Being Green means never hitting print

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By Brian Wheeler
BBC News politics reporter

The Green Party are very proud of their virtual manifesto.

Darren Johnson is proud of the party's manifesto

Unlike the other parties, they will not be wasting valuable natural resources printing and distributing a glossy brochure, only for it to lie neglected on the newsagent's shelf.

The 32 page document is only available in downloadable form from the party's website.

"It is the first time we have done it like this. Given that most people who actually use the manifesto are journalists - I mean how many people go into the newsagents and actually buy one? - it is a good way to make sure people get access to it," says London Assembly member Darren Johnson.

The effect was only slightly spoiled by a Green Party person handing out printed copies of the document at its official launch in Westminster.

Surely everyone at home will want to print out a copy as well, potentially wreaking environmental havoc?

As a rule, I don't normally fly Jenny Jones, Green Party Greens reveal 'radical' manifesto Watch the launch

"I don't buy it that everyone is going to print it out," says a slightly wounded Mr Johnson, who is standing in Lewisham.

"I find most of the information I get is from the web. People are used to browsing stuff directly on the web now."

The document is also, as reporters present were quick to point out, rather long.

'Serious party'

Compared to the Conservative manifesto launched on Monday it is War and Peace (without the war, obviously).

GREEN MANIFESTO Read the Green Party manifesto in full (368KB) Most computers will open PDF documents automatically, but you may need to download Adobe Acrobat Reader. Download the reader here

It goes into some detail on subjects such as replacing VAT with an "eco-tax" and changing the way economic performance is measured by replacing GDP with a Measure of Domestic Progress or the Index of Sustainable Welfare Economies.

For a party that by its own admission is not going to sweep into power on 5 May, is it necessary to go into such detail?

"If you a serious political party then you need a fully-rounded manifesto for the country.

"I would hope that people will look at our proposals seriously," says spokeswoman Penny Kemp.

Wasted votes

Despite their anxiety over the future of the planet, the Greens are quite an optimistic lot.

Principal speaker, the affable Keith Taylor, is convinced he stands a real chance of claiming the party's first ever Westminster seat in Brighton Pavillion.

He launched the manifesto with a speech about the "importance of having a strong Green voice at Westminster" and dealt deftly with usual jibes about wasted votes ("is a vote for something you believe in wasted?"), even getting a few digs in at the Liberal Democrats.

London Assembly member Jenny Jones, who is standing in Dulwich and West Norwood, managed to find a reason to smile in the somewhat sparsely populated launch.

"It is really good as a Green to see television crews outnumbering the Greens in the room. It makes me really happy to see that."

Socialists

She also offered an insight into the ethical dilemmas faced by party members, saying she was flying to New York to give a speech on peace.

"As a rule, I don't normally fly," she told reporters, but this trip was within her "personal carbon limits".

Miss Jones also made it pretty clear that the party is gunning for disaffected Labour voters - "If you look at our manifesto, what's not to like for socialists?"

Socialist or not, you can read the manifesto in full by clicking on the link on this page. Just don't print it out.