PROF'S POSER - Where's an actuary when you need one?

The other day these bits of paper arrived.

At first I was going to bin them, but then I had a read, and as a consequence of that called up the sender.

You see, our washing machine is at last 10 years old. Still doing a sterling job, bar a few hiccups year on year that have been resolved.

Thing is, I don't recall ever seeing such an insurance before, so they must n=know what they are doing.

The deal is not cheap, coming in at well over £100 a year. But the up side is tempting. They either fix it if...when it dies, or give us a new one.

Now, my main aim is environmental (no, really) in that I like the notion of repair if at all possible (lord knows what the enviROI on a call-out is), but I was also wondering about the numbers.

Being that a new one is around £2-300, does it make any sense to take out such a policy at this stage?

Oh, what a tangled web...

Now I am the first to admit that this little spit 'n sawdsut operation is more than prone to the odd IT-boo-boo.

You don't want 'em, or like 'em, but they happen.

So it is always reassuring when someone oodles bigger cocks up.

Assuming they didn't mean to address me this way, of course.

How to get in the news: screw up a bit less

Or, 'Stats they way, uh-huh, I like it'.

I know it is good to big up positives and if it's local it has to be good, but you have to wonder what basis news rooms shape their stories. Mabye just a great press release?

Seems our very own Severn Trent water service is the most improved for complaints with some measure or other (I'd never heard of it before). I know this thanks to BBC Midlands Today (will try and get the link - er, good luck via the awful BBC search feature).

Great.

Thing is, as far as I could gather, this accolade is more a matter of the % they have improved from a rather dire level before. So, from god awful to just awful gets you in the media, it seems.

I wonder if there are any out there just doing well and no better than before, and how they feel?

I even had a category ready

This deserves its own gig. More so by being in the Guardian:

Elitist evangelists

I am hard-pressed to figure out what the £30k 'damage' was/is, but 'if you commit the crime, you do the time', etc, I guess.

However, this is one CiF I'll watch from the sidelines.

Telegraph - NEW - Climate change chicanery - The author is a major climate optimist, and hence all written should be viewed in this light but, if true, the point about the function of an expert witness in a legal trial is a good one, and I'd like that question on how two advocates came to be used in this role was allowed.

CATEGORY - TV SHOWS

Haven't created a category in a while. Here's a new one.

BBC

Earth: The Climate Wars - one down, 2 & 3 next Sunday and the one after

ITV

A Rubbish Service -

I might even get round to a re:view every so often. Mind you, I keep missing 'em! Most najors now have a week long follow-up window. Then... YouTube/iPod is your friend?

Where does what we recycle go to?

Of course our local authorities ensure that all recycled rubbish is accounted for and properly and usefully handled, don't they?

Well, not so, according to this from the Telegraph a few days ago.

200 authorities DO know exactly where recycled rubbish ends up.....
but, 135 are unable to confirm where recycled rubbish goes......
and 20 have no idea whatsoever where it goes to!!

I had cause to be briefly back at home when the recycling lorry made it's collection last week, and my eyebrows rose considerably higher as I watched the guys empty our carefully separated paper, glass and metal into, you've guessed it, one single mixed container! On top of this, now it seems that no-one can genuinely account for where it goes too!

Its beginning to make me wonder whether the weekly rubbish sort out is worth the effort.

Addendum (JM) -
Telegraph - Do we waste too much?
Telegraph - The European Union's recycling regulations are a failure

ITV - A Rubbish Service - Missed it, but really there are too many these days. Sounds like more of the same. Worth doing, but the lack of change in the face of such exposes is telling.

RE:VIEW - Confessions of an Eco Sinner, Fred Pearce

The things I end up doing.

Here I am (well, there I was, so long, so very long ago now), on holiday, chilling out, and yet still one in my literary entertainment armoury was still work.

And there it is. On the table of a Turkish sailing yacht, surrounded by the paraphernalia of a decent sunny break.

Thank heavens for the title, then. It's hard to do a re:view, especially if it is of an eco-tome, without at least giving nod to the fact that where one is, what one is doing and how one got there cannot, by any stretch of the imagination, be deemed to be very 'green'. In fact, and this is something I intend to revisit later, during my two week break I had to concede that almost no aspect of the travel industry is designed (even if reasons may vary) to involve much that is reduce, reuse, recycle or anything else that helps the planet. It's all short term, lots of using, going and quick bucks which, when it comes to economics vs. ecology, presses the scales pretty much one way.

Now this book is not only about tourism and, in fact, though there is a lot of travel involved, deals with this aspect rarely (unlike Leo Hickman's 'Final Call', which I have yet to address (and still mocks me over there with all its sticker notes poking out) despite having read it a long time previously - this is just fresher in my mind). It is more to do with the stuff of our day to day lives, and the wheres, whens, whys and hows of how it gets to be here from a lot of there.

First the good news. I learned a lot I did not know before, and it is written in a style that is easy to digest. I do wonder, as I have and will with all such publications, who the audience might be, especially who might fork out £12.99 (now £11.69) for the privilege. Though well researched, ordered and presented, the facts are all pretty much 'out there', for free, thanks to the likes of Tim, Larry, Sergey et al. So you are paying more for the authority of the author to access worthy sources, and his ability to put things in meaningful context. Which, for the most part Fred Pearce does very well.

I'm pondering a book myself, as it is (well, seems) a good way to at least crank some profile and maybe even make a few bob. But there are dilemmas abounding. No matter how recycled the stock, and offset the endeavours, there is no getting around the certain irony of something designed at the very least to stir some critical awareness of the consequences our consumer-driven, travel-addicted ways on the planet and others... pretty much through involving a whole bunch of consuming and travelling. I continually wonder how much awareness Mother Earth can withstand, but only so long as those whose careers and funding depends on them being entitled to go about their business (which can often be a pleasure, too) whilst in essence laying out why it is 'bad' for anyone else to do so.

These are to me the blinkers of the 'green elite', who somehow can't, or won't, get their heads around the fact that most could only dream of being paid to follow a global path over sea, sand or snow, or be called to chat with a multi-billionaire in his castle about his legacy visions.

On balance, the author mostly steers this dodgy path quite well, though there is no doubt his is a career built on saying rather than doing. And not doing a fair bit of what he says others shouldn't, or should at least feel just awful about if they do. At least he does not come across as holier than thou, and more valuably often does raise certain 'truths' as being less great for the planet than some advocates would have you believe.

So, from the gold in your ring to the offset (I didn't) not on your conscience, if this is the kind of thing you like to read to raise your awareness/information levels sensibly, I'd say it's a good one.

Junkk Rating: JJJJ

At last, a less than ideal solution

I tend to find that most eco-initiatives seem to take as their base a rather ideal start point.

Hence I am pleased to share this, sent in by one of the forums I am member of:

Old Home Superhome

As it says:

Old Home SuperHome is an ongoing programme to transform the energy efficiency of existing housing stock in the UK, with the ultimate aim of reducing domestic carbon emissions by 60%.

Read more here...

The scheme is building and promoting a network of exemplar, energy-efficient old dwellings, which will be local and publicly accessible, within 15 minutes, to nearly everyone in the country.

Click here to use the interactive map and find a superhome near you!

There are not too many (yet) but guess what, there is one near me! I feel a visit is in order. With a house whose structure covers six eras, and but one room with cavity walls, I have felt a lot trotted out by various bodies was totally irrelevant to my living situation.

This seems much more practical.

Camden Council - Low energy Victorian house refurbishment

Applications on a (recycled) postcard...

'Climate crisis' needs brain gain

Well, for sure there have not been many brilliant minds applied so far, at least of those that have made the most noise.

'What if Tim Berners Lee had been working in a solar [power] laboratory? Perhaps he would have done it there as well. '

Hmnn, and if Einstein had been working for Greenpeace, he could have invented biofuel.

Guardian - NEW - Reach for the stars

Karma

Funny.

I was just pondering what best to go with this, the latest genius insight from Dilbert, when I was sent this by Dan of Greenbang.

UK clean tech innovators look to move abroad for cash.

Don't know about 'young talent..' but the way things are "There is a danger that some very smart technologies could move offshore..' can add another to its list.

Maybe the US is no better? I doubt it. I guess I should head to Birmingham today. I hear the government is there.. listening away.

Making a splash

This is not so much about the environment, but about the state of science and its reporting.

Last night I watched a doco on a tsunami that was supposed to have happened in the Cro-Magnon era of human existence in the Mediteranean.

Seems a slab of Etna on Sciliy may have slid down and sent out a wave a 100' high that washed the East shores clear.

And I recall a similar recent progamme about the Caanry Islands whereby the US eastern seaboard is soon to be wiped out.

Now, I am all for awarness and preparation, but I do rather wonder what, other than getting some worried, such as the latter really achieves.

But I also wonder about the science. In both shows, the most telling demo is when a slab of material is rushed down a slope in a lab to impact a model of a water feature. Sure enough, by the end a dirty great wave was impacting the other end.

Thing is, whilst accpeting the sheer power of the forces, but I do have to wonder about the relative sizes we're talking about here. A small section of an island in an entire ocean does not seem comparable. Nor does the 'route' being a narrow channel constrained by perspex. The energy disapation in a radial manner over tens of thousands of square miles would surely absorb a heck of a lot?

However, when an entire undersea shelf drop/rise over multiple miles takes place, as it did with the Boxing Day tragedy, that is a different kettle of fish.

Watching the box

I don't sense the main thrust is enviro, but this may be worth following:

The Box takes off on global journey

2 B or nt 2 B?

Texting is doing for our bees?

Electronic smog 'is disrupting nature on a massive scale'

Worth noting that a lot of what 'we' do/demand/expect in our modern lifestyles can adversely affect nature.

Now, the odds of many, especially vocal eco-types (esp. yoof), giving up their moblys...?

Green tops

I'm sure that it has been/will be mentioned (I usually get a PR from them on everything), but this is so far how I came by some not insignificant Green political news of note:

Ch4 - GREENS PICK FIRST LEADER
The Greens have elected their first outright leader, after many years getting by with mystifying multiple arrangements. Caroline Lucas MEP.

There were always passionate defences of the old system, but it did seem to have problems. Will be interesting to see how it pans out.

Inspiring, no?

Robbing us of renewables

Let's have a look inside that pudding, then

I have long cautioned against throwing about sky falling stats and deadlines that can prove problametic if they don't deliver, even if it is just within timeframe.

This is especially true of matters climatic, where nature seldom moves to the beat of the next soundbite.

We live in a literal world, and if your prediction fails to meet claim or expectation, that's going to be a problem.

I vaguely recall a twinge of unease in this regard when this was first outed.

Now, while such as this is littered with 'likely's' and 'could's', the confidence level was pretty high that this would 'make people more aware of the effects of climate change'.

But all I am seeing is references to this, the fact that his wish was granted and he couldn't make it, and not really always in the best way to inspire a climate cautious outlook. So, simplistically, does the fact that he was unable to get there mean "we really are no longer in deep trouble."

I don't know, but I am not sure that he proved what he set out to in the best way possible. There are positives and supporters, but in today's media age I fear I have read a lot more on the fact that the point was not made, and hence...?

'If the glove doesn't fit only works' if it doesn't... and you have a got lawyer. Of course it helps to have a team. And a PR crew. And lots more shrinking wilderness to highlight by all going there (how?) mob handed next time. Hmnn.

BBC - Kayaker's climate change trip

EU Referendum - Idiots Abroad - An unfair headline in my view, but it does rather show how these things need to be throught through.

Times - All this rain . . . obviously global warming - QED

I spent 40 years forecasting the weather, and I can tell you that this was in many ways as normal a British summer as we could expect

Michael Fish, the former BBC weatherman famed for his “no hurricane” forecast in 1987

In the deep end

I am just watching the news coverage of the consequences of the last few days heavy weather.

My ears pricked up at a report from Tenbury Wells which, it seems, suffered badly. But, and taking the media's rather spectacular way of quoting things into account, it seems the mood there is 'why were we not warned?'.

Contrast this with my situation. Here in Ross-on (and, at times -in) -Wye we are not unfamiliar with the perils of flooding. Nothing as bad (yet and, fingers crossed, ever) as others around, but it can get quite hairy.

So I was perturbed, and took quite seriously the message on my mobile and complementary email that arrived soon after to tell me that we were up for a serious flood and I should take all measures and hit the high ground. I even called the Environemnt Agency to ask what was meant by that. The chap said that it meant what I said. So I called BBC Hereford & Worcester. A nice lady there said she didn't know as they just read out what the EA gave 'em, but a lot of folk like me were calling up to ask the same thing.

Thing is, 18 hours later... nada. Well, a puddle. As I look out the window not even the lake on the footy pitch between my house and the Wye, which is a regular feature of swollen rivers in the frequent past.

Now, I am all for 'better safe than sorry', but I have to now question the value of all these systems. On the one had they either didn't work or didn't apply where they were needed... and frankly were a more than a little OTT where they patently were not... at last this time.

I just have a nasty sense of a box being ticked and backside being covered. If our house had been hit then smug smiles all round. No actual help, but I couldn't say I hadn't been told. But inasmuch as I paid little heed this time, with reason, I fear my faith in the next means its value may be even more reduced.

I guess it is difficult, but the sheer level of inaccuracy seems astounding to me in this day and age (this is not where Gustav may make landfall; this is the progress of a surge down a river valley of about 20 miles in length that could have had me evacuating my family overnight), and I have to wonder how much is ploughed into looking like stuff is being done vs. actually doing things. In this day and age, why am I not surprised?

Addendum - Mon 9, 10am - Interestingly, having been warned Friday, if have just been advised that there is no longer any concern. Thing is, as I look out my window the waters are about as high as they have been so far.

Times - Bad building, not heavy rain, made these houses flood

AWARD - environmentawards.net

Not so much an award; more a route to applying

AWARD - Shell Springboard 2008

WHEN: Deadline Nov 7
WHAT: Shell Springboard 2008
WHAT... MORE?: A programme that provides a financial boost to innovative, low carbon business ideas from across the UK. The idea behind the programme is that the business response to climate change should not be all about compliance and cost. There is a huge business opportunity if society is to move from a carbon-constrained world.
The criteria for those businesses which apply are very simple. Applications will be considered if the product or service will lead to a reduction in greenhouse gas emmissions, is commercially viable and is innovative.
HOW MUCH: Free, but work required
URL: http://www.shellspringboard.org/about/
COMMENTS: We've tried before. But will go again. Seems worth a punt.

EVENT - Big Debate: young leaders or green saviours?

WHEN: 15th September
WHAT: Big Debate: young leaders or green saviours?
WHERE: ICC, Birmingahm
WHAT... MORE?: The event, organised by Birmingham City University, follows research into attitudes and influences in developing green policies, reviewing how individuals can proactively apply green lifestyle choices in the workplace.
HOW MUCH: Free, but limted spaces
URL: http://www.bcu.ac.uk/green/debate.html, http://www.thebigdebatebirmingham.co.uk/
COMMENTS: See you there... watch out for the pink Junkk Vac:Sac backpack!

Whoops, he said. From his cosy study.

UK's top boffin: Renewables targets were 'a mistake'

"I think there was some degree of confusion at the heads of states meeting dealing with this,"

Fortunately, the poor loves 'confused' by such complex issues will not be likely to suffer the consequences as much as those who have paid them all their lives to get to grips with such things.

Along with, apparently, CEOs of vested interest energy supply companies, etc.

As to my dear old Mum, however...

Left Hand. Right Hand. And what's inbetween

I often derive a small measure of amusement from unintentional combinations, and have been known to share in other's misfortune.

So here's one of mine I just noticed as a bit of Friday fun:)

It's not just who you know

There's a rather dusty, cobweb-bedecked page on the main site called 'Legal Eagles'.

It's there to post and share little snippets from the legal world of business that affect us and, in possibly you too.

Hence I'd like to pass on this from dotmailer, who handle our regular (I'd love to write 'monthly', but that's still an ambitious commitment I am unsure I can meet yet) newsletter mailouts.

Are you registered as a Data Controller?

As pointed out the fee vs. fine makes it a smart thing to do if you have a mailing list.

We have been registered from day 1. And have in place all checks possible to protect the data held on our behalves. Not too terribly sure what the ICO does to make things better, as all they have ever done is sent us an invoice, but there you are.

Little acorns?

In the spirit of pushing BTNs I share...

Sainsbury's and HP buddy up on recycling jamboree

However, a day at a store smacks of a stretch.

See, oh... who cares? If it has carbon in it something will stick

Keeping up with carbon jargon

All I know is an awful lot has already been committed to stuff based on definitions no one has yet to agree on, let alone understand or get behind.

Just the facts, Ma'am

A worthwhile piece (ongoing series) by Auntie:

What the survey didn't say...
The myth of counting
Putting percentages in context
Just what is average?
Just because?

With luck her reporters, anlaysts and commentators (and others) may take heed.

What the guys who sell you stuff think...

Will consumers pay more to buy green?

So... who can think of a way to go green without asking anyoen to pay more?

Anyone?

Thrift usurps green at top of the new consumer agenda

...5...4...3...2....1...then what?

Recently I have been rather bombarded by PR, reports, and then reports about PR, and then stories about reports about PR about a movement behind our race having 100 months to a 'tipping point'.

As this is all a bit close to the whole climate change 'discussions' I have wearied of, I have tended to ignore it all as, rather typically, we have ended up with two camps, 'pro' & 'con', though I am not exactly sure, if they are either, of what they are advocating, or why.

If it's a hurry up call, well OK, but history has kind of shown me that the chicken little approach seems to be brought out a tad too often, and a tad too precisely, and often to serve all sorts of other agendas.

What concerns is that, though this is dealing in matters of years (well, a decade), it is still a) a bit far off for most folk to get their heads around (especially pols fighting for their jobs and families their finances) and b) once (if?) we get that far and at 9 years, 11 months and 30 days if the measure is missed for any reason (and there could be many), it will be yet another (and there have been a few), for the more vocal climate optimists to add another alarmist scalp to their rather one-sided view of what's what.

Thing is, outside of some rather, how to put it, usual suspectesque outlets, this essentially 'end-of-the world is nigh' prediction hasn't exactly yet set the major media or many 'official' outlets alight as yet. And while I am more than concerned, self evidently, the origins of all this have already got my eyebrow cranking simply because of what is being said, they way it is being said and the provenance of some of those saying it all.

Here's 'a' link about it from the Guardian, though I do wryly note their non main-news g2 section, so I almost missed it: The final countdown

Can you imagine if a telescope spotted a meteorite that in 10 years was going to write our race off?*

ps; What got me on this eventually was being berated for not replying to a 'poll' on a forum that offered me only choices of tipping point from 2 years to twenty. As I am not qualified and hence have no idea, as this was not an option I declined to respond.

Rather typically, of those that did the 10 year assessment is now being touted as a more substantive measure. I am unsure of the make up of the rest of those 'polled' (don't forget the only correct answers presumed a certain view), but I very much doubt they are much different to me, so this already smells of a pr exercise that can and will lead to some rather uncritical journalistic reporting as 'fact' very soon.

Which, IMHO, serves few of us well. Well, some may disagree:

Spread the word about OneHundredMonths.org

(Early pollsters can give themselves a small back-pat for being in the 1-10 years bracket... 100 months being around 8.3 years...)

Personally I feel this adds some fresh light to the recent discussions around “putting more coal on the global bonfire” and highlights the importance and wisdom of Climate Camp...

I am not saying they (who ever they are) might not be sincere an have many good points, but in my main area of interest - how things play with the public - if I am already cranking an eyebrow there have to be questions, again, on methodology.

BBC - Climate crisis: Roosevelt revisited

Guardian - NEW - How can we save the planet in 99 months? Over to you - When this latest little effort popped up I must confess I passed; along with pledges, I rather view deadlines in this arena as at best pointless and at worst a potential set up for a fall. However, in reading this the intention seems at least noble and with latest reminder there at least looks to be a spirit of proactivity. So good luck.

I of course would advocate reuse and designed in second use, as espoused and promoted by such as http://www.junkk.com , representing a worthy compromise between economic constraints, majority consumer (ie: those who may not select the Guardian as first choice of daily, and hence actually are more significant as a public force of influence) behaviours and the chance that we really should get around to re-addressing a lot of what we currently do pronto.

Sadly, at current count this is but one of only a few that actually have tried to answer the invitation. The rest, totalling some 15 to date, being the near inevitable 't'is/t'isn't' 'warmings' (a sort of climatic flame exchange) from various camps that rarely seem to serve much bar heating things up a tad more. Sigh.



*In case you are interested

Well, they asked... in the Guardian

A pensioner who uses the wrong recycling bin is fined more than a violent thug. Call that justice?

More Geo-engineering Ideas

The latest in a long line of suggested methods of geo-engineering the earth to limit warming involves throwing large sprays of salt water into the air to encourage cloud formation as reported today in the Yorkshire Post.

There is also a summary of other geo-engineering concepts in the Indy today too.

Some ideas seem rather off the wall, but it is all very interesting stuff.

Arctic Ice Update

It has finally happened.

For the first time in human history, both fabled North West and North East passages are open, making the Arctic ocean capable of being circumnavigated. It is thought that this unprecedented event has never occurred during the last 125,000 years, and some scientists now believe that the Arctic ice cap is entering a death spiral from which it will never recover, leading to the Arctic being ice free during the summer months, perhaps as early as 2030.

The NSIDC reports (as of 26/8/2008) that the ice extent is the second lowest on record, and with a couple of weeks of ice melt left to come, it may well be that last year's largest ice loss record could be broken again.

The ice loss is regarded as direct evidence that our little lump of planetary rock IS warming, and whether you believe the warming is man-made (or worsened), as the IPCC consensus states, or entirely natural (as many believe to be the case), it would suggest that things are going to change for humanity rather significantly.

My question is - what if the Greenland ice cap IS following suite and also starts to disappear? Perhaps this is the time to buy shares in welly and boat manufacturing businesses?

CATEGORY - FASHION & TEXTILES

A trivial issue to many in my book, but it gets a lot of press.

ARTICLES

Times - Is recycling your old clothes worth it?

Guardian - Ethical fashion directory - Go wild, eco-luvvies!

Sharkride - NEW - SUSTAINABLE CLOTHING PRODUCTION

JUNKK NEWSLETTER - August 08

Well, here it is, for those who may not have signed up to the site opt-in mailing (go on, I need the numbers!) but read this blog.

Took me long enough. That last was in April, and though well received after a long absence it has taken me this long to get around to the next. Which is pretty silly as in that intervening time a lot of folk will have ported from Hotmail to AOL or left their firewalled company nest to seek better opportunities or set-up their own businesses. I doubt telling Junkk would be high on the 'new address' list.

The eagle-eyed, and/or faithful amongst you might notice quite a lot that's familiar. This is basically because most that is on Junkk.com is from here. Frankly the admin. interface is streets ahead. In fact I suspect many Junkk users don't appreciate just how much Junkk info is updated daily on the blog side. Being addressed!

Anyhoo, a few experiments have been put in place as this all goes down. One is me posting this 'ahead', Tardis like, in time, to see if it stays top of the list for the next few weeks.... while I am away. At last... freedom. No mobile. No internet! A for real holiday with no clutter or distractions save spouse and sons. Bliss.

And as I (with the noble exception of trusty Dave, who has co-access and can post) am about it, Junkk.com and Junkk Male RE:view will be coasting for a wee while.

I am also road-testing a new newsletter format, and in case the world hits the fan for any reason, I am (after suitable testing) pushing 'SEND' as I walk out the door. I kind of want it to be different to most other newsletters in the green arena, but I also am nervous about how some may view a bit more feisty opinion lurking in the shared info which hopefully all will value in the sharing.

I don't want any brickbats to spoil my time away, and will look forward to any bouquets awaiting my return to ease the pain of getting back in this dratted seat and firing up the monitor once more.

Ready, steady.... [click]

NEWS/GO3 PR - Pledge and win!

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

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.

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..

Interesting insight into business behaviour and consumer choice

Noting this is from a Plastics Blog:

Beaujolais in PET

I wonder what happens to the empty bottle?

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

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.

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?

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.

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"

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.

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.

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.

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:)

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).

And a side order of getting your own house in order with that...

Fish on film: can it stop the waste?

Phew, at least they aren't targets. Think of the waste then!

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.

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

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

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'.

Me old bamboo..

Another possibly dodgy belief-set pricked:

They really need a 'stuff hierarchy', especially in the world of green, across all consumer categories.

In the world of textiles I had cotton just above whale foreskins down at the lower ends (excuse pun), but right up there at the top, along with hemp and Katherine Hammett bags I thought there was bamboo.

Pandering to the green consumer

Or... not.

Perhaps we should ask the flora and fauna?

This from Science Daily reports on research into the habitat boundaries of plants and animals in N. America.

It would appear that lots of species of flora and fauna are moving their habitat boundaries northwards (and in some cases, upwards) at an observable rate (we are talking decades here) as the planet's climate warms.

Now that's really strange, because I keep reading comments in posts on climate change that insist that the planet is actually cooling.

Maybe we should give Dr. Dolittle a call?

Spin

Phillipe Starck's Designer Wind Turbine

Without that name attached I doubt it would have rated a column inch anywhere, nor indeed would I be commenting.

But it does present an interesting, if rather worrying, insight in what that is 'green' gets done, and covered, that may or may not be actually worth a damn.

I have to say that my initial reaction to his 'conversion' was 'well, at least the profile of trying is worthy and if style will make 'em try, why not?', but then I looked at the thing, and the claims made for it, and started to wonder about the substance. And enviROI.

I'll leave the piece, and some very pertinent thread comments in reply, to speak on.

Times - Philippe Starck turbine creates green juice for homes - Nice of 'em to catch up

Greenbang - NEW - Designer Philippe Starck tarts up turbines

The world according to Starck...

Now. He's told the Times. And The Times has told this august tome. And, as is the way, you have now told us. According to what I have read.

Has anyone popped out to check the enviROI on this thing?

I have heard that it might be a wee bitty more style than substance, and the planet is running like a UK Olympic diver in the actual 'doing some good 'rankings.

It would be nifty to find out what the actual facts are. As with a possible IKEA solar panel, after my B&Q wind turbine temptation, there may be that which looks good, does their profits good, but by golly isn't all it's cracked up to be at end of t'day.

Do you hate junk mail?

Like most of us, the answer is almost certainly yes.

Now there is another good reason for detesting that pile of useless paper that drops through your letter box each week. This from BusinessGreen.com suggests that junk mail, just in the USA alone, has a carbon footprint equivalent to some nine million cars!

Now that sounds like a great reason for banning unsolicited junk mail to me! (Unless you've elected to opt in to receive it.)

Basking in a green glow

I was going to let it wash over me, but seeing a global PR campaign at work can be a scary thing.

IKEA to Sell Solar Panels, "Smart" Meters

This has to be the nth article on the topic I have seen today, from Sydney to Seattle.

Now, on balance, fair enough. However this also comes on the day I am reminded about the last home eco outing that has proven 'interesting', namely wind turbines.

So my envIROI meter is twitching again.

I just hope the company, and those who will buy from it, have and/or will do their homework very carefully before leaping.

I have but scratched the surface on the solar industry and its potential to me as a consumer, but one thing I already know is the first few 'toys' I bought were a variety of panel that are good for a few yeast tops. Not so good for pocket of planet.

Worth bearing in mind as you wheel your trolley down the aisle and see a tantalising display that might not work out as well as you bargained. It has happened before, and I was one who almost made a rash decision in a B&Q with a windmill that looked so shiny and worthy.

Not saying it might not bring affordable options to the masses and be done right, but just be aware.

ps: Smart meters are OK, I guess, but I haven't looked at ours in an age. What I do use, a lot, is the wireless standby remote.

I stand, on terra firma, corrected

At least, so it would seem.

I have in the past been, if not a critic, then at the very least a tad dubious about some of the green noises being made around sending a bunch of rich tourists up to space for a Kodak moment atop a column of greenhouse gasses.

Virgin Galactic is one giant leap for the well-heeled

'Incidentally, the carbon dioxide emissions of a passenger on a spaceflight will be roughly 60pc of those of a passenger on a regular London-New York flight, with Galactic working with engine manufacturers Pratt & Whitney towards eventually flying the aircraft on renewable jet fuel.'

Renewable jet fuel? That's a new one on me.

Anyway, see... in fact, it is saving the planet. Says so in the brochu... Telegraph.

Now, who'dathunk?

Recyclers are cashing in on the fortune in your bin

Times - NEW - Local councils find that it's waste not, want not with rubbish

Times - NEW - Rubbish is fast becoming the new gold as cost of raw materials rises

WRAP - NEW - Barriers to recycling at home - Worth bearing the above in mind as you read this

Well, that worked well. Not.

I will not be adding my comment on the original blog. Enough has been said already. But...

On a planet 4C hotter, all we can prepare for is extinction

What... as in: 'this is an ex-Dodo. It is no more'?

Now, being that I hope soon to swap 20 degrees for 30 odd and the slim chance of getting a swim in some warm water, and that's double the increase in that headline....

Ah, headlines. I wonder if they get paid by the number on who clicked it. I did. How could I not?

Thing is, while there may be some smart insights into preparedness in there, I could not get past the idiocy of the headline.

Oh... and guess what? There's a book.

Just saw that. I will now be adding my comment.

BBC - NEW - Extinction 'by man not climate' - The Lord giveth... some other bloke slaughter away. So, it seems, by coincidence, that man is again the cause of all possibly natural ills. Subtle.

Let's go fly a kite

An, interesting, and potentially exciting notion.

High-Flying Kites Could Produce Enough Energy for a City

However, I have to pose them a question, beyond the safety issue (what goes up...):

What's not to like?

However, I have to wonder about the reliability factors.

Like Charlie Brown, my efforts at getting a kite up, staying up and back down (if it got too gusty) have never been that successful. And certain involved a lot of kidpower on the ground.

So if (as it surely might) the wind drops, what is the proposed procedure to get the generating mechanism back up again?

Greenbang - Kite power takes flight

More questions than answers

I was interested in this piece in the Indy: 'To greens, I was worse than a child abuser'

Now it has to be stated upfront that Mr. Durkin, and his doco, were pretty darn fat and loose with some truths, and certainly acted in the best interests of ratings over accuracy and fairness.

However, I am intrigued by a few fair issues/questions raised in this piece, which, whilst erring on 'two wrongs' I was not aware of until now.

'Harrabin had to go on to Newsnight and put some of these obvious points to Gore in person. Big Al squirmed and evaded and, according to Harrabin, later accused him of being a "traitor"'.

'Harrabin wrote a piece admitting he had thought the film was a bit off when he first saw it. Did he indeed? So why didn't he tell the rest of us? What do we pay him for? And how about all those "scientists" who, to their eternal shame, lined up to heap praise on the film?'

As many are asked of our national broadcaster, and the response systems of that august body are 'selective' at best, and none exists on this piece, I guess I may never know.

Plus ca change.

But, it's art!

I remember cranking an eyebrow at this when it first went up.

Not so much for the materials, but the energy required to lift water up and drop it down.

Now it seems there may be another reason to think one's eco-ware artform through a tad better before making one's point (plus laods of PR & wonga):

NYC Waterfall Installations Might be Killing Trees

Hmmn.

I remember when these first went up wondering what was the energy source used to elevate large volumes of water artificially up to drop down.

I asked a similar question of an 'eco-wareness' installation in some Nordic capital that involved lighting all the buildings up in colours to reflect 'moods' as I recall.

Apparently, as it was night, demand was low. So that's OK then.

There's a certain irony that falling water is often used to generate energy.

A large steak please, and make it Skippy!

An interesting little story from the Telegraph, reporting on a suggestion that farming Kangaroos, rather then sheep and cattle, could markedly reduce Australia's greenhouse gas emissions.

Kangaroos apparently have a unique stomach bacteria which means that they produce far less methane than cattle or sheep.

Jeez, just imagine trying to round up a herd of kangaroos!

Is over-population the key problem?

I, like Peter, am somewhat of a wuss when it comes to mentioning the 'policy that dare not speak it's name', but this piece, by Paul Valelly of the Indy, definitely warrants a thorough read.

The article contains so many facts and figures that my head is still spinning. The key points to note, however, seem to be that when it comes to population:-
- nothing is simple,
- there are loads of paradoxes,
- religion, and cultural differences, are very important,
- social change does make a huge dent in birth-rates,
- the magic figure is 2.1 births per couple,
- large parts of Europe are well below 2.1

The UK is destined for a declining (and aging) population. Perhaps the article on the report by the BMJ in Science Daily that we mentioned a little while back was not considering all the facts?

My mind has always felt that over-population IS the key problem for our planet as an entity, but after reading this, I'm not too sure, as the implication is that as the world's population gets more educated, and more wealthy, the population, in the main, will naturally decline.

Write on!

Words of warming

Nifty, if a smidge irony-free.

I must rush to print, this online free stuff is killing me (if not as many trees - i know, I know, they are from FSC-certified managed forests and act as a carbon sink).

Bad Dragon's breath

Boo hiss.

Peter Hopton, Very PC interview

I have not seen the actual show (gave up watching ages ago, when I got booted in the auditions for seeing clean through the set-up but not being smart enough to hide the fact I was only interested in PR exposure - mind you they can edit any negative stuff that shows them up out).

What I have read is a few reviews by folk who know a bit about VCs, as well as the actual technology, and by all accounts not only are the Dragons a bunch of egoistical bullies (like we hadn't sussed that) dancing to the tune of a ratings-obsessed medium (nice one, BBC) at the expense of quality programming, they, and especially 'byte-me' guru Peter Jones, apparently were not quite as acronymically on top of IT as they thought. And to cover this up (if they knew), the best solution was to but the boot in.

I don't know which is the more sad. The people involved (from these iconic business 'stars' to Evan Davis and the outfits he works for, or the national culture that has given rise to them.

Makes you proud to be a UK-based eco-entrepreneur.

Businesszone - Dragons' Den episode three: Lessons learned

Oh, for heaven's sake.

This is as relevant to business as my Dad getting excited at a 70s Jackie Pallow vs. Mick MacManus wrestling match being 'unfair'.

It is entertainment, pure and simple, successfully aiming at the rules of the Coliseum to get ratings.

The only wonder is that these 'successful' business folk have sold their souls so easily just to be the right side of a very nasty one-sided exchange.

I gave up ages ago when the BBC News trumpeted some eco-effort that 'was the only one that had all 5 Dragon's applauding and wanting to invest', with acres of free national PR to help it along.

Only thing was, despite it all, no one seems to have bothered to ask, or cared, before, during or until much later what the IP was.

Quietly shelved; job done for all parties concerned. Except for any accurate reflection of how business works or how partnerships are forged.

Does anyone serious, seriously think anyone with a great idea and all the numbers is going to accept chump change (that might buy a director for 3 months or a 1/2 page in a tabloid) from some bozo who has not shown any real evidence of what else they can bring to the table bar the support of our national, commercial-free broadcaster?

What's the successful hit rate?

All I can recall is Reggae-reggae sauce, and while big up to the lad who came up with it and played the 'any publicity' card well, I rather suspect major retailers might not have been so keen to offer rack-space without a full crew from Aunty showing lots of logo love and boardroom-level furrowed brows for weeks afterwards.

As that other inspirational titan of the pinstripe suit, Siralun, might say: 'Do us a favour!'

I cannot tell a lie: He did it!

Survey: Should outsourced CO2 count?

Love it. 'Outsourced Co2' indeed. You'll be saying they'll be trading it next.

Sorry, almost every survey I am sent/get confronted with leaves me seeking an option usually not there.

'Should an iPod’s pollution be counted as Apple’s or China’s?'

Er... both? That way the company and the country can be held to account for the stuff going into the global atmospheric pot. Anything else would suggest all sorts of neat ways to shunt a problem out of line of sight, not that anyone would dream...

Win win?

There have been a few today (except, possibly, the planet*).

Scargill challenging (no hyperbolic headline grabbing there) Monbiot to go into respective rooms full of Co2 and radioactive waste.

And in some sort of luvvie melt-down of the Guardian pages' favourite sons and daughters, Monbiot having a go at Burchill.

I'd rather be a hypocrite than a cynic like Julie Burchill

'Handbags', or should it be 'book launches at dawn''.

I'm just trying to get my understanding of English sorted, especially when it come to matters environmental.

A cynic is, generously, one who might have a questioning attitude expressed in a not altogether 'nice' way, or, at worst , 'suggests a disbelief in the sincerity of human motives':

Which would seem not altogether unreasonable when dealing with, say, 'a person who pretends to have virtues, moral or religious beliefs, principles, etc.', or.... 'that he or she does not actually possess, esp. a person whose actions belie stated beliefs'.

Tough call. A person with a cranked eyebrow at all they are supposed to swallow, or one who effectively says one thing but does another.

The planet breathes easier in such company, I am sure.

Where will it end? In tears, I fear. Especially when class is brought in for good measure.

*George Monbiot won the day in tussle with Julie Burchill

Telling. Outside a rather insulated bubble quite far from where I live, I am not sure who 'won' or not, Mr. White, but I rather suspect my kids' futures on this planet were net losers. Hope you all got what you needed from the exchange.

Personally I'd leave environmental commentary to people who do care and actually DO positive stuff than endlessly count debating points. But I thought your contribution to this morning's piece of Dear Leader's fitness to govern regime was cutting edge. Keep up the good work in the BBC studio next door. They do have space to fill, as you say. Mind you, what they choose to fill it with... Might one ask why such a critical debate is booked between two sound bite extremes and not any who may bring rational information and even decently subjective debate to the table. That's rhetorical. All any of you in the media want... need... are addicted to... is ratings. Which is how you are measured and make your money. Mind you, when it comes to the other 'green' that gets sampled as an issue on occasion, what can... do you all spent it on?

Telegraph - Class will matter more, not less -

Gaurdian - NEW - Old King Coal is a brave old soul, but he is talking utter nonsense - I'll post it, but can muster little interest to read or comment on what now seems personality-driven issues. Coming soon: Eco-'celebrity' mudslinging tag team action... the DVD, book and world (while it lasts, but might as well make some serious dosh on the back of its demise) tour!
Dire. Meanwhile, elsewhere, there might be some actually quietly working away on DOING positive, proactive things that might make a difference.

...OI

Not really worth adding to the Hydrogen category (but it will be linked via Labels), I add this for the glimmer that enviROI and even ROI is getting an airing.

Boris: no more energy for sustainability?

Not by the activists and the media that support them, of course, but the beauty of the blogging system is that casually thrown out rallying cries can now be challenged to support the practicalities behind the headlines.

Great. Now we've got past how it looks, maybe we can look at what still needs DOING!

Suddenly being green is not cool any more

Not that this has sunk into the thick, superficial skulls of the majority of most media reporters or columnists.

All These Green Taxes And Rules Are Just Witless Nods To Fashion

Sticks and stones... and degrees... and QEDs

I usually steer clear of the whole CC thing, but this caught my attention: Planning for the worst

First up there was the 'planning for' vs. 'avoiding' shift (albeit with an inevitability slant), but also the first line resonated: 'Just like blades, phrases can be blunted by overuse. Talk of avoiding "catastrophic climate change" is so familiar, the words no longer instantly stir up apocalyptic images. '

All, sadly, true. And one must wonder why.

Even more sadly, I tended to skip through the SOSO text in a pretty cursory manner, and then alighted on the comments in reply, of which this was the first: 'I see the climate change 'denier' nutters are on here as usual.'

And so I gave up. QED.