September 2004 Newsletter
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The following articles are reproduced from the September 2004 newsletter, and so any information within this page is correct only as of September 2004. For the latest up-to-date information, please visit the relevant campaign pages using the menu on the left, or by clicking on the image alongside the title of each article. |
New Work on Waste
Manchester Friends of the Earth has set up a new waste campaign with the aim of increasing household and commercial recycling rates, particularly in the Manchester area. Recycling right across the North-West region is very poor compared with the rest of the UK and within the North-West, Manchester is the third worst performing council.
The Household Waste Recycling Act states that all councils must offer doorstep collections of a minimum of two recyclable materials to all households by 2010. Many councils are already performing above this standard, however we want to encourage Manchester City Council to achieve more than these minimum targets, much earlier than 2010. If you would lke to get involved please contact Colette (see below).
Have you got the bottle?
| On Saturday June 5th we held a waste day of action in St Ann's Square in Manchester city centre. The aim of the day was to gain public support for our campaign to improve the doorstep recycling service in the Greater Manchester area. We had composed a survey and letter of petition addressed to the city council, which reported people's real experience with recycling and requested specific improvements in the service currently available. |
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We then asked members of the public to sign the letters and stick them onto recyclable containers for presentation to the Council. Analysis is currently being conducted on the information received and feedback will be provided to the City Council Recycling Team.
Following recent improvements some people were reasonably happy with the service offered, but all were interested in further improvement, particularly the ability to recycle plastic bottles in addition to paper, can and glass recycling. Many people living in flats complained that they don't have recycling facilities but would use them if they did. We gained good public support on the day and will continue with the campaign to improve the doorstep recycling service in Manchester.
Has the council?
Over the last 12 months Manchester City Council has introduced the "Kerbit" doorstep recycling scheme. 55,000 households in North and Central Manchester and 40,000 households in East Manchester are now reported to have a fortnightly doorstep collection of paper, glass, cans and textiles. If you live in one of these areas you should have received a black box for glass and cans and a bag for paper. All textiles should be placed in a separate bag to keep them dry. 60,000 households in South Manchester are now reported have a 4-weekly doorstep collection of paper, glass and cans. If you live in this area you should have received a blue wheelie bin for paper, a brown wheelie bin for glass and a sack for cans. Should you have any queries regarding the service, Manchester City Council recycling Team can be contacted on 0161 954 9000. Call them for details of Recycling banks nearest to you or visit the waste page of our Manchester Friends of the Earth website.
Colette
Waste campaign co-ordinator: Colette Humphrey (colette@manchesterfoe.org.uk)
Is It Really Quicker To Fly?
Most scientists now agree that the more greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide (CO2) we put in the air, the closer we bring catastrophic climate change. Planes are a major contributor to CO2 emissions and because planes fly high in the atmosphere the CO2 has greater effect. Many people will have travelled abroad over the summer. This year travel agencies claim that the bad weather led to a boom in flights abroad. Isn't it a vicious circle? Trying to escape rainy summers, that are thought likely to be a feature of climate change, and by doing that making it worse?
Not all planes are to overseas destinations. Every week 489 planes take off from Manchester Airport to fly to other UK airports! More than half of these flights are going to London. Do these flights, i.e. domestic flights, make sense, especially in such large numbers? Probably not, as our comparison of plane and train shows*:
Flying
| Manchester Piccadilly to Manchester Airport |
£2.45
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20 mins
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| Check-in time |
30 mins
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| Fly to London City Airport |
£50.20
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60 mins
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| Shuttle bus to Liverpool Street |
£6.00
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30 mins
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| Total |
£58.65
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2 h 20 mins
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Train
| Virgin Trains direct service from Manchester Piccadilly to London Euston |
£53.00
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2 h 27 mins
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| Total |
£53.00
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2 h 27 mins
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* Journey day: Monday 27/09/04, departing 8.45am by train and 9.30am by plane. Times and fares @ 31/08/04.
High-speed trains account for 6 to 8 times less CO2 per passenger than domestic air journeys according to the Commission for Integrated Transport (CfIT). Hence, reducing the number of unnecessary domestic flights, e.g. by 50%, could reduce CO2 emissions significantly.
Kerstin
Aviation campaign co-ordinator: Kerstin Moritz (kerstin@manchesterfoe.org.uk)
Joined Up Thinking?
On the morning of 6th of July this year, Tony Blair warned the House of Commons Liaison Committee that "Climate Change is the biggest problem facing the world." Astonishingly on the afternoon of the same day, Secretary of State for Transport Alistair Darling announced a scheme to spend approximately £2000 million on a 52 mile "toll motorway" to run alongside the M6. Then, only two weeks later, he withdrew £520 million of funding that was promised for Manchester's Metrolink extension.
Government transport policy should be making things better for the UK, but despite fine words, at the moment the Secretary of State for Transport is simply making things worse.
If we are to combat Climate Change, we as individuals and the communities we live in need to have a genuine choice between dependence on cars and having an efficient public transport system provided by rail, by bus and by Metro. Equally, business needs a genuine economic choice between moving goods and raw materials by road and plane and having a cost effective and efficient rail and maritime infrastructure to choose from.
The changes required are so large that this cannot be delivered without the support of central government policy, but currently Alistair Darling's policies are literally driving us in the wrong direction.
Dave
Transport campaign co-ordinator: Graeme Sherriff (graeme@manchesterfoe.org.uk)
Can You Guess What It Is Yet?
As part of the People's History Museum 'From Butties to Bhajis' exhibition, we ran an event to promote our Real Food Guide and to raise awareness about the connections between food and the environment.
Our competitions went down well, with people struggling to guess the origin of various fruits and vegetables. The chocolate contest was popular for some reason. Maybe because of the free chocolate. Winners Sarah and Jadie demonstated skill in being able to recognise the fair trade credentials of ten different types of chocolates - without seeing the wrapper!
The online Real Food Guide was close at hand, and visitors made use of it to locate real food shops near them.
Graeme
Real food campaign co-ordinator:
Kirsty Ogle (kirsty@manchesterfoe.org.uk)
Obituary
We were saddened to learn recently of the passing of Rob Allen. Rob was a very active member of the group particularly during the campaign against the building of the second runway at Manchester Airport and had remained a member for many years. He was also active with other local groups, including Manchester Wildlife. We extend our deepest sympathies to all of Rob's family and friends.
The Big Switch
As you are no doubt aware, climate change is one of the gravest threats facing our planet at the start of the 21st century. It may seem unlikely that anything can be done at a personal level to influence such a global problem. However, you can make a difference simply by cutting down on the amount of carbon dioxide that you are responsible for producing.
One of the easiest and cheapest ways to do this is to switch to a green electricity supplier. These suppliers guarantee that all the electricity you take out of the national grid will be replaced by energy from renewable sources such as wind, wave and hydroelectric power. And unlike coal and gas-burning power stations, no carbon dioxide is released when renewable energy is produced, which means you will no longer be contributing towards climate change when you switch on the TV or make a cup of tea.
Research by Friends of the Earth has identified the four electricity suppliers that are the most environmentally sound: Ecotricity, Good Energy, Green Energy and RSPB Energy. Switching is simple: just tell your chosen supplier that you want to switch, fill in an application form, and in around six weeks the transfer will be complete. And as well as doing your bit to combat climate change, you could also end up saving some money - one of our recommended tariffs works out cheaper than Powergen, one of the biggest electricity suppliers in the country!
To find out more about green electricity and how to switch, please visit our website at www.manchesterfoe.org.uk/climate/ thebigswitch.htm.
Ali
Climate campaign co-ordinator:
Dave Coleman (dave@manchesterfoe.org.uk)
Being Green in Berlin
This year I was lucky enough to spend four months in Berlin as part of research I am doing. I spend some time campaigning with B.U.N.D (the equivalent of FoE and part of FoE international) and, ahem, another international environmental organisation. Both were big, well organised concerns with frequent meetings and big offices (relative to Manchester FoE's cubby hole) but then Berlin is the capital city. I made presentations about what Manchester FoE are doing and they seemed impressed. Berlin B.U.N.D are interested in working more closely together - exchange visits, maybe?!
I was impressed by how many people turned out to events, particularly the 'Sternfahrt' (star journey), when 125,000 cyclists descended on the centre from various starting points in Berlin just in time for a massive environment festival. Part of the motorway was closed off for the cyclists.
I cycled a lot and found it a much more pleasant experience than in Manchester. Almost everywhere there is a network cycle paths - but there are also roads where it feels dangerous. Roads are huge but there are more bikes on the roads and this made me feel safer. On the whole pedestrians respect the cycle paths. There feels like there is more of a cycling culture. That said, there is very heavy car traffic in Berlin and the Germans clearly like their cars.
The other striking thing is the attitude to waste. There is virtually zero litter on the streets and there are lots of segregated bins for recycling. A lot of bottled drinks have a disposit and you can bring it back and get ten cents or so back, therefore encouraging reuse.
My lawyers asked me to point out that it is hard to make a conclusive comparison within 4 months, so I won't.
Graeme
Wind Farms in the North West
Around the North-West planning enquiries into the development of renewable electricity generation from wind farms continue. The closest to us in Manchester are those proposed at Scout Moor near Rochdale and Denshaw near Saddleworth, the latter becoming the focus of some attention early in the summer as the location for a rally of wind-farm objectors from various parts of the UK.
The "anti wind farm" lobby is both noisy and well funded,, enjoying close links with both the Countryside Alliance and the nuclear power industry. It is important to remember, however, that it remains very much a marginal group. Whenever independent public polls (such as the two MORI polls in Rochdale) are held, they report the majority of the public continuing to strongly support wind power, particularly when they consider the alternative: resurrection of the morbid nuclear industry and new nuclear power stations and waste facilities.
Unopposed, the rhetoric and myths put forward by the "Anti" lobby begin to sound credible and can and do influence enquiries. Making your voice heard is critical if we are to continue to win not just the arguments but the planning applications.
Dave
Your Letters
I was most disappointed to receive last year a laminated membership card. Is this not an example of the very unnecessary waste of materials FOE campaign against? I send my modest donation in support of such campaigns. I expect FOE to set an example. I try to set an example to others and hope that other supporters would see the same contradiction in this matter. I return the card for reuse/recycling as you probably would urge in other cases. Good luck in your work but remember each little act contributes to the overall aim of a better, less wasteful world.
G. P. Scholefield
MFoE Responds: We are very grateful that Mr Scholefield has told us about his concerns. When we decided to introduce the membership card, some of the group felt that if not laminated, the cards would soon become tatty and not accepted by the participating shops. However we appreciate Mr Scholefield's point. We need to set an example. We will issue membership cards unlaminated for the moment, and would like to here the views of the members.
Kerstin
News on the Net
Readers may be interested in the "Networking Newsletter" which provides comprehensive coverage of local issues, concerned with the environment and also with human rights, animal rights, peace and other areas of social justice. The newsletter provides events listings for various groups including Manchester FoE, Greater Manchester & District Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and Red Pepper. But it's more than campaign dates. Each issue also has the latest news and views, and a list of useful resources.
The newsletter is printed each month, available from local libraries, the Friends Meeting House where MFoE meets, and selected health food shops, among other places. There is also a substantial web site at www.networkingnewsletter.org.uk - well worth making your browser's homepage!
Michael (michael@networkingnewsletter.org.uk)
Take Action!
If you have...
...5 minutes
Switch your electricity supplier to a renewables supplier.
...15 minutes
Survey the light bulbs in your house and replace as many as possible with low energy light bulbs. Each light bulb will last approximately 10 years and save you £20 worth of electricity bills over its life.
...1 hour
Contact the South Manchester Energy Efficiency Centre for a free Home Energy Check. They will send you a questionnaire for you to fill in, for which you will receive a customised home energy report, suggesting ways you can save energy and money in your household. Their telephone number is 0800 512012.