Transition Island Blog

Around 10,000 people took part in the recent Walk the Wight in aid of Newport’s Earl Mountbatten Hospice.

The full walk across the Island is 26.5 miles between Bembridge and Alum Bay. There is a newly-introduced eight-mile Flat Walk along the cycle path from Sandown to Newport, approximately half the distance. (Photo from County Press)

Walk the WIght was created during the early Spring days of 1991 by two old friends who loved walking, and started walking for charity. It has become the largest annual fund raising event on the Island. 

perfect conditions

Early morning cloud and drizzle were replaced by glorious sunshine as participants walked, ran, stilt-walked, hobbled and limped their way across the Island.

Hospice fundraiser Karen Eeles said: “After last year’s torrential rain, who would have thought we’d get so many people? The atmosphere was fantastic.”

growing event

Before Sunday, 8,275 walkers had registered to walk either the and organisers have estimated that more than 1,000 more registered on the day. Local people of all ages and abilities joined in, and lots of youngsters - and dogs - also took part..

Fundraisers are hoping the total raised will exceed last year’s figure of £230,000.

This is a growing event, having raised £200,000 in 2006 and £217,000 in 2007. Walker numbers have also risen, with over 5,000 last year having grown to an estimated 10,000 this year.

individuals help

So often, the question “But what can I do?” comes up when we’re faced with environmental problems - even those we want to contribute to solving.

‘Walk the Wight’ is a great example of what can be achieved by individuals who work together as a team.

Action:
Volunteer!

Camden residents’ conscientiously sorted doorstep recycling boxes are simply rebundled and sent abroad.

Every item of paper placed in Camden’s recycling bins is sent to Malaysia, Indonesia, India or China. All of the borough’s waste plastic goes to China.

This is according to figures released to the New Journal this week under Freedom of Information rules. The council is locked into a seven-year, £16 million a year contract with waste company Veolia.

But it is the council’s cost-cutting policy of lumping all types of waste together, that requires the ‘contaminated’ recycling can only be processed abroad.

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Biofuels have had many warnings.

One of the original problems with biodiesel was clogging up filters. This was because it cleans the residue left behind by the mineral diesel out of the fuel lines, which then collects in the filter. Which is why all fuel lines have filters - to stop unwanted solids going into the combustion chamber.

So the answer was to change the filter, usually only necessary once.

new problems

Now, a new warning has emerged. It’s not just the vehicle engine dirt that gets cleaned out. It’s also the grot in the garage’s storage tank.

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As predicted, the Government U-turn on Real Time Displays.

Jonathon Porritt, Chair of the Sustainable Development Commision, gives his views on the recent decision by BERR (Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform) not to give the go-ahead to a plan which would have seen power companies providing every home with a free device able to display electricity use in real-time.

We supported this energy efficiency method that can help householders save between 8 and 16% of their electricity bills.

See the Channel 4 news item.

opinion:
Such a shame!

Global warming is disrupting wildlife and the environment on every continent.

According to an unprecedented study published in the high-credibility journal Nature, climate change is already affecting the world’s ecosystems to a large extent.

This comes from a team of experts, including members of the UN’s intergovernmental panel on climate change (IPCC) from America, Europe, Australia and China, and is based on published reports dating back to 1970.

human doings

At least 90% of environmental damage and disruption around the world could be explained by rising temperatures driven by human activity.

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SWOT Analysis - usually a business tool - is showing the economy could turn on new jobs created in the renewable energy and efficiency sectors.

Scotland is on the brink of a green jobs revolution with 50,000 posts expected to be created in the next decade, careers experts claim.

Wind analysts, turbine technicians and heat-pump installers will all be needed to cope with the renewable energy rush, according to Careers Scotland, which has started a new campaign to raise awareness of the growing green industry.

They say the number of jobs in fields such as recycling, conservation and renewables is set to rocket in the next ten years. Already there are an estimated 80,000 jobs in the renewable fields that did not previously exist, with another 50,000 predicted over the next decade. Read more…

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Saudi Arabia has threatened to halt oil exports to Taiwan over Taipei’s reluctance to invest in Saudi Arabia’s power and water desalination plant, a report said Monday.

Saudi Arabia feels cheated by Taiwan’s delay to invest in the Independent Water & Power Provider project and has threatened to suspend oil exports to Taiwan, the United Daily News reported.

Saudi Arabia supplies 100 million barrels of oil to Taiwan annually, accounting for half of all oil imports.

‘If Saudi Arabia stops oil import to Taiwan for two weeks, Taiwan will face an oil crisis,’ the paper said.

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Radical CO2 reduction targets and urgent switchover to renewables energy sources is NASA’s opinion.

In a new report released today (12/5/08), James Hansen, head of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York, said that the EU and its international partners must urgently rethink targets for cutting CO2.

Fears we have grossly underestimated the scale of the problem are emerging.

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A Renault-Nissan alliance is likely to invest $500 million to $1 billion in developing swappable-battery electric cars.

In Israel, most of its oil comes from Russia, so the country is very aware of its oil-dependency.

Research shows that two thirds of the public have a positive opinion of electric cars.1.2 million households own cars and 210,000 (over 5%) would consider purchasing an electric car.

Moshe Kaplinsky, CEO of Better Place Israel, said “We are not operating in a climate of indifference. The Israeli public is interested in what we are doing”.

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The Isle of Wight is going for a high profile public event where low carbon and sustainable lifestyles will be discussed and demonstrated.

Unfortunately, the Big Green Picnic event has had to be moved from Church Litten park in the town centre to the County Hall car park. Church Litton was a fantastic venue - central, open and green, but a cave-in where previous church buildings and graves had made the surface unsafe. Work will be done to make the car park into a greener area, with picnic benches and hay bales provided.

Also a bowling green carpet, that was to be thrown away by its former owners, is being recycled to be used as surfacing.

The aim of the Big Green Picnic is for the Eco-Isle initiative to inspire Islanders to lead a more green lifestyle, demonstrate what steps they can take to achieve that and what products and services are available to help them.

Transition Island will be there to explain how community action can help any neighbourhood take control of planning for the changes in the future. Sited in a strawbale house, demonstrating 12 different ways to gain from being more sustainable, Dave & Vav Simon will be joined by volunteers…

Other ideas Eco-Isle is interested in include:

• Organise an Island switch off day.
• Extend the Ventnor plastic bag-free project to the whole Island.
• Publicise ‘freecycle’ where people can recycle their belongings for the benefit of others.
• Make better use of surplus garden produce

join in
Do come and find us - Saturday and Sunday May 24 and 25 - ask questions - consider your own plans!