Transition Island Blog

INVITATION to a free lunchtime talk on climate change, ponds and carbon storage 6 May 2008.

In recently published work, Professor John Downing from Iowa State University says that across the globe, ponds ‘may bury 4 times as much carbon as the world’s oceans.’

‘The world’s farm ponds alone may bury more organic carbon than the oceans and 33% as much as the world’s rivers deliver to the sea.’

To find out how ponds take up the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide and the implications for climate change, you are invited …

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Pets are happy & healthy… right?

Let’s say, just for the sake of example, that you were a dog. Or a cat, if you prefer (although I can’t imagine why you would). You’d spend your days lazing about, taking naps, playing outside, and eating treats. Humans would pat your head and tell you how cute you looked.

Sounds like a pretty neat life, right? Lighthearted, carefree, simple. . . I bet you’re a little jealous.

Well, I thought it was pretty neat too, until I found out that pets are full of toxic chemicals.

Read more about the Environmental Working Group research.

Action:
Start planning organic food and natural cleaning products to protect your pets.

The UK’s thirst for bottled water appears to be drying up.

New figures show that sales are falling for the first time in years.

Shop sales of bottled water fell by 9 per cent to £284m in the year to March, according to independent retail analysts. Also, water cooler sales have also fallen, although not as dramatically.

environmental costs

Green groups said they hoped the figures suggested the public was turning away from bottled water because of the environmental costs of packaging and transportation. Some of it travels to the UK from the Fijian islands in the Pacific!

Production of a litre bottle of Evian or Volvic generates up to 600 times more CO2 than a litre of tap water.

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Pesticides continue to be linked to serious illness.

The Pesticide Action Network points out:

‘They are the only manufactured chemicals specifically designed to be toxic.’

‘They are also the only group of toxic chemicals routinely intentionally dispersed in the environment.’

So why are we encouraging our children to eat more?

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I found a brilliant book for people who want to do more than just a little bit.

‘365 ways to change the world’ by Michael Norton gives you just that. He says:
* The world is full of problems….
* Everyone has their own idea about what’s wrong…
* The issues that confront us seem so huge…
* Together we can change the world…

Each day has its own page,
with a different way, with ideas, stories, websites
and where appropriate Awareness Days.

And there is a parallel website - encouraging us all to become an Everyday Activist. Join a community of people dedicated to taking individual everyday actions to help change the world for the better.

ten favourites…

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The House of Commons All Party Small Shops Group estimates that there will be no independent shops by 2015.

This equates to the closure of over 50,000 small businesses and a massive knock-on effect for other small businesses in the local community.

The Federation of Small Businesses is campaigning on Keeping Trade Local.

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Last year was the 20th anniversary of The Great Storm, on the 15/16 October 1987.

Overnight, 15 million trees were lost and streets, hedgerows, woods, public parks, private gardens and historic landscapes changed.

Many people woke up to radically different views out of their windows - and also to new recognition of the real value of trees in their patch.

The even more widespread storms of 1990 reinforced the message.

Conker-tree disease

This year, we have the discovery of a virulent new disease sweeping through Britain’s much-loved conker trees.

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Plastic waste dumped in the oceans could be a devastating long-term pollution threat to the food chain.

Studies suggest billions of microscopic plastic fragments drifting underwater are concentrating toxins like DDT.

Marine biologist at Plymouth University have investigated how plastic degrades in the water and how tiny marine organisms, such as barnacles and sand-hoppers, respond.

concentrated toxins 

Dr Richard Thompson said “We know that plastics in the marine environment will accumulate and concentrate toxic chemicals from the surrounding seawater and you can get concentrations several thousand times greater than in the surrounding water on the surface of the plastic.

“Now there’s the potential for those chemicals to be released to those marine organisms if they then eat the plastic.”

Research on stretches of shoreline has shown that, at the microscopic level, plastic pollution is far worse than feared.

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Osborne Middle school  has received a new award as the first Climate Champion School.

First in the World!

Today (Friday 4/4/08) Dame Ellen MacArthur presented this Award, which sprang from inspiration in local company Vestas, the world’s leading supplier of wind power solutions. They are challenging schools to achieve three targets.

Firstly, to install sustainable energy equipment. Osborne Middle got a PhotoVoltaic (PV) panel via a grant from Ben & Jerry’s ice-cream, matched with the same from the Low Carbon Buildings programme.

Second, they raised enough funds to install a PV panel on the roof of a school in India. That school is in a village which has no electricity at all. The PV electricity will give them lighting this year, and then power computers next year.

Third, they have jointly developed (with Vestas) a lesson on Climate Change and Sustainability, which will be presented at both schools.

and more!

Also nice about this is that whole thing helps the FairTrade Agreement that Ben and Jerrys have with their workforce in the Vanilla plantation in India. And more, the PV cells were installed by a local Island company Engenius.

opinion

Vav Simon, leader of Transition Island said “I am amazed that the Island is so forward-thinking about these things. This is a great initiative, and it is wonderful that an Island school has got the first Award. Also, it is very pleasing that the new Climate Change and Sustainability lesson plan was developed here.”

action

Get your school involved!

HRH Prince Charles meet senior hospital managers to discuss hospital food.

Examining links between environmental issues, including climate change, and human health were his concerns.

Climate change is likely to place increasing demand on the NHS.

The National Audit Office estimated in 2003 that obesity costs the NHS at least £500m a year - and the wider economy more than £2bn a year in lost productivity. In fact, we may be following the USA in the weight obesity places - it may threaten the future of NHS.

About £500m is spent on hospital food in England each year - about 60p for each meal. But poor-quality food in hospitals means that 13million meals are thrown away every year, at a cost of £2.65 each.

 go organic

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