Desperately trying to round off various tasks before we leave for our vacation.
Here's a topical one I have to get out now, as I promised the author. As always, E&EO, though this one is as 'in the zone' as one could hope:)
Now my views on some major media and government pledges are well know, but this one has that consumer-inspiring extra that is so often neglected: reward!
Pledge and win!
In June 2008, the Green family from Gloucestershire set themselves a zero waste challenge.
Could an ordinary household produce nothing for the landfill each week?
Reducing, reusing and recycling came into their awareness after they were personally involved in the Boscastle floods, whilst on holiday, in 2004.
They realised that every action they took had an impact on other people across the country and the globe. How we dispose of our rubbish can contribute to global warming, so they decided to take responsibility for their actions.
They half heartedly attempted changes, but kept falling back into old habit patterns.
Then an article about the effects of plastic on marine life changed their lives for ever. From that moment on, Mr Green declared 'no more plastic bags' and that was the beginning of their journey towards zero waste.
In June, an 'average' weeks waste for the Greens was around 100 litres - 1 metal dustbin plus 2 swing bin liners. By recycling more and changing their shopping habits over the past 3 months, the Green's put out just 141 grams this week - less than half a carrier bag.
During the first week in September, the Greens have set themselves a zero waste week. In order to help spread the word about the 3 R's and reducing landfill waste, they want you to join in too!
You will have the opportunity to earn some fantastic prizes when you pledge to make some changes.
Simply visit their 'Pledge and win' page, choose your pledges, choose which prizes you would like to win, carry our your actions and then return to the site in September to comment on your experiences.
Don't worry - you don't have to go zero waste! The competition is aimed at complete novices as well as those who are already recycling. If all you can commit to is to reduce one can, then that's fine. If everyone in the UK did this one small action, we could save 60 million cans going into the landfill.
The aim of zero waste week is to show people that every small action can have meaningful effects. And the hope is that changes made during zero waste week will be long lasting and lead to other changes.
In addition to zero waste week, the Green's blog about their daily adventures on their site
Saturday, August 16, 2008
When others zig...
It is irrational, unfair an unwise, but when this woman says something I tend to look in the other direction for what makes sense...
Carbon credits tick all the boxes. What's the delay?
What, oh why, did she have put 'tick boxes' in the headline!?
Simplistically (and ignoring a bunch of modern day economic, social, democratic, etc realities) the only thing I can see being effective is a GLOBAL rationing system based on personal allocation and not trade.
One long haul, one short haul, 10,000 miles, so many kW & btus per person per annum.
Not very fair, especially to your aspiring Mumbai IT whizz, Shanghai metal worker or Kalahari bushman, but there you go.
Thing is, if it were made fair in such a way, and trade was introduced, suddenly upping the total emissions allowed by all who share this planet's atmosphere to a Tuscany-accessing thrice yearly level would, I'd hazard, roast us all inside even Mr. Tickell's timeframe.
I'm sure Madonna or Mrs. Pitt could use their future brood's allowance to bring 'em over, but having squillions but little to spend it on as one is stuck at home is going to leave little for the Guardian's style section to report upon.
Or is the suggestion that I don't hit the beaches this weekend and trade that (nifty commissions to all in the City, natch) with Coca Cola (UK), and this will sort things out? I mean in terms of total, global enviROI that serves the future of my kids well, not.... box-ticking targets.
Carbon credits tick all the boxes. What's the delay?
What, oh why, did she have put 'tick boxes' in the headline!?
Simplistically (and ignoring a bunch of modern day economic, social, democratic, etc realities) the only thing I can see being effective is a GLOBAL rationing system based on personal allocation and not trade.
One long haul, one short haul, 10,000 miles, so many kW & btus per person per annum.
Not very fair, especially to your aspiring Mumbai IT whizz, Shanghai metal worker or Kalahari bushman, but there you go.
Thing is, if it were made fair in such a way, and trade was introduced, suddenly upping the total emissions allowed by all who share this planet's atmosphere to a Tuscany-accessing thrice yearly level would, I'd hazard, roast us all inside even Mr. Tickell's timeframe.
I'm sure Madonna or Mrs. Pitt could use their future brood's allowance to bring 'em over, but having squillions but little to spend it on as one is stuck at home is going to leave little for the Guardian's style section to report upon.
Or is the suggestion that I don't hit the beaches this weekend and trade that (nifty commissions to all in the City, natch) with Coca Cola (UK), and this will sort things out? I mean in terms of total, global enviROI that serves the future of my kids well, not.... box-ticking targets.
Just a thought...
I've mentioned this before.
Between the sun and the rain, my 1/2 acre produces so much green stuff each week I cannot keep up. Even with a massive trolley, my dump run is piled high with vegetation.
Now, as this is what Mother Nature has used energy from sunlight to convert C02 into more complex carbon products (and hence capturing) that's already a good thing, but can't we in some way munch this down to compost and capture the gaseous energy to run stuff?
I merely ask, because having watched the Chinese army tote several acres of offshore seaweed to landfill, the same notion struck me when I read this:
Foreign plants and animals cause havoc on waterways
BBC - 'Dirty dozen' threaten waterways
Guardian - NEW - Compost bug offers hope for biofuel industry - Dots are bring joined..
Between the sun and the rain, my 1/2 acre produces so much green stuff each week I cannot keep up. Even with a massive trolley, my dump run is piled high with vegetation.
Now, as this is what Mother Nature has used energy from sunlight to convert C02 into more complex carbon products (and hence capturing) that's already a good thing, but can't we in some way munch this down to compost and capture the gaseous energy to run stuff?
I merely ask, because having watched the Chinese army tote several acres of offshore seaweed to landfill, the same notion struck me when I read this:
Foreign plants and animals cause havoc on waterways
BBC - 'Dirty dozen' threaten waterways
Guardian - NEW - Compost bug offers hope for biofuel industry - Dots are bring joined..
Friday, August 15, 2008
Movin' on
I have today waded through a rather predictable set of stories, and responses to same, in major media and blogosphere, regarding this undoubted fact:
Climate 'altering UK bird habits'
Now I have a stated reluctance to getting into any 'tis/t'isn't barnies here as they seem to go nowhere fast, but not fast enough to avoid consuming yet more time it is possible we may not have.
What rather amazes me is that still the 'optimists' seem rather stuck in an increasingly odd groove, namely that nothing is happening. I've seen all sorts of 'responses', to ice sheet thicknesses and weather patterns, etc, that are still harking to the notion of 'warming' as the one and only thing that should be happening and isn't. I think I've seen one guy actually write that he's got his jummy on in August, and that's never happened before, so it can't be warming.
No, but it does seem to be 'changing'.
Thing is, many of these knee-jerks are kind of in response to equally clunky attempts to pin anything and everything on climate change (which it does, all the time), but more controversially down to man.
Dilemma. If you want to change behaviours, you need to point at causes and solutions. Trouble is, so far, I don't think we know enough to be certain, but we live in a world of absolutes now. And saying it for certain, even if just to get a reaction, can rather backfire, especially if things don't then pan out as predicted (which, in matters of TV minutes vs. geological timeframes isn't helpful). Also, it really doesn't help if the 'solutions' are more on the negative side...stop, don't, etc.
I don't pretend to have the answers either, but one I certainly do advocate is the pessimists learning a bit of judo and going with the opponents' strengths rather than standing rigid and getting flattened.
Frankly, as a bit of science, if the trend in bird nesting has moved (though reports of it being by 'a week' didn't really seem that awful to my non-ornithological mind) then leave it at that.
I'm sure if we are also getting information on PMWNCC, then most can connect the dots without it being the primary reason for everything.
Now, if we can accept that it is changing, what do we...
Gaurdian - NEW - Warming warnings get overheated
Climate 'altering UK bird habits'
Now I have a stated reluctance to getting into any 'tis/t'isn't barnies here as they seem to go nowhere fast, but not fast enough to avoid consuming yet more time it is possible we may not have.
What rather amazes me is that still the 'optimists' seem rather stuck in an increasingly odd groove, namely that nothing is happening. I've seen all sorts of 'responses', to ice sheet thicknesses and weather patterns, etc, that are still harking to the notion of 'warming' as the one and only thing that should be happening and isn't. I think I've seen one guy actually write that he's got his jummy on in August, and that's never happened before, so it can't be warming.
No, but it does seem to be 'changing'.
Thing is, many of these knee-jerks are kind of in response to equally clunky attempts to pin anything and everything on climate change (which it does, all the time), but more controversially down to man.
Dilemma. If you want to change behaviours, you need to point at causes and solutions. Trouble is, so far, I don't think we know enough to be certain, but we live in a world of absolutes now. And saying it for certain, even if just to get a reaction, can rather backfire, especially if things don't then pan out as predicted (which, in matters of TV minutes vs. geological timeframes isn't helpful). Also, it really doesn't help if the 'solutions' are more on the negative side...stop, don't, etc.
I don't pretend to have the answers either, but one I certainly do advocate is the pessimists learning a bit of judo and going with the opponents' strengths rather than standing rigid and getting flattened.
Frankly, as a bit of science, if the trend in bird nesting has moved (though reports of it being by 'a week' didn't really seem that awful to my non-ornithological mind) then leave it at that.
I'm sure if we are also getting information on PMWNCC, then most can connect the dots without it being the primary reason for everything.
Now, if we can accept that it is changing, what do we...
Gaurdian - NEW - Warming warnings get overheated
And the joint award for irony and best use of funds goes to..
Sweet home Alabama?
I appreciate the underlying humour that prompted this, but was more interested in the simple facts of.. 'The council spent £15,000... The leaflet was meant to thank residents for helping the city achieve its 2007-2008 recycling target early.'
Let's get our heads round this. They spent an extra £15k to thank folk for helping meet a target early.
I appreciate the underlying humour that prompted this, but was more interested in the simple facts of.. 'The council spent £15,000... The leaflet was meant to thank residents for helping the city achieve its 2007-2008 recycling target early.'
Let's get our heads round this. They spent an extra £15k to thank folk for helping meet a target early.
The weak of provenance
It's always worth thinking how really green any green effort you get involved with is.
Especially if you are part of the civil service.
The dirty secret of your NHS
I wonder if a target still got met?
Especially if you are part of the civil service.
The dirty secret of your NHS
I wonder if a target still got met?
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Oh, the buzzing of the bees
... in the cigarette trees......(From 'The Big Rock Candy Mountain'). Maybe a sound that you will not hear that much in the future, and that is a cause for great concern, as our little friends, the bees, in their many species, appear to be in almost terminal decline. Full report from the Indy.
So what? I hear many of you ask. Well, without bees, a lot of our food crops will not be pollinated, and yields will drop dramatically. So they are, kind of, errrrm, rather important to humanity.
The article explains how CCD (Colony Collapse Disorder), which has devastated parts of the USA, has since hit Germany, Switzerland, Spain, Portugal, Italy and Greece hard too. Now it seems to be spreading into the UK. And the cause of CCD? There is some research which now points the finger at mobile phones. The suggestion is that mobile phone signals somehow interfere with the bees navigation systems; they are unable to find their way back home, and they die.
Yet another serious enviro issue to worry about. And that's NOT tongue in cheek!
Bee-minus?
NEW - (Junkk Male) I was not aware of it at the time or I'd have picthed in, but here's a response from No10 to a petition on this topic.
So what? I hear many of you ask. Well, without bees, a lot of our food crops will not be pollinated, and yields will drop dramatically. So they are, kind of, errrrm, rather important to humanity.
The article explains how CCD (Colony Collapse Disorder), which has devastated parts of the USA, has since hit Germany, Switzerland, Spain, Portugal, Italy and Greece hard too. Now it seems to be spreading into the UK. And the cause of CCD? There is some research which now points the finger at mobile phones. The suggestion is that mobile phone signals somehow interfere with the bees navigation systems; they are unable to find their way back home, and they die.
Yet another serious enviro issue to worry about. And that's NOT tongue in cheek!
Bee-minus?
NEW - (Junkk Male) I was not aware of it at the time or I'd have picthed in, but here's a response from No10 to a petition on this topic.
What goes down, can come up
Is it just me, but wouldn't it make a wee bit more sense not to chuck it out in the first place?
High price of plastics raises prospect of rubbish mining in dumps
I must be sitting on a gold mine (just personally - what Junkk.com is set up to offer by way of getting people paid by those willing to fork out cash rather than a fine seems an opportunity, too!
Britain's bin baron says: get recycling like the Germans
Recycling: mining muck
The hidden cost of recycling - now that sets a cat in even my own set of enviROI notions!
PRW - Mining for plastic in landfill within a decade
MRW - NEW - Councils miss out on "green gold"
High price of plastics raises prospect of rubbish mining in dumps
I must be sitting on a gold mine (just personally - what Junkk.com is set up to offer by way of getting people paid by those willing to fork out cash rather than a fine seems an opportunity, too!
Britain's bin baron says: get recycling like the Germans
Recycling: mining muck
The hidden cost of recycling - now that sets a cat in even my own set of enviROI notions!
PRW - Mining for plastic in landfill within a decade
MRW - NEW - Councils miss out on "green gold"
Everything is relative, I guess
And I know that it's hard to reduce things as populations expand (even if economies might not be).
But...
After all the bazzillions spent on system and 'awareness' comms budgets, do these figures look good to you on an ROI and/or enviROI basis?
Defra says results show waste policy progress
Household waste is down from 25.8m to 25.6m tonnes;
Waste sent to landfill is down from 16.9 to 15.8m tonnes;
Average household recycling rates increased to 33.9%; and
Municipal waste reduced overall from 29.1m to 28.8m tonnes.
But...
After all the bazzillions spent on system and 'awareness' comms budgets, do these figures look good to you on an ROI and/or enviROI basis?
Defra says results show waste policy progress
Household waste is down from 25.8m to 25.6m tonnes;
Waste sent to landfill is down from 16.9 to 15.8m tonnes;
Average household recycling rates increased to 33.9%; and
Municipal waste reduced overall from 29.1m to 28.8m tonnes.
From the country that brought you 'bring out your dead...'
You have to admire the official optimism of some town hall policy wonks..
Manchester: Bring in bins to stop fire starters
'Entertain your kids. Impress your friends! A bin in the hall is a sure sign that you have the health of our balance sheet well up on the agenda, and the heck with smell or hygiene or space!'
Bless.
Manchester: Bring in bins to stop fire starters
'Entertain your kids. Impress your friends! A bin in the hall is a sure sign that you have the health of our balance sheet well up on the agenda, and the heck with smell or hygiene or space!'
Bless.
Numbers game
Just love it when arts and science meet
The oxygen crisis
I live in hope that just one liberal media outlet will hire someone who didn't do classics for Oxford of History of Social Work and Knitting at Kingston Poly.
The oxygen crisis
I live in hope that just one liberal media outlet will hire someone who didn't do classics for Oxford of History of Social Work and Knitting at Kingston Poly.
Switch. But what to?
Our environmental concerns are on standby
Have to agree with (almost) all posters here, especially if the stats stand up, which makes it a very useful blog.
FWIW I charge my phone besides my desk and off it goes the moment it's 'done'.
Not for great enviro reasons, but a warm transformer is a penny-sucking transformer.
At current mobile usage, even if left on 24/7 (and with the alarm on - what's the carbon footprint of an additional, new bedside clock?) that's about 3hrs per week.
We also only do the washing at weekends and so that's off as soon as done (killed off the dryer years ago).
Even the dishwasher* is off before the 'drying' light goes out. At post wash heat opening the door and leaving a while seems to do as well.
A £5.99 gizmo on the TV/SKY/DVD combo plugs seems to kill 'em all pretty well without having to risk life and limb getting into the back-end spaghetti.
But I do totally agree that there is no excuse for these aspects not to be designed in.
ps: Having had a problem I had an eye-opening chat with my engineer. He reckoned the eco-setting was anything but. 5 degrees cooler but two hours longer. Plus the lower temp on appliances means the seals and pipes end up clogged more often and require him called out more often and bits being replaced.
If true, hardly seems very sensible ROI or enviROI even to me, more like another type of 'washing', if you know what I mean:)
Have to agree with (almost) all posters here, especially if the stats stand up, which makes it a very useful blog.
FWIW I charge my phone besides my desk and off it goes the moment it's 'done'.
Not for great enviro reasons, but a warm transformer is a penny-sucking transformer.
At current mobile usage, even if left on 24/7 (and with the alarm on - what's the carbon footprint of an additional, new bedside clock?) that's about 3hrs per week.
We also only do the washing at weekends and so that's off as soon as done (killed off the dryer years ago).
Even the dishwasher* is off before the 'drying' light goes out. At post wash heat opening the door and leaving a while seems to do as well.
A £5.99 gizmo on the TV/SKY/DVD combo plugs seems to kill 'em all pretty well without having to risk life and limb getting into the back-end spaghetti.
But I do totally agree that there is no excuse for these aspects not to be designed in.
ps: Having had a problem I had an eye-opening chat with my engineer. He reckoned the eco-setting was anything but. 5 degrees cooler but two hours longer. Plus the lower temp on appliances means the seals and pipes end up clogged more often and require him called out more often and bits being replaced.
If true, hardly seems very sensible ROI or enviROI even to me, more like another type of 'washing', if you know what I mean:)
Careful what you campaign for...
How I became an 'enviro-criminal'
First they came for the plastic bags, but I did not give Sir Stuart his 5p...
At least we can count on the Guardian not to leap on any ban-wagons that may lead to more fines and... oh.
Imagine if they decided travel ads were out, and car mags (like AutoTrader).
First they came for the plastic bags, but I did not give Sir Stuart his 5p...
At least we can count on the Guardian not to leap on any ban-wagons that may lead to more fines and... oh.
Imagine if they decided travel ads were out, and car mags (like AutoTrader).
And a side order of agenda with that...
Junk food ‘makes toddlers learn slower’
Too many Big Macs as a kid I guess, but to me it would have scanned better as '... more slowly'.
Also, is it just me, or does this just slightly look like the kind of 'report' we're going to be 'fed' (excuse pun) a fair bit from now on to help shape our actions in a better direction?
I'm all for sharing positives to encourage, but less keen on negatives to spin up scares. Especially if they backfire.
Too many Big Macs as a kid I guess, but to me it would have scanned better as '... more slowly'.
Also, is it just me, or does this just slightly look like the kind of 'report' we're going to be 'fed' (excuse pun) a fair bit from now on to help shape our actions in a better direction?
I'm all for sharing positives to encourage, but less keen on negatives to spin up scares. Especially if they backfire.
Money talks, losers walk
I have used them and abused them. But have also been used and abused.
Awards. Can't PR much without them; but waste so much trying to deal with them.
And really, what are they really there for, other than to use those who enter, and those like them (plus a pliant, culpable media and gullible audience) to make money?
Who pays... wins.
Wonder wall
Awards. Can't PR much without them; but waste so much trying to deal with them.
And really, what are they really there for, other than to use those who enter, and those like them (plus a pliant, culpable media and gullible audience) to make money?
Who pays... wins.
Wonder wall
Saving the planet by the pound
Soon we will be off on hols.
After a few years camping and a bit of relly duty, it has to be admitted that we are going somewhere sunny (actually also in the vicinity of terrorist bombing, and outbreak of hemorrhagic fever, a 2,000 sqm forst fire and small war) as the kids want to swim, the missus wants sun and I want to eat fun food.
So, what to do?
Well, reading this, in the absence of outright bans (yet), maybe an interim advocacy would be that airlines charge by the pound/kg.
However, there is slight self-interest at work here. Other than the missus' unmentionables and unneccesaries (actually very little compared to some of the fairer sex), other than Speedos* and toothbrushes for me and the boys we are struggling to fill one 20kg suitcase. Oh, and other than yours truly, the rest of the family swings in at about another me.
*There is a limit to what I will bare, and the planet could bear
After a few years camping and a bit of relly duty, it has to be admitted that we are going somewhere sunny (actually also in the vicinity of terrorist bombing, and outbreak of hemorrhagic fever, a 2,000 sqm forst fire and small war) as the kids want to swim, the missus wants sun and I want to eat fun food.
So, what to do?
Well, reading this, in the absence of outright bans (yet), maybe an interim advocacy would be that airlines charge by the pound/kg.
However, there is slight self-interest at work here. Other than the missus' unmentionables and unneccesaries (actually very little compared to some of the fairer sex), other than Speedos* and toothbrushes for me and the boys we are struggling to fill one 20kg suitcase. Oh, and other than yours truly, the rest of the family swings in at about another me.
*There is a limit to what I will bare, and the planet could bear
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
These boots were made for walking around
They of course should have been my natural habitat from day one.But somehow, for all the usual silly, untrue reasons... 'not enough time', etc... I have not been to one in an age.
Then, this weekend, the combination of a dead house and too early to disturb slumbering family, I donned my rucksack and pedalled off to our nearest one.
Awesome! A good few hundred stalls laid out in the cattle market. Yes, there were a few that erred on the tat (hey, they were selling, so the missus will be happy if I am inspired to purge ours... if not because it will be to make way for more Junkk), but there were some real finds at bargain prices.
I managed to get a 30cm vernier caliper and a micrometer to help with my Junkk data uploads.
Now all I need to do is figure out how to work them (I used to know, but with my eyesight the digital readout ones are a lot easier and I have gotten lazy).
If it works here...
Like most, I have a gas boiler (yes, I'll be nice, Mr. Putin). And outside is its vent.
Now, just I have never been able to figure out why all those pictures of oil rings and refineries had the stuff burning off without being used, I have often wondered why what seems (all due efficiencies inside) a lot of heat going out cannot be reused back in.
Now, one plan I had was to deflect it to waft over the car windscreen so in winter it is ice free.
Trouble is there a lot of vapour and well, it's also poisonous.
However, speaking of cars and exhausts, this looks interesting:
GM recycles exhaust into power
'Aving a bath Mother? Old up, I'll do a quick couple of blogs while you're running it'.
Now, just I have never been able to figure out why all those pictures of oil rings and refineries had the stuff burning off without being used, I have often wondered why what seems (all due efficiencies inside) a lot of heat going out cannot be reused back in.
Now, one plan I had was to deflect it to waft over the car windscreen so in winter it is ice free.
Trouble is there a lot of vapour and well, it's also poisonous.
However, speaking of cars and exhausts, this looks interesting:
GM recycles exhaust into power
'Aving a bath Mother? Old up, I'll do a quick couple of blogs while you're running it'.
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