Thursday, July 19, 2007
Nil Rubbish
Bryn Fogden challenged himself to produce no landfill for the whole of May. To do this he had to change his shopping and some of his eating habits, but he did manage and intends to carry on. He blogged the whole experience at nilrubbish.blogspot.com.
Technorati tag: EcoHouse, Rubbish
posted by Ian at 6:20 PM
Bryn Fogden challenged himself to produce no landfill for the whole of May. To do this he had to change his shopping and some of his eating habits, but he did manage and intends to carry on. He blogged the whole experience at nilrubbish.blogspot.com.
Technorati tag: EcoHouse, Rubbish
posted by Ian at 6:20 PM
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Manchester's Green King and Queen
A couple from Hulme have won £1500 to spend on energy or wasyte saving work on their house after making great changes to help tackle climate change. Alan and Shelley Heckman lowered their energy and water consumption over eight months whilst taking part in MAnchester's Eco-Diet Challenge.
Technorati tag: EcoHouse, Manchester
posted by Ian at 1:05 PM
A couple from Hulme have won £1500 to spend on energy or wasyte saving work on their house after making great changes to help tackle climate change. Alan and Shelley Heckman lowered their energy and water consumption over eight months whilst taking part in MAnchester's Eco-Diet Challenge.
Technorati tag: EcoHouse, Manchester
Labels: energy saving, Manchester, Waste
posted by Ian at 1:05 PM
Friday, May 04, 2007
The Community Recycling Network
It can be hard disposing of waste sensibly and ethically. No matter how well meaning, your local council is likely to send you round in circles trying to find the right department or service. However, there are a lot of community based programmes out there that make creative use of the things everyday folks leave behind.
The Community Recycling Network tries to keep track of all these groups, allowing you to search by various criteria for the one best suited. They also produce rather nice directories, I picked up the Community Waste Network North West one on Saturday at the Green Architecture event.
Technorati tag: EcoHouse
posted by Ian at 9:36 AM
It can be hard disposing of waste sensibly and ethically. No matter how well meaning, your local council is likely to send you round in circles trying to find the right department or service. However, there are a lot of community based programmes out there that make creative use of the things everyday folks leave behind.
The Community Recycling Network tries to keep track of all these groups, allowing you to search by various criteria for the one best suited. They also produce rather nice directories, I picked up the Community Waste Network North West one on Saturday at the Green Architecture event.
Technorati tag: EcoHouse
Labels: Network, Recycling, Waste
posted by Ian at 9:36 AM
Thursday, April 26, 2007
Supermarkets against excess packaging? Who'd have thought
Asda are setting up a pilot scheme where they will collect examples of over packaging from customers to build a case to present to their suppliers. The Daily Mail is supporting it because they think it will mean a return to weekly refuse collections.
I try to buy as much as possible from the local grocers, which reduces waste quite substantially. I just need to remember to take my backpack with me so they don't put everything into a carrier bag.
Technorati tag: Packaging, Shopping
posted by Ian at 10:34 AM
Asda are setting up a pilot scheme where they will collect examples of over packaging from customers to build a case to present to their suppliers. The Daily Mail is supporting it because they think it will mean a return to weekly refuse collections.
I try to buy as much as possible from the local grocers, which reduces waste quite substantially. I just need to remember to take my backpack with me so they don't put everything into a carrier bag.
Technorati tag: Packaging, Shopping
Labels: Packaging, Shopping, Waste
posted by Ian at 10:34 AM
Monday, January 08, 2007
Charging for waste
The Local Government Association are proposing schemes to cut the amount of domestic waste. One possibility is to charge households more if they throw more stuff out. This will only work if there's a baseline amount of rubbish removal covered by Council Tax with rebates for those who produce less and charges for tose who produce more. And it wouldn't be the easiest thing to police.
A better idea, also hinted at, is to cut the amount of unnecessary material entering the house in the first place- fining manufacturers and shops whose products are over-packaged.
Technorati tag: Waste
posted by Ian at 10:51 PM
The Local Government Association are proposing schemes to cut the amount of domestic waste. One possibility is to charge households more if they throw more stuff out. This will only work if there's a baseline amount of rubbish removal covered by Council Tax with rebates for those who produce less and charges for tose who produce more. And it wouldn't be the easiest thing to police.
A better idea, also hinted at, is to cut the amount of unnecessary material entering the house in the first place- fining manufacturers and shops whose products are over-packaged.
Technorati tag: Waste
Labels: Waste
posted by Ian at 10:51 PM
Wednesday, January 03, 2007
Fighting Climate Change down on the farm
A collection of environment and agriculture related items from the BBC today-
David Cameron wants Britain's food labelling laws changed so UK farmers can benefit from "food Patriotism".
A project has launched to highlight the potential opportunities, as well as the dangers, of climate chenge for farmers.
The next generation of biofuels, one of the opportunities the above project will no doubt be looking into.
A conference on boosting the recycling of farm waste in East Anglia.
Technorati tag: Agriculture, Biofuel, Food Miles
posted by Ian at 6:58 PM
A collection of environment and agriculture related items from the BBC today-
David Cameron wants Britain's food labelling laws changed so UK farmers can benefit from "food Patriotism".
A project has launched to highlight the potential opportunities, as well as the dangers, of climate chenge for farmers.
The next generation of biofuels, one of the opportunities the above project will no doubt be looking into.
A conference on boosting the recycling of farm waste in East Anglia.
Technorati tag: Agriculture, Biofuel, Food Miles
Labels: Waste
posted by Ian at 6:58 PM
Tuesday, January 02, 2007
Interactive greenery
The Guardian has an interactive guide to cutting your house's energy consumption and waste production.
Technorati tag: EcoHouse, Flash
posted by Ian at 6:18 PM
The Guardian has an interactive guide to cutting your house's energy consumption and waste production.
Technorati tag: EcoHouse, Flash
Labels: Waste
posted by Ian at 6:18 PM
Saturday, December 23, 2006
It's A Green Christmas In This Town
(Cross posted from Spinneyhead)
Manchester City Council have some statistics on waste this Christmas, plus some ideas on how to cut it down (mostly by carefully choosing what to buy, which might be a little late for most of you) and some guidance on what can be recycled.
If you live in Manchester, the link to the recycling centres around Manchester and what each one accepts is also useful.
(Title taken from Green Christmas by Barenaked Ladies)
Technorati tag: Recycling, Manchester
posted by Ian at 10:48 AM
(Cross posted from Spinneyhead)
Manchester City Council have some statistics on waste this Christmas, plus some ideas on how to cut it down (mostly by carefully choosing what to buy, which might be a little late for most of you) and some guidance on what can be recycled.
If you live in Manchester, the link to the recycling centres around Manchester and what each one accepts is also useful.
(Title taken from Green Christmas by Barenaked Ladies)
Technorati tag: Recycling, Manchester
Labels: Waste
posted by Ian at 10:48 AM
Saturday, August 05, 2006
Tesco's bag reduction policy
Tesco shoppers will get special loyalty points for not using new bags when they shop at the store. It's all part of a plan by the supermarket to cut the amount of waste it produces. Currently 4 billion bags are taken from their stores annually and they aim to cut that by 25% by 2008.
Technorati tag: Tesco, Waste
posted by Ian at 11:03 AM
Tesco shoppers will get special loyalty points for not using new bags when they shop at the store. It's all part of a plan by the supermarket to cut the amount of waste it produces. Currently 4 billion bags are taken from their stores annually and they aim to cut that by 25% by 2008.
Technorati tag: Tesco, Waste
Labels: Waste
posted by Ian at 11:03 AM
Thursday, July 27, 2006
Biomass for the lazy
Bixby Energy Systems have developed a pellets stove that can burn almost anything. The trick is in formulating the pellets to burn at a given temperature and company founder Bob Walker has done just that. This means that pellets can be made from local waste materials, keeping the supply chain short. He has even developed a hopper system to automate the transfer of fuel to the burner for the really lazy. Wired article.
Technorati tag: Pellet Stove, biomass
posted by Ian at 10:10 AM
Bixby Energy Systems have developed a pellets stove that can burn almost anything. The trick is in formulating the pellets to burn at a given temperature and company founder Bob Walker has done just that. This means that pellets can be made from local waste materials, keeping the supply chain short. He has even developed a hopper system to automate the transfer of fuel to the burner for the really lazy. Wired article.
Technorati tag: Pellet Stove, biomass
Labels: Waste
posted by Ian at 10:10 AM
Friday, June 30, 2006
Biodiesel from Algae
Biodiesel and ethanol could be vital parts of the switch from oil dependency, but some of the current means of producing them are too energy intensive and damaging in their own right. PetroSun Drilling Inc. has created a subsidiary- Algae BioFuels Inc.- to research and develop algae cultivation as an energy source in the production of biodiesel. Studies have demonstrated that algae is capable of producing 30 times more oil per acre than the crops currently grown for biofuel production and the resulting fuel is low sulphur, non-toxic and biodegradable.
If they can find a way to break down waste products to provide nutrients, that would be even better.
via Treehugger
Technorati tag: Biodiesel, Algae
posted by Ian at 9:55 AM
Biodiesel and ethanol could be vital parts of the switch from oil dependency, but some of the current means of producing them are too energy intensive and damaging in their own right. PetroSun Drilling Inc. has created a subsidiary- Algae BioFuels Inc.- to research and develop algae cultivation as an energy source in the production of biodiesel. Studies have demonstrated that algae is capable of producing 30 times more oil per acre than the crops currently grown for biofuel production and the resulting fuel is low sulphur, non-toxic and biodegradable.
If they can find a way to break down waste products to provide nutrients, that would be even better.
via Treehugger
Technorati tag: Biodiesel, Algae
posted by Ian at 9:55 AM
Tuesday, February 07, 2006
Scotland 'hits recycling targets'
Technorati tag: Recycling, Scotland
posted by Ian at 7:12 AM
Scotland has reached its target of recycling 25% of municipal waste, according to figures for the second quarter of 2005/06.
The Scottish Environment Protection Agency statistics, covering the period from July to September, were welcomed by Environment Minister Ross Finnie.
But he said that more had to be done to improve Scotland's record, a call echoed by unions and environmentalists.
The minister launched a consultation to seek views on the issue.
Technorati tag: Recycling, Scotland
Labels: Waste
posted by Ian at 7:12 AM
Friday, January 27, 2006
Here comes the bio-power
Work is due to begin on a £90million biomass power station near Lockerbie in Scotland. The scheme converts waste timber products into energy and should supply enough power to meet the needs of around 70,000 homes.
Technorati tag: biomass power, Scotland
posted by Ian at 11:46 AM
Work is due to begin on a £90million biomass power station near Lockerbie in Scotland. The scheme converts waste timber products into energy and should supply enough power to meet the needs of around 70,000 homes.
Technorati tag: biomass power, Scotland
Labels: Waste
posted by Ian at 11:46 AM
Thursday, January 05, 2006
The end of cheap waste
Peter Jones, a director of Biffa- Britain's largest waste handling company, says that tighter EU recycling laws and higher landfill taxes will cost up to £8bn within years.
Efficient and fiendishly expensive? I can't help thinking he's missing a bit of joined up thinking and hasn't considered the money making potential of closing the manufacturing cycle with recycling.
Technorati tag: Waste, Recycling
posted by Ian at 10:32 AM
Peter Jones, a director of Biffa- Britain's largest waste handling company, says that tighter EU recycling laws and higher landfill taxes will cost up to £8bn within years.
"The days of chucking waste into holes in the ground are over and the future is hi-tech, efficient, but fiendishly expensive. Instead of chucking 75% of everything we have finished with down a hole for about £12 a tonne, within a few years very little will be landfilled and that will cost two or three times what it costs now. We expect it to cost Britain £5-8bn to deliver an 80% diversion from landfill. Everyone is in for a rude shock."
Efficient and fiendishly expensive? I can't help thinking he's missing a bit of joined up thinking and hasn't considered the money making potential of closing the manufacturing cycle with recycling.
Technorati tag: Waste, Recycling
Labels: Waste
posted by Ian at 10:32 AM
Thursday, December 22, 2005
Energy from Waste
Enviropundit has a selection of links on the subject.
Technorati tag: Energy, Waste
posted by Ian at 7:55 PM
Enviropundit has a selection of links on the subject.
Technorati tag: Energy, Waste
Labels: Waste
posted by Ian at 7:55 PM
Thursday, November 03, 2005
Smart directions for green ideas
Technorati tag: Technology, Galileo
posted by Ian at 7:22 AM
Electro-car public transport and a scheme to track the proper disposal of waste are two of smartest ideas for using satellite-navigation technology.
The applications have just triumphed in an international competition seeking novel ways to employ Galileo, Europe's soon-to-launch sat-nav system.
Technorati tag: Technology, Galileo
Labels: Waste
posted by Ian at 7:22 AM
Tuesday, October 25, 2005
Conspicuous Consumption
Chris Jordan's photos portray the effects of mass consumption. The near abstract piles of crushed cars, discarded phones and unwanted circuit boards have a certain abstract beauty about them, even when you understand the waste and destruction they represent.
Via BoingBoing (I think the increase in traffic is putting a big strain on the server.)
Technorati tag: Waste, Photography
posted by Ian at 7:33 PM
Chris Jordan's photos portray the effects of mass consumption. The near abstract piles of crushed cars, discarded phones and unwanted circuit boards have a certain abstract beauty about them, even when you understand the waste and destruction they represent.
Via BoingBoing (I think the increase in traffic is putting a big strain on the server.)
Technorati tag: Waste, Photography
Labels: Waste
posted by Ian at 7:33 PM
Sunday, October 02, 2005
Depolymerisation
The possibility of turning waste into fuel could be one step closer. There have been reports that the pilot plants are experiencing problems, but I'm optimistic.
Technorati tag: Depolymerisation
posted by Ian at 8:02 PM
The possibility of turning waste into fuel could be one step closer. There have been reports that the pilot plants are experiencing problems, but I'm optimistic.
Technorati tag: Depolymerisation
Labels: Waste
posted by Ian at 8:02 PM
Saturday, August 13, 2005
Clean Factories
PR, increasing landfill costs and the bottom line are making companies think harder about cutting down on industrial waste.
Technorati tag: Industry, Zero Waste
posted by Ian at 9:33 PM
PR, increasing landfill costs and the bottom line are making companies think harder about cutting down on industrial waste.
Technorati tag: Industry, Zero Waste
Labels: Waste
posted by Ian at 9:33 PM
Thursday, July 28, 2005
Green Queen
Windsor Castle is to get its own hydro-power system.
Technorati tag: Hydro Power, Micro Hydro Power, Windsor Castle, Queen
posted by Ian at 2:00 PM
Windsor Castle is to get its own hydro-power system.
A spokeswoman for the Queen said: “We’re constantly looking at ways of saving energy. We use energy efficient light bulbs at Buckingham Palace and recycle 99 per cent of green waste.”
Members of the Royal Family have long embraced an environmentally friendly lifestyle. The Duke of Edinburgh uses a taxi cab fuelled by liquid petroleum gas to travel around London, and water in a bore hole at Buckingham Palace is used to supply air conditioning to the Queen’s gallery before topping up the water levels in the Palace lake.
The electricity from the new plant will be fed straight into Windsor Castle and not into the local grid. It will be the biggest of its kind in the South of England. Four turbines, which will be built by npower renewables, will be submerged in two of Romney Weir’s bays.
Technorati tag: Hydro Power, Micro Hydro Power, Windsor Castle, Queen
Labels: Hydro Power, Waste
posted by Ian at 2:00 PM
Tuesday, May 17, 2005
Fluff
Fluff is household waste treated to become a stable and pathogen free composting material. It can also be compressed and extruded to form posts or sheet that can be used in buildings.
Technorati tag: Compost, Recycling
posted by Ian at 8:27 AM
Fluff is household waste treated to become a stable and pathogen free composting material. It can also be compressed and extruded to form posts or sheet that can be used in buildings.
Technorati tag: Compost, Recycling
posted by Ian at 8:27 AM
Friday, April 22, 2005
No Waste Like Home
It looks like the BBC has had an idea similar to How to Save the World for Free, and they're looking for volunteers to take part in the show.
Technorati tag: Waste, BBC
posted by Ian at 4:42 PM
It looks like the BBC has had an idea similar to How to Save the World for Free, and they're looking for volunteers to take part in the show.
Technorati tag: Waste, BBC
Labels: Waste
posted by Ian at 4:42 PM
Thursday, April 14, 2005
You are what you throw away
Around a third of all food in the UK is thrown away. The process starts with the need for perfect, symmetrical and clean groceries and continues all the way through the process to failure to reuse left overs and throwing out stuff that's a second past its sell by date. I couldn't calculate it, but I'd hazard a guess that Casa Spinneyhead's cost per capita in food waste is less than the national average of £420 per year, especially now we've started composting. (A matter for another time is just what the hell am I going to do with the compost when it matures? It's not like we have a garden or anything.)
Technorati tag: Food, Waste
posted by Ian at 11:33 AM
Around a third of all food in the UK is thrown away. The process starts with the need for perfect, symmetrical and clean groceries and continues all the way through the process to failure to reuse left overs and throwing out stuff that's a second past its sell by date. I couldn't calculate it, but I'd hazard a guess that Casa Spinneyhead's cost per capita in food waste is less than the national average of £420 per year, especially now we've started composting. (A matter for another time is just what the hell am I going to do with the compost when it matures? It's not like we have a garden or anything.)
Technorati tag: Food, Waste
posted by Ian at 11:33 AM
Wednesday, April 13, 2005
Turkey Guts
I was very excited by Thermal Conversion (then referred to as Thermal Depolymerisation) when I first heard about it two years ago. After ten years of development the first Thermal Conversion Process plant has gone live. However, it may not be able to fulfill its promise because of technicalities in the renewable energy funding process.
Also see Cycling on the Pavement: USS Blowjob for a fictional take of TCP/TDP use.
via Sustainablog
Technorati tag: Biodiesel, Thermal Conversion Process
posted by Ian at 8:46 AM
I was very excited by Thermal Conversion (then referred to as Thermal Depolymerisation) when I first heard about it two years ago. After ten years of development the first Thermal Conversion Process plant has gone live. However, it may not be able to fulfill its promise because of technicalities in the renewable energy funding process.
According to the company, CWT is unable to expand its U.S. operations due to limitations on the tax credit definition created by the Jobs Bill of 2004. Wording in the bill promotes development of biodiesel fuel from specific feedstocks, Appel said, but to the exclusion of other renewable energy sources such as oil produced by TCP. The Jobs Bill grants a tax credit of 50 cents to the dollar per gallon of biodiesel specifically derived from virgin soybeans and used cooking oils. CWT's TCP-derived fuel, which meets the universal definition of biodiesel as a liquid fuel produced from biomass and utilizes animal waste from nearby poultry processing facilities as its feedstock, is excluded from the tax credit.
Also see Cycling on the Pavement: USS Blowjob for a fictional take of TCP/TDP use.
via Sustainablog
Technorati tag: Biodiesel, Thermal Conversion Process
posted by Ian at 8:46 AM
Thursday, April 07, 2005
Compost
Casa Spinneyhead still throws away a lot of perfectly good composting material, so I'm looking at ways to utilise it.
Hippyshopper recommends wormeries, but I'm working on a budget. Recyclemore.co.uk has cheaper options. The Community Composting Network has resources if I wanted to get my neighbours to muck in. Allegedly the council has a scheme where I can get cheap compost boxes, but the number on the website has been disconnected, so that's not much use. They do run the Kerb it green waste recycling service, but we're obviously not in any of the chosen pilot areas.
To conclude- it's off to B&Q I go!
UpdateJeff pointed me to this easy DIY wormery, and I found the Green Cone, designed to speed up the composting through solar heating and insulation and feed the nutrients direct into your soil.
Technorati tag: Compost
posted by Ian at 1:03 PM
Casa Spinneyhead still throws away a lot of perfectly good composting material, so I'm looking at ways to utilise it.
Hippyshopper recommends wormeries, but I'm working on a budget. Recyclemore.co.uk has cheaper options. The Community Composting Network has resources if I wanted to get my neighbours to muck in. Allegedly the council has a scheme where I can get cheap compost boxes, but the number on the website has been disconnected, so that's not much use. They do run the Kerb it green waste recycling service, but we're obviously not in any of the chosen pilot areas.
To conclude- it's off to B&Q I go!
UpdateJeff pointed me to this easy DIY wormery, and I found the Green Cone, designed to speed up the composting through solar heating and insulation and feed the nutrients direct into your soil.
Technorati tag: Compost
Labels: Compost, Solar Power, Waste
posted by Ian at 1:03 PM
Sunday, March 27, 2005
Delay cycle
The Government has chosen to delay implementation of an EU law requiring recycling of computers and other coonsumer electronics. Apparently the suppliers and retailers won't be ready until next year, when the law is supposed to come into effect in August. How long have they had to prepare for this and are other countries having similar problems?
Technorati tag: Recycling, Computer Recycling
posted by Ian at 5:32 PM
The Government has chosen to delay implementation of an EU law requiring recycling of computers and other coonsumer electronics. Apparently the suppliers and retailers won't be ready until next year, when the law is supposed to come into effect in August. How long have they had to prepare for this and are other countries having similar problems?
Technorati tag: Recycling, Computer Recycling
Labels: Waste
posted by Ian at 5:32 PM
Thursday, March 03, 2005
24hour Mulching People
New from Japan, a kitchen waste disposal system that works extremely quickly to create compost. It doesn't say whether this compost is viable for horticultural use or merely a bonus in reducing volume. The first would be excellent, but the latter's a good step forward in itself from a landfill point of view.
via Treehugger
Technorati tag: Waste
posted by Ian at 3:51 PM
New from Japan, a kitchen waste disposal system that works extremely quickly to create compost. It doesn't say whether this compost is viable for horticultural use or merely a bonus in reducing volume. The first would be excellent, but the latter's a good step forward in itself from a landfill point of view.
via Treehugger
Technorati tag: Waste
posted by Ian at 3:51 PM
Friday, January 14, 2005
Home Power
Technorati tag: Renewable Energy
posted by Ian at 5:41 PM
Home Power magazine, the hands-on journal of home-made power, grew out of our passion for renewable energy (RE). We're concerned about a world that is increasingly polluted. We're concerned about the high energy use and waste of "developed" cultures. And we're concerned that people are dependent and unable to care for themselves when it comes to energy. Renewable energy gives people control over their energy future by using energy that is provided daily by nature.
Technorati tag: Renewable Energy
Labels: Waste
posted by Ian at 5:41 PM
Wednesday, October 20, 2004
Waste not.....
The Scottish Green Party is calling for the country to adopt a zero waste policy.
posted by Ian at 9:45 AM
The Scottish Green Party is calling for the country to adopt a zero waste policy.
Labels: Waste
posted by Ian at 9:45 AM
