The Most Poluted Places

[BombTaxi]

Slightly back OT, there is some progress being made in the UK on cutting down pollution. Nearly every local authority offers some kind of at-home recycling with weekly or fortnightly collections, and recycling sites that will take almost anything. The quality of the service varies according to authority - here in Hertsmere (Hertfordshire), it is abysmal - if I want to recycle, 90% of it I have to take to a CA site myself. Much as I'd love to save the planet, I live on my own and work shifts, and I don't have much space to sort and store stuff between visits, so a lot of stuff just ends up in the bin. Where my parents live in the West Midlands, you simply chuck all of your recyclables in one bin and the council collect and sort it for you - much better.

There are also moves being made toward wind and wave energy, but realistically the technology is not far advanced enough to offer a large return for the areas given up, and renewables make a pitifully small contribution to the total energy requirement.The last govt also succeeded in driving a fair chunk of our renewable energy industry into Europe We are building new nuclear power stations, now if someone could sort out the railways, we would have an excellent carbon-free alternative to our overburdened and polloution-generating motorway system. That, however, is a dream for another day...

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

Slightly back OT, there is some progress being made in the UK on cutting down pollution. Nearly every local authority offers some kind of at-home recycling with weekly or fortnightly collections, and recycling sites that will take almost anything. The quality of the service varies according to authority - here in Hertsmere (Hertfordshire), it is abysmal - if I want to recycle, 90% of it I have to take to a CA site myself. Much as I'd love to save the planet, I live on my own and work shifts, and I don't have much space to sort and store stuff between visits, so a lot of stuff just ends up in the bin. Where my parents live in the West Midlands, you simply chuck all of your recyclables in one bin and the council collect and sort it for you - much better.

There are also moves being made toward wind and wave energy, but realistically the technology is not far advanced enough to offer a large return for the areas given up, and renewables make a pitifully small contribution to the total energy requirement.The last govt also succeeded in driving a fair chunk of our renewable energy industry into Europe We are building new nuclear power stations, now if someone could sort out the railways, we would have an excellent carbon-free alternative to our overburdened and polloution-generating motorway system. That, however, is a dream for another day...

That is the same over here in Germany as well.

They come to my house and pick up my recyclables, there are solar farms and wind farms springing up everywhere. Your vehicle has to be checked for emissions and you get a color coded sticker. If your vehicle does not meet the standards you can not drive into certain cities that are known for having high polution and what not.

The railway system here in Germany is absolutely amazing as well (very expensive and rarely on time) but you can get anywhere with it. I still prefer to drive though...

 

[mikewint]

BT, recycling is a crock, mostly. hang on before you jump on me. the idea is wonderful BUT unless the UK is much different than the US there is practically no market for recycled products. the lone exception is aluminum. recycled Al is cheaper than virgin Al from ore. Look at the items you buy, the content is printed on the label and recycled ingredients are listed as such, sometimes with phrases like "after market products"
plastics, which are forever, are very difficult to recycle, there are so many different types and colors, all of which have to be separated correctly or the entire lot is contaminated
people want "white" paper and recycled is not white. several years back there was a big movement in the US toward recycled paper. practically no one bought the recycled paper. no market, no sale, no industry. most of the things turned in are held for a while and then sent to a landfill. and paper does not decompose buried in a land fill.
unless the consumer preferentially buys recycled products there is no market and companies can't work at a loss

 

[BombTaxi]

That is the same over here in Germany as well.

They come to my house and pick up my recyclables, there are solar farms and wind farms springing up everywhere. Your vehicle has to be checked for emissions and you get a color coded sticker. If your vehicle does not meet the standards you can not drive into certain cities that are known for having high polution and what not.

The railway system here in Germany is absolutely amazing as well (very expensive and rarely on time) but you can get anywhere with it. I still prefer to drive though...

Our railways go nowhere very slowly. Travelling north-south between major cities is actually OK - London to Birmingham in 2 hours, Manchester and Liverpool and hour or so more, and cheap if you book well in advance. But travelling east-west (or 'CrossCountry' as it is branded) is a nightmare, very expensive, and involves either six hours on one train or more on several trains.

Mike, I agree to an extent. There is a bit of a niche market for recycled product, especially stationery, as it happens, and many manufactures make their packaging out of recycled packaging. There is even a firm making outdoor furniture out of recycled pop bottles. But you are right in that the market has to be there. Recycled and Fair Trade goods are popular in more affluent areas, but elsewhere no-one wants to pay the premium.

 

[mikewint]

BT, most people want to do something to "save the planet" and i applaud that, but then the baulk at buying the recycled because it doesn't look right. the things you mentioned are great and a start. i have no data but i suspect that with the exception of Al, 10% of what is turned in is actually recycled, the rest is landfill.
a university here set a team to an old landfill, closed in the 1960s. they did a cross-section cut. most of the landfill was paper. they found chicago phone books buried in the 1930s that looked as good as the day they were printed.
recycling is not free either. it also requires the expenditure of energy and in most cases it requires more energy to recycle than to use virgin materials

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

You are absolutely correct in the end about the recyclables. I do not think the market here is very high either. Maybe a bit more than in the US though.

 

[mikewint]

and then we have the arabs ready to undercut any alternative energy type product. at a $1.25 per barrel at the well head they can charge anything they want and still make a profit. in the western US we have billions of tons of oil shale. more total oil than the arabs have but it is in rock. it can be extracted but not easily or cheaply so we buy arab oil.
the winds don't always blow and the sun does not always shine and we can only store energy at about 15% efficiency.
please, pretty please Mr Shiek can i have some more oil

 

[Marcel]

the winds don't always blow

You obviously haven't been the the NL, seems like there's always wind, here. Today I was almost blown off the Moerdijk Bridge. Have to eat more meat in order to save the planet and be more wind-resistant I think

 

[tail end charlie]

You obviously haven't been the the NL, seems like there's always wind, here. Today I was almost blown off the Moerdijk Bridge. Have to eat more meat in order to save the planet and be more wind-resistant I think

I worked with a guy from Norway, he said when the wind stopped blowing all the sheep fell over

 

[mikewint]

We're still faced with either too much of too little and no good way to store the excess