Transition Island Blog

About one million litres of water will soon be saved by Southern Water on the Island every day.

The County Press says this is enough to fill 10,000 baths.

A £7 million investment in new state-of-the-art recycling equipment, which takes water out of sludge, will improve supplies in the south of the Island.

The project at the Sandown works is part of £700 million of environmental improvements being carried out for Southern Water throughout Kent, Sussex, Hampshire and the Island between 2005 and 2010.

The water company said its new equipment, which is nearing completion, will take 90 per cent of the water from a thin sludge that previously went to waste.

new machinery

The new machinery takes water used in backwashing the normal filters, slows it down and adds clarifying chemicals that bind together the solids in the sludge so that it falls out of the flow. This clarified water can then be sent back to the beginning of the filtration process and can end up as clean water.

Southern Water section leader Des Eastman said: “This is a cost-effective and eco-friendly way of putting good quality water back into the system. As an island, water resources need to be managed very carefully on the Isle of Wight. Investing in schemes such as this is vital to ensure we continue to meet the needs of our customers and the thousands of visitors to the island every year.”

meter successes

The Isle of Wight provided evidence that metering does lead to more prudent consumption over the long term. The National Water Metering Trials, which ran from April 1989 to March 1993 on the Island, recorded an average reduction in domestic consumption of 11%, with peak period reductions of up to 30%. (Southern Water Services (December 1997) Water Consumption on the Isle of Wight 1988 - 1997)

We use an average of nearly 55,000 litres of tap water a year for drinking and washing - enough to fill a private swimming pool. If we had to use bottled mineral water at roughly 36p a litre instead, that would cost us each £19,800 a year.

drought trends

Exactly how frequent droughts are in the UK is difficult to define. 1976 was definitely a drought, and so were the mid 80’s. The mid 90’s was argued over - it was a drought according to some and not to others. The trend since the 1860’s is for wetter winter and drier summers, and this has increased since the 70’s. This seasonal cycle is strongest in the south and east of the country and if this trend continues then we can certainly expect more droughts in the future.

hosepipe bans

During the next drought water companies will be able to ban most uses of domestic hosepipes. Inconsistencies of the hosepipe ban where highlighted during the 2005-2006 drought. After consulting, Defra announced in October 2007 that the legislation would be changed and allow water companies greater discretion over what they ban.

On average, the Environment Agency says, garden watering is about 5% of household water use over a year. But this is concentrated in summer months, when water is most scarce. A hosepipe ban can save significant amounts of water - evenings and weekends water demand can double or even treble the daily average as people water their gardens. 

Interestingly, on the Isle of Wight where 90% of households are metered, hosepipe bans are introduced more rarely, and if necessary, later in teh year.

bathwater re-use

Save yourself money and reduce water wastage by fitting a simple but ingenious device to divert your used water from the shower/bath to your garden. This simple device is controlled from ground level by pull cords. Easily fitted to existing pipework, you can use pre-heated water to warm your greenhouse in early spring - saving parafin or electric too! Read more…

water butts

Now is the time to buy a water butt and rainwater diverter kit. You can use this water from watering plants, washing cars, flushing toilets - for free!

Action:
At least, buy a water butt or two!

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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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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A whisky by-product has been found to clean contaminated ground and waste water.

The team at the University of Aberdeen believe they have a new technique to help the estimated 330,000 contaminated sites in the UK.

They say the Device for the Remediation and Attenuation of Multiple pollutants (Dram) has major potential in industry.

Early tests seem to show that Dram removes several contaminants simultaneously and is quicker and more cost-effective than current techniques.

The Glenfiddich distillery in Speyside has helped researchers get to this stage by donating the by-product, the nature of which is being kept secret.

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Supermarkets, the original source of free plastic carrier bags, are now moving towards a greener approach.

green buildings

ASDA’s latest high efficiency store in Bootle, Merseyside is due to open in November 2008. The timber-framed store has many sustainable features, including recycled bricks, a recycled aluminium roof, rainwater harvesting and natural lighting. All this will help the store become 50% more energy efficient than a typical ASDA store.

Other supermarkets are also going the same route - eg Marks & Spencer’s first eco-store, opened late last year, uses 55% less power and is powered by turbine.

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From The County Press

The Island’s first bio-diesel company has appealed for businesses to recycle used cooking oil to convert to green fuel.

Wight Made Bio-Diesel plans to increase production to up to 1500 litres a week, after a successful pilot project.

At around 10p a litre cheaper than normal diesel, there is no shortage of demand, accord­ing to company founders Joan Martin and Chris Sprackling.

Committed to the Island, they only use cooking oil that can be recy­cled as opposed to oil specially produced for bio-diesel. “We want it to stay on the Island. Some companies will collect waste oil but then it has to be transported off the Island to be convert­ed.”

So not only do they help the Island’s economy, they also reduce the transport miles involved.

Action:
Help them with your old cooking oil, contact on wmbd(at)hotmail(dot)co(dot)uk

This charity encourages manufacturers and retailers to donate their high quality surplus for distribution to good causes.

In Kind Direct has a network of voluntary organisations representing every kind of cause - family welfare, sickness and disability, homelessness, emergency relief, environment, ethnic support and community groups.

donate surplus

Companies donate surplus goods, mainly newly manufactured items. They might be ends of lines, seasonal items, samples, customer returns, things in damaged packaging or with slight defects.

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Converting land for biofuels could actually worsen the problem of global warming.

Although proposed as a viable alternative to fossil fuels, it will create more major carbon emissions, a report has warned.

But there are alternative sources of biofuel, and today (26/2/08), the news is that biofuels should only be produced if they meet strict internationally agreed environmental standards.

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An audit of London shows increasing and unsustainable strain on the environment.

Every Londoner needs land the size of five and half football pitches to support their way of life. This means its ecological footprint is greater than cities such as Tokyo but is more sustainable than Shanghai and New York.

In its ‘State of the Environment’ report, the Environment Agency says London already produces 19 million tonnes of waste every year, and only recycles 20% of household waste.

The city should waste less water, manage waste better and adapt to climate change, it suggested.

“And we believe that as a world-class city, London can provide international leadership”.

London’s Sustainable Development Commission says:

• Household waste recycling has increased significantly in recent years
• The total area of sites identified as important to wildlife has increased
• Londoners have led the world in shifting from private vehicle use to public transport, cycling and walking
• Recent trends in air quality show that concentrations of key pollutants have reduced in the past decade

On this last point, the Low Emissions Zone has sparked the threat of a legal challenge from Porsche, the car manufacturer. They obviously feel targeted !

But how would the Island fare in an audit?

‘One Bin Day’ calls on employees to replace individual bins around the workplace with one central bin, to focus attention on just how much waste - and money - is thrown away daily.

Envirowise offers UK businesses free, independent, confidential advice and support on practical ways to increase profits, minimise waste and reduce environmental impact.

Programme director Dr Martin Gibson explains: “One Bin Day” (21 Feb 2008) is designed to highlight the amount of waste that a typical office can generate in just one day.

“Much of what we throw away can be recycled or reduced but the convenience of a bin right by your desk makes for a big temptation to throw away valuable resources.”

The Regional Manager covering the Isle of Wight is Holly Firmin.

Small changes

The UK is in danger of reaching waste crisis point. We produce more than 30 million tonnes of waste each year, and disposing of it is a huge problem. In theory, 90% minimum of industrial waste could be recycled or composted - but almost 80 per cent is sent to landfill.

Make some changes - it is simple to start making a difference. Envirowise have pulled together some information to get you on the road to resource efficiency.

One lovely story: a hotel advertised its replaced carpets FOC to a good home: a group of allotment holders were delighted with the gift.

Action

Do what it says on the can.