Congestion Charge in Crewe?

Red Ken is introducing further taxes on Gas-guzzling vehicles such as 4x4 'Chelsea tractors' will have to pay a daily charge of £25 to enter London's congestion charge zone from October this year, Ken Livingstone has announced

The existing congestion charge has been an enormous success in london and plans are being introduced to have a charge in Manchester and Durham ?

I am in full agreement with the charge and hope that soon it will be introduced across the whole country for towns and city centres.

Why recycle?

UK households produced 30.5 million tonnes of waste in 2003/04, of which 17% was collected for recycling. (source: defra.gov.uk) This figure is still quite low compared to some of our neighbouring EU countries, some recycling over 50% fo their waste. There is still a great deal of waste which could be recycled that ends up in landfill sites which is harmful to the environment.
Recycling is an excellent way of saving energy and conserving the environment. Did you know that:

• 1 recycled tin can would save enough energy to power a television for 3 hours.
• 1 recycled glass bottle would save enough energy to power a computer for 25 minutes.
• 1 recycled plastic bottle would save enough energy to power a 60-watt light bulb for 3 hours.
• 70% less energy is required to recycle paper compared with making it from raw materials.

Some Interesting Facts

• Up to 60% of the rubbish that ends up in the dustbin could be recycled.
  
• The unreleased energy contained in the average dustbin each year could power a television for 5,000 hours.
  
• The largest lake in the Britain could be filled with rubbish from the UK in 8 months.
  
• On average, 16% of the money you spend on a product pays for the packaging, which ultimately ends up as rubbish.
  
• As much as 50% of waste in the average dustbin could be composted.
  
• Up to 80% of a vehicle can be recycled.
  
• 9 out of 10 people would recycle more if it were made easier.

Tesco - £1.99 Chicken? Food for Thought?

Tesco has introduced a £1.99 chicken as the latest Government research shows more than a quarter of broiler chickens have difficulty walking

What are your thoughts? We cant turn the TV on at the moment without seeing the TV chefs arguing the point about eating this kind of crap

A Defra study of 51,000 birds within 176 flocks belonging to five major UK producers, revealed that at an average of 40 days, 27.6 per cent showed "poor locomotion" and 3.3 per cent were almost unable to walk. The figures come despite regular culling of flocks.

We can all vote with our feet and not buy such chickens and i would urge you to do just that

Asda introduced a £2 chicken last year

Greener Shopping

Lesson 5 - Greener shopping

There are now lots of choices you can make when shopping that help take care of the environment.
Take a bagHang on to your shopping bags and take some with you when you next go to the supermarket.
Look for the labelsUse labels to choose products that have a lower impact on the environment. For example, energy efficient appliances and cars, and sustainable fish. Using labels to buy sustainable wood and peat free compost will protect important natural habitats that help balance climate change effects.

Buy recycled

Recycling and cutting waste

Lesson 4 - Recycling and cutting waste

Reducing, reusing and recycling waste saves on the raw materials and energy which are needed to make new paper, metal, glass and other items. Saving energy helps tackle climate change.
Re-use and repairAvoiding waste in the first place, by re-using and repairing items, is the most efficient way to reduce waste. For example, buy items that can be re-used rather than disposables, and pass things on when you’ve finished with them.

Recycle moreNearly two thirds of all household rubbish can be recycled. Most councils run doorstep recycling collections for paper, glass and plastics, often more. But local civic amenity sites often accept many other things – from wood and shoes, to textiles and TVs.

Get compostingComposting food waste reduces climate change effects. Many local councils offer subsidised compost bins or home collection for kitchen and garden waste.

Eating and Drinking

Lesson 3

Eating and Drinking

Producing, transporting and consuming food is responsible for nearly a fifth of our climate change effects. Some foods have a much bigger impact on the environment than others.

Look for the labelsLook for the labels to help you choose food that has been produced with the aim of reducing the negative impact on wildlife and the environment

Buy fresh and in seasonBuying food and drink when locally in season, and unprocessed or lightly processed food, is likely to mean that less energy has been used in its production. Providing it has been produced and stored under similar conditions, choosing food that has travelled a shorter distance will help to reduce congestion and transport emissions.

Reduce your food wasteThe average UK household spends £424 a year on food that goes in the bin - if this ends up in landfill it produces methane, a greenhouse gas judged to be more than 20 times as powerful as carbon dioxide. Throwing less food away produces less methane and reduces other harmful environmental impacts from producing, packaging and transporting food.

Green travel

Lesson 2 - Travel

Personal travel accounts for around a quarter of all the damage individuals do to the environment, including climate change effects.

Choose an efficient carIndividual car travel is responsible for the majority of climate change impacts from travel. If you’re buying a new car, look for the fuel efficiency label to choose a more efficient model. This will cut your carbon emissions and save you money on fuel and Vehicle Tax.
Try to reduce your car useReduce the number of short trips you make in the car. Walking, cycling, or taking the bus or train will help reduce local air pollution and the climate change effects of getting around.

Tackling the environmental impact of flyingConsider the need for a flight and the alternatives to taking a plane. If you do fly, you can offset your CO2. You could consider options for reducing your travel, for example taking fewer, longer breaks if possible instead of several short ones. Maybe you can find what you want closer to home, by taking a holiday in the UK or travelling to nearby countries by rail or sea.

Greener living: a quick guide to what you can do

Lesson number 1

Tackling climate change will be one of the most important things this generation does, and everyone needs to get involved. Every day, more and more people are taking actions to help reduce carbon emissions and tackle other environmental problems. Here are some ideas about how you can help.

Where to start?

Throughout the Directgov environment and greener living section you will find practical ideas to help you make everything a bit greener, from your home to the contents of your shopping basket. But if you’re short on time, here are some ideas to choose from to get you started.
1. Save energy and water at home

Burning fossil fuels to heat our homes or produce electricity releases carbon emissions, which cause climate change. The energy you use at home is likely to be your biggest contribution to climate change. 80 per cent of it goes on heating and hot water, so this is a good place to look for savings.

Turn down your thermostatTurning your thermostat down by one degree could reduce carbon emissions and cut your fuel bills by up to 10 per cent.

Look for the labelsWhen buying products that use energy – anything from light bulbs to fridge-freezers – look for the Energy Saving Recommended label or European energy label rating of A or higher. The European energy label also tells you how much water appliances use, so you can choose a more efficient model.

Improve your insulationMore than half the heat lost in your home escapes through the walls and roof. Cavity wall insulation costs about £450, can take a couple of hours to install, and could save you £92 a year on fuel bills.

Install water efficient productsLow flush volume toilets, water efficient showerheads and aerating heads on washbasin taps help to reduce your water use significantly. Also, fixing dripping taps and fitting a ‘hippo’ in toilet cisterns are cheap ways of saving water. You can also collect rainwater in water butts and use it for watering your garden instead of a hose.

Crewe and Nantwich Waste Management

Last year the people of Crewe and Nantwich Borough threw away around 46,316 tonnes of rubbish. A quarter of this is recyled , with the rest going to land fill sites and we are runiing out of sites quickly which means we all need to do a bit more on the recycling front.

The best solution would be to CUT DOWN the amount of rubbish we all throw away every day, and this is the theme of a major new council drive.

Waste all of a sudden has become a problem- Until last year we all took the matter of waste management for granted ,not only in Crewe but also around the uk.

We need to be serious about our waste and do our bit to help the council help save the planet

Amazing Waste Facts
On average, every household in the UK uses, and then throws away one 2 litre plastic bottle every day. That means a staggering 17MILLION a year in the Borough of Crewe & Nantwich! This is a major problem for Landfill Sites as they take about 800 years to rot away.

Also in the UK, we use more than 8 BILLION carrier bags each year, approximately 134 bags for each person in the UK.

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  That means that in Crewe and Nantwich, we use roughly 15 MILLION CARRIER BAGS per year.
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  Every disposable nappy that has ever been thrown away still exists in the Landfill Sites.
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  It takes 3,000 used plastic bottles to make one picnic table.
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  Every year the average dustbin contains enough unrealised energy for 500 baths, 3500 showers or 5000 hours of T.V.
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  Some fleece jackets are made from recycled PET (a type of plastic) bottles.

Secret' eco-town plans spark protest- guardian-10th feb 2007

Caroline Flint the housing minister is planning 10 eco towns.

I understand that one of these might be postioned out-side Nantwitch- Rumour or Truth?

Personally, I think that we need to start somewhere and it is better to control the supply of new homes than to allow market forces to impinge on the Green Belt.

The current Planning system generally regulates the supply of Land but as the Goverment has issued targets of a further 3 million new homes by 2020 to keep up with the increased population , they need to come from somewhere and the feelings are that they may need to impinge on previous green belt as the brownfield sites are not emerging as previously thought due to a variety of issues .

Do we want an eco town oustide Nantwich or else where in the uk?

Further thoughts can be read here http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2008/feb/10/communities.planning1

Let me know what you think?