UK, London: Waste reduction possible with shops like these

Check out the fantastic video created by North London Waste Authority in Hackney.


For more videos visit this page: http://www.nlwa.gov.uk/waste-resources/businesses

UK: Recycle Week 18 -24 June, Plastic Bottle Recycling!

World: We are screwed if we dont reduce consumption (people)

More than 100 science academies around the world have called on world leaders to take action on population and consumption at the Rio+20 summit.

They say past failures on these issues threaten the natural world and prospects for future generations. Experts in both developed and developing countries have joined forces on what used to be a divisive topic." The overall message is that we need a renewed focus on both population and consumption - it's not enough to look at one or the other," said Prof Charles Godray. "We need to look at both, because together they determine the footprint on the world."

The footprint is getting heavier and heavier, the academies warn. "The global population is currently around seven billion, and most projections suggest that it will probably lie between eight and 11 billion by 2050," their declaration says. "Global consumption levels are at an all time high, largely because of the high per-capita consumption of developed countries." If the billion poorest people are to have adequate access to food, water and energy, the academies say, developed countries will have to reduce their own consumption of natural resources. They say this can be done without reducing prosperity so long as different economic models are followed.

Failing to make these changes "will put us on track to alternative futures with severe and potentially catastrophic implications for human well-being".

The declaration builds on a recent report from the Royal Society. The topics of population and consumption are both mentioned in the draft agreement that negotiators are discussing in Rio. But both crop up in a far weaker form than many observers would like. The new report is an indication of how things have changed on the population question. In decades gone by, developing nations tended to see the issue as a ploy by rich countries to avoid talking about unsustainable consumption.

The African Institute for Development Policy in Nairobi who worked on the recent Royal Society report, said perceptions were changing. "Many African countries are feeling the effects of population growth, and are finding they'll need to deal with it in order to continue developing as well as to address their environmental issues," he told BBC News.

Dr Zulu also said that evidence accumulated over the last decade showed that overall, African women were having more children than they wanted - which gave politicians an incentive to increase family planning provision. In the formal negotiations, government delegates convened on Wednesday for intensive talks aimed at securing consensus on key themes.

Photo from smh.com.au

News from BBC News

Global: Waste challenge as big as climate change

 
Annual global waste is set to rise from 1.3 billion tonnes to 2.2bn tonnes by 2025, posing challenges on a scale with climate change, according to a new report. The World Bank predicts a big rise in global municipal solid waste from the current 1.2kg per person per day to 1.4kg in 2025.

The report, What a Waste: A Global Review of Solid Waste Management, estimates the annual cost of solid waste management will rise from $205bn (£132bn) today to $375bn (£243bn).  Rachel Kyte, vice president of sustainable development at the World Bank, said waste management was becoming in more urgent issue, especially in rapidly developing cities in low income countries.

She said: “The findings of this report are sobering, but they also offer hope that once the extent of this issue is recognized, local and national leaders, as well as the international community, will mobilize to put in place programs to reduce, reuse, recycle, or recover as much waste as possible before burning it (and recovering the energy) or otherwise disposing of it. Measuring the extent of the problem is a critical first step to resolving it.”

The report sets out several policy recommendations including:

• Public education to inform people about their options to reduce waste generation and increase recycling and composting
• Pricing mechanisms (such as product charges) to stimulate consumer behaviour to reduce waste generation and increase recycling
• User charges tied to the quantity of waste disposed of, with (for example) consumers separating recyclables paying a lower fee for waste disposa
• Preferential procurement policies and pricing to stimulate demand for products made with recycled post-consumer waste
• Dan Hoornweg, lead urban specialist in the finance, economics, and urban development department of the World Bank and co-author of the report said that while the report’s findings were not surprising it reinforced a “relatively silent problem that is growing daily”

“The challenges surrounding municipal solid waste are going to be enormous, on a scale of, if not greater than, the challenges we are currently experiencing with climate change. This report should be seen as a giant wake-up call to policy makers everywhere,” he said.

Story from http://www.mrw.co.uk/

Hackney: Give or Take June 2012

Hackney Council's Give or Take Days are a great way of getting rid of items that you don't need, and taking items you do. Simply turn up on the day with items that you want to give, or come along and take what you need. You don't have to give something to take something!

The next give or take day is Saturday 16 June, 11am to 3pm at Grazebrook Primary School, Lordship Road, N16 0QP. Find out more about Give or take days