the wastelands

A council in Hertfordshire are piloting a 6 month scheme to encourage residents to throw out only one bin bag of rubbish a week. Story here.
In some respects I favour this but all these schemes are dependent on the facilities being available to recycle the waste instead of bin it. I know that the majority of my waste now consists of plastic and our council have very limited resources to collect and recycle plastic waste. I also worry that councils who are better at recycling plastic are actually just contributing to landfill by the back door (see this story about plastic that gets shipped to China and then land filled)

Labels: limited collections

It's been too long and for that I apologise. This doesn't mean there has been nothing to report in the green world just that I have been too busy to track it.

I have tried to draw up some guidelines for YMCA Norfolk as a step towards a zero waste policy. This is about two individuals who are passionate about being green and so if there are any things we may have missed, please point them out.

Oh and BTW, I've always been led to believe that paper recycling can't take envelopes due to the adhesive. Is this correct because I recycle them separately?

We can recycle:

• Glass bottles or jars
• Paper
• Cardboard
• Envelopes
• Used stamps
• Plastic magazine film
• Plastic bottles
• Aluminium tins
• Steel cans
• Organic waste (tea bags, salad, apple cores)
• Tetra packs
• Plastic carrier bags
• Printer cartridges

Please help us to reduce our waste and save precious resources

Labels: workplace recycling

I have been following irregularly the reports of Ethical Man, a journalist who undertook to live a green lisfestyle for a year. On Panorama this evening there is a programme reporting on this green year. The link above however has his main findings in case you miss the programme.

In November, I reported that I started a new roll of cling film saying that I wanted to note how long the roll would last. It lasted until Thursday this week. This means the roll lasted 112 days. This also means I use approximately 3 rolls a year. I'm not sure if that's as much as I thought.

I have hundreds (almost!) of predominantly A4 padded envelopes and I wondered if anyone knew how to recycle them/want them/know of someone who might want them?
Answers on a postcard please...

Tony Blair has lost a High Court battle against Greenpeace about developing a new generation of nuclear power stations.

The court found the decision to back a new generation of power stations was unlawful, because of a "seriously flawed" public consultation process. Ministers plan to re-consult, but say nuclear power is the best way to tackle climate change and energy security.

Mr Blair told the BBC: "This won't affect the policy at all".

BBC news story here So the plans are rejected because of the lack of robust consultation but this won't deter the policy at all because Mr Blair is determined to carry on with the plans? Unbelievable!

And yet to be fair, an online petition that has generated one million signatures about road charging has resulted in Douglas Alexander, the transport secretary "pledging to listen to" opponents of UK road charging. (story)

Consultation therefore is really only any good when it results in an outcome that I want: therefore no to nuclear generators and yes to road charging. I know which of these results WON'T be forthcoming on consulting with the general public.

An interesting discussion is taking place between government minister Hilary Benn and the European Federation of Professional Florist Associations' Toine Zwitserlood about flowers. Mr Benn has said:

"People want to buy ethically and do their bit for climate change, but often don't realise that they can support developing countries and reduce carbon emissions.

"Recent research shows that flowers flown from Africa can use less energy overall than those produced in Europe because they're not grown in heated greenhouses.

"So, this Valentine's day, you can be a romantic, reduce your environmental impact and help make poverty history.

"This is about social justice and making it easier, not harder, for African people to make a decent living."

Of course Zwitserlood (hmm, does that name sound Dutch?) says otherwise.

"What he [Mr Benn] is not doing is looking at the big picture.

"The big picture is not only energy; it's other things like child labour and how employees are treated on farms.

"Our employment standards in Europe are high."

He added: "There is also the question of what is done with waste.

"I think we could make a case for moving many industries to Africa and stop all our agriculture because it's cheaper to produce elsewhere, but where do you stop?

"It's a very strange argument Mr Benn is using."

It's an interesting debate which can be found here. Personally, I won't be giving or receiving any flowers this Valentine's day so it doesn't affect me!