Last year I bought a plastic (recycled) compost bin from a company called Blackwall that were running an offer in conjunction with my local council. It cost £5, although I splashed out on a ‘base’ for the bin and a ‘compost caddy’ - a small plastic bin (complete with biodegradable, corn-starch liners) that you keep in the kitchen until there’s enough to warrant a trip to the main compost bin.
Using the compost bin hasn’t been hard and one of the most amazing features is how much will actually go in - just when you think it’s full, the layers start to compost and the heap shrinks, creating more space - simple!
The manufacturer, Blackwall have just sent me a copy of their latest catalogue ‘Even Greener’ and I thought some GreenVeg readers may be interested in some of the contents.
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In a move which perhaps marks the start of mainstream acceptance of alternative energy production (perhaps we’ll be able to drop the word ‘alternative’ when referring to solar and wind power generation shortly?), DIY superstore B&Q have started to heavily promote both a wind turbine and solar water heating systems.
Of course the cynics would say that this is more a greenwashing exercise by B&Q, to try to get people to think of them as an environmentally friendly company, but credit where it’s due I say. Continue Reading »
From Friends of the Earth:
UK Carbon dioxide emissions rose in the first half of 2006, and are now at their highest level since Labour came to power, Friends of the Earth analysis of new Government energy figures reveals today [1]. UK Government energy consumption figures for the first six months of 2006 are 2.1 per cent higher than the same period last year. And, if this trend is reflected in the second half of the year, carbon dioxide levels will be approximately 4.4 per cent higher than 1997 [2]. Continue Reading »
NASA and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) scientists report this year’s ozone hole in the polar region of the Southern Hemisphere has broken records for area and depth.
From September 21-30, 2006 the average area of the ozone hole was the largest ever observed, at 10.6 million square miles. This image, from Sept. 24, the Antarctic ozone hole was equal to the record single-day largest area of 11.4 million square miles, reached on Sept. 9, 2000. Satellite instruments monitor the ozone layer, and we use their data to create the images that depict the amount of ozone. The blue and purple colors are where there is the least ozone, and the greens, yellows, and reds are where there is more ozone. (Credit: NASA)
The ozone layer acts to protect life on Earth by blocking harmful ultraviolet rays from the sun. The “ozone hole” is a severe depletion of the ozone layer high above Antarctica. It is primarily caused by human-produced compounds that release chlorine and bromine gases in the stratosphere. Continue Reading »
From Science News: Sometimes, ecotourism hurts what it sets out to help. By Eric Jaffe
The island of Damas is a half-hour boat ride from the Chilean coast. On the island, it’s dry and rocky. The Humboldt penguins that live there have no ice slopes to slide down in their black-tie apparel. Instead, these desert penguins seek out caves to shade their eggs from the sun. If they can’t find a spot beneath a boulder, they may burrow into seabird dung. Sometimes, they nest inside a cactus.
To see these penguins, visitors usually begin in La Serena, Chile. They drive 40 miles north on a main highway and then cut toward the coast on a gravel road that leads to the fishing village of Punta de Choros. Local fishermen there charge a fee to guide the tourists to Damas by boat. On the island, people are free to walk into the caves where the penguins live. Anyone can watch a mother brooding an egg and snap a picture with a flash camera or a mobile phone.
What began in the early 1990s as a place with a few hundred curious visitors has now become a tourism destination that attracts 10,000 penguin peepers a year. Damas provides an example of ecotourism, defined as the practice of visiting sites where exotic landscapes and rare animals are the main attractions. Ideally, ecotourists learn about the habitats that they visit, provide donations to conserve them, and generate income for host communities. Continue Reading »
A new RSPB report called, “Force Feeding the Countryside,” which looks at the effects of nutrients on birds and other biodiversity, is “sensationalist,” says the NFU.
The report claims the UK countryside is being force-fed “dangerous” levels of nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorous, and says the increased use of inorganic fertiliser on farms is one of the main causes, the NFU said. Continue Reading »
From The Daily Telegraph
A complete ban on fishing for cod in the waters around Britain will be called for by international scientists in their advice to the EU published later this week.
The advice from the Copenhagen-based International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (Ices) is the same as it has given the EU for the last four years — and which ministers have ignored. But it has new force. Continue Reading »
On the theme of alternative energy production, an interesting article appeared in today’s Independent Online Edition…
Pressure pads under pavements could generate electricity from every step we take. Meg Carter on the alternative energy source that stands out from the crowd
Can a staircase capture energy from people walking up and down it, store it as electricity and use it to power lighting? It sounds like science fiction, yet it is one of a number of seemingly far-out ideas being taken very seriously by scientists and engineers whose goal is to harness the generating power of the human body.
“When we walk along a pavement, eight watts of energy is wasted - absorbed by the ground - with each heel. Yet it’s possible to harvest at least 30 per cent of that energy,” explains Claire Price, a director at The Facility Architects in London.
“Think of a dance floor, which is designed to dampen vibrations and limit the damage dancers could do to their limbs. What we’re now working on features a matrix of energy harvesters positioned beneath a floor. These dampen vibrations but store rather than dissipate that energy to provide a source of power - for free.” Continue Reading »
From LiveScience.com
Areas that researchers have declared the most polluted in the world are typically little known even in their own countries. Yet they in total afflict more than 10 million people, experts reported today.
Battery recycling in the Domican Republic has created lead contamination.
The kinds of pollution in these areas not only lead to cancers, birth defects, mental retardation and life expectancies approaching medieval levels, but are also often found all around the globe.
“They cause an enormous amount of misery and harm, especially to children,” Richard Fuller, founder and director of the Blacksmith Institute, the New York-based environmental group who released a report on these areas today, told LiveScience. Continue Reading »
Targeting of larger fish makes populations prone to collapse, says Rex Dalton at Nature.com
Fishing makes fish populations more variable from year to year, and so more vulnerable to complete collapse, says a study in Nature this week.
These ‘boom and bust’ cycles are probably amplified by fishermen targeting the stronger, bigger, older fish, the international research team says. So quota-setting agencies should consider adjusting fishery takes to protect larger fish, they advise.
For decades, researchers have examined the rise and fall of certain fish populations, trying to determine why the numbers changed: excessive fishing, ocean temperature shifts, or some combination of these factors have been blamed. Fishing-industry groups often laid the blame for plunging populations on environmental change. Continue Reading »
