www.everythingsgonegreen.co.uk

Picture the scene:  a small communal galley kitchen in a building full of serviced offices.

There are two bins – One clearly labelled “Recyclable”, the other clearly labelled “Non Recyclable”. In addition there is an extra sign over the “Recyclable” bin reiterating that it is for “recyclable” stuff and in BIG CAPS it further clarifies that “NO FOOD ITEMS” are to go in the recyclable bin.

Now, if that’s not clear enough there is also a little sign above the area with a list of all the things that safe to be considered recyclable and those that are not.

Easy, right?

No.

Chicken legs, rice, coffee grinds, salad,  banana skins etc have all appeared in the recycling bin on a regular basis despite all these clear signs.

So what does this say about people?

We’ve taken to the skies, put a man on the moon,  split the atom, sequenced the human genome and created numerous intelligent devices and systems and yet some of this simian-descended race do not understand the clear and simple difference between recyclable and non-recyclable.

Some people are too stupid to recycle!

Good Grief!

My wife found this on facebook this morning. Doesn’t this just hit the mark? Here’s a transcript of the image text:

 [Image of spoon]

It’s pretty amazing that our society has reached a point where the effort necessary to

• Extract oil from the ground
• Ship it to a refinery
• Turn it into plastic
• Shape it appropriately
• Truck it to a store
• Buy it, and bring it home

…is considered to be less effort than what it takes to just wash the spoon when you’re done with it.

Sorry, plastic spoon manufacturers, but your time is up!

{EAV_BLOG_VER:d8d8317f40d9f024}I had an opportunity to chat with one of our local street cleaners the other day and he was saying that our local McDonald’s was the worst offender in terms of the sheer amount of litter he had to pick up. One day during the week he completely filled 10 large refuse sacks full of just McDonalds trash.

This is no surprise when you go to McDonalds, Farnborough Gate, or McDonalds Drive Through in London Rd, Camberley, on a Sunday morning – Both of these places are completely covered in fast food trash. Whilst they open and spark-up the fryers and rush to serve hungry punters with cheap food, the streets are still awash with the filth from their wrappers.

This is nothing new, it’s being going on for years. Whilst McDonalds has attempted to change its image from a fast food joint with primary-coloured, bright red and yellow fascia and fittings to this new “green” and “sustainable” image of raw wood and earthy tones, serving healthy salads to divert you from its core products of sweet, fatty burgers, the average McDonalds client is still a litter lout. A local traffic cop was even spotted throwing his McDonalds wrappers out of his squad car window. When questioned, he said he was only putting it there temporarily until he could pick it up and get to a bin! So why didn’t he keep it in his car then?

This leads on to the fact that the local penalty for dropping litter is £50 on-the-spot fine. If the threat of forking out £50 because you threw the rubbish from your 99p burger on the floor is such a deterrent then why are the areas around McDonalds still such utter sh*tholes when it comes to litter?

Like a Leopard can’t change its spots, McDonalds can’t brainwash the public by painting things green, serving the occasional dish of leaves, sponsoring football and sticking tiny messages on its cartons saying “please be responsible and place this nicely in a litter bin rather than out of the window of your big-bore Vauxhall Nova, you chavvy little scumbag!”

McDonalds is synonymous with high street litter. McDonalds is a champion of “keep Britain dirty”. There may very well be a McDonalds environmental policy, but its not worth the pixels it’s printed on.

As I have been told, first hand, it’s cheaper to pay someone to pick up the litter than it is to try and take the perpetrators to court – whether it’s the police or a council employee slapping £50 fines on the offending chav’s cars or taking the multinational to task for its worthless, caring image, to give someone the minimum wage for picking up their crap is the low-cost option.

It’s not just us either. Check out Nigel Ball’s McJunk. Nigel’s been on the case of McDonalds junk since 1999 and he’s even published a book about it. Then there’s the filthy McDonalds restaurant in Adelaide a few years ago… Not McLoving It? No, us neither.

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I was walking home from the local shops last night when I spied between the wood and wire panels of a fence, a load of beer cans stuffed inbetween. Then, a few minutes later, as I was walking through the woodland at the end of my road, I saw more beer cans littered around. As per usual, it’s often Fosters cans that you see littering the place.

This makes me think – Why are there no reverse vending machines in Farnborough? For that matter, why are there so few reverse vending machines anywhere in this country?

Can you believe it was 2 and a half years ago that we first wrote about reverse vending? The couple in that story, from Petersfield in Hampshire, paid for their honeymoon by collecting litter and feeding the reverse vending machine. The very same thought went through my mind last night – The benefits are many:

1. I could benefit personally by picking up those empty aluminium cans and taking them to get money for them. Money plus the satisfaction of doing a good job for the community and seeing my neighbourhood clean is the most beneficial personal outcome. Mercenary, I know
2. Any other Tom, Dick or Harry passing could make a few coins by doing so.
3. The perpetrators who dropped the litter in the first place could clear up after themselves and get a small discount on their drinking habits. But then, if they’re the sort of people who drink Fosters lager and drop litter in the first place, then that’s probably hoping too much for them.

So why are there still so few reverse vending machines around? Whilst I have the utmost respect for anti-litter campaigns and the likes of organisations like Keep Britain Tidy, I still think that messages like “You shouldn’t drop rubbish” and “you should keep it tidy” are weak and, to prove a point, they have been ignored for years. What we need is something to help backup that message with where and why you should do so, and “keeping it tidy” still isn’t enough – the financial incentive in these austere times, should help for the more thrifty amongst us.

So if there are any reverse vending companies out there or anyone else who can answer the question “Why are there no reverse vending machines in Farnborough?” then we’d love to hear from you. And, if that doesn’t get enough attention, then we’re going to have to approach a few of these reverse vending companies, supermarkets and councils ourselves and get some answers for you readers.

I just flicked the TV on before going to work and caught a story on BBC1′s “Breakfast” news show highlighting the fact that we will all be getting more junk mail in the UK.

Apparently Royal Mail’s management have agreed to pay conditions with the postal workers’ union just so long as Britain’s postmen start shoving more junk through our letter boxes.

The deal is said to be quite lucrative for Royal Mail and for the union, which had previously agreed that postal workers should only deliver three items of junk to an address per week, this is quite a compromise.

On the BBC Breakfast show the presenters questioned two guests; one a proponent of “direct marketing” and the other a representative of the group Waste Watch. (Sorry I don’t have any more detail, I missed the names and the introductions)

What we saw was a scruffy talk about junk mail with a lack of clarity on exactly which form of junk mail was being discussed with the direct marketing representative spearheading a charm offensive on behalf of junk mail.

Junk mail, by my definition, is any brochure or advertising that comes through my door unsolicited. What Royal Mail seem to be advocating, and making money from, is “unaddressed mail”. This “unaddressed mail” includes those envelopes addressed to “the owner” or “the occupier”.

With those two terms, junk mail and “unaddressed mail” cleared up nicely the people on the sofas then proceeded to discuss the generic term “junk mail” which allowed the direct marketing guy to positively present his figures. I suspect he was talking about “unaddressed mail” but was allowed, pretty much unchecked, to spin the facts as applying to junk mail/direct marketing in general and not purely “unaddressed mail”.
“Mr. Direct Mmarketing” said that 80% of direct marketing was opened and read by recipients. He also added that direct marketing is not a waste of time because the process generates around £130 billion of business a year. In addition he said that less than 2% of household waste is direct marketing/junk mail. He also repeated the soundbite, a couple of times, that the perception that “junk mail is bad” is “a complete myth”.

In response the representative of Waste Watch said that only 1% of junk mail was acted upon.

The direct marketing guy relished the opportunity to market his industry virtually unopposed and massaged the figures to his own advantage. £130 billion is a lot of business but how much of that business is won by direct marketing via “unaddressed mail”? How much is won by door-to-door direct marketing? How much business and revenue is generated by junk flyers?

I was a little surprised at the smug fact that less than 2% of household waste is junk mail/direct marketing. Was this by weight or by item? I decided to have a quick look in my recycling box that sits in the kitchen. OK, the food waste goes into a bucket and onto the compost so I didn’t count that.

Granted, there was more general recyclable material by weight and bulk, especially considering there are steel cans, aluminium beer cans, cardboard boxes, cardboard tubes etc but the item count?

• Junk mail – 20
• Recycling – 30

That’s probably about a week or two’s worth of recycling on show and the junk mail is all direct marketing and no “unaddressed mail”.

So, in terms of “unaddressed mail” my own personal figure tallies up with the marketing guy – less than 2% of my household waste is “unaddressed mail”, infact, this week, it’s 0%, but hardly a fair representative figure.

In terms of weight of junk mail, again, it’s probably very light and may well be about 2% of my recycling.

But as a proportion of my waste it’s 40%.

Hold on – there’s a BIG flaw in my manipulation of the figures here – it’s only a week or so’s worth of rubbish AND it’s only my recycling.

Yes, I have only thrown away ONE item of rubbish this last week – a pasta packet, that’s it.

So, back to the BBC breakfast story; who is right and who is wrong? Who lost and who won?

Well, the direct marketing guy probably won the charm offensive, he marketed his own corner really well and was given free reign to use some great figures and say twice, “it’s a myth” that junk mail is bad. And yes, my own example of rubbish is from a green guy who wastes very little anyway – of course “the average household” may well waste SO MUCH MORE and the junk will be an even tinier percentage of their household waste.

But as time goes on and we become less wasteful, the guy from Waste Watch is right. If only 1% of the junk mail message gets through then 99% of the paper, print, energy and manpower is wasted on going straight back into the bin/recycling. It may make the commercial world go around but 99% waste is not sustainable from an environmental perspective.

So, if you guys & girls out there have any figures to demonstrate the direct marketing claims one way or another then please feel free to let us know

Personally I think it’s a big shame that Royal Mail are keen to promote more waste for the sake of money. Read the Royal Mail door-to-door opt-out page. It’s almost laughable that they’re trying to get you to reconsider before you even send your details in;

Opting out means no one at the address will receive unaddressed mail items – is this acceptable to everyone living at the property?

Yes. The cat doesn’t need double glazing or a conservatory or a kebab or a pizza or a valuation on the property or timeshare or a haircut…

I’ve just been reading the article Stolen e-mails embolden climate change skeptics regarding the Climategate affair where scientists at the University of East Anglia’s Climate Research Unit had their emails hacked. Now I’m all for “leaks” of information that may be of public interest but that “thousands of e-mails and other documents made over the course of 13 years” are available is a considerable breach. I just hope it was perpetrated by Americans who hacked into the UEA CRU’s system so that we can horse-trade for Gary McKinnon, although I suspect this is a far cry. But I digress…

The article about the stolen emails pits Sarah Palin, the next Republican Presidential hopeful, versus President Barack Obama and the fact that he is going to Copenhagen to possibly get some sort of deal on the climate talks and that she doesn’t want him to go. This is yet another typical polarisation of opinion that we seem to see everywhere these days; you’re either with us or against us. Agree or disagree. Black or white. Hot or cold? Deal or no deal?

Let’s all, please, STOP FUCKING AROUND by being either red or blue, green or not green and just DO SOMETHING about the environment WHETHER WE BELIEVE IN CLIMATE CHANGE OR NOT.

Now this doesn’t apply so much to the hippies and the tree-huggers who are already well on their way to a sustainable lifestyle, but mainly to the middle and the far right of the spectrum;

This planet we live on is an ecosystem. You hear that? Eco SYSTEM – A system that has developed and evolved over millions of years and has found its own balance. We humans are upsetting that balance. We have chopped down millions of acres of rainforest. We are polluting our seas. Many species are in danger of extinction. We are pumping crap into the air, crap into our rivers and oceans and we’re eating crap, selling crap and consuming crap. Despite our technological breakthroughs and our many human achievements we are still a pretty fucking stupid bunch of primates aren’t we? When I was a kid I laughed at the phrase “Don’t shit on your own doorstep”, but we do, don’t we? All the time.

Now, do yourself, and the rest of us, a favour and start thinking about what’s actually going on and then do something about it. Even something as simple as having this ridiculous “touch effects technology” bullshit and having your clothes smell “nice” every time you brush against stuff is NOT good for the planet. By thinking the latest “fabric softener” is wonderful is a fallacy: it’s just chemicals and advertising. Go out into the countryside and take a deep breath… THAT is fresh. Chemicals with the scent of pine is NOT FRESH.

So, whether you believe in climate change or not…

• Ditch the gas guzzler
• Drive less
• Walk
• Cycle
• Take public transport, the train, the bus
• Share a car, car pool
• Stay at home, work from home
• Turn the thermostat down
• Insulate your loft
• Get a new efficient gas boiler
• Wear a hat or a jumper rather than crank the heat up
• Buy organic
• Ask for less packaging
• Buy local
• Visit the farmers’ market
• Eat less meat
• Consume less
• Turn off the TV
• Don’t believe the hype
• Reconsider that widescreen TV purchase – do you really actually need it?
• Wake up, open your mind
• Talk
• Discuss
• Listen
• Learn
• Get involved
• Care about your local environment
• Don’t buy nasty chemicals, use environmentally-friendly stuff
• Remind yourself what nature’s really like
• Respect wildlife, take an interest
• Use sustainable materials
• Invest ethically, use an ethical bank
• etc
• ad verbatim
• …

I could go on, there is SO MUCH we can all do and we CAN ALL DO these things. Demand ethics, sustainability and environmentally-friendly goods, services and practices and then they will become the DE FACTO services – all the old unsustainable ways will go the way of the dinosaurs when there is no demand for them and organic will naturally be cheaper than non-organic.

I’ll say it one last time: Whether you believe in climate change or not, whether you think it’s man-made or not, just use your brain and stop being a trash human, stop being so selfish, drop the ego and start being more considerate and work out where you fit in the grand scheme of things.

As the Native American saying goes:

“We do not inherit the Earth from our Ancestors, we borrow it from our Children.”

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.

Friends, Britons, countrymen… lend me your ears.

Today, Friday 10th July 2009, is supposedly Green Britain Day. The concept has been thought up by French nuclear energy giants EDF.

However, as has been said , this whole concept is a complete sham because:

1. EDF are French not British.
2. EDF are not green because they are the world’s biggest corporate producer of nuclear waste.
3. The green union flag has been stolen from British wind-power generators Ecotricity.

So really it’s not Green Britain Day but rather Greenwash Day. Do not be fooled by the company that:

1. Has Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s brother, Andrew Brown, as their Media Director (funny that, aye?)
2. Has spent a reported £50 million in advertising revenue on the campaign.
3. Brought Britain’s nuclear energy generator, British Energy, for some £25 billion.

Dale Vince, CEO of Ecotricity, is right in saying that this could be the biggest greenwash in corporate history, so shame on EDF for these bully-boy tactics.

You drive your car less, you cycle more, recycle more, use less packaging, re-use your grocery bags, use low-powered bulbs, switch to wind-powered electricity and remember to switch everything off when you go to bed or leave the house.

You use both sides of the paper, you only ever wash at 30°c or 40°c, you use biodegradeable washing liquid or eco balls, you let nature dry things and the tumble dryer gather dust, you walk wherever possible, buy local goods from local people, you shower rather than bath and turn your thermostat down. The gas is turned down to a minimum, the loft is lagged, you used hemp insulation, and the DIY was done with only FSC timber.

Everything is natural where possible and you donate to good causes, you go green, you vote green and environmental, you think ecological, you’re efficient, you’re kind and considerate, your books are second-hand and you prefer the packaging when it has been reused… preferably not just once but twice… or more!

You care and you like to see that quality in others, you learn and you share and you wish that the world would be better place and you pay a slight premium to have food without chemicals and meat without steroids, compassion in world farming and fair trade on your table.

Ethics, sustainability, care and attention. Down with obsessive consumerism, up community projects. At one with nature, respect it and the planet.

And then someone says… that’s Eco Fascism.

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I was only entering the book A Blueprint for Survival into my Facebook page when I spied the mere two star rating and a short review;

My copy dates from 1972, interesting to revisit over thirty years on, we are all still here! My note on the inside back cover still stands, ECO FASCISTS.

Well, I’ve not read the whole book yet as I’ve only just started. I shall make a judgement at the end as to whether I think they are “Eco Fascists” and whether I, a green and a moderate, might also be an “Eco Fascist” and I shall make more than a 2-line judgement or review as I think the subject deserves better than that.