The Green Diaries

When the Swiss Re Tower (aka the gherkin) in London was built it was heralded as an eco-friendly sky scraper that used clever engineering to maximise natural ventilation and sunlight to reduce the energy the building needed.  Eco-architecture is becoming more and more popular for new buildings, particularly skyscrapers, as a smart design helps reduce running costs for these massive structure. + BBC article on Swiss Re Smaller, older offices aren't so easy. The one I work in now is an old Georgian structure made of brick with huge windows. It can be sweltering on hot days in the summer especially with the computers and lights on. So AC went in, the windows got shut and now we're in winter, but strangely, the AC is still on because the building still retains so much heat from all of the electronic equipment and  lack of decent cross-ventilation.  And then the windows get opened because it becomes so stifling from the lack of fresh air and we have AC pumping straight out the

After emails and calls to our local London council, Westminster has finally included our block of buildings on the recycling route. We now have stacks of big blue bags just waiting to be filled. Of course, in true government fashion, not all recyclables are allowed in the bag (they have a limited list of what they will accept) so we have two on the go  - the blue one and one to collect non-conformist recyclables which we take to the local collection bins.  The Stern Report came out a few weeks ago - a UK government report that was years in the making and predicts catastrophe unless massive environmental actions are taken now - which may be why Westminster suddenly enabled recycling on our block. I'm sure the pressure is on to at least look like they are trying.