Dog Bite and Hospital Waste (Nov08)
My son Rollo was bitten by a dog. He was lucky to be wearing a glove because he ended up with a nasty gash between his thumb and his fingers, as well as having a number of puncture holes from the dog’s teeth. The dog had been playing happily with a number of children who […]
Biogas potential (Oct08)
A couple of weeks ago I went to visit one of the few emerging biogas plants in the country. At Biogen (www.biogen.co.uk), near Bedford, they take in 30,000 tonnes of food waste and put it in large anaerobic digestors (ADs). Actually, they have to remove the packaging first, but the principle is pretty simple. The […]
Printer Horrors (Oct08)
I’ve been having problems with my printer. Actually, it’s been annoying me for quite some time. The gremlin inside it gets particularly difficult when I’m trying to print something off before rushing out of the door to catch a train. Perhaps I should admit to be partly to blame for my problems. Having bought my inkjet printer […]
Recycling Dreamland (Oct08)
Chris Dow at Closed Loop recycling in Dagenham was enthusiastic and knowledgeable. He describes the new plant – it won’t be fully operational until December – as a ‘recycling dreamland’. When it’s running at full pelt, this brand new factory will make it possible for a plastic drinks bottle to be chucked away at […]
Summer produce (Jul08)
The weekend wasn’t glorious – certainly not the weather anyway. But I’ve been really enjoying the delicious summer produce, either from my wonderful food delivery service – Somerset Local Food Direct, from my mother’s garden or from our local pick your own. On Saturday night I had 15 people to supper. We started with broad […]
A Trip to Waste Tip (Jun08)
Dimmer landfill site near Castle Cary in Somerset is unusual. It has a rather beautiful wooden eco-building within it’s boundaries, housing the Carymoor Environmental Centre. School trips for nature talks and wildlife walks are a regular feature – and they do a lot to educate the public on the benefits of recycling. I took my […]
Plastic recycling is not where it should be (May08)
Most plastics can be recycled but that doesn’t mean they are. Recoup have been campaigning for more plastics recycling – particularly of bottles – since the early 1990s. A long time ago I went to open their 100th bottle bank but haven’t really been involved since. So attending their conference this week brought back memories, as well […]
Food ethics, tomatoes and feeding the world (May08)
I’ve been to a lot of food ethics events recently – being a member of the Food Ethics Council (FEC) is keeping me busy! I’ve chaired three of their Business Forum meetings – on food miles, meat consumption and ethical labelling; attended a working group meeting on the conflict between limiting air-freight food and fair […]
Biodegradable is not my bag (May08)
Chuck away plastic and it lasts forever. That doesn’t sound great, particularly for things that are only useful for hours at best – seconds at worst. And if that plastic ends up littering the hedgerows or floating around in the oceans it’s not only an eyesore but can be damaging to wildlife too. So, many […]
Carrier bags – Fact sheet and video – (Apr08)
M&S took a lead in charging for carrier bags and have subsequently reduced the amount handed out by a staggering 80%. My view is that this is a good initiative but that the issue of carrier bags has been given far too much attention, given the relatively small impact they have. Early in 2008 I […]
Why do we all hate plastic bags?(Feb08)
“Why do we all hate plastic bags?” I ask in The New Green Consumer Guide. Now, the headlines are screaming about their horrors and the campaign to ban them seems to be endorsed by every living celebrity. You might think the answer is obvious. Plastic bags are produced in their billions, litter the countryside, pollute […]
Unwanted phone directories 50 times as high as Everest! (Feb08)
I don’t use phone directories any more – I always look up numbers on the internet. But I’ve still got a pile of these weighty tomes in the corner of my office, collecting dust and doing nothing useful. I’ve now discovered that 50 million telephone directories are distributed each year and 17.5 million of these […]