will can cost thousands of pounds and if you don’t actually succeed you may be out of pocket. Another thing to consider is simply, is the juice worth the squeeze, meaning is what your contesting worth the money you are willing to spend to contest the Will in the first place?

You must also remember that any cost for contesting are Will are paid for out of the estate. So it is known in cases for Wills to be continually contested until the legal fees have taken all the assets up and there is nothing left to contest. http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20081207214906AAZL1Du

All in all contesting Will is a very serious business and one you should not enter into lightly. Ensure you know what you are doing and read up on it before you contest or you may lose a lot of money and time.

Anytime Banking – Internet & Mobile Banking

Manage your bank account from your mobile phone

Following the enormous success of its drive to encourage customers to embrace online banking as part of its Anytime Banking drive, Ulster Bank is now offering a number of simple ways to keep track of your finances while on the go, such as text services for checking your balance enquiries, mini statements, weekly balance alerts, or even proximity alerts.

The latest developments in mobile banking now provides you with a very simple way to keep track of your money no matter where you are, and to ensure that you avoid potential surprise fees or charges.

• Weekly balance update- the bank will text your balance at a time and day that you choose. You can keep an eye on your finances on your mobile without having to check at an ATM or at a PC.
• Limit alert by sending you a text to your mobile device when your account goes above or below a pre-set limit. Handy to know when your salary has reached your account or you’re about to go overdrawn so you can save or splurge!
• Quick statements- text ‘MINI’ to 87898 and your account balance and a mini statement showing your last six transactions will be sent to you. Your network’s standard text charge will apply when you use this service-but you’ll see exactly what order your account is in.

Is mobile banking secure?

Ulster Bank takes its security and more importantly, the security of your own personal information and financial information very seriously. We know how important it is to provide a safe and secure service. Here’s how we do it:

• The registration process is certified by Verisign, the global name in secure e-commerce.
• During the registration process, all the details you provide are verified against your account details.
• Once you go live with the service, Ulster bank’s mobile banking software will only work on your registered mobile phone and is password protected.