UKC

http://www.environmentalmanagementnews.net/storyview.asp?storyid=43961&...

Speaking to Japanese officials in Tokyo alongside Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi, Collins said that as the Earth revolved beneath her, patterns of environmental devastation were clearly mapped out below.

In reply to Fex Wazner:

You know all the alien films where aliens come to earth to pillage our crops, water etc? Ironic that we will soon be those aliens who were always depicted as such terrible creatures.

In reply to chambers:
Any aliens passing by will think, "Damn, someone's beaten us to it".

In reply to chambers:

It breaks my heart. I try in my own little way to do my bit(apart from driving long distances just for my personal pleasure), but global economics is a powerful beast. We all need to get wise, be aware and suffer a little, put the time in, spend a bit more money on stuff to keep pressure up.

I do hope it works out though.

Fex.

In reply to SornaBob:

Exactly!


Fex Wazner:

I can't see it working out though. I try and do my bit too, but I know it's not nearly enough. If those who do try and do their bit can't really do enough, and are no doubt vastly outnumbered by those who don't try, then we really are screwed.

In reply to chambers:

on the positive side, when we have damaged the environment to such an extent that it can no longer sustain us, things may start to improve rapidly.

Fex: be wary of what those flying in space say about the earth: it must feel awful lonesome up there. think how precious the earth becomes when you're a mere three metres above your last runner.

In reply to Fex Wazner:
Definitely re-education. A tin can is deemed clean and OK to store food. As soon as the food is tipped out, the perception of that tin can instantly changes, and it becomes rubbish, and why should that person wash out rubbish, after all it's their right to throw it away?

Everyone can do a little. My Dad is chuffed that he saves money by switching electricity supplier, yet when I was home recently, I found out they don't bother switching the home PC off when they are around (including overnight)!

No one's going to be perfect. I cycle to work, recycle bottles & cans used at work & home, and switch off devices that don't need to be on, take rucksac intead of plastic bags to supermarket, etc, etc. Yet, I will happily do a 450 mile round trip in the car to Skye for the weekend.

Rather than covering the landscape with windfarms to cope with the extra demand, demand should be lowered through education.

In reply to JJJJ:

You are the Yoda of UKC JJJJ.

I do all our office recycling though my council recycling tubs at home, pic up bottles and cans and put them in my rucksack pockets and it makes me feel good. Its a shame companies are persecuted for wanting to recycle while households are encouraged to do so.

Oh well, let's jsut hope there is enough enivronment left to actually protect in the coming years. I can see lots of eco villages set up in and around Europe at some point and all the opther countries screwed through libertarian economics. I just hope everyone makes enough money fast enough to become middle class as quickly as possible outside th EU.

Fex

In reply to SornaBob:


You can bet that lots of people leave phone chargers and other chargers constantly plugged in and using (admittedly small amounts of) electricity continuously. Plus leaving the TV on standby all night.

Not particularly significant individually, but on a worldwide scale?

And more and more consumer electrical gadgets use rechargable batteries, so have chargers that are left plugged in all the time regardless of whether they are charging batteries or not...

In reply to Fex Wazner:

Yoda is some creature from Stars Wars, right? i have not seen the films. can you just let me know, was that a teasing insult, or a teasing compliment?

i also pick up bottles and cans for recycling, but, i must confess, only from the mountains. my presence in the mountains, via car, being far more destructive that anything the recycling can achieve.

In reply to JJJJ:

A compiment - a figure head for thruth and righteousness.

Fex.

PS. The amount of electricity used in making ally cans is substantial - I wounder how many cans equivalent a journey would be in an electric car?

In reply to SornaBob:


Hurrah, I'm not the only one! I've finally convinced the staff in our local supermarket not to automatically start packing my shopping into carrier bags, but they still appear to think I'm slightly mad.....

In reply to Carolyn:

I have a long running battle with my local corner shop who insist on putting everything in a plastic bag. The sooner we tax plastic bags innthe UK the better. The trouble the government hasn't got the backbone in my view.

It's now turned into a bit of a joke between me and the owner and I have said that should give me a discount with all the money I am saving him.

Funny he hasn't said yes...

In reply to Dominion:
A TV left on standby will cost you about £50 a year, God knows what a PC costs. People care about their pockets; that's the angle that's needed.

In reply to Carolyn:


Yup, sooner the British government follows the Irish government with a tax on bags the better.

In reply to Carolyn: I get that too, when I say I dont need a bag and shove things in my jacket pocket. Also get odd looks at the cafe when I ask them not to put my bacon butty in a polystyrene box.

In reply to JJJJ:

No! I tend to think about how Hard it is

In reply to Carolyn: I've generally take a rucsac to the supermarket, but that's largely because I cycle there and couldn't get the stuff back in a plastic bag.

However one that used to annoy me was with fresh fruit/veg. In general, if it isn't going to be squished by floating around my bag, I'll just leave fruit/veg free (i.e. not in little plastic bags). So I'd get to the checkout, and the assistant would put it all in separate plastic bags. Grrr - I purposely didn't bag them up.

My new flatmates as bad though - he seems somewhat obsessed with tidiness, and so the few times I've left an old bread bag out so I can take my sandwiches into work, he's gone and thrown it out.

When will people learn - recycling is good, but reusing is often better as it takes less energy.

In reply to Fex Wazner:
Dear Fex

Things do look bleak for our beautiful planet and when you consider that whatever we do, India and China are really gearing up to be the next economic powerhouses and their use of fossil fuels and consumer products are going to go through the roof doest help. The way glaciers are receding dramatically everywhere is very depressing.

BUT as educated well off individuals there are things we can do. HOPE in human nature, talk to people - spread the message =- live your life with as small an environmental footprint as you can. Sign up for Juice, environmentally clean electricity from North Hoyle Off Shore Wind Farm off the North wales Coast (a beautiful sight as you drop down into Abergele from llanwrst) its a partnership between Greenpeace and NPower and for every 50,000 people that sign up they will build another turbine. REcycle. Make monthly donations to Greenpeace, friends of The earth or whatver you consider appropriate. Cycle or walk locally if possible. Economy bulbs at home, insulation, no standby switches. Visit the Centre for Alternative Technology at Machynclth if you want your hopes rekindled - its an inspirational place.

Dont get too hung up on using your car for pleasure - thats what they are for and while we have a crap public transport system whats your options on a precious weekened? BTW I have just read that there is a downturn in SUV usage in the USA and it is now in vogue to go for smaller economic and hybrid cars - its a start in shifting awareness?

The problem with cars is commuting, the school run and driving to tescos in the SUV. One driver, one car, cold inefficient engine stuck in the 8-9 oclock jams. This causes the problems - not you and three mates driving to the crags. In the short term the goverment could pass a quick bill forcing employers to implement car sharing schemes, let cars with four passengers use the bus lanes in the rush hour - problem solved? --- it aint rocket science.

In the medium and long term we must invest in godd clean safe efficient public transport. Transport for public need - not for private profit. I believe that manby of Europes mass transit systems are goverment subsidised and are run as a public service not a profit making business.

Keep spreading the word

Agitate
Educate
Organise

Peace David

In reply to Fex Wazner:

Somewhat ironic that the comment comes from someone just fired into space using millions of litres of rocket fuel on a largely redundant spacecraft.

Better off spending the cash on tackling environmental issues.

In reply to Yorkspud:
Good irony spotting, I will bring them back to earth with my intergalatic potting shed.

Back to the OP. I think they should tax plastic bottles as they seem to everywhere at the moment. May reduce our reliance on oil too. (would increase it on fossil fuels for glass though).

I reckon getting rid of fizzy drinks in cans and plastic bottles would help protect the health of our children and the enivronment.

Bring back the codd bottle, that's what I say!

Fex.

http://www.sentex.net/~morris/BOTTLE%20PICS/Sodas/Other/Various/Crosscountr...

In reply to Liam M: Yup, reduce, reuse, recycle, in that order!