Well as widely expected the third runway at Heathrow is today likely to get approval by the Labour government, but it is far from certain that it will go ahead and should not be a cause for panic just yet.

It is however worrying nonetheless that the government still think this is a positive project to approve despite the widely acknowledged environmental issues with adding an additional 125,000 flights a year, never mind the environmental impact of the existing Heathrow operation which is far from fit for purpose!!

When oh when will governments, not just in the UK, but across the world begin by valuing natural capital in the way it should be, and less of this hell bent desire for economic growth and crazy drive to push consumerism to its limits.

I was however heartened to see that Greenpeace had managed to purchase a bit of land on the proposed site of the development.  Please take a look at their website and join the airplot campaign.

I am becoming a bit disillusioned about some peoples views on the benefits of and commitment towards recycling following some recent press and media reports on the lack of market for recycled produce, i.e. stacks of paper being stockpiling in warehouses around the country.

However, people are beginning to think “what is the point of sorting my waste if it is just being stockpiled”. Well I will tell you the point, if it was not sorted then those large piles of paper, etc that you are seeing will end up in landfill and wasted, this is not what we want. I would encourage you all to keep recycling and to put pressure on your local authorities to continue recycling schemes which they may currently feel is uneconomical in financial terms, but as we all know it is not just money that matters in the world today.

What I would suggest in the meantime is a bit more micro household recycling and reuse. Just simple little things. Reuse plastic bottles rather than buying yet another bottle of water, use both sides of paper when printing, put waste paper in your compost bin, use shredded paper as pet bedding, and so on. This is much more efficient and productive than sending it to the local authority in the present economic climate. You may even see an improvement to your own ‘bottom line’ as a result!!!

Hi all,

Belated new year wishes to you all.  I hope 2009 is a happy and prosperous one for you all.

Has anyone made New Year resolutions, are you managing to stick to them or relented!

I have a few short term goals in mind don’t know if I could class them as New Year resolutions though, more a case of things that need done.  Number 1 is to construct a storage wheelie cabinet for sorting waste - at the moment it does done to cumulate in a boxes lying in various different places.  Hopefully I will get a storage solution that can be wheeled in and out from under a space on the worktop in the kitchen.

Number 2 task is to sort out some for of renewable energy generation for the shed that has no electricity supply.  Don’t know if solar would be as effective as wind so looking at some small scale turbines.

So lets have them, what are your resolutions/immediate tasks for the year.

Don’t be shy!