Lemons and Penguins

There have been some interesting articles lately on the impact of the “credit crunch” on aviation:
Britons fly less as credit crunch bites (Daily Telegraph, 22 October 2008)
Global demand for flights nosedives (Guardian, 25 October 2008)

Plus some more evidence from the government-funded Environment Agency that the proposed third runway at Heathrow will damage health (BBC News, 6 October 2008).  The Conservatives even said that they would scrap a third runway in favour of a high-speed rail line (BBC News 29 September 2008).

Of course, the consultation on the proposed new runway at Heathrow is now closed, with the government’s decision to be announced by the end of the year.  Ruth Kelly, former Secretary of State for Transport, seemed dead set on a third runway, more or less declaring that it would go ahead, even before the consultation had closed (!).  But, this from the Evening Standard earlier this week, suggests that all is not lost:

Heathrow: MPs plot revolt against third runway (Evening Standard, 28 October 2008)

Getting MPs to sign Early Day Motions on the Climate Change Bill have been successful in changing the emissions reduction target to 80% and including aviation and shipping emissions (Minister bows to calls on climate change bill Guardian 28 October 2008).  Yay!  Writing to your MP actually does work, MPs are there to work for their constituents’ interests after all.  They will do what they are asked - if enough people ask them.

So, if you can spare a minute, please ask your MP to sign the Early Day Motion that calls for a rethink on the Heathrow expansion plans.  You can email your MP using writetothem.com.  The email I just sent my MP is below…

Dear Frank Dobson MP,

Please will you sign the Early Day Motion (EDM 2344) calling for a rethink on plans for the third runway at Heathrow?

http://edmi.parliament.uk/EDMi/EDMDetails.aspx?EDMID=36724

A third runway at Heathrow has serious environmental impacts as well as a direct effect on quality of life for London residents (in Camden we are directly under a number of flight paths) and noise and air pollution problems will deteriorate drastically if a third runway were to go ahead.  London already has very poor air quality and noise levels and more aircraft will only make these problems worse.

Emissions from aircraft will also undo all the good work set out to achieve by the Climate Change Bill (which you have supported - thank you).  An 80% reduction in emissions can categorically not be achieved with airport expansion, “green” aircraft technology simply is not there.  Aircraft emissions are so damaging (due to radiative forcing effects) that they will undo any emissions cuts elsewhere.  The environmental case against aviation expansion is clear cut, and the economic case is unproven, especially in a world where carbon emissions will become more and more costly, oil prices look set to rise over the next few years, and airlines are going bust due to spiralling costs and a lack of custom.

Edinburgh, Glasgow and Paris are all counted in the “top 10″ most popular destinations from Heathrow - yet these destinations are very easily reached by high speed rail links, if investment were to be made in this area.

I do not believe that a sustainable transport policy can include aviation expansion.   Carbon emissions have to be cut, and the numbers of people living in the area affected by flights continues to rise.  This is why I ask you please to sign EDM 2344 on behalf of your constituents in Camden.

Sincerely

[me]

It’s Energy Saving Week so here’s some ideas to save energy:

• Use your oven’s heat …if you turn the oven off 3-4 mins before you’ve finished cooking, the warmth left in the oven will finish cooking your food fine. Also when cooking things like baked potatoes, you don’t need to wait for the oven to warm up before you put them in…just adjust the time a little to compensate.  Cooking things together in the oven saves having the oven on for twice as long.  So if you’re cooking something for dessert, consider cooking it in the oven at the same time as your main course.  If you have to reheat food, use a microwave, it uses a lot less power than an electric or gas oven.
• Don’t overfill the kettle …if you want one cup of tea, boil water for one cup, not four.  (Even more energy saving, have a cold drink instead!)
• Turn things off (your TV, CD player, DVD player, Freeview box etc).  If you’re not watching a DVD your DVD player does not need to be on.  If there’s a red light on the front it means it’s still using electricity, you need to turn it off at the plug.  If you have a cordless phone consider turning it off when you are out of the house, or at night - you’re not going to be answering it anyway and most telephone answering message services work whether your phone is switched on or not.
• Don’t charge your mobile overnight …your phone does not need 8 hours to recharge, and phone chargers use energy all the time when they’re plugged in.  Yet most people charge their phones overnight.  Instead, charge your mobile in the daytime and unplug your charger when you’re done.  Even better, turn your mobile off overnight and the battery will last longer and need charging less often (how many calls do you need to make/receive when you’re asleep?)
• Air dry.  Heating uses a lot of energy.  If you’re drying your hair, try using a cooler setting on your hairdryer, or, even better, let your hair air dry (or at least half air dry).  Air dry clothes instead of using a tumble dryer.  Hang them up to get creases out of them so that they need less ironing (ironing uses a lot of energy too).
• Use power-saving settings on your PC.  Change the settings on your computer so that it goes into power saving mode when you’re not using it.  And make sure to turn your computer off overnight.  If you have to keep your computer on, at least turn the monitor off when you’re not using it.  If there’s a light on your monitor it means the monitor is still on, even if the computer is off.  Laptops use a lot less power than desktop computers, so next time you think of upgrading your computer, consider a laptop.

The Guardian’s article from a few months ago on “the cost of living” shows the cost of energy for various things, for example, roasting a chicken is 50p.  Save energy and save some pennies too…

I always though “Zero waste” sounded difficult and pretty daunting.  How can it be possible to not throw anything away?  Of course, it depends a lot on the recycling facilities available in your area, but it is possible, and doesn’t have to be difficult!  Pictured on the right is my (almost) zero waste breakfast: porridge.

Quaker oats, amazingly, are packaged in a cardboard box - no plastic bag inside like other cereal packets - hooray!  The cardboard box, and plastic milk bottle are easily recyclable. The only waste comes from the plastic milk bottle lid, which cannot be recycled here in Camden (although there’s a company called GHS recycling based in Dorset that collects milk bottle tops for recycling… I just wish they had more collection locations!)

Of course porridge can also be made just with water (no milk) but I prefer my porridge milky!  I do always buy organic milk though, as, apparently it takes a third of the energy to produce than regular, non-organic milk (according to Friends of the Earth).

So, how did our “watch your waste week” go?  In a “normal” week between 2 of us we throw away 3kg of rubbish to landfill.  I thought this was pretty good to start off with, since the national average in the UK is, apparently, 8kg of rubbish to landfill per person per week.  Even so, in our “zero” waste week we reduced this to 25g of non-recyclable rubbish (mainly milk and juice bottle lids, and some bits of plastic wrapping), plus 725g of compostable rubbish (almost all vegetable peelings).  Now all I need is a compost bin……..

Cutting down on unnessecary plastic packaging is one of my priorities, not least because of the “plastic soup” in the North Pacific and how so many animals mistakenly eat pieces of plastic or get caught in them.

It’s crazy when you think about the fact that plastic takes hundreds, even thousands of years, to degrade (we just don’t know yet, as plastics have only been around since the late 1800s, early 1900s).  Scarily, plastic just breaks down into smaller and smaller pieces instead of actually “degrading” as other materials do… and yet there’s so much plastic used in disposable items, or things we only use once or twice.

So when my lip balm ran out I spent an age trying to find an alternative that did not come packaged in plastic.  Those little tins of vaseline are one option, but Vaseline is petroleum-based, and I was hoping to find something that was not made of oil.  Lush do lip balms in tins too, but I didn’t find them quite effective enough, and they’re quite expensive considering how small the tins are (although they are quite solid, so last a while).  But my favourite at the moment is Badger lip & body balm.

Badger lip balm is made of olive oil, castor oil, beeswax, aloe vera, birch, plus my “Highland mint” flavour (is flavour the right word? or is it perfume?) contains lavender, peppermint, rosehip, seabuckthorn berry, and spearmint.  It’s nice and minty and makes your lips soft, not greasy like vaseline.  And, best of all, it’s packaged in a little metal tin, which can be reused or recycled.  A lot better than all that plastic and petroleum stuff…

I can see why they called it “watch your waste week” and not “zero-waste” week since zero is pretty daunting.  Especially since so far this week (since Sunday.. so that’s..err..3 days…) our bin has acquired Pret a Manger coffee cups & lids, ice-cream tubs, yoghurt pots, pizza packaging…so for next week I’ve been trying to think of meals that require as little waste as possible.  It’s quite challenging.

Cheese is definitely out (since it’s packaged in non-recyclable plastic), and short of buying my own oranges and squeezing my own juice which is just too time-consuming and complicated, I’m going to be stuck with plastic bottle lids from juice and milk cartons — though the tetrapak cartons themselves are recyclable!  I re-iterate this point since the watch your waste week people themselves (in their leaflet) give the advice:

“Try not to buy food products that are packaged in cartons that are difficult to recycle (eg. tetrapak). Buy drinks in recyclable containers.”

Surely the people that wrote this must know that tetrapaks are recyclable?!? Perhaps not, maybe I should write to them and remind them.

Anyway, I am resigned to the fact that we will not be zero-waste since we have no access to composting, being in a flat and no access to the garden, and with no council green waste collection (unlike those with brown bins in Hackney, lucky people).

Nevertheless, I’ve drawn up a list of “almost zero waste” meals, which, while not completely waste free, are meals that require as little packaging and waste as I could think of (take a look, my meal plan is all colour-coded and everything!).  If you have any ideas or suggestions do let me know!

I’ve signed up to take part in watch your waste week from 4 - 12 October.  So this week will be “business as usual”, to monitor how much rubbish we produce in a usual week, and the week after we’ll be trying to reduce waste as much as possible.  Should be interesting!

Well worth reading - “40 steps on the personal path to green” from the No Impact Man blog.

And if you have 2 minutes spare, have a look at the Pledge & WIN! competition at myzerowaste.com. Not only you can win prizes as an incentive to get to do green stuff, but, even better, you can only win if you leave them feedback on how you carried out your pledges.

Pledges I made were:

• I will talk to at least one family member or friend to promote recycling - for this I was going to send my parents a link to show them how easily tetra paks can be recycled, since they didn’t even realise tetra paks were recyclable (they are!). However, I discovered that Cornwall, where my parents live, doesn’t have tetra pak recycling collection (yet), and although you can post your tetra paks to be recycled, I highly doubt my parents will pay to do this. But I recently found out that the slightly stretchy kind of see-through plastic bags (e.g. the ones that potatoes and cauliflowers are packaged in) can be recycled at carrier bag recycling points in most major supermarkets. So I’m going to tell everyone about that instead (starting here!).
• I will take active steps to stop junk mail being delivered to my home - I don’t actually really get much junk mail, but www.stopjunkmail.org.uk is a good place to start with this. Opting out of the edited electorial register helps, and remembering to tick those boxes on forms (to say that you don’t want more information) means you get less junk mail too. My main problem is companies that I have accounts or membership with sending me too many leaflets. I wrote to the National Trust asking them to stop sending me so many fundraising leaflets (I always donate online anyway) and asking them to consider a paper-free membership option (I love reading their magazine but if I could get it in PDF form I would). Plus I’m trying to figure out how to get online-only statements from the bank and stuff (though barclaycard doesn’t seem to have this option, hm).
• I will offer one unwanted item on Freecycle or take to a charity shop - I am on a clutter-clearing mission again - this is going to be a lot more than just one item! I have 4 red ikea cushions, an old laptop, a bunch of art magazines, clothes, shoes, handbags, a floor fixing kit from b&q, and who knows what else to give away… Freecycle is my clutter-clearing friend!
• I will cancel my telephone directory / Yellow pages - this was more difficult that I thought. To opt-out of receiving yellow pages you have to call 0800 671 444. To cancel Thomson Local I emailed info@thomsonlocal.com but they haven’t replied yet. And apparently BT is *obliged* to supply everyone in the UK with a phone book (you’re not allowed to opt out?! it’s crazy), but I signed the petition at www.saynotophonebooks.com as apparently Ofcom are reviewing BT’s obligation and hopefully a petition might sway them. Who knows.
• I will make something like bread instead of buying in plastic wrap - I’m really looking forward to this one…there is a delicious but simple-sounding recipe for crisp rosemary flatbread from smitten kitchen which I’m going to make.. mmm !

This isn’t just any old pasta, it’s Unpackaged pasta!

I’m always astounded by how much rubbish I throw out that can’t be recycled, and it’s always food packaging. One way I try and avoid this is by buying things in larger quantities, so 1kg of pasta instead of 500g. (I know, 1kg isn’t a lot, but my cupboard space isn’t huge!). Unfortunately Sainsburys Local which is the closest shop to me only sells pasta in 500g packets and the only products which they sell without packaging are bananas and fresh baked bread rolls (and you’re supposed to put bread rolls into little plastic bags).

The Unpackaged shop in Angel is a brilliant idea. They buy the products in bulk, you bring along your own reusable jars/tupperware and they fill them up. I think it works out cheaper than buying the products because you don’t have to pay for all the packaging, and of course, the major advantage is no packaging to throw away!

I only bought pasta and sugar on my last visit, but I’ll be saving my egg cartons so I can buy eggs there too, and once I get through what’s already in my cupboard (rice, flour, lentils, spices) I’ll definitely go there for a refill. They even do fruit & veg and things like teabags, and milk in glass bottles too. Only problem is it’s around 20 mins away by bus, I wish there was one closer in Camden!

On a related note I see that 62% of M&S’s packaging can’t be recycled, which is the worst of any supermarket (equal with Lidl). Not good! Though they have just started charging for plastic carrier bags which is a start I suppose.

I’m so tired of all this greenwash, companies saying they are being environmentally friendly and then doing exactly the opposite. I’m sure it’s possible that sometimes they just don’t realise or know any better, but there’s no excuse most of the time.

Car adverts irritate me the most - there is no such thing as an environmentally friendly car! - even a bike is not “carbon zero” or “carbon neutral” as it has to be made in the first place! (And don’t get me started on these phrases “carbon zero” or “carbon neutral”…) Thankfully new plans afoot in the EU mean that hopefully all car adverts will have to display pollution information in the same way that cigarettes currently carry health warnings. It sounds like a good idea but I can imagine the advertising companies will manage to greenwash around it anyway.

Financial institutions are good at greenwash too… I got an email today from Lloyds TSB about their “Airmiles mortgage” (they also have an “Airmiles credit card”). Well, I know Lloyds TSB isn’t the greenest financial company around (The Co-op seems better at this than most), but they still claim they are aiming to be “carbon neutral”. How can their corporate responsibility report (PDF) claim that they are cutting their carbon emissions when they are encouraging their customers to take more flights?

What really annoys me about this is that airmiles don’t relate to home ownership whatsoever, they could quite feasibly offer another incentive-based mortgage that doesn’t promote the most environmentally damaging form of transport. And these huge companies can well afford to implement carbon reduction strategies rather than just producing “greenwash” reports. They have the money to take action, so why don’t they?

I sent Lloyds TSB an email anyway (text is below), feel free adapt and send one yourself!

Dear Lloyds TSB,

I hold a number of accounts with you and have done so for a number of years, including a current account and savings account. I am however astounded at an email that I received from you today advertising your “Airmiles Mortgage”.

As I understand from your Corporate Responsibility Report you have a commitment to reducing your total carbon emissions by 30% by 2012 and achieving carbon neutrality. This is a commendable target. However, air travel is the most polluting and environmentally damaging form of transport. Promoting an Airmiles Mortgage serves to encourage your customers to travel by air and so encourages this dangerous growth of emissions from the aviation industry.

This product is therefore highly irresponsible ethically and environmentally, and I am astounded that you are promoting this as it goes against your environmental standards and guidelines as defined in your Corporate Responsibility Report.

Your approach to environmental sustainability is supposedly based on “a simple framework based on the word R.E.D.U.C.E.”, which includes the goal to “Develop appropriate products and services”. I do not see how an Airmiles mortgage is an appropriate product or service whatsoever. Airmiles and air travel have no connection with homes and mortages and to encourage your customers to travel by air at a time when carbon emissions need to be cut drastically is environmental suicide, and makes your Corporate Responsibility Report look like nothing more than the worst form of corporate greenwash.

I hope you will consider withdrawing this product and instead devise and promote more appropriate products that are in line with your advertised environmental goals. For example, offering mortgage customers cut price home insulation or discounts on the installation of microgeneration technologies such as solar panels. Both these examples are appropriate for the mortgage product as they are home-based and will cut carbon emissions from heating and power.

As it stands I do not believe that your Corporate Responsibility Report amounts to anything other than greenwash. I had considered taking up a Lloyds TSB mortgage since my current mortgage product is up for renewal in August but now I feel this is out of the question. I will be renewing my current mortgage with another financial institution and will look elsewhere for financial services until your company stops making misleading environmental claims and stops selling environmentally damaging products and services.

Sincerely