The Green Diaries

I have made an official request to visit any of London's recycling centres for an in-depth look at how they really work. Questions like a) who sorts out the 'mixed bags' full of various types of recyclables and b) how are they actually recycled?   Most people I speak to are cynical that anything happens to the mixed recycling bags and I myself don't understand how our typical mixed recycling bag, which will usually contain up to 6 types of plastic, aluminum, glass and various types of paper (including little bitty pieces) can be efficiently sorted unless there is a huge team rifling through it all on conveyor belts.  I want to know - is it all a London borough con? Where is the evidence of how it is all actually recycled? I can never find any reports on it, apart from % of waste that is sent to recycling sites, not how much is actually recycled or how it is recycled.  One of our friends accidentally put his recycling bag out a day early on his street in Notting Hill (

Me and the husband found ourselves with a spare week on our hands in October and decided to make a last minute trip to visit my family and friends in New York. It was mid-October and I thought let's go now so English husband can see the spectacular east coast fall foliage for the first time. So we bought last minute tickets - bringing our flight tally to 3 for the year - 2 short hauls (Berlin & Outer Hebrides) and 1 long haul (New York). Taking the train or driving to any of these places is a) impossible or b) ridiculously long (13+ hours) so I feel vindicated in my pollution choices. I packed a bag of sweaters, jeans and scarves expecting the typical brisk autumn temperatures. But when we landed in New York we were greeted with summertime, balmy weather.  We drank outside, ate outside and took long, sweaty walks along the streets of Manhattan and Brooklyn and even had a beach day trip to CT. The warm weather felt fantastic, I have to admit. But it was freaky. Just like last y

I love National Geographic. It's just about the only publication I trust. Each story is crafted and researched for months by experts, fact checked and fact checked again. It explores the unseen, wild and exotic in a way that is tangible and captivating. With some of the best photography around. The cover story this month is on biofuels. It is, as usual, a thorough and balanced view of the potential future of fuel plus excellent pub quiz knowledge like: this year's Indy 500 was won in a car fuelled by ethanol and driven by a Scot.  As a bonus, there is a complementary interactive piece online that compares the different types of biofuels. + National Geographic's Biofuel Inteactive I wonder if someday we can use our household compost to power our cars...?

We took another holiday, using the TGV instead of flying as our mode of transport, in August, as our attempts to keep air miles down continues. But as we zoomed through the French countryside at 180 MPH, we wondered how efficient is the TGV, really? Or have we just bought into the hype that it is more efficient than flying? I've never seen any statistics other than soft evidence provided by The Guardian and various news sources. We've been told by journalists that train travel is significantly greener, but with the electricity required to hurl a TGV through the countryside, and electricity plants being a major contributor to green house gases, what was a real, non-hype comparison? Or was my sudden skepticism just an excuse to trade the 5 1/2 hours on the stuffy train in for 1 hour on a plane? (Always fun going down and an absolute pain coming back.) With a little investigating, I found some statistical information comparing the efficiency of various modes of transport, based

I have lots to report on the eco-front including: - The adoption of our massive composter - Another trip on the TGV - pros and cons - Waste calculator of moving house But that can all wait because there is much bigger news to deal with. Apparently, our fair friends, the moose, are huge contributors to global warming through their burps. The study is more believable as it was conducted by seemingly neutral Nords. We are trying to cut down on red meat as cows, and the over herding of them, majorly contribute to the methane tally. Fascinating that moose are also contributors.

I was wondering around Planet Organic a few months ago looking for some new house cleaning products that were toxic free and affordable. A huge bottle of dish detergent with a punk rock style logo jumped out at me: Bio-D . I picked it up thinking it would be, like just about everything else eco-friendly, triple the price of standard toxin-full stuff and a bit of a let-down. But it was actually cheaper than standard dish detergent ounce per ounce so I bought it, though cynical that it would be any good.  After one load of dishes, I was a Bio-D fan. And here's why: Bio-D Dish Detergent (Washing-up Liquid) Super sudsy. No film. Smells good. Cheap. Lasts a really long time. No nasty chemicals. Cool bottle.  Vote: Thumbs up. So after this happy experience we decided to try their laundry detergent which is a bit tricky in our home as my husband is allergic to them all.  Bio-D Laundry Liquid No chemicals or dyes. Same price as mainstream products. Smelled a bit earthy at first. After fir

London is going to take part in one hour of lights-out across the city on June 21, the summer solstice, from 9pm - 10pm. What a way to celebrate the longest day of the year. Apparently, by not using any electricity for just one hour, the city will save 300 tons of CO2. Amazing. Cities around the world have already held the symbolic, and practical, lights-out events. Hopefully, they will become a normal part of city life rather than just annual statements. +Guardian article on Lights-out London   The official site, including a register-your-support page, is at: +Lights Out London Send us your lights-out experiences and please participate!

The biggest, grimiest, big-car loving, gas guzzling never-a-dull-moment NYC is requiring all of the iconic yellow cabs to go hybrid by 2012. This is really exciting news and should make a huge difference. The policy is part of New York's plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 30 per cent by 2030. I was not surprised to learn the the classic yellow cabs only got 14 miles to the gallon and the push to hybrid should double the MPGs. New hybrid buses and refuse collections vehicles were also in the plans.  It's encouraging to see cities embracing their roles for change.

I am embarrassed to say we took 2 round trip short haul flights in May alone. One to the Outer Hebrides for a Scottish isles wedding and one to Berlin to see the sights. We did try to take trains to both destinations but the costs and travel time were not possible. That said, the flights were still quite costly (though 1/2 as much as trains) and as I say every time I'm stuck in an airport, flying always takes way longer than people perceive. By the time you get to the airport, go through security, wait for boarding, lay-overs, delays, wait for luggage at other end... The 630 miles door to door to the Hebrides was 9 hours from London via Glasgow and Berlin (about 650 miles) was 6 hours each way including delays. If we had used the trains and ferries we would have only traveled a few more hours each way. To offset these travels, plus our household emissions, I did some carbon neutralization research and shopping today. Everyone talks about carbon offsetting but I don't know

It's about time an American city banned plastic bags and, living up to its reputaion as the progressive city of free love and tree huggers, San Francisco has taken lead. (Thank you, JP, for sending this in!)    +San Fran says so to plastic bags (Reuters)   Non-degradabale plastic bags are wrong for so many reasons. Most will never break down. They are oil based. And they are unnecessary. Yes, there was a time before plastic bags when our ancestors were in fact able to get their groceries home with ease. You can make a statement with your reusable grocery bag. There are some stylish ones out there now. And there are all sorts of carts and shopping trolleys - it's a growing market. We have a cupboard full of bags on wheels, burlap and sturdy reusables.  Tesco has a funny ad showing the various things that can be used to haul groceries as they are encouraging the customers to get over their bag plastic addiction. They have a points reward scheme for every time a shopper does not u

My sister sent me this case study on a new(ish), and incredibly simple technology, that was devised in South Africa in the late 90s when some engineers found a way to pump clean water reserves using roundabouts (merry-go-rounds) that kids play on as the engines. So play time = clean water. Genius! + Article on Roundabout Outdoor Play Pump + Play Pumps Official Site - Includes information on helping to sponsor play pumps where they are most needed + National Geographic Kids - play pump news story and video

The long-awaited Meatrix 2 has arrived! + The Meatrix 2 Like the 1st installation, The Meatrix, this is a real eye-opener with the gruesomeness of big-farm practices made clear whilst at the same time remaining compelling through the clever narrative device.   Congratulations to Sustainable Table and Free Range Studios on their hit series.

It's official. The entire western world has gone green mad. Global warming is now regular news usually supplemented by another feature on boroughs that don't recycle. There are now regular debates on television shows, radio, print, in the office, at parties... So, everyone is talking about it, panicking, worrying, wondering what is true, what is hype. But what is anyone actually doing about it? I only know a handful of people who have actually changed their lifestyles. It seems to be all of the rage in media land but not in reality.  I hope everyone starts embracing the little things they can do: Turn off the lights. Turn down the thermostat. Take public transport or walk when you can. Try to reduce your flying by at least one flight a year. Buy locally grown and made goods.  But I'm still convinced that businesses are the worst culprits. I continue to chip away at the large company I work for and have begun the responsible office movement.  The latest news on the Pari