Exporting British waste to China

If you were looking for another reason to reduce the use of plastics in packaging, then the Guardian has uncovered one.

How many people know that much of the plastics they happily stuff in their council recycling bucets and bins is destined for export to China?

Apparently, it’s “cheaper to send a container to China than to Scotland” while a Sainsbury’s spokesman said “No one could match the Chinese option for quantity or price. We would love to see it being recycled here, but it’s not possible at present.”

Should there be four Rs?

The present environmental mantra from government at all levels is Reduce, Reuse, Recycle - often with recycling getting the most attention.

Environmental groups on the other hand emphasise reduction and reuse as there are limits to the amounts and types of waste that can be recycled.

But I’d argue there should be a fourth R and it should be the first in the mantra.

More hot air about biofuels

BBC News is confidently trumpeting the news that biofuels are moving to the next generation, overcoming objections to their use because of the impact on rainforests and subsistence food crops.

The BBC quotes Jeremy Tomkinson, chief executive of something called the UK National Non-Food Crop Centre (NNFCC), as saying “if you are chopping down huge areas of rainforest in order to grow palm oil, not only is the palm oil not very environmentally friendly, think of the damage to the area’s biodiversity.

“This is a problem with some biodiesel, but the fuel we are using now is only a transitory thing.”

Yes, we use a breadmaker

An argument that crops up regularly on green or self-sufficient forums is whether or not it is appropriate to make your own bread using a breadmaker.

The hardcore idealists with time on their hands argue that breadmakers are yet another wasteful gadget that gets used for a couple of months and is then relegated to the back of the cupboard once the novelty has worn off.

The time-deprived and the less able-bodied argue equally fervently that the breadmaker is the solution to the problem of wanting home-baked fresh bread that’s ready when you want it with none of the time and labour required for an artisan loaf.