Interest in a "green"/enviromental thread on AAM - practical slant.

B

Betsy Og

Registered User
Messages
447
Just wondering if theres scope for this.

What I mean by "practical slant" is that I'm not looking for a forum for bawling about whales, seals, liberalising spamspamspam, British Nuclear Power/incompetence, more to do with how everyone can help the environment in day to day life.

I read "Saving the planet without costing the earth" by Donnachda McCarthy and found it very intereting and informative. The thing is now to implement it. I think the whole green/environmental scene is turning the corner from the dreadlock hippy lecturing "capitalists" thing to "reduce/re-use/recycle", the power of one campaign etc., i.e. doing not whinging.

Things I'd like to discuss and share info on would be, as a sample:
  • Domestic scale hydroelectric (I have the stream, now to harness it)
  • Domestic Windpower - probably open to more households
  • Biodiesel to run diesel cars, natural fuel with fewer emmissions. This is one that about to "go live", theres one station in Charleville selling it. Havent implemented it myself as yet due to unresolved technical issues but I expect it to become mainstream in the next 5 years or so.
  • Real Nappies !! see [broken link removed]
  • where or how to shop to minimise plastic wrapping etc.
  • rainwater harvesting in Ireland & "grey" water systems
One simple example I've implemented is using a shaving brush and soap (dove!) instead of spray foam or gel so not accumulating those arosol cans, led me to go for roll on deo (even though its a plastic bottle but still some bit better).

On the one hand I appreciate that this is a financial website but solutions such as the above have positive financial effects (as well as environmental) and the site covers plenty of topics that are not exclusively financial e.g. cars, electronics. To date I think issues such as the above have gone into homes and gardens but that section is so popular that it gets swallowed up.

So whaddaya think??
 
The volume of replies to your post will help gauge the level of interest in this subject. I suspect that the minor impact that environmental issues have made on AAM to date is hardly going to change all of a sudden although I may be wrong.

As things stand I am heavily sceptical of the whole "saving the enviroment" movement/industry in Ireland and actually believe that in some cases it is doing more harm than good.

A few examples:
1. Ireland prides itself on the plastic bag levy. Yet nobody in this country ever pauses to consider why it has not been adopted elsewhere, especially if it was such a success here. In fact when the British Govt examined a proposal to bring in their own levy, a study they commissioned found that Ireland's levy was not environmentally friendly! Why? - apparently there has been an commensurate increase in the numbers of heavy-duty plastic binbags, scented nappy bags and other plastic bags, purchased by Irish households since the levy was introduced. We are apparently consuming almost as many plastic bags as we did prior to the ban - but sourcing them through different channels. Never mind the gratuitous production of paper bags that are prone to tearing, and which fall apart as soon as they get wet, meaning that they are absolutely useless as an option for reuse.

2. I fail to see how the laundry and re-use of soiled nappies are beneficial to either public health or the environment. No doubt somebody has dreamt up a similar wheeze for toilet paper - no thanks!

3. The whole idea of wind energy appears to be a grim joke. The countryside is filling up with windmills that generate modest levels of power some of the time, and no power some of the time. At the same time the ESB are forced to continue burning fossil fuels on a continuous basis, as if we had no wind energy infrastructure - otherwise we would have power blackouts every time the wind stops blowing.
 
This looks interesting
[broken link removed]

Reducing waste is one area I am particularly interested in.
 
We are apparently consuming almost as many plastic bags as we did prior to the ban - but sourcing them through different channels.

I'm sure we're consuming more of just about everything but if they levy wasnt there wouldnt we consume more - thats the question. I cant say I ever saw someone use 20 shopping bags in the old days when putting out the bin. On the issue of reuse of bags there werent many cases of people bringing a load of old plastic shopping bags into town to reuse them, they just got more.

2. I fail to see how the laundry and re-use of soiled nappies are beneficial to either public health or the environment.

Its suprising how quick you fill a bin bags with the things. Maybe this works and maybe it doesnt but I think its worth a look. Those on the website seem to think so. We're talking BILLIONS of nappies a year in landfills.

3. The whole idea of wind energy appears to be a grim joke. The countryside is filling up with windmills that generate modest levels of power some of the time, and no power some of the time. At the same time the ESB are forced to continue burning fossil fuels on a continuous basis, as if we had no wind energy infrastructure - otherwise we would have power blackouts every time the wind stops blowing.[/quote]

Maybe you're right but if we're going to be one of payers under Kyoto then you'd think it makes sense to try to switch, plus the oil price volatility issue.

As a very simple example of how simple things can work then what about home composting. Surely making compost for you garden (or just making a rotting heap if you've no use for the stuff) is a far better idea than packing it into a plastic bag, transporting it around the county and dumping it in such quantities that it could cause an environmental issue. & if you pay by weight it saves you on your bin charge
 

Composting is a good idea especially if you're a gardener. You get to save on buying in compost as well as helping the environment. Having said that, we currently have the 'brown bins' on trial. I thought it was a great idea until I started using them. They are only collected every two weeks, done in rotation with the grey bin. We are charged for this. Almost two weeks ago, we had curry for dinner, there were leftover, which I dutifully put into the brown bin. Two weeks on....it absolutely stinks, and when you open the lid you're accosted by flies. The weather has been cold lately so I can only imagine what it'll be like in the summer! Even when empty the bin has a foul smell. It's only been emptied twice and each time I've had to drag a hose from the back of the house to clean it out. Because I can't reach in with a scrubber....it still smells when it dries off!!

I may follow the example of a good deal of my neighbours and just stop using it.
 
Hi Betsy

In relation to plastic bags levy, I wonder why the New Labour govt in the UK decided that the Irish levy was not environmentally friendly and/or worth pursuing in the UK. I would have imagined that Tony Blair would have loved to bring in something similar in the UK were it possible and/or feasible for him to do so. It disturbs me to some extent that the levy received pretty much universal and uncritical support here, yet none of our neighbours in the EU think its a good idea. Are we right or are they?

I see your point about how billions of nappies fill binbags and landfills but there is an equally valid point that laundry and drying of billions of nappies will necessitate the consumption and ultimate release into the environment of vast quantities of harmful chemicals from washing powders. On top of that you have also high energy costs.

Wind energy will only help reduce carbon emissions, and help us to comply with Kyoto, if we can reach a stage where it is generating enough energy on a consistent basis to allow the decommissioning of some of our fossil fuel-burning plants. It appears that we are nowhere near reaching this stage despite the fact that windfarms seem to be popping up all over the country.
 
Betsy Og said:
I cant say I ever saw someone use 20 shopping bags in the old days when putting out the bin.
Click to expand...

I am a parent of two small kids and my wife reckons we were using 80 nappy bags per week until our kids were toilet trained.
 
I'm sure there are plenty of chemicals used in the production of nappies. There must be quite a bit of energy used as well.
 
As an architect, I do try and promote effective eco-friendly technologies. I am fairly sceptical about stuff though so the stuff I would promote would be based around reducing energy usage.

So 1:
a. Insulate the house as much as you can.
Avoid draughts, if possible - in particular chimneys (though it is possible to put in a device which closes the flue when not in use). Go for stoves instead.

b. Heat recovery ventilation is fairly effective - take heat out of utility room, kitchen and bathroom.

c. Any time you have to heat water, you are wasting huge amounts of electricity. So avoid this as much as possible by:
i. Using solar water heating (or at least providing pipework to install it easily at a future stage) for home heating and water for showers etc.
ii. Avoid using your tumble dryer - (consider using your garage to dry clothes - and include mesh covered opes to prevent wind blown rain getting in, while improving ventilation)

There's other stuff about layout and materials as well - but that's a start.
 
liteweight said:
Almost two weeks ago, we had curry for dinner, there were leftover, which I dutifully put into the brown bin. Two weeks on....it absolutely stinks, and when you open the lid you're accosted by flies.
Click to expand...

Doensn't seem to be clearly stated on the corpo site, but cooked food should not be composted. Wormeries are the way to go for this kind of material.
 
with a dog and a compost bin we dont have food waste to bin anymore - and the odd bit of food that the dog wouldnt eat (say, old suace jars) if you empty the contents into the middle of the compost bin where its well shielded by composting waste then I'd be happy enough that not a vermin risk, so far so god anyway.
 
yes its a great idea - energy saving, waste reduction etc are all increasingly important and relevant now more than ever.
 
Leo said:
Doensn't seem to be clearly stated on the corpo site, but cooked food should not be composted. Wormeries are the way to go for this kind of material.
Click to expand...

You can put it in the green cone see link above.
 
Superman,
'Heat recovery ventilation is fairly effective - take heat out of utility room, kitchen and bathroom.'

Would it be possible to take heat out from a room that is using a woodburning stove and redistribute it to other rooms in the house? Do you have any more info on HRV? Thanks,
F
 
Leo said:
Doensn't seem to be clearly stated on the corpo site, but cooked food should not be composted. Wormeries are the way to go for this kind of material.
Click to expand...

Yes you're right, cooked food shouldn't be composted. I rang CC specifically to ask if the literature I'd been given was correct. It is...leftover cooked food, meat etc. but no ash of any kind, also no soil. Friends in England were supplied with wormeries by their local councils. I asked if CC would consider something like this instead of brown bin. Never heard of wormeries (at least the person I was talking to hadn't).

The problem I have now is that if I put the cooked left over waste in the grey bin, it also remains sitting outside for two weeks. At least I could wrap it in a plastic bag though!
 
We have that system of every second week for the bins for a few years now.
It is dreadful to have a full bin sitting there for over a week.

In Limerick City they collect the regular waste bin every week and supply clear biodegradable plastic bags for the recyclable waste and also collect these every week. Makes much more sense.
 

That's a much better idea! Why can't all the county councils do that!
 
ubiquitous said:
As things stand I am heavily sceptical of the whole "saving the enviroment" movement/industry in Ireland and actually believe that in some cases it is doing more harm than good.
Click to expand...
Skepticism is good - in this as in any context. This site and the book might be of interest to you and anybody else genuinely interested in "environmental" issues and prepared not prepared to just accept lip service and populist stances on the matter:

Official webpage for Bjorn Lomborg and The Skeptical Environmentalist
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Menu
Log in
Register