Buy European

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.blahaj.zone/post/22495216

Key features:

• Get notifications when you enter a website if European alternatives are available
• Enter your country for country specific alternatives
• Whitelist websites that you don't want to see notifications for
• A sleek UI made for ease of use, and easy redirect to European alternatives.

Github*: https://github.com/K-Robin/GoEuropean

*European Alternative for Github: https://codeberg.org/

Do you have tried le chat? Any recommendations?

https://chat.mistral.ai/chat

I'm not sure how free software would fit this community. So i apologize in advance.

CHATONS – kittens in french – is the Collective of Hosters Alternative, Transparent, Open, Neutral and Solidarity.

This collective aims to bring together structures offering free, ethical and decentralised online services in order to allow users to quickly find alternatives that respect their data and privacy to the services offered by GAFAM (Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon, Microsoft).

CHATONS is a collective initiated by the association Framasoft in 2016 following the success of its campaign De-google-ify Internet.

They are a NGO organisation that offer plenty free software service. They provide alternative service to big tech.

You may know alternative to gmail (roundcube), onedrive (nextcloud), reddit (lemmy) but those services need maintenance, selfhosting...it's time consuming, difficult to manage.

New users want to leave big tech service but may not have the technical knowledge to do that alone.

So this is where CHATONS project can help (kittens in french) new users and free them. There are also plenty hackerspace.

If you know similar organization project in europe, i would be happy to discover them :D

Can we make a list of clothing brands? Made in Europe and sustainable?

I like this brand: ARMEDANGELS

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/30157869

The European Solar Manufacturing Council (ESMC) has submitted its official feedback to the European Commission regarding three critical aspects of the Net-Zero Industry Act (NZIA): the regulations on renewable energy auctions, the selection criteria for net-zero strategic projects, and the list of essential components for net-zero technologies. ESMC strongly supports the ambition of the NZIA to strengthen European clean energy manufacturing but urges improvements to ensure the effectiveness and resilience of the policy framework.

[...]

ESMC welcomes the European Commission’s proposal to establish pre-qualification and award criteria for renewable energy auctions under NZIA Article 26. These criteria aim to promote European solar PV manufacturing capacity and align with the EU’s target of achieving 30 GW of solar PV production across the full value chain by 2030. However, ESMC highlights several risks and potential loopholes that could undermine these objectives:

• The proposed criteria must include a robust “Made in Europe” clause to ensure that European manufacturers benefit from the auctions.
• A comprehensive carbon footprint assessment methodology should be implemented, preventing greenwashing and ensuring transparent sustainability standards.
• Stronger cybersecurity and data security measures are needed to prevent foreign control over critical solar PV infrastructure.
• Provisions against the use of forced labour should be explicitly incorporated, with clear references to EU legislation such as the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive and the Forced Labour Regulation

[...]

Another reminder, altough this was expected, of why we have to buy European (not only from the EU tough, also from neighbouring countries and from the EEC): Trump says that will impose a 25% tariff on imports from the EU, apart from saying that the region was created to screw USA.

He has also said that tariffs to Canada and Mexico will go into effect on the 4th of April. So I am open too to buy goods and services from there (we have their communities promoting local buying because of this nasty movement linked in the right side of the community, if you are interested).

There will be countermovement, but it is important to start buying more european products and services to counter this.

By gekko513

Sadly there is no browser view, but they have selection of app stores on their page for the app (and IIRC they are working on a desktop version).

It has routing, searching, more map details (e.g. park benches, trash bins on the map), OSM editing, and pretty slick look in my opinion.

I recently switched to Organic Maps after learning about it here on Lemmy and haven't touched Google Maps as much. I know it is not a perfect 100% replacement, but while it lacks certain things (e.g. public transport, but I use local public transport app anyway for better accuracy), it has so many features google lacks:

• hiking trail overlay that is more up-to-date
• stores maps on your phone in vector format (offline use is so much nicer)
• privacy focused

There is more to this than I know and write here, and probably many here already know about Organic Maps since there was the whole fiasco of google removing this app from play store awhile back, but thought it's cool that the company behind it is in Estonia (man I still remember Skype, thanks Estonia ❤️ I've spent so much time on skype before it was aquired by Microsoft).

Edit to add extra info from website: Company is based in Tallinn, Estonia - Organic Maps OÜ

It's a map with routing information, live traffic, road work etc. Offline maps available if needed but obviously no live traffic reporting then. Based on OpenStreetMap.

By gekko513

Gog.com is a video games distribution platform owned by a polish company that distributes game with no DRM for Windows, Linux and MacOS.

It has new and classic games and has a 30-day money-back guarantee. Also it has a lot of offers, and good prices. And yes, from Poland.

There are quite good quality paper notebooks in Europe, these are the ones I know:

Rhodia/Clairefontaine/Oxford - French, with one of the best quality paper I know. Not very expensive, Rhodia is the most expensive one, and Oxford the cheapest, often used at schools.

Miquelrius - Spanish, quite good paper, quite good price

Moleskine - Italian, the most expensive of the lot, and very famous, its paper quality is not good if you use fountain pens

Leuchtturm - German, similar to Moleskine and in several product lines, quite good quality paper.

Dingbats - British, very good paper, and they give a percentage of what they earn to projects related to nature protection. A bit cheaper than Moleskine and Leuchturm

Online - Another german brand, decent paper. In the Rhodia/clairefontaine price range

Do you know any other notebook brands from Europe? would like to try some more (bit crazy about stationery)

cross-posted from: https://sopuli.xyz/post/22971124

Know and like any Norwegian brands/products you'd like to share?

Hej!

I know there are a lot of Norway enthusiasts as well as Norwegians / people living in Norway in this community and would like to ask if you have any product/brand recommendations to share with us at !buyeuropean@feddit.uk.

You can post directly to the community or comment here and I can pass it on as well :)

I hear you guys have some awesome wool sweater brands... please share!

Filen – Next Generation End-To-End Encrypted Cloud Storage. Get started with 10 GB of free space.

Filen is a German cloud storage service with additional services. It encrypts all archives and comms, has an option to write notes (text, markdown, code, lists, etc). And you also can make contacts using the app and chat with them via text, encrypted as well.

They have free accounts with 10 GB space, and you can refer other new users (you will get an additional 10 GB for each referral with a 40 GB limit), and the one referred also gets 10 GB more.

Also interesting lifetime option, 100 GB for 29,95 and smaller and bigger plans with monthly payments.

I have this one and have stopped using Dropbox or Google Drive. Very happy.

HMD Global is a smartphone and tablet company that surged from Nokia and now has smartphones and tablets. They outsource the manufacture mainly to China and India, but they are now starting to maufacture its 5G models in Europe: https://www.hmd.com/en_ae/press/hmd-begins-manufacturing-5g-smartphones-in-europe

There are even lots of models that can be sent in to be repaired.

If you find a Finnish product or deal with a Finnish company that displays the avainlippu - Finnish for Key Flag - go for it: it'll be more expensive upfront but you'll get more than your money's worth.

Unlike other BS Made in Somewhere signs, the avainlippu really does mean quality: the Finns who display it really are proud of the products and services they offer. I can personally testify to this.

If you buy a product with the little flag affixed to it, it will be made better and last longer. Even if it's not obvious rightaway, one day years later you'll realize that thing you bought years ago that you're taking for granted is still around and still doing what it's supposed to do just fine after years of use and abuse.

As you know, Goodreads is owned by Amazon, so if you want an alternative in Europe here you hace a couple:

• Bookwyrm (www.joinbookwyrm.com) is the fediverse federated books discovrery and communities alternative to Goodreads. There are many european instances, so you just have to search for one that covers your interests and join.

• The StoryGraph (https://www.thestorygraph.com/) - It is headquartered in London, and isd a platform for discovering and reviewing books, with several social features.

Do you know other alternatives to Goodreads in Europe?

I remember being recommended to look into ESP32 microcontrollers but it's not European and was wondering if there are other European ones.

I was horrified by the contents of one of my Finnish mutual funds when I looked into it after years of disinterest: USA is overweighted, and I hate some of those companies I've ended up owning.

I'm especially disgusted by UnitedHealth Group Inc - the health insurance company whose mass murderer CEO got shot recently, sparking nationwide cheers.

As a passive investor, you'll forget your money into the wrong hands when the bank won't remind you of developments in the political situation.

Ålandsbanken promises:

"socially sustainable"

You may assume your bank is civilised, but you should have a closer look. I'm a customer of S-bank in Finland. In this case, the fund ended up under a different bank twice due to buyouts, and the management of the fund ended up in a Canadian bank branch in the UK.

My other bank didn't recommend selling my Russian investment when Putin's reign had started going overdue after his full term as a president. Luckily I was awake and sold everything.

Investments drift out of balance over time. Within mutual funds, there are limits, but the funds grow at different rates. You should re-balance your diversification once in a while to avoid excessive country risk.

I don't know if fund managers are bribed to distort the balance within the fund's limits for the benefit of a third party.

My fund is managed by that guy. I sold everything. Will reinvest in Europe.

How should you invest?

Profit comes with risk.

high risk, high reward (on average)

Don't take more risk than you can carry. For example, if you'll surely need at least 100% of your money back in a few years, don't put all of that money into stock (shares), because they are unpredictable in the short term.

In the stock market, even the duration of a "short term" is unpredictable. For example, if you invested in Japan right before the 1980s bubble burst, you would have had to wait 20 years to recover from the crash.

Japan bubble peak 1990

Owning your house is an undiversified, unhedged investment in real estate. What if there’s a bubble about to burst? What if the house is hit by a disaster that insurance won’t cover? If I owned a house, I’d probably take some debt and buy foreign shares not related to house prices.

Easiest way to invest safely:
Hire a fiduciary to craft a passive (cheap) investment strategy suited to your needs. My bank offers free advice for crafting a strategy.
(Don't buy actively managed funds with costly fees - it's a waste of money, except in a few special cases. The bank will happily sell you an expensive service.)

Easy way to invest somewhat ethically:
Put your money into ESG-compliant or highly EU SFDR-rated index funds (with really cheap fees) that don't invest in countries, industries, and companies you disapprove of.
(In some cases, switching between funds in the same bank allows you to avoid paying taxes from your previous winnings in the fund you want to get rid of, because the sell/buy -action is interpreted as an internal move.)

More ethical easy way to invest:
If the “responsible” ESG-labeled funds are too lax for your thirst for good, find a tailored fund / bespoke portfolio where you can set tighter criteria for ethical behaviour.

Do it yourself the right way:
Buy shares of companies you approve of - the most ethical companies trying to stay clean in a dirty economy. Makers of wind turbines, solar panels, batteries, cable, bicycles, electric vehicles (trains and trams!), sustainable forestry, etc.
It's easy nowadays through many banks’ websites. Upkeep cost can be minimal.
A lazy strategy:
Store your money in various low risk financial instruments.
Once in every ~5 years, invest part of your savings in a diversified portfolio of 30 companies (and other high risk financial instruments) in at least 10 countries on at least 2 continents in at least 3 unrelated industries, and forget for 5 years.
Be sure to diversify in time by buying at different times to avoid accidentally investing everything on top of a global bubble.
If you’re feeling extra active, maybe prefer to buy in a depression and sell on a bubble, but you can't predict the future any better than all the other investors trying to outsmart you. Price/earnings ratio measures investor optimism that bubbles are made of.
Between investment sprees, save into a regular savings account.

Types of risk relevant in diversification and hedging:

If all your investments are subject to the same type of risk, they could crash at the same time.

Avoid participating in disaster capitalism with a moral hazard where companies doing disaster recovery cause disasters to pump up their share value.

If you think a company isn’t enriched by you buying previously issued, pre-owned, existing shares from someone else on the market, you're wrong, because the company sees the increased demand on the market and issues more shares, making more money from investors after you. Same as when you buy a stolen item, the thief reacts to increased demand by stealing another one.

If you think donating to charities is more ethical than investing, I somewhat disagree: it's good, but it's also unsustainable. You can grow more charity power by growing money in benefit corporations that are effectively profit-seeking charities. Example: Mozilla.

I think crypto money is a waste of computation that could be used for something productive, like protein folding. That said, Wikipedia: Proof of stake # Energy consumption:

In 2021, a study by the University of London found that in general the energy consumption of the proof-of-work based Bitcoin was about a thousand times higher than that of the highest consuming proof-of-stake system ... Ethereum's switch to proof-of-stake was estimated to have cut its energy use by 99%.

(This post was originally in You Should Know. It was justly deleted for pushing an agenda, which is banned there. Thanks for all the comments that led me to write the above investment guide.)

I know Afri Kola (not much, only have had it a couple of times in Germany) and Fritz Kola (moree common in other countries, delicious, also other flavours, orange and apple are very very good).