This is going to really hurt!

And that's ALL of us, according to this from the Daily Express reporting on a forecast released by USwitch that energy prices may rise by up to 46% (yep, that DOES say 46%) this year!

OK, the 46% is the worst case scenario, but coming on top of fuel, food, mortgage repayment and across the board tax increases, I reckon that many of us, myself included, are going to be struggling financially before long!

And here's the Telegraph's take on the same forecast report.

A cross between Nixon & Mr. Bean

We don't often feature non-enviro posts on Junkk, but I'm allowing myself a slight diversion into the world of pure (sic) politics.

That post title is the excoriating description of our PM, Ol' Golden, by the Daily Express.

"Only five months into his Premiership Brown shows all the signs of becoming a unique creation: the gruff, unbalanced mediocrity of 'Tricky Dicky' Nixon mixed with the comic absurdity of Mr Bean. No wonder so many Britons seem desperate to leave the country."

I have to confess that I hadn't realised that his ratings had fallen as far in the polls as they suggest. Though to be fair, Ol' Golden's been that quiet of late, I'd almost forgotten he was our PM.

Oh, just for fun, here's the Daily Mail's take on our "constipated" and "dysfunctional" government.

More Cats. More bags. But is anyone listening to the chorus?

This one almost slipped by me: SCANDAL OF WASTED MILLIONS AS BRITAIN'S RUBBISH PILES UP

It's very short, and very tabloid. But worth reading.

Thing is, will anyone pay any attention, much less do anything about it all?

ADDENDUM - A tad more:

THE GREAT DUSTBIN GRAVY TRAIN

I rather fear that this will be dropped and disposed of like yesterday's news. But considering the amounts involved, the public does deserve accountability.

Without wanting to get party political, as Shadow Environment Minister Greg Barker says: “We are entitled to ask what we are getting in return. WRAP has done some valuable work but it is not enough. We need an organisation that is more accountable and has more teeth, rather than just having more consultants, more bureaucracy and more short-term initiatives.”

I'm afraid that if this is the best that can be offered in justification, it is simply not good enough: 'WRAP spokesman Gareth Lloyd last night claimed the quango produced value for money and had met its targets to increase recycling and cut waste going to landfill. He said the salary bill had soared to pay for extra staff to cope with the increase in WRAP’s remit since it was set up seven years ago. '

This time I simply want to know what has been the ROI as a taxpayer, and enviROI as a co-dweller on this planet. I know what they have had to spend, and getting vast sums to create empires doesn't do diddly for either, and when it comes to the comms budget they have had to drive up the rates they get bonusses for improving, I'm sorry, but as an ad man the numbers simply are pathetic.

This offers an interesting complement: Recycling's green contribution questioned
Environment Agency (EA) chief executive Barbara Young has said: “recycling does not really contribute much to tackling climate change.” The comments contradict findings of a 2006 Waste & Resources Action Programme report.

I was moved to reply:

I’m sorry, but as a very confused, and hence hard to engage member of the public (what you don’t understand, or believe, makes persuasion a lot harder. And two funded quangos knocking spots off each other is unlikely to unmuddy these waters) all I need is some simple guidance on what represents good enviROI (benefit to my kids’ future) with, preferably at the same time, a decent financial ROI as a taxpayer.

I’d have to say that, as an alternative to doing nothing, recycling seems a no-brainer. What it’s costing is a much bigger issue. So it may be legitimately asked whether a slavish devotion to meeting targets is the best way other than, as this weekend’s Sunday Express seems to have raised, generating massive financial rewards for those who benefit by spending public money to boost their bonuses. Considering the PR climate and sums committed on advertising, one would blooming well expect rates to go up, so using my money to make me work for free to drive up fat cat incentive schemes seems... quaint, at best.

It’s not a matter of the EA claim saying recycling does not help mitigate climate change – as it patently can do - but simply how much of a positive it represents as a total of our consumer behaviours. And what its relative value therefore is. Especially when it comes to huge public comms budgets. It therefore seems possible that these vast sums may not have been best directed to achieve a worthwhile envROI.

And I, for one, find questioning THAT more than helpful.

Couldn't Express it better!

A loooong day.

Up very early to try and cover off some work before leaving for the NEC Total Packaging Show again, followed by a very pleasant drive up (1 hr, door to door).

It was well worth it. The booths, sadly, are not the best places to trawl. For a start, as I am finding out from seasoned attendees, the big guys are not there any more, and of those who are you will not meet a decision maker.


So I lurked around the seminars mostly. Now, most of these were as is suspected, and pretty much a guy or gal reading from the PowerPoint slide I was looking at; but there were good opportunities at Q&A afterwards. And my trusty Junkk.com lappy-sling served me well as a substitute billboard, while the Vac:Sac is doing duty elsewhere, in getting the name across to those in the audience who may be moved to come up and chat afterwards, which many did.

My lack of in-depth industry knowledge worked to my advantage, as I was able to pose some pretty dumb questions which nonetheless left a few 'gurus' floundering.

This was mainly because I am acquiring a certain sympathy for the packaging industry. Now, while they may be no more angels than any other profit-oriented business grouping, they know their stuff, what works, what doesn't... and when they are getting a raw deal. Thing is, they are often constrained by relationships from being as vocal as they could be for what is essentially two goat functions: sacrificial and scape.

Government, quangos, activists and, most shamefully, the media have rather dumped the high profile woes of our consumer society upon them, and them alone. And, frankly, a lot of it stinks by being unfair, untrue and often not very 'eco'-logical at all in any case. For a start, I was amazed to learn that, considering this to be one of the highest profile packaging events of the year, no major media - who had been invited - had chosen to attend. Now, it may not be the most exciting niche in the news world, but it has been enough for a few high-profile 'campaigns' to be run in such as the Indy and Daily Mail. I rather think they owe their readers the opportunity to learn just why certain seemingly poor examples of 'excessive' packaging are used... and who specifies them. This latter is important, as the industry is usually only doing what it is asked, or rather demanded of it.

My head is buzzing with facts I simply did not know, and whilst I have no reason to doubt them, really do need to check up a bit before trotting them out. But, as I say, these guys do know their stuff, and it became quickly obvious to me that those who are quick to criticise (a few of whom were game enough at least to attend, to their credit) were doing so from a pretty woeful one-sided or agenda-driven viewpoint. Or were simply very badly briefed. My main concern was that, even at this stage, we seemed to be again only at the start of 'we must start discussing this more' talk. Er... now?

I do have a lot to digest, not just for Junkk.com but also RE:tie, as I also found many people there to be more than helpful in offering advice and leads, for which I must be more than grateful.

Anyway, as I think it is worth going back again, I must hit the sack.

At least one last thing will be worth a pleasant thought or two as I doze off. As I was leaving I had an excited call from Peter, the lovely photographer who had 'shot' me for the rather bruising interview for the Daily Express piece. Well, it had appeared today. And I must say it was a pretty big... and nice... spread (though they did add six years to my age - maybe I look it lately).

I hope it will serve to complement my activities at the show, and soon we will see both RE:tie and Junkk.com move into newer, better... and, with luck, more profitable areas. So now I must go off and work hard at having more luck:)

It's not just the question. These days it's who is asking it.

DO YOU WANT GREEN SNOOPERS IN YOUR HOME?

No. But how do I know any more that they will be as described here?