Spending on ethical products ranging from fair trade to eco-friendly products has tripled in the past decade. A survey on ethical spending was conducted by the Co-Operative Bank of the UK.

From this Press Association article, we read more stats from the survey.

The annual Ethical Consumerism report showed the total market for sustainable goods and services was worth £36 billion in 2008, up from £13.5 billion in 1999.

The rate of increase in household spending on ethical products outstripped the growth in overall consumer spending, which increased by 58% over the decade.

But the market for goods which were environmentally-friendly, sustainable or supported poor people remained a small percentage of the £891 billion spent by households last year.

Some sectors saw phenomenal growth, including Fairtrade goods which pay a premium to farmers and producers in poor countries in a bid to help them work their way out of poverty, according to the survey.

The Fairtrade market, which now covers products from developing countries ranging from coffee to cotton, was worth just £22 million in 1999.

Last year sales of Fairtrade products had grown to £635 million and the Co-operative is predicting it could break the £1 billion barrier in 2010.

ISLAMABAD — Pakistan on Tuesday unveiled a package of reforms in a bid to ease a separatist insurgency in Baluchistan on the Afghan and Iranian borders that detracts attention from the war against the Taliban.

“The package will give people their political and economic rights in Baluchistan and will once again prove the supremacy of parliament,” Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani told lawmakers from the upper and lower houses.

Read more ….

My Comment: This is not the first time that Pakistan has tried to negotiate with separatist insurgents from Baluchistan ….

From The Wall Street Journal:

Northrop Grumman Corp. has told the Defense Department that it may not bid on a $40 billion Air Force refueling tanker contract, raising the prospect of Boeing Co.

Lauren Johnson is a typical 12-year-old girl – except that she can’t stop sneezing.

It is so bad that she sneezes up to 20 times a minute, or 12,000 times a day.

The non-stop sneezing began two weeks ago when Lauren from Virginia in the U.S.

Bio-Threats Darpa is seeking proposals for a antibody biosensor that can effectively identify a wide range of bio-threats. Sari Huella

From Popular Science:

Got a great idea for an antibody biosensor but unsure what to do with it?