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Reid A (Angela)
From: Brown C (Christine)
Sent: 17 December 2009 09:48
To: Reid A (Angela)
Subject: FW: Case Ref no PPA-270-2017
From: Artyfartysc@aol.com [mailto:Artyfartysc@aol.com]
Sent: 16 December 2009 16:11
To: Brown C (Christine); Hendry P (Pauline)
Cc:
Subject: Case Ref no PPA-270-2017
Dear Christine Brown,
Please find below an objection about case PPA-270-2017
What Rubbish is and how we can deal with rubbish without BURNING it.
To understand why we shouldn't burn our waste you need to understand waste and why and how it is
important to not only as a human race but more importantly the planet which sustains us.
I trust that what follows along with everything we have submitted as a company helps you to the only
conclusion that is possible which is of course NO CPH (Highland) Ltd are not allowed to build an Incinerator.
SOME Predictions for our Planet if we keep going!!
Greenland 2007 -What lies ahead for the planet as global warming takes hold? Well Greenland is already
melting
Continue reading, Go On I Dare You ! Ok double Dare you !
2009 - The world population nears 7 billion (feels like a lot more) as more people now live in cities than in rural
areas, changing patterns of land use and adding to smog.
2018 - Global oil production peaks between 2008 and 2018, triggering a global recession, food shortages and
conflicts between nations (as if we hadn’t got enough of that already) over dwindling supplies.
(It is estimated that the world has resources of about 1000 billion barrels of crude oil. One barrel is equivalent
to 42 US gallons/159 litres. The largest reserves are in Saudi Arabia, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait
and Iran. Major sources are also to be found in South America. Large quantities are also to be found in North
America, Russia and China but these are being exhausted far faster than those in the Middle East. Further
reserves, as yet not fully tapped, lie in Central Asia and Africa.
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In 2006, world consumption was around 70 million barrels a day and rising. In the estimation of the
Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), oil reserves will last about another 80 years. But who
knows? Large sums are now being invested in the search for alternative energy sources, not only to reduce
reliance on oil but also to reduce environment-damaging emissions. Sooner or later the world will have to do
without oil. No doubt the future lies in renewable sources of energy such as solar, hydro-electric, wind and
wave power. However, oil plays an enormous economic and political role and this won’t be given up easily.)
2020 - Flash floods increase across Europe. Less rainfall reduces agriculture yields by up to 50 percent in
some areas. Population reaches 7.6 billion ( that seems a wee bitty to conservative to me).
2030 - Up to 18 percent of the world's coral reefs are lost as a result of the changing climate and other
environmental stresses.
Fact: Coral reefs are among the oldest ecosystems on Earth.
Fact: Coral reefs are the largest living structure on the planet.
Fact: Although coral reefs cover less than 1% of the Earth’s surface, they are home to 25% of all marine fish
species.
Fact: 500 million people rely on coral reefs for their food and livelihoods.
Fact: Coral reefs form natural barriers that protect nearby shorelines from the eroding forces of the sea,
thereby protecting coastal dwellings, agricultural land and beaches.
Fact: Without the existence of coral reefs, parts of Florida would be under water.
Fact: Coral reefs have been used in the treatment of cancer, HIV, cardiovascular diseases and ulcers.
Fact: Corals' porous limestone skeletons have been used for human bone grafts.
Fact: It is estimated that coral reefs provide $375 billion per year around the world in goods and services.
Fact: If the present rate of destruction continues, 70% of the world's coral reefs will be destroyed by the year
2050. To learn more interesting facts and do your bit visit
www.nature.org
Warming temperatures will melt the last glaciers in the mountains of equatorial Africa. In low-income parts of
the world, diarrhoea-related illness are likely to rise by a minimum of 5 percent.
2040 - The Arctic Sea is ice-free in the summer, and winter ice depth shrinks drastically. Some say this won't
happen until 2060 to 2105.
2050 - Large glaciers shrink by 30 to 70 percent as a quarter of the world's plant and vertebrate animal
species face extinction. Human deaths related to heat are expected to rise in Australia and the United States -
- but in the United Kingdom, cold-related deaths are expected to rise as well and forget the leccy blanket
keeping you warm, read the next bullet point!
2070 - As warmer, drier conditions lead to more frequent and longer droughts, electricity production for the
world's existing hydropower stations decreases, causing even further problems in all areas of our life’s.
2080 - But in other parts of the world, people living in 2080 will experience the other extreme. Up to 20
percent of the world's population will live in river basins likely to see increased flooding, and up to 100 million
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people could be affected by coastal flooding. Sea levels around New York City, may well rise by 3 feet.
2085- The number of people at risk of dengue fever from climate change increases to 3.5 billion or more.
2100- A quarter of all species of plants and land animals - more than a million total - are driven to extinction,
this is the Biodiversity of our planet (The variety of life disappearing) without it we as a species will become
extinct.
2200 - An Earth day may well be 0.12 milliseconds shorter, as rising temperatures cause oceans to expand
toward the poles, speeding up the planet's rotation.
OK now has that made you sit up and take notice after all its not us that its
going to effect is it, its Our Children and their Children, do you really want
to leave them a
RUINED WORLD???????
Chapter 2
What is RUBBISH? Why does it Matter???????
What is Rubbish ? The problem with Rubbish? Why does it Matter?
Rubbish is what people throw away because they no longer need it or want it. Almost everything we do
creates rubbish and as a society we are currently producing more rubbish than ever before. We do this at
home at work and at play. The fact that we produce Rubbish and get rid of it, matters for the following reasons
When we throw anything away we lose all those very valuable natural resources, the energy as well as the
time which have been used to make that product. The vast majority of resources that we use in manufacturing
products and providing services cannot be replaced. Using ALL of these resources cannot go on indefinitely -
We Will Run Out. We can not keep plundering the planet with out Dire Consequences.
When we throw things away we are putting pressure on the environment's ability to cope - in terms of the
additional environmental impacts associated with extracting the new resources, manufacturing and
distributing the goods, and in terms of the environmental impacts associated with getting rid of our rubbish.
When we throw things away we are failing to see it as a valuable resource. It is well understood that what is
rubbish to one person may be viewed as gold by another. A good and very old saying is “Where there’s muck
there’s Brass”
A good example of this is scrap metal which has been recycled for many years.
Increasingly people are realising that it makes economic sense as well as environmental sense to use
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"Rubbish” rather than just throw it away.
The process of using up the earth's natural resources to make products which we then throw away,
sometimes a very short time later, is not "sustainable" - in other words, it cannot continue indefinitely. If we do
continue to do this we are affecting the Biodiversity of our Planet, what is Biodiversity ? It is the Variety Of Life
and YES it Matters!!!!!!
The way in which we consume so many materials is affecting whether we have a sustainable society that
leaves resources available for future generations to use. As consumers, producers and individuals, we are
central to the very concept of sustainability. We need to think, understand and implement how we can actually
use fewer resources ("get more out of less"), how we can all make products last for longer (which means we
use less and we throw away less) and how we can do better things with our so-called "Rubbish" than throw it
away. We need to see "Rubbish" as a " Valuable Resource". So what we all need to do is View each piece of
rubbish as a £1 coin. You wouldn’t throw a £1 coin away don’t be a plonker of course you wouldn’t, that was
not a question but a statement!
The " Rubbish hierarchy" Re-education + Prevention = Reduce = Reuse = Recycle =
A Healthy Planet with A Healthy Biodiversity ( A healthy Variety of Life).
The best way of managing our rubbish is not to produce it in the first place - Rubbish
prevention. But to do this we need to Re-Educate everyone from the consumer to the Manufactures about
Rubbish Prevention once we are preventing the amount of Rubbish we produce we are then AFFECTIVELY
Reducing the amount of Rubbish we produce
Then we can look at the rest of the Rubbish Hierarchy, then we look at the other R’s to reuse and recycle the
material. The UK Government along with the EU have developed an approach to derive a hierarchy of
options for managing waste - known as "the waste hierarchy".
The waste hierarchy specifies the following order of preference for dealing with our wastes - with those
towards the top of the list more desirable than those towards the bottom
Reduce
Reuse
Recycle
Compost
(Recover energy)
Disposal
The hierarchy is a guide. It does not mean that in all circumstances, at all times, a higher option will be better
than a lower option. In most cases a combination of options for managing the different wastes produced at
home and at work will be needed. But the hierarchy provides a simple rule of thumb guide to the relative
environmental benefits of different options.
The problem we have today is that more of our rubbish is dealt with towards the bottom end of the hierarchy
than the top. The challenge we all face each and everyone of us now and in the future is to change our
current attitudes, our lifestyles and our practices so that much more of our waste is dealt with by options
towards the top of the hierarchy.
What Happens to our Rubbish????
So where does it all go?
A total of:
72% of municipal waste is land filled - which means it's buried in the ground
9% is Incinerated - which means it's burnt - this is also called energy from waste.
Dealing with our rubbish in this way is not an ideal solution. When we bury or burn our rubbish we are losing
valuable natural resources and wasting the energy, water and transport costs used in its production. Land
filling and incineration can and is harming
the environment if not properly managed. Many landfill sites are nearly full and we are rapidly running out of
suitable land, close to where the rubbish is produced, for new sites. In any case, these sites are often
unwelcome neighbours - we keep producing the rubbish, but we don't want it disposed of near to where we
live.
People like that are called
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The NIMBY’S - “Not In My Back Yard” - The alternative?
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
We would all benefit from:
Reducing the amount of rubbish we create
Reusing as much of our rubbish as possible
Increasing the 19% of waste that we currently recycle and compost (although the latest figures suggest we
are now recycling 32%)
That is what The 3R’s are about - Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.
Reducing - every year the amount of rubbish we produce increases and this leads to increased costs for
society - both financial and environmental. The majority of the resources that we use to make things - only to
throw them away - can't be replaced. T
Throwing away our rubbish puts pressure on the environment and on the Biodiversity of our planet- not only
from the landfills and incinerators, but also because we have to extract and process even more resources,
and transport our new goods and our old rubbish so increasing vehicle emissions. As consumers, we have
the ability to reverse this trend - buy only the right quantity of what we really need, choose products with less
packaging, and only buy from producers employing sustainable practices.
There are some big changes that producers/manufactures can make and as an individual you can effectively
make those producers/manufactures make the changes I am about to suggest.
My biggest pet hate is when I go into a supermarket and do my weekly shop, this will include many of the
value brands (and yes I check to see if its made from recycled items) cereals biscuits and so on, and then I
get home and open the packaging ie cereal box to find the contents inside are half the size of the actual box,
this applies to most of the things that we buy, you open the packaging and what is inside is half or even less.
Well there are two issues here the false misleading advertising ok so it says 500grms on the box but check
out the box it is so much bigger than what’s inside, so you are led to believe that you are getting value for
money, make big packaging and you can charge more and that’s exactly what is happening, I personally do
not want fancy packing or boxes I am more than happy to buy my shopping in re-usable containers or in
packing that is minimal.
The biggest thing that we as a consumer can do to make the manufactures/producers/supermarkets change
is to make sure what we are buying is from recycled goods and before you load your car
Take everything out of its boxes and leave the boxes and unnecessary packaging at the supermarkets.
Leaving your excess packaging at the supermarket means they have to pay for it to be taken away along with
the other rubbish that they have to dispose off in an environmentally friendly way.
If each and everyone of us do this every time we do our shopping then they will sit up and take notice as it is
hitting them where it hurts the most their Profits.
When they reduce the packaging, it is costing them less to produce that item and therefore they should pass
the saving on to the public, which means your weekly shop will be reduced financially.
The final impact this will have is on the Environment, as we are Preventing
manufactures/producers/supermarkets making excessive packing thereby leading to massive reductions in
the Rubbish they produce.
Why do I say “they produce” because we don’t ask for the excessive packaging and the majority of us do not
want it, it is forced on us and until recently we never really thought about holding them accountable for what
they are producing and charging us.
So there you have it one answer for Prevention = leave your packing at the shop =Reducing the amount of
Rubbish we produce as a society.
Reusing - we can cut down on the amount of rubbish we have to get rid of by reusing our materials.
Computers, furniture, clothing - so many items can be reused. Setting the printer to print on both sides of a
sheet of paper, repairing our broken appliances and shoes or finding a charity that will make use of them - we
help ourselves and others, and delay the point at which materials become waste.
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Recycling - putting materials aside for recycling helps in many ways: we send less rubbish to landfill or
incineration, and we save valuable materials and energy - for example, plastic bottles can be converted into
fleeces and garden furniture, whilst recycling aluminium cans saves 95% of the energy used in making a new
can. New technologies are furthering our ability to recycle what was previously our waste and turn it back into
the resources that we need.
If you would like to recycle more, but do not know where to take your recyclables, then at the end of this book
you will find details how where you can take them (address telephones ). Here you will also find contact
details for your local authority.
Buy recycled - If you find that a material is not being recycled in your area, it may be because the markets are
not strong enough for the local authority to pay for collecting it. To help alleviate this, support those industries
that use recycled materials and Buy Recycled goods. Buying recycled 'closes the loop' in recycling - emember
that it's not enough just to recycle, buying recycled ensures that the materials you send for recycling are
actually used again and again and again ok so you are getting the message J once more then to just to make
sure AND AGAINJ .
Remember you may be Recycling but if you are not buying Recycled Goods then you are not truly recycling
its that Simple!!! Close the Loop (Incineration is not closing the loop its destroying the loop)
You may also be interested in other ways to use your power as a consumer to help promote sustainability -
and I have dedicated a chapter full of ideas and suggestions
on environmentally friendly shopping and how you can make a difference remember Small is Mighty, you are
one until all the other one’s join in and then suddenly we are an army making a True Environmental Impact.
We as individuals can make more of a difference than the MPs councillors Governments the EU and all the
rules and legislation put together.
Sustainable solutions - The problem of what to do with the Rubbish we produce is Global though the solutions
have to be provided locally. In the UK there are many organisations - governmental and independent, local
and national who are trying to move Britain forward towards a sustainable society.
The reports and information they have produced are a valuable resource to help us all move on and really
begin the
“Good Riddance Of Bad Rubbish” “Waste Not Want Not”
Chapter 3,
Why Reduce - Who should Reduce - How to Reduce
Ok lets tackle the Why - the simple answer is by actually Reducing your Rubbish you are reducing what you
put in your bin which means less rubbish going to places such as Landfill and Incinerators All of Which are
Bad for the planet and your Health.
If you were to stick a thermometer up the Bahookie of the planet it would be in the Danger Zone.
Ok now lets tackle the Who - again Simple Answer Everyone.
This literally means everyone - individuals, supermarkets, manufactures, education establishments, councils,
governments.
So the Answer is ????????????????????????????????????????
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WE ARE
Chapter 4.
Weird Rubbish Facts for the UK
Have you ever thought about how much rubbish you and your family throw away every week? Or why we
need to stop throwing so much of it away? This page is full of amazing waste facts. Did you know ?
The History of recycling ?
Recycling is thought to be an ancient practice, with cultures in pre-industrial times melting down old pots and
swords to make new ones.
General Rubbish Factoids
1. The UK produces more then 434million tonnes of waste every year. In less than two hours, the waste we
produce would fill the Albert Hall in London. Every few months it would fill Lake Windermere, the largest and
deepest lake in England!
2. On average, each person in the UK throws away their own body weight in rubbish every seven weeks, this
equates to 500kg in rubbish every year.
3. The average household in the UK produces more tha a tonne of waste every year. Put together, this comes
to a total of 31 million tonnes per year, equivalent to the weight of three and a half million double-decker
buses, a queue of which would go around the world two and a half times.
4. Every year we produce about 3% more waste than the year before. This might not sound much but, if we
carry on at this rate, it means that we will double the amount of waste we produce every 25 years.
5. Most of the world's waste is produced by people from the 'developed' world (which includes Britain), even
though these people only make up about 5% of the world's population.
Preposterous paper
6. Paper and card make up about a fifth of the typical household dustbin. About half of this consists of
newspapers and magazines.
7. Two-thirds of paper is recycled, making it one of the main materials recycled in the UK. Every tonne of
paper recycled saves 17 trees!
8. Each Christmas as much as 83 square kilometres of wrapping paper ends up in UK rubbish bins, enough to
cover an area larger than Guernsey, one of the Channel Islands.
9. About one fifth of the contents of household dustbins consists of paper and card, of which half is
newspapers and magazines. This is equivalent to over 4kg of waste paper per household in the UK each
week.
Oversized Packaging/Persistent packaging
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In 2001 UK households produced the equivalent weight of 245 jumbo jets per week in packaging waste.
Every year each person produces 4 times as much packaging waste as their luggage allowance on a jumbo
jet.
Bulging bottles
10 It is not known how long glass takes to break down, but it is so long that glass made in the Middle East
over 3,000 years ago can still be found today.
11. Milk bottles are used an average of 13 times before recycling.
12. On average, every family in the UK consumes around 330 glass bottles and jars a year. (British Glass)
13. In 2003, the recycling of glass saved enough energy to launch ten space shuttle missions!
Bottlelicious
14. We produce and use twenty times more plastic today than we did 50 years ago.
15. Every year an estimated 17.5 billion plastic bags are given away by supermarkets. This represents over
130,000 tonnes of plastic - enough to cover an area the size of London twice with a layer of bags. This is
equivalent to over 290 bags for every person in the UK. 17½ billion seconds ago it was the year 1449
16. 25 two litre pop bottles can be recycled into an adult-size fleece jacket.
17. Recycling two bottles saves enough energy to boil water for five cups of tea.
Alumoneyium
17. We get through 5 billion drinks cans every year. Each one could be recycled back into a new can, saving
large amounts of energy, raw materials and waste.
18. Weight for weight, empty alumunium cans are worth 6 to 20 times more than any other used packaging
material. There are more than 30 million pounds worth of empty aluminium drinks cans in the UK just waiting
to be collected, cashed in and recycled.
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The European aluminium industry
More than 27.6 million tonnes of primary aluminium are currently used in the Western
World per year. Western Europe accounts for approximately one quarter of primary aluminium use. The
manufacturing and converting industries in Western Europe presently use about 3.6 million tonnes of rolled
products, 2.4 million tonnes of extruded products, 0.5 million tonnes of other semi-fabricated products and 0.8
million tonnes of aluminium foil per year. In addition approximately 1.9 million tonnes of casting alloys were
used from mainly the secondary aluminium industry.
Canny can factoids
Novelis is the world's largest recycler of aluminium drink cans .
More aluminium is produced each year than any other non-ferrous metal.
Recycling 1kg of aluminium saves 6kg of bauxite, 4kg of chemicals and 14Kwh of electricity.
35% of drink cans are consumed outside the home.
The energy saved by recycling 1 aluminium drink can would boil a kettle 3 times
The energy saved by recycling one aluminium drink can is enough to run a TV for 3 hours.
The energy saved by recycling 4 aluminium drink cans would run a washing machine for 1 hour.
Globally, Novelis recycles over 36 billion used aluminium drink cans every year – these would circle the earth
more than 100 times if laid end to end.
Recycling aluminium cans saves raw materials and energy and reduces pressure on landfill sites.
The sides of an aluminium can are thinner than a human hair.
Aluminium is one of the most important and versatile metals in use today
Aluminium is the third most abundant element in the earth's crust.
It occurs in various chemical forms in rocks and soils, in vegetation, in water and in the air.
Aluminium has many properties that make it useful:
It is lightweight, but very strong.
It does not rust or corrode.
It can be easily cast and moulded, extruded and rolled.
It can be painted, laminated, engraved and printed on.
It is a good conductor of heat and electricity.
It can be recycled again and again with no loss in quality.
Aluminium and how we use it everyday
Building and construction - greenhouses and skyscrapers, protective cladding and interior décor; window
frames and furniture; wiring and lighting
Mobility - trains, planes and cars; bicycles and scooters; wheelchairs and walking frames.
Healthy living - an ingredient in medicines and toiletries; protective packaging; fire-retardant clothing and
thermal recovery blankets.
Healthy eating - food and drink packaging, including 'aseptic' containers for long-life products.
EEEE - EWWW Rubbishy Rubbish
19. UK households throw away between £250 and £400 of potentially edible food every year.
20. It has been calculated that, before they are toilet trained, the average child goes through 3,796 nappies,
most of which end up buried in landfill sites. There are now Reusable Nappies that look and do just the same
job as the ones that are thrown away!!
Why On Earth are you NOT USING THEM?????
Babies' nappies makes up about 2 % of the average household rubbish. This is equivalent to the weight of
nearly 70,000 double decker buses every year. If lined up front to end, the buses would stretch from London
to Edinburgh.
Persistent packaging
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In 2001 UK households produced the equivalent weight of 245 jumbo jets per week in
packaging waste.
Every year each person produces 4 times as much packaging waste as their luggage allowance on a jumbo
jet.
What happens to it?
21. In 2005/06 at least 6.8 million tonnes of household waste were recycled or composted. This amounts to
27 percent of total household waste. However, it has been estimated that up to 80% of the contents of our
dustbins could be recycled or composted.
22. Other countries recycle a lot more than we do in the UK. For example, Switzerland, the Netherlands and
Germany recycle around 60% of their waste
23. 8.7 million tonnes of household waste was recycled within the UK last year.
Oil Factoids
Oil
1 litre of oil can pollute 1 million litres of fresh drinking water (Scottish Oil Care Campaign).
Do not tip oil into any drains or onto land as this will result in the pollution of rivers and groundwater or cause
land contamination.
Do not burn waste oil on a bonfire as this pollutes the air.
Waste oil from nearly 3 million car oil changes in Britain is not collected. If collected properly, this could meet
the annual energy needs of 1.5 million people. (Scottish Oil Care Campaign)
Oil is a common and highly visible form of pollution where even a small quantity can cause a lot of harm to the
environment.
The Oil Care Campaign was set up by the Environment Agency, in association with SEPA in Scotland and
Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA), to reduce oil pollution by providing guidance on and facilities for
the safe disposal and management of oil.
The Environment Agency, SEPA and NIEA has installed a network of oil banks that accept used engine oil
for recycling. Oil banks do not accept petrol, thinners, solvents, cooking oil, etc, or engine oil that has been
mixed with white spirit, paint or solvents. If you live in the England, Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland, you
can find out where your nearest oil bank is by using this website or by telephoning the Oil Bank Line on 0800
66 33 66 to find your nearest oil recycling bank
Or sending an email to enquiries@environment-agency.gov.uk. You can download some useful guidance
notes on the safe use, storage and disposal of oil from this website.
If you need to dispose of used engine oil from
your car, or if you have oil fired central heating,
remember this simple advice and:
When you drain your engine oil – don’t oil the drain!
Pouring oil down the drain will cause pollution.
It is also an offence.
Take used oil to an oil recycling bank. Telephone
0800 66 33 66 free to find the location of your
nearest oil bank, or contact your local authority
recycling officer.
Don’t mix used oil with other materials, such as paint
or solvents, this makes recycling very difficult.
If you have oil fired heating ensure that your oil tank
and pipes are properly installed and regularly checked
for leaks.
If oil is spilt from your storage tank, stop it from entering
drains by absorbing it with sand or earth. Never hose
it down.
FOLLOW THE OIL CARE CODE
Oil and water don’t mix, please help us to keep them apart. Help to protect your local environment. Oil can
pollute rivers, causing harm to fish, ducks and swans and removing vital oxygen from the water. Every year
we deal with the effects of thousands of oil pollution
Incidents, many of these can be prevented.
Oil Factoids
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OIL & GAS
Why are oil and gas important?
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If as a civilisation we do not Reuse and Recycle our waste what happens
when the oil and gas run out plastic contains oils etc??????
Oil is one of the most important raw materials we have. Everyday we use hundreds of things that are made
from oil or gas.
Oil and gas are also important for the number of jobs they provide. Tens of thousands of people work in the oil
and gas industry. Each week Britain produces about two million tonnes of oil and gas. This is worth about £37
million pounds a day to the people of Britain.
Make a list of things you have used or you have done today that rely on oil or gas.
How many things can you find that don't rely on oil and gas?
How were oil and gas formed?
Gas and crude oil are found underground.
Much of the world is covered by sea. The sea contains many tiny animals and
plants.
These tiny animals and plants called plankton get their energy to live and multiply from sunlight. When they
die they sink to the bottom of the sea. Those that died millions of years ago are the source of today's oil and
gas.
They will run out and we do not have another few millions do we
USA factoids
Size
If you took all the aluminium cans recycled since 1972 -- an estimated 1,099 billion -- and laid them end to
end in a giant can-chain, they'd stretch all the way to the moon and back 174 times.
Numbers
If you chopped down a 15-year-old tree and used it to make paper grocery bags, you'd wind up with about
700. That's roughly the number of bags your local supermarket goes through in an hour.
Misconceptions
A majority of Americans have difficulty identifying materials as recyclable. According to the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA), in the United States, about 75 percent of the garbage dumped in the regular trash
could be recycled.
Paper Production
It takes nearly 500,000 trees to produce the weekly Sunday newspaper.
Chapter
Toilet Humour with a serious side
This chapter came about after a casual comment about toilet paper and a colleague mentioned it shouldn’t be
used as is the case in some other countries.
My immediate reactions was EWWWWWW what a horrible picture that produces and then he emailed a
couple of articles about toilets, one was written by a journalist called Christian Woolmar, in the Guardian and
is once you have gotten over the EWWWWW EWWWW laughter factor very interesting and logical, once you
have finished reading the article you will then further down read some of the comments, which are so hilarious
it has you crying and really does go to show how far we as a society have to go.
I am also one of those people by the way does not understand why anyone would want to buy very expensive
toilet roll just to wipe their Bahookie with and then flush it down the Loo, the cheaper value own brands are
just as good, are recycle friendly, protect the trees, and no I have never known a finger/s to go through the
toilet paper as I am wiping my Bahookie.
There is a popular misconception that it doesn’t matter about buying the expensive loo roll as these
companies plant more trees, well ok yes they do that but actually lets get it correct they are not trees they are
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saplings that will take many many years to grow, in the mean time those big soft fluffy toilet rolls that those
cute puppies run after, that you are so partial to treating your Bahookie too, are being made out of fully grown
trees that would have helped reduce the emissions that we as a human race have created.
Big Soft and Fluffy is Rough on the Trees and forests!
Below I have included the article by the journalist
Christian Woolmar
Let's wipe out toilet paper
Using tissue after you've been to the loo is BAD for the planet. Washing is the greener option – and it's more
hygienic too
Christian Wolmar guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 4 March 2009 14.35
Is it a toilet? Is it an mp3 player? Photograph: Getty
Toilet paper is a serious issue. But the minute one starts talking about it, the giggles start. So let me get my
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position out clearly first. Three years ago I went to India and discovered botty nirvana. While I was suffering
from one of those inevitable bouts of Delhi belly, I was staying in a room with a spray attachment that allowed
me to clean my anus – let's call spades spades here, it is not my bottom – without having to touch it or use
paper.
It saved me from piles and rash, and definitely avoided a lot of pain. The first few times I checked whether I
was clean with toilet paper but soon I realised that was unnecessary. I was spotless every time in both senses
of the word.
So when I got back to Britain, I found that fortunately I had a shower attachment that reached over to the toilet
and I could perform the same task. Result: large amounts of toilet paper saved, and a far cleaner and
refreshed feeling that was far more hygienic. As for the wetness, there is a choice – either dab off with a small
amount of toilet paper or use a towel specially for the purpose. Remember the towel is nothing more than
drying off clean buttocks, pretty much the same as coming out of the shower, but obviously I change it
regularly. Of course in the Indian heat, a bit of dampness did not matter.
Enough of my personal hygiene. Now for the wider points. If everyone in the world used as much toilet paper
as people in the UK, let alone Americans, there would not be a single tree left. It is all very well talking about
the sustainability of different brands, but in truth we should all be using water sprays. They are increasingly
being fitted in India, replacing the rather more difficult jug and left hand technique which requires rather more
contact than most westerners can contemplate.
Of course, on the continent they have bidets whose purpose has always been a mystery for the British – but it
suggests that they have a better understanding of cleaning their private parts than we do. Indeed, you can
never get properly clean by simply wiping, since you are, effectively, pushing the stuff into your skin. Would
anyone dream of cleaning their hands by simply wiping them on tissue paper?
The ideal would be a toilet designed to spray and dry. The brilliant hand air sprays developed by James
Dyson, which dry your hands in 10 seconds, are rapidly taking over in public toilets in hotels and restaurants.
His next task should be to design the environmentally friendly loo with water and air spray built in. I have
heard they exist in Japan already. The only downside might be that men will stay on the loo even longer to
read their papers, enjoying a draught of hot air up their backsides.
Above all, though, we need to talk about this issue. There are serious environmental considerations at issue.
The fact that it is so difficult even to mention this subject is down to our Victorian prudishness. A few years
ago, dog doo-doos were in the same unmentionable category but now owners have to get used to the idea of
picking up the brown stuff, a far more yucky task than using water spray to clean one's anus.
This should be the next area where massive environmental gains can be made with very little downside,
except for Kimberley Clark and those irritating puppies that waste a forest of trees in every Andrex advert.
Fancy Toilet Paper: Really Bad For the Environment
March 5, 2009
"How many trees were cut down to supply all of the toilet rolls in this picture"
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Toilet paper is perhaps one of the least environmentally friendly products on the planet. As bizarre as that
sounds, think about it - it’s a one-time use product that is made using valuable resources which can’t be
reclaimed for use in future products. Even more disturbing is that virgin timber from rare old-growth forests in
Canada are being used to make the ultra-premium varieties of toilet paper. The New York Times reports that
major manufacturers are taking steps to introduce versions with higher levels of recycled content, but these
don’t currently sell as well as the thick, cushy variety.
The Times explains:
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In the United States, which is the largest market worldwide for toilet paper, tissue from 100 percent recycled
fibers makes up less than 2 percent of sales for at-home use among conventional and premium brands. Most
manufacturers use a combination of trees to make their products. According to RISI, an independent market
analysis firm in Bedford, Mass., the pulp from one eucalyptus tree, a commonly used tree, produces as many
as 1,000 rolls of toilet tissue. Americans use an average of 23.6 rolls per capita a year.
Other countries are far less picky about toilet tissue. In many European nations, a rough sheet of paper is
deemed sufficient. Other countries are also more willing to use toilet tissue made in part or exclusively from
recycled paper.
In Europe and Latin America, products with recycled content make up about on average 20 percent of the at-
home market, according to experts at the Kimberly Clark Corporation.
Environmental groups say that the percentage is even higher and that they want to nurture similar acceptance
here. Through public events and guides to the recycled content of tissue brands, they are hoping that
Americans will become as conscious of the environmental effects of their toilet tissue use as they are about
light bulbs or other products.
When these facts are laid out, it seems kind of crazy to make toilet paper out of anything but recycled paper.
But why even use it, when there are far more hi-tech ways to do the same job? NYT: “Mr. Whipple Left It Out:
Soft Is Rough on Forests”
Comments from Members of the Public
Top marks to Mr Wolmar for openness.
Smallwords gets to the point though, as with all potentially green behavior, you have to watch that it doesn't
get hijacked by those without an overview.The flush loo is probably a much bigger offender in energy terms
(water is heavy, and we drink the same stuff that is used to flush with). There should be a prize for the lowest
energy/water least waste public loo design
Those of us with gardens should be getting into creating humanure for starters.
Before going out for a vindaloo I always pop a couple of toilet rolls in the freezer. It makes the next morning
simply bliss!
LordSummerisle: Having said that, I too will never understand why people always choose to buy the most
expensive variety of something they're going to wipe their bum with.
You've clearly never put your finger through Morrison's own-brand.
Enough of my personal hygiene. Much more than enough, with graphic accounts of the joys of a jet of water
beating against your anus, that was three paragraphs that I really wish I'd skipped. Above all, though, we
need to talk about this issue. No, really, we don’t. The fact that it is so difficult even to mention this subject is
down to our Victorian prudishness. Dude it's got nothing to do with prudishness, and everything to do with the
fact that people just don't want to discuss in great detail the mechanics of arse wiping. The British public will
not take kindly to eco-warriors telling them how they can wipe their backsides.
I swear to god, these Greens will not be satisfied until we're all volunteering, gladly, to throw ourselves into a
vat of piranhas, for the good of Gaia. Well I'm not having it. I'm drawing a line at my arse. This ideology will
not wash. I'm opening up a crack of protest here - who's behind me? I suggest a sit-down protest first.
"Ohh and I have to say again I have never understood the reason for buying anything other cheap value
brand loo roll and I certainly have never put my finger through Tesco's own value brand also, why is recycled
loo roll always so much more expensive, it is certainly cheaper to make, than making the stuff from raw
materials like fully grown trees " T McCaffery
As you can see from the above hilarious comments that were made in the guardian after the article came out
as a society we have a very long way to go if we are to change our out dated thoughts and ways.
Whilst I do think that eventually getting rid of Loo rolls is a fab idea, I also acknowledge that it may not happen
for many years or at least until my generations popped their clog’s, so in the mean time why don’t all of you
who still insist on using those Big Soft Fluffy Loo Rolls look at the cost, its around £5 for a six pack and £1.60
for a twelve pack of Tesco’s own value brand (now come on look at that saving that could buy you a bottle of
wine or beer what ever your favourite tipple is), and no you will not put your finger through.
But what you are doing is saving the big trees from being destroyed and the benefits to the planet and
therefore the Human race is incalculable.
Moon Cups
What are they I hear you say??
They are an alternative to the tampon or sanitary towel ok now lets get the EWWWWWW factor out of the
way EWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW, ok that’s out of the way now you can listen
with an open mind I hope as this is important not just for the planet but for your health and that of your
daughters - Aunties - Sisters - Mums and granddaughters health.
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Firstly this is what a Moon Cup looks like
Available online price around £17 and Free postage
Firstly how do they protect your health this is important especially for young girls just starting their periods,
there is no Toxic shock syndrome at all with the Moon Cup.
Not only are we filling the land, we are trying to fill the
Sky and then of course there is
The Forgotten Landfill - SPACE
(What the eye cant see)
Space what the eye cant see
Well with this photo now you can
Space Rubbish - Space Waste — what ever you want to call it, it is creating as big a problem up there where
we can not see it, as the Rubbish or Waste is causing major problems here on Earth, in space there are
many hundreds of spent booster stages, nuts and bolts from ISS construction, various accidental discards
such as gloves cameras and spacesuits, and fragments from exploded spacecraft that could and will turn into
a serious problem for the future of not just spaceflights but for The Earth as we know it, just as we are taking
action to stop our planet from being ruined, so must we take immediate actions to mitigate the threat that is
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happening up there in Space, just because we cant see what is happening does not mean it does not exist, as
you can see from the photo it exists
The European Space Operations Centre has put together some startling images highlighting this issue.
Above is a depiction of the trackable objects in orbit around Earth in low Earth orbit (LEO–the fuzzy cloud
around Earth), geostationary Earth orbit (GEO — farther out, approximately 35,786 km (22,240 miles) above
Earth) and all points in between.
Between the launch of Sputnik on 4 October 1957 and 1 January 2008, approximately 4600 launches have
placed some 6000 satellites into orbit, of which about 400 are travelling beyond geostationary orbit or on
interplanetary trajectories.
Today, it is estimated that only 800 satellites are operational - roughly 45 percent of these are both in LEO
and GEO. Space debris comprise the ever-increasing amount of inactive space hardware in orbit around the
Earth as well as fragments of spacecraft that have broken up, exploded or otherwise become abandoned.
About 50 percent of all trackable objects are due to in-orbit explosion events (about 200) or collision events
(less than 10).
The first picture below is showing a simulation of the GEO environment with measures in place (top shows
with and the bottom part of the picture with out measures in place) in 2005 and the second picture is the same
but in 2112.
The geostationary ring, at an altitude of about 36 000 km. This orbit is heavily used by telecommunication
satellites
I found these pictures on the European Space Agency site where you can also find further information on this
unseen problem.
Some Space Junk Factoids
Millions more swing round in 'geostationary' orbits, more than 20,000 miles up where they remain.
The debris consists of derelict spacecraft and dead satellites, bits of rocket casing, pieces of metal ejected
during collisions and docking procedures, nuts and bolts, dropped tools, frozen lumps of rocket fuel and
human waste material from manned spacecraft.
In 1965, during the first U.S. space walk, the Gemini 4 astronaut Edward White, lost a glove.
For a month, the glove stayed on orbit at a speed of 17,500mph, becoming the most dangerous garment in
history until it burnt up in the atmosphere a few months later.
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The Russian Mir space station generated more than 200 plastic bags of rubbish, simply thrown into space.
And in 1994, when a Pegasus unmanned rocket blew up, it created more than 300,000 fragments more than
an eighth of an inch across.
Amazingly, Nasa and other agencies have catalogued much of this debris, piece by piece. Objects as small
as a tenth of an inch or so can be tracked by the radar of the U.S. Space Surveillance Network.
Space junk is important because it is so deadly. Even tiny flecks of paint are travelling fast enough - tens of
thousands of miles an hour - that should they hit the International Space Station, for example, they could
easily put a dent in the skin or even crack a window.
If the tiniest nut or bolt were to collide with a space-walking astronaut, it would kill him or her instantly.
We put our first piece of Rubbish in to space just 51 years ago and it was called Sputnik one.
Whenever a space shuttle is in orbit, the Surveillance Network regularly examines the trajectories of known
orbital debris to identify possible close encounters.
If another object is projected to come within a few miles of the space shuttle, it will normally manoeuvre away
from the object if the chance of a collision exceeds one in 10,000.
This occurs infrequently, about once every year or two.
Perhaps surprisingly, harmful collisions between space junk and operating spacecraft have been rare.
Modern spacecraft are equipped with shields which can deflect objects measuring up to half an inch or so
across.
Fortunately space is very, very big and the spaces between all these bits of junk remain large, and the
probability of a hit very small.
But sadly it is only a matter of time before an accident occurs. Either here on Earth or in Space.
China this year intentionally destroyed a weather satellite in January and since this happened there has been
a recorded 900 fragments or bits of Rubbish from the destroyed weather station , this has caused a lot of talk
about junk in space. From an article by William J. Broad in the International Herald Tribune:
For decades, space experts have worried that a speeding bit of orbital debris might one day smash a large
spacecraft into hundreds of pieces and start a chain reaction, a slow cascade of collisions that would expand
for centuries, spreading chaos through the heavens…
Early this year, after a half-century of growth, the federal list of detectable objects (four inches wide or larger)
reached 10,000, including dead satellites, spent rocket stages, a camera, a hand tool and junkyards of
whirling debris left over from chance explosions and destructive tests…
A solution to the cascade threat exists but is costly. In his Science paper and in recent interviews, Nicholas
Johnson of NASA argued that the only sure answer was environmental remediation, including the removal of
existing large objects from orbit…
Robots might install rocket engines to send dead spacecraft careering back into the atmosphere, or ground-
based lasers might be used to zap debris…
If nothing is done, a kind of orbital crisis might ensue that is known as the Kessler Syndrome…(which) holds
that the space around Earth becomes so riddled with junk that launchings are almost impossible. Vehicles
that entered space would quickly be destroyed.
Wikipedia also weighs in on Space Rubbish and the very little talked about Landfill
Proposals have been made for ways to “sweep” space debris back into Earth’s atmosphere, including
automated tugs, laser brooms to vaporize or nudge particles into rapidly-decaying orbits, or huge aerogel
blobs to absorb impacting junk and eventually fall out of orbit with them trapped inside…Other ideas include
the gathering of larger objects into an orbital “junk yard”, where they could be used as resources should future
needs arise, while keeping them out of the way.
Forget robots, laser brooms, and aerogel blobs - forget all that. What the world needs is a capable hauler to
go into orbit and collect all that space junk. If you’re listening, NASA, I just want you to know that I will
volunteer my services for this important job, at no cost to the American taxpayer.
United Nations System-Wide EARTHWATCH > Solid Wastes > Space junk
NASA Orbital Debris Program
Lost Bolts Just Add to Vast Amount of Orb
As you can see we create an awful lot of rubbish and all burning does is change the matter into another form
ie chemicals that pollute and fill the air instead of filling the land.
We have as a company researched over many months a complete solution that has been sent to you in
another email and as a hard copy.
I trust this will be logged onto the system asap.
Sincerely
Tina McCaffery
MD
The 3 R's (Be'ave Yourself Reduce Reuse Recycle)
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