Recycling and Christmas

Christmas is a time for presents and unfortunately waste.When the market has gone out of recycling and many Local Authorities are having to hold on to our recycled waste,what can we do to help the situation.We've got very good at recycling over the years but all our good effort doesn't want to go to "waste".
When we go to buy our Christmas presents we can look for goods that have less packaging.We can re use Christmas bags that have been sent to us from Christmases past and we can make more cards,decorations.We can be very frugal.

Pres elect Obama switches the lights off

In an interview President Elect Obama is showing what a great example he is to the American people and the world as he switches off his lights,TVs and mobile charger at home and he intents to do an environmental review of the White House.Hurrah!!!
We can all do our bit and remember to "Switch it off and turn Earth on"
Go on do your bit!!.

Its beginning to look alot like LED Christmas as we switch to eco friendly lighting

The Christmas season is nearly here and its a time for many lights.Lets face it...we love our Christmas decorations and lights.This year has been a harsh one and thus we want to be cheered up.
Yet how can we celebrate Christmas without the fear of using too much energy and in turn it then affecting our environment.
Well a revolution is on its way.Its called LED and these little lights are the future for Christmas.They use less energy and last longer .They are very bright aswell.
When you are out and about look for the LED lights and brighten your Christmas this year the eco friendly way.

"Green growth"

The green economy: ten global facts


The London Array, planned for the Thames Estuary, could become the world's largest offshore windfarm.


A proposed tidal barrage over the River Severn could provide 5 per cent of the UK's electricity. It would cost £15bn and cut carbon emissions by 16 billion tonnes a year.


Barack Obama will invest $150bn in renewables, in the hope of creating five million new jobs in the US.


Abu Dhabi's Masdar Initiative, launched in 2006, will invest $15bn in global green energy. It will take eight years and cost $22bn to build Masdar City , which will rely entirely upon renewable energy.


Qatar is investing $150m in developing green technology in the UK.


There is one large-scale commercial tidal power station in the world - in Brittany, France. It has operated for 30 years without mechanical breakdown and has recovered the initial capital costs.


Consumer goods in Japan will soon be labelled with their carbon footprints. Producing a packet of crisps emits 75 grams of CO2.


Nine out of ten new cars in Brazil use ethanol-based biofuels. Flex-fuel vehicles make up 26 per cent of the country's light vehicle fleet.


Since 2006, disposable chopsticks in China have been taxed at 5 per cent, safeguarding 1.3 million cubic metres of timber every year. Green venture capital accounts for 19 per cent of China's investments.


The Australian government has invested $10.4bn in making 1.1 million homes more energy-efficient, creating 160,000 jobs.

Will we ever have an answer on climate change?

It seems that every week there is new research that is either saying "global warming" is man made or "global warming" is normal for climate change.
We have research that has said recently that the world has infact cooled over the last ten years and now there is more research saying that man made global warming may steer off a huge ice age.
I'm totally confused...are you?
We know that our climate changes.We have periods of warmth and periods of cold.It depends on many factors.There could be sun spots,solar rays,solar wind.There could be a slight move in Earths orbit,slight tilt.
We can't control the forces of nature.Yet we do know that we have contributed to global warming and that we have damaged our beloved planet.
Whats my attitude on it all.
Well I think that helping the environment can only be good.I think that if we think about recycling,saving water,saving energy....it helps .It makes us feel good and that in itself is a benefit.It makes us think.Waste is ugly and greedy.
Protecting our animals and countryside is beautiful.
So whatever the truth,protecting your environment is good for your soul.

Retail industry find environmentally friendly products excite consumers and save costs

"Green is good".It excites the consumer and saves the shops money on energy costs.
The increase in turbulent weather hasn't gone unnoticed by the general public.The general public are consumers who want to make a difference to their environment.They want to consume environmentally friendly products in an environmentally friendly world.They want to go to shops that have wind turbines,low energy light bulbs and recycled furniture.
This is a "win,win" situation for big and small companies.McDonalds want to attract new and dynamic customers.Wal Mart want to show that it does care about the planet and maybe these companies want to repair some of the damage they are responsible for.We'll give them the benefit of the doubt for now.
In Chicago ,USA McDonalds has recently opened a store with energy saving gadgets.It has high efficency applicances,pavement that filters rainwater(wow)and recycled chairs.It even has a garden on its roof!
At Wal Mart ,all new stores have highly efficent lights,sky lights and improved heating,cooling and refrigeration systems.
Wal Mart opened an energy efficient store in Beijing Wanging area at end of Oct.The Store has LED as a major lighting source,sliding glass doors are used in refrigerators and coolers to conserve energy and reduce carbon emissions.The entire store is equipped with motion senses to control lighting during non-peak hours.
Wal Mart is planning to re fit all of its 113 stores in China in three to five years.
It makes good business sense to introduce these environmentally friendly gadgets and gizmos.Soon it will become the norm everywhere.

The US election and the environment.

In the eight years of Bush being President we haven't seen much evidence of good environmental policies.Its sad really.The US can make a huge difference to our climate and they can make the changes that can help combat global warming.Yet the chance to make a change could be coming with a new President.
What do Obama and McCain offer the world on environmental issues? Its a bit unclear at the moment.
Yet the environment is serious stuff.If the next President of the US does the same as Bush,what hope have we got?
Our world is in need of a changing attitude.
We need hope for the planet.

Now will we listen as we melt the ice sheets!

How can we ignore the facts.How can we ignore the floods,droughts,storms and heatwaves.We are to blame,we are the cause of the melting of the ice sheets in both polar regions.
The Arctic has warmed sharply in recent years.The sea ice has melted in 2007 to a record low.Yet the Antarctica puzzled scientists.Its winter ice sea had expanded.Now a new study by the University of East Anglia has revealed that the Antarctica has also warmed by a few tenths of a degree and temperatures in the Arctic have risen by two degrees in the past forty years .The study compared temperature records and computer climate models and showed that warming in the polar regions could be best explained by a build up of green house gases and mainly from burning of fossil fuels.
This will cause sea levels to rise and many changes to our climate patterns.

Starbucks not so environmentally friendly ?

I wrote an article on how Starbucks were trying to do their bit for the environment but I did have a feeling that they couldn't live up to their promise.
The Sun newspaper in the UK has discovered that Starbucks has a policy where the staff have to allow their "dipper" tap to be turned on and flowing constant water to maintain health standards.
Well this is a total waste of water and very damaging to the environment.All their environmental projects can not undo the huge loss of water from their coffee houses each day.
What a disappointment.