www.everythingsgonegreen.co.uk

A one-day climate summit in New York yesterday saw about 100 world leaders attend ahead of the crucial Copenhagen Climate Change Conference in December.

China, now the world’s biggest polluter, taking the shameful crown from the United States, seemed to make the biggest commitment with President Hu Jintao saying that the country would cut carbon emissions by a “notable margin” by 2020.

The United States’ climate change envoy, Todd Stern, was reported to have said that China’s stance was helpful but that they needed to “provide figures”.

US President Barack Obama didn’t provide any figures for his own country nor did he say anything ground-breaking or commital, prompting criticism that the US, producing around 20% of world pollution, is taking too long to act.

Britain’s own Gordon Brown had said, two days before the summit, that the Copenhagen Conference is in danger of collapse if world leaders neither attended nor made committments towards a low-carbon world economy and was understood to have been trying to convince other world leaders to attend Copenhagen. Brown was the first world leader to commit to Copenhagenyet he has been accused of failing to provide strong leadership in Britain’s own green initiatives.

Whilst China stole the headlines, Japan’s new Prime Minister, Yukio Hatoyama, announced the “Hatoyama Initiative”, pledging to cut Japan’s carbon output by 25% by 2020 (compared t 1990 levels).

UN Secretary General, Ban Ki Moon, said the talks had privded fresh impetus for Copenhagen whilst formwr US vice-president and environmental activist Al Gore praised China for its loose committment.

The countdown now ticks until the 7th December although France’s President Nicolas Sarkozy has called for leaders to meet again in mid November. It remains to be seen whether our leaders are prepared to make any tough decisions.

I’m currently staying in Germany, the land of recycling, where they’ve had recycling machines for years, so it’s nice to see that we’re catching up in England and the county of Lancashire has now its first reverse vending machine.

Blackpool and The Fylde College has installed Lancashire’s first Reverse Vending Recycling Machine at their new University Centre. Students and staff are being encouraged to recycle more bottles & cans. Every can or bottle that is placed in the machine is a unit worth 5 pence and vouchers are issued to spend in the new Grads Café Canteen in the Central Hub.

The innovative reverse vending machine not only compacts and saves recyclable materials but also monitors and records the types of units deposited, allowing the data to be viewed online so that the college can review the success of the vending initiative.

Ruth Paisley, Vice Principal of Resources & Planning at Blackpool & The Fylde College commented:

“We’re really pleased to be leading the way environmentally with innovative new ideas and a commitment to reducing our impact on the environment.

“We were one of few projects committed to achieving a post-construction BREEAM ‘Excellent’ merit, meaning we have stuck to our plans and not compromised on environmental impact in order to cut costs.

“I’m sure the ReVend machine will also give students and staff even more of an incentive to recycle their waste.”

It would be great to see this initiative extended to other schools & colleges and even better to see reverse vending machines in every high street in Britain, so let’s hope this is the first of many. If you’re interested in reverse vending machines then pay a visit to the Reverse Vending Corporation.

I was only away for 9 days and I came home to find a ton of junk mail on my doormat.

Apart from a couple of magazine subscriptions, the usual bills and letters (including welcome mail from Ecotricity and Triodos Bank) the majority of what I received was junk.

So, apart from just 11 legitimate pieces of mail the rest was:

• 4 flyers ( in the local newspaper – 2 for national companies)
• 3 collection bags from charities.
• 2 Estate Agents’ flyers.
• 6 fast food flyers.
• 5 National company flyers.
• 1 Speculative Insurance invitation.
• 10 other items of random junk

So legitimate mail was outnumbered by roughly 2:1 OK, I can sign up to the Mail Preference Service but it doesn’t stop the junk in the local rag or the stuff that leaflet droppers are paid to deliver. Ah well, more stuff for the recycle bin and the compost bin then.

It’s funny how most Brits say that self-sufficiency would help us out in this recent financial crisis and yet half of us admit to lacking the skills our grandparents had in abundance.

According to research commissioned by the Soil Association and conducted by Pollab a massive 92% of Brits polled said that self-sufficiency, being able to “grow your own” and having your own livestock would certainly have been beneficial during this latest recession. The notion has been echoed by recent activity from DEFRA, the Government Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, in their Food 2030 initiative and a lot of interest from the general public in allotment space.

Yet despite the huge majority of people wishing to be self-sufficient the poll also found that:

• 45% of people admitted to lacking in cooking skills
• 47% of those polled say they were less able to grow their own food
• 48% of Brits believe they have lost the rural craft skills to allow them to be self-sufficient and
• 51% said they had no idea how to rear livestock

So, although the will is strong, the skills are weak. But fear not for the Soil Association have picked up on Brits’ lack of confidence and are launching 300 Organic Farm School courses over the next 2 years with help from the Daylesford Foundation. The new Organic Farm School courses cover a range of skills from growing vegetables to bee-keeping and keeping chickens to making bread and cider. Te full list of organic farm courses inlcudes:

• wild food foraging
• hedge laying
• cider making
• bee keeping
• cheese making
• preserving
• butchery and game preparation
• seasonal cookery demonstrations
• willow weaving
• dry stone walling

Patrick Holden, Director of the Soil Association, commented:

The Organic Farm School is about relearning skills which are vital to becoming more self-sufficient. In the recession this will not only be cheaper but it’s healthier for you and the environment too. I think one of life’s greatest pleasures is eating food that you’ve produced yourself.

My vision for the Organic Farm School is that it enables and inspires a whole generation of young people to acquire these vitally important skills from the very best practitioners – the farmers and growers themselves.

The Soil Association is aiming to strike a chord with over 3000 people with their Organic Farm Schools initiative, the intention being to pass on practical skills from farmers, growers and producers to reinstate modern urban people with the skills of their forebears.

Monty Don, President of the Soil Association, concluded:

The Soil Association’s Organic Farm School is a fantastic opportunity for anyone to come and learn skills from the experts. Each course is an enjoyable day out on an organic farm and a chance to experience the rich satisfaction of country life.

So, if you think you need to brush up on your bread, cider & cheese-making skills, then take a look at the Organic Farm School courses to see which ones appeal to you.