The Green Diaries

The UK goverment is being so slow in bringing in green legislation. I'm still surprised that there is no tax on plastic carrier bags a la Ireland and many other European countries.   I'm hatching a plan to start a Green Store Scheme whereby stores can voluntarily join forces with the policy of 'to show or support of reducing waste, we will only give you a plastic bag if you pay' with the proceeds going to a worthy eco-cause. Need to get the ball rolling in the private sector! It would require a lot of planning, canvassing, PR and a few willing high profile stores to start the trend. I'm thinking each store would carry a poster and information on conserving, recyling and reusing. The one catch - I'd need to quit working to have time to even get to step 1. Any volunteers?

While I was walking to the tube the other day, I saw the coolest thing. A middle-aged man in a helmet on a Segway overtaking a group of cars that were overtaking 2 horses making their way back to the stables. 19th, 20th and 21st century transport modes all lined up. I wish I had had my camera.

Everyone who knows me knows that I hate flying. It's loud, uncomfortable, confining and if things go wrong there's no way out. (I'm an advocate of parachutes under seat, not inflatable vests.) But the real reason I hate flying these days is the environmental impact. a) Apparently you're better off driving to your destination, alone , even if it's thousands of miles away, than being on a full plane. That's how bad the fuel consumption is. b) Planes dump their emissions in the most delicate part of the stratosphere and there's nothing to help mitigate the damage. For all of the pollution cars create, we have our plant life down here to help soften the blow. c) They are noisy, booming things and no matter where we go, we seem to be able to hear one or see one, even the far hills of Scotland. d) The amount of packaging they use per passenger is amazing. When my husband recently flew on a short haul flight to Amsterdam, he asked the air steward if they recy