You drive - they watch - you pay

Given that most of the comments and emails I received re road-pricing were anonymous, it's no wonder Pay-As-You-Drive is such a hard sell. Post 9/11, we're all pretty paranoid ... or does it go deeper than that? I don't think all 1.8million anti-road-priving petitioners fully agree with the attitude of the Ass. of British Drivers (the group who started the petition). But they are against the tracking device, dubbed by the Daily Mail as: "the black box. Would readers be less concerned if it was painted white?

Ironically, I never read Brave New World or 1984, because the Orwellian Apartheid regime in old South Africa banned such publications. I am however sympathetic to the fears of BME groups because during Apartheid, black people faced serious restrictions all the time. White opponents were beaten up and ostricised. After Apartheid, I struggled to get a job because I was now an ethnic minority of the wrong colour. When I moved to the UK, I kept meeting closet-racists who assumed they met someone they could confide in.

Back in SA, my own cousin couldn't face telling me he was gay. People live in gated communities with armed-guards at the entrances of their once public roads who would stop me from cycling through. I don't live there anymore and if I don't read certain papers and watch certain channels, I can believe that I live in an advanced society, which is a part of modern Europe. Groups like Liberty provide well thought-out arguments and ensure that this society is (usually) far better than the one I grew up in.

I enjoy conspiracy theories but am always aware that most of them are thought up by people who smoke way too much dope and are trying to justify their self-inflicted paranoia. The Home Office can't even keep track of offenders so I don't see the risk involved in Oyster cards or monitoring 34,000,000 vehicles. I may eat my words, but our towns and cities are so densely populated that in most cases I don't think knowing which station you get off at or where you park your car is particularly revealing. Unless of course you plan to rob a bank or join a militant animal rights group.

I have criticised old South Africa, but at least back then I could cross a road without any difficulty, cycle home from school on my own and breathe clean air. Nowadays, in increasing numbers of towns and cities:

• Pedestrians are herded towards traffic lights where they wait for the cars to let them cross.
• You're basically encouraged to buy a 4x4 to deal with the all the speed bumps.
• The UK has one of the highest rates of people with asthma in the world. (air pollution can aggravate the airways and worsen an attack.)
• There are constant complaints by the emergency services that they couldn't get to the scene of a tragedy in time because they were stuck in traffic.
• You can't use your mobile on the high street because of the road noise.
• The Ass. of British Drivers still refuses to accept any responsibility for global warming.
• This is being repeated across the world. These issues, in my view, are a real and everyday infringement on civil liberties.

I don't expect pay-as-you-drive to solve all these problems, maybe it'll only be capable of stopping them get any worse. So what are the alternatives:

• Impose higher taxes on fuel? - we know how difficult that is.
• Ban heavily-polluting vehicles? - the car industry is fighting the EU every step of the way.
• Impose carbon-emissions restrictions on cars? - California has the strictest limits in the world, but the car industry found a loop-hole and made SUVs fashionable.
• Establish carbon-emissions-trading and a system of contraction & convergence, whereby every person in the world is given an equal ration of carbon-credits which is gradually reduced over time? - I'm still working on a related project now and hope to get it on the web soon. Despite this, I think it'll be a while before I've managed to convince the entire world.
• Build more roads? - I have a theory that one reason trains are so expensive and railway lines are closing is because of declining revenues from rail-freight. More roads = more lorries and less trains.
• Move to a less-developed country? - old cars from the developed world often end up in other countries, making it more affordable to drive. e.g. Modern Johannesburg is close to gridlock with hardly any public transport to fall back on.
• Wait for congestion to put people off? - the UK will get hotter in the summer and wetter in the winter but at least in your car you can stay cool and dry.

Like Big Brother, you decide!

Anti road-pricing petition - Is this real democracy?

More than a million people have signed a petition against road-pricing. Do they realise that it was started by an organisation that still refuses to believe the link between man-made emissions and global warming.

Is this real democracy? Will the government again be bullied into backing down on dealing with the problem of congestion and climate change by another knee-jerk reaction? I for one hope the Government remembers their indifference to the million-people-march against the war in Iraq.

The petition argues that the distance we drive is already taxed via fuel. This may be true for now, but - as more environmentally-friendly fuels are used - won't there be a proportionate decrease in revenue from these vehicles?

There are already approximately 32million cars on British roads and this figure is rising all the time. It is doubtful that more roads would ever be able to meet the increasing demand. The more congested our roads become, the less efficient combustion engines become. Put simply, more congestion = more emissions.

Luckily, not all motoring organisations are in denial. Check out this future car rally planned for World Environment Day (050607): Revolve: Towards Zero Emissions

For the sake of media headlines, if nothing else, you can sign one/all of these counter-argument petitions here:
http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/TRACK-CARS/
http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/proroad-pricing/
http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/yes2roadpricing/

2007: The Hottest Year Ever!

I have a twisted tendency to get excited about record-breaking events related to climate change. Tornados in Birmingham and London, Hurricane Katrina, the floods in Mozambique. There was even a slight twinge of vindication when I first heard the news that the World Trade Centre was a target for protest. A quick chain of assumptions was shackled together in my head: capitol of capitalism > consumption > oil > inequality > backlash > end of Bush > end of consciousless capitalism. I still think this tiny sliver of silvery lining in such a thick black cloud will result in a positive step forward in the great scheme of things... it's got to after such an historically painful chain of events.

Basically, if a disaster qualifies as a headline story... and the media alludes to a link with climate change - I take solace in the fact that the message is getting through... Trouble is, with every new disaster comes compassion fatigue and the assumption that it's inevitably going to get worse and worse and the only thing you can do to forget about it is to distract yourself.

Ironically, the most common distraction of 'choice' is retail therapy. Being an eco- designer doesn't stop me from partaking in this dirty litle habit. I try and consume my neighbours' waste (skip-dive) and then wrack my brain to find a way of re-incarnating their dead products and leftovers as useful or at least mildly attractive objects. It recently hit me, that for the most part, I make storage solutions ... in order to hide away my own stuff and pretend I live a minimalist life.

I am now baby-sitting half of my friend's stuff for a year while she flies off to 'live lightly' on the other side of the world for a year or two. I had to witness the painful take-it/store-it/chuck-it ritual and couldn't help being drawn into the debate about whether she'd be able to sell her Radio-Shack cassette tape player on Ebay or not.... or indeed, could an African child adopt it?

This said, my new year's resolution is to waste less time worrying about waste, waste less space storing stuff so as not to waste it and waste less time trying to find the stuff I've stored.

This said, I'm not going to completely give in to the temptations of disposable products. I'm not going to absolve my guilt by dumping cheap tack outside the nearest charity shop. I'm not just going to drive to the recycling centre to dump my guilt.


RECYCLE, RE-USE, REDUCE, REJECT
My problem is not the junk that I buy... being a proper designer, I spend hours agonising over every purchase, whether for me or a gift for someone else. I always choose the best thing I can nearly afford and (usually) only what I really need. My problem is all those thought-that-counts gifts and the stuff I've saved simply because I coudn't face the fact that no-one else was using it.

I need to implement my own environmental policy. "I don't want or need anything for Christmas" will never be an acceptable answer for some of my friends and relatives. I need to do what I expect from responsible multinationals at a personal level and put pressure on my 'suppliers' else I'll continue to end up with, or more importantly, my son will continue to receive all the tack in China. At least this year we kept our side of the 'one present each' bargain... which is a start!

2007 will be about getting rid of what we can't store and cleverly storing what we can. It will be about letting people - not stuff or TV shows - back into our home. I can amuse them with my almost fetishistic positive spin on all things disastrous (man-made or otherwise). For instance, in terms of what not to talk about at dinner parites, Iraq now encompasses every taboo (religion, politics and even sex) in one topic... but on the lighten up people: Saddam's dead, Rumsfeld's finally been thrown out and next year, Bush WILL be too (insha'Allah).

If the Met office is right - and as a long suffering, self-righteous eco-warrior, I hope they are - London's streets and Victorian buildings are not pleasant places to endure record-breaking temperatures. Come cool yourselves in our basement flat and shady garden. The green shoots are already peeping through the soil!

BBC NEWS | UK | Many councils 'bug' rubbish bins

My Rubbish Rant

Did anyone else catch Real Story on BBC2 last night? It was an expose piece on the move to fortnightly rubbish collections.

Residents were complaining of rats, flies and maggots. One woman has started an online petition to increase rubbish collections because the stench of her bins has became too much to bear - “especially this year as it has been unusually hot” - why is that do you think? Could it be that the amount of shit you consume and then throw away is contributing to global warming? She printed out all the emails supporting her petition – completely oblivious to the irony!

I say: What about the health risks of overflowing landfill sites, groundwater contamination, the impact of the resulting methane gas on our atmosphere?

People are protesting on the streets, driving to the outskirts of town to fly-tip, beating up the bin-men. None of them can face the fact that they’re simply creating too much rubbish. Eastleigh southhampton doretta cox “exceptionally hot summer”
http://iccheshireonline.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/chesterchronicle/tm_objectid=14364940&method=full&siteid=50020&headline=-rat-lady--shares-dirty-secret-name_page.html
“These changes are putting public health at risk” she says. - What is the risk of climate change to public health, rat lady?

These protesters are getting their point across; 11 councils have reverted back to weekly collections. And yes, they do have some valid arguments:

On different coloured/shaped bins in different boroughs
"it should be the same across the country”
“people are angry and confused”
“councils just do their own thing”

Lincolnshire council has a recycle bins people complaining bins are too small. 1`
Family (3 kids) in Scunthorpe recycle as much as possible, including their teabags and rainwater, They've even got chickens. And yet every two weeks they still fill 6 black bin-bags with rubbish and end up driving to the local tip. Granted, the council does not provide paper and cardboard recycling - which is pretty pathetic - but that's probably because residents wouldn't agree to a council tax increase. At the end of the day, we've all got to stop bitching and just stop consuming so much in the first place.

I dispose roughly 50% less waste and recycle +/-50% more than most of my neighbours but have to pay the same council tax. I welcome the introduction of monitored waste and look forward to finally being rewarded for taking some responsibility! And yes, I do feel worthy!

Cork County Council (previously one of the worst recycling rates in Europe – now recycles 47%) Due largely to "Pay As You Throw" bin-weighing technology. One family saves 250 euros a year. Of course, fly-tipping is a growing problem. But with CCTV, and detectives with hidden cameras, more and more people are being fined.

Why fan the flames?
Fiona Bruce whispered: “secret ID chips are fitted under the lid of every bin”. If they’re so secret, why was the BBC allowed to film the factory installing them and why did the chief exec agree to explain the entire process. So, he didn’t reveal which councils have installed the chips. So what! Until the councils start charging, it’s irrelevant. The BBC needs to grow up!

Illinois Governor Establishes Climate Change Initiative

"...The impact of global warming from greenhouse gases in Illinois and around the globe could be devastating. We can’t wait for the federal government to act because experts have warned that if we don’t address global warming within the next decade, it may be too late to avoid serious and irreversible consequences."
—Governor Blagojevich, Illinois, US

Illinois will join the Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX). As a CCX member, the state makes a voluntary, but legally binding, commitment to reduce GHG emissions from the electricity and fuel needed to operate state facilities and motor vehicles; the reduction target only applies to state government operations.
"By acting now we can take important steps to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions and realize the economic development benefits that strategies to confront climate change can offer. Promoting energy efficient technology, homegrown renewable energy from wind power and biofuels as well as systems to trap and store carbon dioxide emissions will curtail our greenhouse gas emissions while triggering greater investment and job creation in Illinois."
—Doug Scott, Director of the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, and Chair of the Advisory Group
CCX is the world’s first, GHG emissions registry, reduction and trading system. CCX members are required to reduce GHG emissions by six percent by 2010, compared to their average emissions between 1998 and 2001. Members that cannot meet their emissions reductions targets can buy credits from members that have exceeded their required reductions, or from farmers or others who have reduced carbon releases to the atmosphere.

Onward and upward!

Climate Change - Big Ask

The Big Ask is calling for a Climate Change Bill to be passed in Parliament, which will make year-on-year cuts in carbon dioxide a law. This Friends Of the Earth campaign is backed by tens of thousands of people across the UK, and over half the MPs in Parliament. Now they (and all of us) need the Government to include a Climate Change Bill in the 2006 Queen's Speech.
Big Ask. Big Month. Big Lobby.
12 September - 11 October

Of course, many would argue that what they're asking for is not enough, but at least it's a realistic step in the right direction towards reducing our carbon footprints to a more sustainable level.

Telegraph | News | Cameron pledges to cut car emissions

Well, it's nice to see such a bloo-paper go a bit green. The Telegraph cleared up the debacle over David Cameron's journey to work. Well, in his defence, you can't really deny that the kind of papers he carries are not something you want nicked when you're lying unconscious on the pavement after being knocked off your bike by some prick in a Lexus. Plus, the box used to carry his ministerial papers is said to be lead-lined. That kinda beats my lever-arch file. Full article...

Of course, being the Telegraph, they did have to go and spoil an otherwise fairly balanced story by ending on a negative. Apparently 40 scientists are saying that the rest of the ever-growing global consensus (scientific, political, cultural, religious, etc.) have got it wrong and global warming is just a natural phenomenon. Yes it is natural, but I'm pretty sure it's a reaction that is proportional to our emissions. Just because it's a natural phenomena, doesn't make it OK. Nature can be nasty!

Recycling is Rewarding!

We're not buying nearly enough recycled goods, making recycling collections an expensive business. Despite the fact that Lewisham has a massive incinerator (generating electricity from our waste) you have to give the council credit for the amount of effort they're finally putting into recycling facilities. We can now order big green wheelie-bins and even stand the chance of winning £500 if you recycle. Unfortunately for me, I only recently realised that you actually had to register online to stand a chance of winning. ..
1. Make sure you're filling your green box / wheelie bin, 2. Fill out and submit the short form. Now then, what's this I hear about our recycling being shipped to China and Brazil?...

Who Are The Magical Recycling Pixies?
I can't help but wonder how all this mixed recycling gets sorted, cleaned and graded. I'm guessing that's why a lot of it is out-sourced to developing countries where employee's rights and environmental laws are a little more lax. The World Reuse, Repair and Recycling Association(US) is dedicated to "Fair Trade" standards for international recycling. Their view: "Exporters who mix unrepairable and toxic junk into loads of reuseable material are undermining charitable work, the environment, and sustainable employment."