Telling Tales

Last week I had lots of train journeys around the country. Most of them were after 5pm so it was dark and I didn't get very far with my train I-Spy. There was one trip in daylight, from Wellingborough to London where me (and my Dad) saw almost all the things on my list. I'm not sure if we saw anyone rushing for the train but it was 10am so there weren't many busy commuters rushing around.

On an earlier train journey that week I sat down and realised I'd brought nothing to read on my three hour journey. As the radio signal disappeared and I decided it really was too dark to play I-Spy I looked around for another source of entertainment and was pleasantly surprised to find a copy of Easy Living magazine in the pouch on the back of the seat in front. I've never read this magazine before but it was pretty good and kept me entertained throughout the journey. The best bit was knowing it was free and also that I was recycling someone else's old magazine.

It's a great idea leaving papers or magazines on trains once you're done with them, as long as the nice train staff don't tidy it away before someone else can pick it up to read. A completely read magazine is one thing but what about leaving your most loved book behind for someone else?

While I was in Europe last summer I visited Hanover for an afternoon. Sat on a bench by a church I noticed a cupboard next to me, the cupboard was filled with books and as I sat people came and went leaving and taking various books. I was fascinated, even though all the titles were in German. This is an example of a recent new social trend of book leaving. Public places are designated as "libraries" and people drop off unwanted books and pick up new ones. It's a great idea and although I don't know if it's taken off in the U.K. let I do know of several similar schemes.

For example the Guardian newspaper launched its six-week book season this autumn by setting 15,000 books free into the wilds of the U.K. From coffee shops to stations platforms, children's novels to science books to craft annuals; the books were placed around the country for new readers to discover them, read them and pass them on again. Guardian readers were also encouraged to leave their own books with the special bookplate sticker (found free in the weekend papers) inside with a message from the original owner. Finders can then log their book online and look at where it came from and where it's been.

Along the same tracking lines the Bookcrossings phenomenon allows books to be shared and traced across the globe. Stickers are downloaded and printed than then they and the books they're attached to are left in places new owners can find them. The unique sticker number in the book is then logged into the website and the past and present owners can chat about the books, an organic online bookclub.

All these ideas, from leaving your magazine behind on purpose to setting books free into the world are all examples of all three of the R's: reduce, reuse, recycle.  You reduce the number of books you buy by swapping them with others, you always reuse a great book reading it again and again and you recycle it onto the next new reader. A brilliant example of how sustainable living should be. Although, I'm not saying we don't need any new books. Old stories are good but a new tale always has a special feel.

Cutting Through The Smog

When I think of air pollution in cities reducing life expectancy by up to two years I imagine a Dickensian London with street urchins coughing in the smog. But a report out today by the Government's Environmental Audit Committee is saying that this is U.K. cities now, not 100 years ago.

The committee reports that despite commitments made in the coalition agreement the government is still failing to tackle the problem of air pollution, hasn't met the required EU standards for reductions and is now trying to avoid paying the fines for this by asking for another extension to 2015.

While the committee says that there has been "no meaningful evidence" of progress in meeting standards there has been progress in analysis the effects air pollution has on the population. Nationally the government accepts a shortening of life by 7-8 months due to air pollution but this could be as high as two years for those who are daily affected by the pollutants. In addition to this there is also the estimated £8.5-20 billion a year cost of caring for the health of those affected.

The main cause of the pollution is seen to be traffic from the many vehicles on the roads in built up urban areas. Recent research shows that tyres and brakes, as well as vehicle exhausts, are the culprits for high levels of airborne particles of dangerous chemicals and while some changes have been made (investment in bikes and age limits on black cabs in London) there is still so so much left to be done.

Now the latest government request to put back meeting EU targets until 2015 is being looked into by environmental lawyers ClientEarth. On their website ClientEarth say that they are an organisation of activist environmental lawyers committed to securing a healthy planet. Sounds pretty good considering the normal lawyer stereotypes. In response to today's report Alan Andrews, their air quality lawyer said, 

Under the banner of its localism agenda, the government is dumping the problem on local authorities who simply do not have the resources to tackle what is a national problem.

Once again we seem to be lacking that up beat news story about the "Greenest Government Ever" and how David Cameron, Caroline Spelman (Secretary of State for the Environment) and others are fighting the battles that desperately need to be won both for public health and  well-being and the greater environmental good. Still there's always tomorrow right?...

Eggcelent Choice

I am proud of my farming heritage. My grandparents owned a small dairy farm in rural Northamptonshire and now my aunt and uncle run an organic egg farm only a couple of villages over. I always feel a link back to the countryside and the farming landscape even though I have no day to day experience of it. I didn't grow up on a farm but I have many happy memories of playing in the fields and "helping" with the farm chores when I was little and visiting, although I doubt how much actual help we were when feeding the lambs or herding the cattle.

Farming is a hard profession, even more so now that supermarkets are trying to push down prices for customers which often means pushing down profits for the farmers not the shops. During my lifetime, partly to cope with this, farming has become much more industrial with the use of chemicals, fertilisers, antibiotics and intensive methods. This often means bad news for wildlife and the environment as intensive methods and chemicals push wildlife out to the very edges of the countryside. I've talked about Fairtrade and the benefits for the environment and farmers that paying a fair price has but haven't yet talked about organic farming and the benefits this has in this country and abroad.

The Soil Association is the main certification body for organic farming in the U.K. For farms to be organic they must satisfy strict standards:

• Artificial chemicals are prohibited
• Pesticides are strictly restricted
• Animal welfare is at the heart of farming with a truly free-range life for animals
• Diversity and rotation of crops and animals allows the soil time to recover and prevents the build up of pests and diseases in the soil
• The routine use of drugs, antibiotics and wormers is banned
• The use of genetically modified crops and ingredients is banned

I always get my eggs from my uncle and aunts farm, this sometimes means travelling by train with a rucksack containing a dozen eggs but normally they survive the trip. When they first started farming organic eggs it was amazing to see the contrast with the normal shop bought eggs. Not only do they last much longer (because we get them straight from the farm which makes them about two weeks fresher than buying them in the shops) but their colour, taste and size is different.

Organic, free-range eggs have a much deeper colour and taste, well, more eggy than battery farmed eggs. The yolks are the colour of oranges rather than the pale yellow of primroses. Also, shops want standard size eggs and this hasn't yet been communicated down to the chickens. Because of this we often get the too big or too small eggs that can't be sold in shops. When a new batch of hens comes to the farm they often start by laying double or triple yolk eggs (I've no idea why) and so these eggs are much too big for the shops so we get them. My university friends were amazed by double yolk eggs and I hadn't realised this was an uncommon thing. It can make cake making tricky but an extra yolk in scrambled eggs is a brilliant treat.

Organic farms must adhere to strict welfare conditions and the hens have freedom to roam the fields during daylight and are put away to bed in large sheds when night falls to protect them from foxes and other predators. It's quite amazing to see thousands of hens wandering around in a field but they do look quite happy-as happy as hens can look.

Because pesticides, chemicals and antibiotics are restricted or banned on organic farms the soil and natural environment has time to recover and bloom. Farmers are encouraged to incorporate wildlife friendly schemes into their farms which helps to bring back the balance between nature and farming which is needed to get the full potential out of organic farming.

There are of course downsides to organic farming. It takes up more land, sometimes uses more energy (battery farming is unethical but very energy efficient) and water and doesn't always produce as high yields as intensive farming but the benefits of yummier food, happier animals and better environment must surely be worth something.

How organic farming is used globally and the more general impacts, pros and cons it has are discussions for another blog. For now I'm off to enjoy some bright yellow scrambled eggs! Have a nice Sunday and if you're ever in Waitrose why not try the Organic Free-range Columbian Blacktail eggs, you might even be eating some from my relatives farm!

Remember, Remember

I don't know how many countries celebrate the failure of a terrorist attack 400 years after it was meant to have happened, but being partial to fireworks I'm quite please the U.K. does. Fireworks night (aka Guy Fawkes night, Bonfire night and 5th November) has lost a lot of its original themes of anti-Catholicism, class confrontations and nationalism. Nowadays it's all about the brightness and being so close to other festivals of lights, such as Diwali, it's common for  fireworks to start mid October and continue until mid November.

Over the last five years, as well as the traditional fireworks, new lights have appeared on the horizon, those of Chinese lanterns. You've almost certainly seen them in the nights sky, points of orange light floating across the skyline. What they actually are is paper/plastic boxes with a tiny tea light heating the air inside the box and lifting it up into the sky. These little lights are really beautiful and it's lovely to see them slowly floating across the sky, sometimes up to 30 miles. They're pretty cheap too at about £2 each.

But (there always seems to be a but with good things) don't let the pretty lights dazzle you into missing the large risks and dangers associated with the lanterns. Last year, while watching lanterns at a family fireworks party, a three year old boy was seriously injured when part of a melted lantern fell onto his face.  Everyone knows the dangers of fireworks but the dangers of these new lanterns are less well know.

As well as possible injuries there are also risks to the environment, farm animals and emergency services. There have been several wild fires attributed to the lanterns over the last few years and also fires on farm, hay barns and injury to livestock. Many of the lanterns are now said to be biodegradable, but people seem sceptical about this and I always wonder how long they take to degrade, even if they do so. Wild fires will damage natural habitats and impact upon unsuspecting animals while the hot wire from fallen lanterns lies in wait for small unsuspecting paws.

There are less obvious problems for the emergency services with these lanterns. Between 1st October 2009 and 30th September 2010 there were 128 false alerts to the Maratime and Coastguard Agency attributed to Chinese lanterns. People see the lanterns out at sea and mistaken for parachute signal flares and so the emergency services are called. On 26 occasions lifeboats were launched and on two occasion helicopters mobilised. 

There are calls for a ban on Chinese lanterns or at least limiting them to certain times of year. I'm sure there are negative environmental impacts of fireworks too, even if its just the hundreds of cardboard and plastic shells that fall to the ground once they've been lit.

Whatever you're doing this weekend, remember to wrap up warm and keep safe. Also, if you're having a bonfire check it for hedgehogs before you lights it! They love the big piles of leaves and sticks as a warm place to hibernate.

One Man's Rubbish...

As I put the recycling out last week I started thinking about how different countries recycle. I agree this is a big thought for early on a rainy Tuesday so maybe I was just dreaming of somewhere sunnier.

According to the Defra website, in 2009/2010, on average, each person in the UK generated 457kg of waste. Of that 181kg was recycled and 275kg was not. That is an average of 39% of waste recycled which sounds pretty good but the idea of 275kg (I'm imagining bags of sugar) being thrown away by every single person is really crazy. I find it odd how most people wouldn't thrown rubbish on the pavement but putting rubbish in a bin that is later taken and put in a big pile on the ground somewhere is fine. How is that a good system of waste disposal!?

The U.K. is improving its recycling habits and slowly reducing its waste. It's a problem we all need to face and deal with. Companies need to start packaging products with less plastic, in fact with less everything. Consumers (us!) need to remember to recycle as much as we possibly can and minimise our food and non-food waste, do you buy loose apples rather than plastic wrapped ones? And finally government and local authorities need to keep providing better, easier and more extensive recycling facilities.

As a developed nation the U.K. has a responsibility to lead the way towards sustainable living. We've got the money (we still have more than lots of countries!), the infrastructure and the technology to show the rest of the world how it's done. Whether we will is a different, more worrying question but we can't expect less developed countries such as India to be showing us how it's done.

It's hard to find reliable figures for India's recycling. Some put the level of electrical waste recycling at 40% while others say 20% of paper is recycled but I can't find a statistic for total waste and total recycling annually. This is probably due to the much larger numbers and much less organised system of waste disposal in Indian. Not everyone get weekly collections and nice colour coded recycling bins!

From what I've heard from friends who have visited India, electrical recycling is quite easy but anything else is almost always binned. Maybe this is because the electrical components are more valuable than other waste but this might be changing as new innovative ways of recycling and using waste are appearing across India.

In one of the biggest slums in the world, Dharavi in Mumbai, recycling is funding a mini economic boom. Almost every street on the slum contains family run factories recycling everything from oil drums to ball point pens. This waste not want not attitude is helping lift people away from absolute  poverty and helping them improve their living conditions. Read more about this here.

Recycling is becoming a real money maker in India where brand new resources are expensive. There are now many entrepreneurs setting up their own recycling factories and finding new ways of recycling unwanted items across the country. For example, Mr K Ahmed Khan has patented a method to combine old plastic bags with bitumen to make new roads and in 18 months has laid 40km! More on this here.


It's brilliant to read these success stories and I'm sure there are lots of similar stories around the world and in the U.K.