An enjoyable day out sightseeing with environmental and health benefits not to mention it was all free, what more could you ask for?
West Dorset district council (WDDC) are encouraging local people and visitors alike to explore the breath-taking scenery that is on offer by taking to your bicycle and hitting the trialways. The WDDC have created several FREE informative cycle guides availble to all. Some of the guides follow the National cycle networks (NCN) with one in particular covering the spectacular 30 mile ride between Lyme Regis and Dorchester.
Rural West Dorset has so much to offer with exciting exploration and the sightseeing possibilities are endless. But why do it trapped in a car behind glass windows using up fuel and adding to the carbon emmissions? Looking after the countryside is a key part of enjoying it and prolonging its beauty for others, and so the new initiative to promote cycling with these new cycle guides is well on its way to helping look after the environment and peoples health.
These cycle routes and guides are perfect for families, tourists and those wanting to get outdoors and get healthy. The guides are being promoted as a greener and healthier way to visit west Dorset and so there is no better way to experience the Jurassice Coast, picturesqe riverbanks, market towns and quaint villages that are all featured in the guides.
A list of Dorset’s information centres is availble on the Visit Dorset website and PDF files of the cycle guides are available to download by clicking HERE. Five shorter circular routes called the West Dorset Pedal are also availble to download.
The new buzz word that is being used all over the world is upcycling!
def:// upcycling is the process of converting waste materials or useless products into new materials or products of better quality or a higher environmental value.
Now you would be among the many that will be thinking this is just the same as recycling. It is very similar to recycling but the major difference with upcycling is that no energy has gone into developing the new product from the old one. When recycling paper, plastic, cardboard etc processes are in place to melt, cut and re-make the new products thus using energy. Upcycling products use man-power and time to produce pieces such as artwork, luggage, furniture, useful materials etc.
Several successful businesses have come from being based on upcycling and the huge benefits it offers. Rebagz is an eco-chic handbag company that use great design and sustainability to produce their fabulous products all by upcycling. The ‘Juicy handbag’ (picture) is made from weaving sections of juice cartons and is one of their biggest and most popular sellers. Rebagz is best know for being both eco and human friendly and only re-use materials to make their products.
Resurf, another well established company that is promoting and using upcycling is based in the US and re-uses broken surfboards and turns them into asphalt filer. The Resurf, surfboard waste recycling centres find solutions and homes for the communal waste as an industry.
There is a lot to be said for what one person considers to be junk and useless, to be another persons piece of artwork or furniture.
Who doesn’t love to go shopping? I for one am a closet shopping fan and love the excitement of getting home with some new treats, but my thoughts do go to shocking amount of plastic bags, wrapping and packaging I am also carrying around that is just going to get thrown away.
Going deeper than just the plastic bags and packaging are the embedded emissionswhich is the carbon that goes into producing, making, transporting the product. These embedded emissions are within a large majority of products, invisible to the eye at the till paying for them but something you cant change. However…….
There are many ways I, and many other shopping lovers can be carbon conscious when out buying something nice. 10:10 the group working towards reducing carbon emissions by 10% in 2010 and who have got the backing of the new government have produced a helpful hints and tips guide for those wanting to reduce their carbon-shopping-footprint.
10:10 have five simple rules for energy efficient shopping starting with; 1) Dont Be Cheap, if you buy something cheap you normally end up having to replace it or buy another one. The old adage of ‘you get what you pay for’ applies here too, so choose quality over quantity. 2) 2nd Hand Treasures, a form of recycling, bought and used by someone else can be re-used and loved by another. 3) Buy Efficient, check the energy efficiency label on all products to check it wont drain you dry when plugging it in at home. 4) Think About Wood, when having to buy any wood think of reclaimed wood, as it is carbon-emission friendly and can be better quality than the new stuff. And finally 5) Sit Back and Relax, home delivery options when buying online are the best bet as the overall emissions of the delivery truck and all it is transporting is spread out out among several people while you in your car collecting the new bed is all down to you.
For those of you who would like to know more about their shopping and how far things have to go to get in your basket have a read of How Bad Are Bananas: The Carbon Footprint of Everything written by Mike Berners-Lee. For all up to date news and info on 10:10 and their on-going project go to www.1010global.org
A huge development has been made in the preservation and saving of huge areas of forest in Canadas northern wilderness.
Greenpeace Canada and 9 environmental groups that have been protesting 21 forestry companies for decades, have agreed to stand down and call a truce for a commitment to suspend logging.
This unique truce has been named the Canadian Boreal Forest Agreement (CBFA) and was reached on 18th May, in Toronto by the environmental groups and forestry companies in a bid to halt logging and road building right away on over 71 million acres of forest.
This is the very first time that the forestry industry has agreed to put any form of limit on future logging and this is an immense stop in the right direction to prevent more roads from being made and trees being destroyed.
Scientists and Greenpeace Canada spokes people believe that the soil and trees in the Canadian coniferous forest can store up to 20 billion tonnes of carbon and are critical to the survival of the endangered woodland caribou. Protection of the inhabitant woodland Caribou is essential as the population has reduced to 36,000 and defending this important resource is a vital part of fighting climate change.
The three year agreement is due to begin imminently and under the Canadian Boreal Forest Agreement, FPAC members commit to the highest environmental standards of forest management and conservation, while environmental organizations commit to global recognition and support for FPAC members efforts.
Ok, so perhaps America hasn’t got the best green credentials and that’s putting it mildly, but under the new Obama administration there are some very positive noises for change coming from across the pond.
If there’s one thing we can say about our American cousins, it’s that when they do something they do it big time! While Obama is doing what all American Presidents dread, going head to head with the oil conglomerates to cease the horrendous oil spills off the coast of Mexico, it seems the American people are also picking up on the grassroots environmental movement.
Working For Green is a video-based web community which showcases innovative ways to save money and find meaningful work, all tied together with a very green bow. It’s a fascinating site. The rapidly expanding online community features everything from green hair salons to eco-dentist, including green hotels, green careers, community projects, knowledge sharing, you can even sign up to be a Green Irene, something which must be seen to be believed.
What all of these sites, services and the YouTube clip below show, is that perhaps here in the UK we’re missing a trick. What is so clever about all of these very green initiatives is that the saving the planet ethos shares centre stage with cold, hardnosed commercialism. If anyone was going to come at green issues from a hard line capitalist stance it would be the Americans and frankly I think it’s genius!
The focus on business, on jobs and on what a green approach can realistically and materialistically offer an individual other than a warm fuzzy feeling inside, makes it compelling to a much wider demographic. Of course this has been going on here for a long time, but because the Americans are so frank and open about blatantly making money, their approach seems particularly effective. If this little spark ignites it could mean big, bold and brash changes are afoot in the USA – bring it on!!
April 20th saw BP’s Deep water Horizon oil rig explode off the coast of Louisiana loosing 11 workers and spilling thousands of tonnes of oil into the gulf. BP have taken full responsibility for the disaster and have approached the response in military operation fashion. Having said that, this disaster is going to effect so many thousands of people and wildlife who may not recover from this.
Oil was pouring into the Gulf of Mexico at a rate of 5,000 barrels a day causing great concern for the coast of Louisiana and the inhabitant wildlife. Turtles, sea birds and fish are all at risk of being endangered due to the oil spill, along with the suffering of the local fishermen, oystermenand shrimpers. As well as threatening everyone and everything in Louisiana the spill could spread as far as Mississippi, Alabama and Florida.
It has been called a disaster of herculean proportions and the coastguard estimates have the leak reaching 11 million gallons spilled in two months, matching that of the Exxon Valdez tanker oil spill in 1999. And the worrying numbers continue with only 1/4 of local wildlife surviving the Exxon Valdez disaster. Increased efforts are going into developments and operations to contain the oil spill and over 4,000 volunteers are working the beaches to clean up and save the wildlife effected by this disaster.
After the disastrous effects of hurricane Katrina, the local fishermen and oystermen were just recovering from the loss of their boats, homes, oyster beds and livelihoods to now face the prospect that it is going to happen again.
Help is at hand for those greatly effected by this disaster as the NRDC (Natural Resources Defence Council) who provide legal, policy, and technical assistance to these communities in the present and in the long term have brought about the GCF (Gulf Coast Fund). The GCF is taking direct action to address the BP oil spill and will be working with community leaders and helping to raise funds for the communities. For all information on the GCF go to www.gulfcoastfund.org
We all know that the Weymouth Relief Road which is currently tearing through the Dorset heaths, coastal areas of outstanding natural beauty, sites of special scientific interest and irreplaceable ancient woodland once owned by the Woodland Trust, is no relief at all and is in truth a terrible idea.
So is there any hope that when we finally get a new government in place, they will learn from this nasty mistake and remember party promises to slash road budgets?
The message coming from national campaigns such as Campaign for Better Transport is loud and clear: “ignore the pet projects and outdated road schemes, and spend what little money we have fixing the roads we’ve already got.”
Whilst the maintenance Verses expansion argument is a compelling one, it appears it doesn’t win elections. Especially when faced with the prospect of an effective lobbying backlash from motoring lobby groups like the AA and the freight industry together with business interests such as the CBI and Regional Development Authorities, it’s not surprising that most politicians turn and run for the hills on this issue.
Obviously with the prospect of the 2012 Olympics tipping the scale, Weymouth’s areas of outstanding natural beauty didn’t stand a chance, but given the fractious economic climate any new government will inherit, then surely it makes sense to spend money on jobs and manpower to fix existing roads rather than machines and faceless contractors to build new ones people don’t want?
Climate change has been said to be the cause for the extended allergy season.
Suffering from sneezing, congestion, runny noses, headaches being caused by allergic rhinitis otherwise known as hay fever could be lasting longer due to prolonged pollen seasons on account of climate change. Doctors in Italy from the European Pollen Information Service (EPIS) have done extended research for the last six years concentrating specifically on the environmental effects of climate change on the pollen season and the amount of pollen in the air. The studies have conclusively proved that the pollen season and pollen count have progressively increased year on year.
The conclusion of the increased pollen season is said to be due to the average temperature increasing. Warmer winters and springs due to climate change has resulted in the tree pollen season beginning earlier and has effected plant distribution over Europe allowing some non inhabitant species of allergic plants to spread.
The start of the birch tree pollen season in the UK has turned out to be earlier by five days per decade for the last 30 years. The UK has a very large percentage of its population suffering from hay fever and the European results in lengthened pollen seasons have been seen also in the UK. 25% of the UK’s population suffer from allergic rhinitis and this could now increase numbers of those allergic or heighten symptoms, increasing the burden of health, cost and working life for these sufferers.
Well the results are in from the Plane Stupid subvertise event held 22nd/23rd April and the national response to the event, especially given the volcano crisis only days before, was surprisingly reassuring. People all over the country got behind the event, from Brighton, Turo, London, Reading, Bristol, to name but a few. You can view all the brilliant entries on the Plane Stupid flicker site.
The overall winner went to Team Kamikaze, who dressed as workmen, took on the giant Cathay Pacific billboard opposite Algate East station. They stuck up their addition of Huge Emmissions In front of the traffic at the A11 traffic lights in the early hours of the morning before cycling away with a ladder under their arms – brilliant!
Plane Stupid have been very active and interesting campaigners recently and I have to applaud their imagination, humour and impressive dedication. However, the seriousness behind their campaigning cannot be ignored, this is very serious stuff and their new YouTube clip is a powerful reminder of this.
I would have loved to have posted it here, but it’s a very hard hitting message and I wouldn’t want to upset users. If you’re interested, visit the Polar Bear film page on the Plane Stupid website. I highly recommend it; it’s surprisingly powerful.
We have a problem. We’re flying too much, and it’s changing the earth’s climate. – Plane Stupid
A huge development has been made in the preservation and saving of huge areas of forest in Canadas northern wilderness.