Recycling bins at train stations? April 16, 2008

A campaign by the local green party in the area of St Albans have been successful in winning recycling bins at their train station.

 

Spokesmen Simon Grover has said: “It’s an opportunity to recycle a huge amount everyday”.

 

However, I find this new system somewhat strange. Placing recycling bins in train stations may reduce the amount of newspapers being littered, mainly the free London papers, but I don’t think it will reduce the amount of paper being used in total, if anything it will increase it.

I’ve always liked the idea of reusing anything that can be reused, and a newspaper is one of those products that can be reused numerous amount of times. So why place a bin which is going to encourage commuters to dispose their paper rather then leaving it on the seat for someone else to read. Seeing as we all do pick up newspapers on tubes, trains, trams and busses I think it’s an unintelligent step to take.

 

That is my opinion and I would be very interested in hearing some of yours, some comment away and let me know of your thoughts.

 

=)

Grow your own produce to reduce household wastes. April 10, 2008

Today’s episode of Loose Women on ITV1 starred guest Kim Wilde, an 80’s pop singer and current professional gardener. She made a very interesting point which got me thinking about other ways which we could REDUCE the need for recycling.

Growing our own produce would mean less packaging and hence less waste for recycling.

Growing your vegetables is very easy as you can use pots on your windowsill, balconies and gardens. There are many useful websites which advice you on how to grow produce such as herbs, peas and salad ingredient: http://www.ehow.com/how_2148816_grow-windowsill-herb-garden.html.

 

This approach of home produced goods would decrease household wastes and slowly help environmental issues such as global warming. It is cheaper, healthier and more exciting than buying your vegetables or herbs from Tescos.

 

So would you consider growing you own produce?

 

MEPs tougher recycling targets April 9, 2008

According to the Members of the European Parliament (MEP) who held a vote on 8 April, recycling targets should be increased and incinerators subjected to efficiency criteria when burning waste for energy ‘recovery’ purposes.

 

Their aim is to make sure by 2020, 50% of the EU’s household waste and 70% of construction waste is recycled. These targets should, according to MEPs, accompany member-state efforts to stabilise waste production by 2012.

The vote is part of the Parliments second reading on waste production and a controversial piece of legislation that is plagued by widely differing waste and recycling practices across the EU.

 

What has shocked me is the level of recycling in the UK compared to the neighbouring European countries. According to the Friend of the Earth (FOE), Germany, Austria and Switzerland recycle over 50% of their household wastes, whilst the UK only manages to recycle 19% of all household wastes.

 

 

So why is this? Are the British public lazy? Or have the British government not made enough effort in motivating households to recycle their waste?

“RECYCLABLES” April 7, 2008

As I am sitting here in my class for this unit, I can see a recycling bin the corner of the room for paper and labelled. Great… Makes me feel better that my University is taking part in recycling. However, what I find strange is the material in which the bin is made from. Yes, you may guess, its plastic, not very environmentally friendly! It doesn’t seemed to be used frequently and ironically the rubbish bin is placed right next to the recycling bin…and is overflowing with many recyclable products such as coke cans..

So maybe what I’ve said before doesn’t work. Placing recycling bins are not attracting anyone and it’s a habit which is hard to kill.

“Recycling makes you feel better” ? March 29, 2008

Ok, so I’ve heard from various people that they recycle because it…

-”Makes me feel better…”
-”I feel that I’m helping the environment…”
-”It makes me feel that i’m a better  person…”

ok, so why do you recycle? if you do recycle?

Is it because you need something to make you feel better about yourself and your actions?

or do you genuinely have an interest in environmental issues?

comment away and let me know what you think.

=)

Importance of recycling March 19, 2008

In today’s world the importance of recycling is becoming greater of a concern both for the general public and also to the economy. Recycling has become a major issue as scientific research has been suggesting for years that the earth is being depleted too fast to sustain a healthy balance. The earth’s natural resources are being consumed at a rate that reinforces the idea that we are living for today and the future generations will be paying for the consequences.

However many people and just as importantly businesses are realizing the problem at hand and the importance of recycling. Recycling along with reducing consumption is our best means to counter the damage we have been doing to the earth for centuries. The importance of recycling is now held in such a high regard even famous people are taking up the plight. Al Gore is now on a mission to educate the world on the effects of global warming. He is also concerned about how we can reduce the causes of global warming. A major part reducing the warmingis how we can recycle much of what we use instead of turning it into unusable waste. Recycling is incredibly important as a means to reduce poisonous emissions into the atmosphere and also to spare our natural resources.

Today many companies and individuals are improving their recycling habits by coming up with ways to reduce what they use. They are also reusing much of the original materials sent out for consumer use.  The importance of recycling is not only beneficial for the earth but also for businesses as they secure better relations with the consumers over the matter of saving the environment. They will also spend less on production costs and the consumers will pay less for the goods which will encourage more purchasing as their dollar will have more value on recycled products. People want to support companies that have a positive influence in society and that can be respected for reasons of morality. When companies and the consumers can work together they can combine the importance of recycling and truly make a difference to the Earth’s health. 

Reduce and Reuse! March 8, 2008

Today, this country recycles 32.5 percent of its waste, a rate that has almost doubled during the past 15 years. Recycling household materials like aluminium, paper and plastic redirects millions of tons of waste away from landfills and incinerators, converts them into new materials or products and helps reduce deforestation and the production of greenhouse gas emissions.You can save about 2,400 pounds of carbon dioxide a year by recycling half the waste your household generates. However, you can lower your family’s carbon emissions further by reducing the consumption of disposable products. Shop wisely and choose products that minimize packaging. For example, locally-grown produce generally has less packaging compared to produce sold in chain stores. Also, supporting recycling markets by buying and using products made from recycled materials (look for the label) helps complete the recycling chain. 

Recycling…Is it only our duty? March 2, 2008

Over the recent few years, the government has proposed new recycling rules and strategies. As we all know, many of our rubbish that ends up in the dustbins can be recycled, they are encouraging people to recycle newspapers, plastics and glasses in order to create a sustainable environment for living. They are also asking the public to purchase less packaged products, but is it our fault that the supermarkets supply over packaged products? Should it not be the government’s initiative to pressurise the companies to use less packaging and ones made with recyclable materials?The government believes that by 2010, almost all the landfills in the UK will be full. This has put immense pressure both on the public and the authorities to tackle the situation and take some drastic actions to prevent an unhealthy world for the new generations to live in and also preserve natural resources for future use. However, despite all these strict measures, I have recently noticed the lack of recycling bins in the local areas of north London. They are mainly based in the local supermarkets but it has fascinated me as to why there are not sufficient bins in the neighbourhood to encourage the residents to recycle their rubbish. What is concerning is that North London is considered to be the better part of London by the environmental institute in terms of the amount of bins it supplies. It is worrying to think about the state of some other parts of London which are not given as much attention with regards to recycling.