Green Thinking In The Construction Industry?

Greetings,

I was browsing Twitter and came across a link to this article and was really interested by the use of recycled plastic as a concrete aggregate. The con s truction industry is responsible for generating huge amounts of landfill waste (albeit often inert) , so to see an innovative use of a potentially difficult waste stream being recycled into a useable long-term product is encouraging. I would be interested to know what the long term implications of the product are, for example is it durable? What happens when is it breaks down and what environmental impacts the plastic will have when used in this format?

I’m not entirely convinced that this is the best practical final use of the material, but it’s good to see the construction industry getting its ‘green’ hard hat on.

Onwards & upwards!

Lucy.

Manchester Encourages Green Bus Drivers!

Greetings,

First Bus Group has recently announced the implementation of a bonus policy called DriveGreen for drivers of all 784 of its buses in Greater Manchester. Apparently this scheme could see each driver saving up to 500 litres of petrol per annum, and save First over £44,000 and 132,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide in the first year alone. Schemes like this really show that by making small changes you soon make a significant impact in terms of carbon production. Perhaps they might also consider adding to their bonus criteria careful driving in conjunction with cyclists... savings on limbs and lives might also help reduce carbon (not to mention the zero-carbon impact which cycling provides!)

Onwards & upwards!

Lucy.

100W Bulbs Banned By EU

Greetings,

Hurray! At long last...

This might have slipped under the radar but just so you are aware effective from the 1st of September this year, it will be illegal to import 100W incandescant pearl or frosted bulbs into the EU. The aim of this legislation is to encourage the use of long life energy saving bulbs, which use only one fifth of the energy of an incandescant bulb, and can last up to seven years before they need replacing.

Whilst some people are lamenting the loss of the incandescant bulb, I am so glad to see that the EU is taking positive steps to reduce the amount of energy being used unnecessarily across Europe.

Ever lighter footprinting!

Lucy.

Bentley - Somewhat Missing The Point?

Greetings,

I was initially encouraged to see that car manufacturer Bentley of all people were making an eco-car, the Bentley Continental Supersports 'Extreme'. Bentley have always been associated with the manufacture of large cars with even bigger engines and so this seemed to be an interesting change of direction for them. (For more information about Bentley's biofuels policy and research see here)

However I am sorry to report that whilst the 'Extreme' runs on a hybrid 85% bioethanol fuel, it is still a 630hp two seat sports car which only does 11.5mpg and emits 388g of carbon dioxode per kilometre. Whilst the 'Extreme' does show a significant improvement upon its counterparts, I just can't see how this type of car is still viable or even, dare I say it, legal in this day and age?

Onwards & upwards!

Lucy.

Airmiles Strikes Again!

Greetings,

I've discovered another moment of genius from the people at Airmiles, they are now rolling out a mobile phone recycling scheme which allows consumers to receive airmiles in return for unwanted mobile phones, not only that but they have the gall to suggest that this scheme is 'environmentally friendly' because your phone is recycled or reused in line with the WEEE directive! This completely green washes over the fact that you will be collecting credits towards air travel through the scheme, completely undermining the benefits gained by recycling the phone in the first place.

Working from these figures, the average phone requires emission of 60kg of CO2 to be manufactured. Sending your phone to be recycled means that you offset a total of 35 miles of air travel (assuming you are travelling long haul) after which you will be contributing a minimum of 0.17Kg CO2 per mile. As most long haul flights are a minimum of 6.5 hours in duration, you could be travelling as far as 550 miles, thus contributing an additional 85Kg of CO2 to the atmosphere.

It always pays dividends to look at the detail in more depth and think about the true environmental benefit of such schemes; in this case there are plenty of businesses out there which recycle mobile phones without trying to bribe you with air travel.

Onwards & upwards!

Lucy.

The UK's First Eco Kitchens

Greetings,

I've just discovered a great business, Milestone Eco Design based in Ilkley, they have produced the UK's first kitchen made entirely of recycled materials.

Some of the great features include; cupboard doors made from recycled yoghurt pots (at last!), work surfaces made from recycled coffee cups (trivets recommended!), a recycled (and recyclable) steel sink and cabinets made from 50% recycled timber.

Is this the eco-kitchen of the house of tomorrow? I certainly hope so.

Onwards & upwards!

Lucy.

Lets Get Ready To Rumble!

Greetings,

There is an interesting debate/conflict brewing between environmental journalist George Monbiot and leading climate change denier Professor Ian Pilmer. George claims that some of the statements published in Ian Pilmer's book Heaven & Earth, are misleading or misrepresenting the facts about climate change. In response Professor Ian Pilmer has challenged George Monbiot to a face-to-face debate, to which George Monbiot has agreed, provided he answers some of his allegations about the Professors claims in Heaven & Earth.

In this instance I am most definitely in the green corner!

Onwards & upwards!

Lucy.

Big Brother - Spying On Your Waste?

Greetings,

I was very interested to hear about the recent scheme of waste tracking which is being implemented by MIT, 3000 pieces of rubbish in London, Seattle and New York will be fitted with hi-tech tags which use mobile phone technology to send out a real time tracking signal. In effect this means that MIT will be able to watch exactly where the waste is moving to in real time.

The aim is to highlight exactly what happens to the waste we throw away and that it doesn't always end up where we think, sometimes it will even end up in a completely different country, where the approach to waste management is not as stringent and as such it can end up becoming a pollutant.

The BBC have written a quite extensive article about the technology behind the transmitters and what MIT are hoping to achieve in the lifetime of the project.

I think that projects like these are great tools to raise awareness of our throw-away lifestyle and that waste doesn't simply disappear when the bin man collects it.

Onwards & upwards!

Lucy.

South Korea Advocates Environmental Improvement

Greetings,

Some good news from the east, South Korean giant Samsung Electronics has just committed to investing $4Bn to reducing carbon emissions from its manufacturing plants, with the aim of reducing their carbon emissions by 50% by 2013.

This announcement follows on from a statement released by the South Korean government about their $84Bn Green Action Plan. This scheme is aiming to make improvements across the entire national infrastructure including manufacturing, transportation, construction & technology.

It's very reassuring to see one of the world's top ten carbon producers making such a commitment to reduce their emissions.

Onwards & upwards!

Lucy.

Best Eco Adverts To Save The Planet!

Greetings,

Apologies for the blatant recycling (pardon the pun!) of someone elses blog post, but just I had a quick look at Materials Recycling Week's latest blog post which linked to a Guardian picture story about 'The Best Adverts to Save the Planet'.

Let me know which you think is the most effective.

Onwards & upwards!

Lucy.