Camouflage green?

From bullets to barracks, can the MoD cut the collateral damage?

They could be the most honourable manner of death for an environmental protestor who falls at the hands of a militaristic regime.

So-called “green” bullets, tastelessly branded as “environmentally friendly fire”, are the latest thing from arms manufacturer BAE Systems. They’ve been developed in response to the Ministry of Defence’s attempts to underline its green credentials by supporting the use of lead-free munitions.

Rockets with reduced toxins are also planned. BAE’s director of corporate social responsibility Debbie Allen, in an audacious attempt to fill her job brief, told one newspaper: “Weapons are going to be used… We try to limit the collateral damage, and to impact as little as possible on the environment.”But her attempts to link instruments of death with sustainable development and social responsibility have enraged anti-arms trade campaigners. “This is laughable,” Symon Hill of Campaign Against the Arms Trade told reporters. “BAE makes weapons to kill people and it’s utterly ridiculous to suggest they are environmentally friendly.”

In a somewhat more palatable development, Swedish developer Skanska has recently completed an army base for the MoD with a green tinge.

Rock Barracks, near Ipswich, comprises 90 buildings and will be home to 636 military personnel. It was formerly a disused airfield - and home to two endangered species of bird. Woodlarks and nightjars had taken up residence in a football-pitch-sized patch of heather on the site, causing a headache for Skanska and its team. But as part of a plan to protect the birds’ habitat, builders transferred the giant patch of heather from one part of the site to another, so work could be begin on the army base.

Specially designed lighting has been used to illuminate the barracks, as nightjars forage at night and brash lighting can disturb them.

Some 72% of construction waste and 98% of demolition waste has been recycled, claim Skanska.

“The MoD has not in the past been renowned for its environmental responsibility,” a spokesman said. “Rock Barracks… shows that even the most steadfastly traditional organisations are being forced to take notice of the planet’s resources.” - Ben Walker

9 November 2006

Ben Walker