Canadian Tar Sands and forests are being dug up in the search for oil, and its not very ‘green’.

As well as containing tar, sand and other residue that require a massive amount of processing; the massive amount of deforestation that is taking place is creating a huge carbon footprint.

But before you think this is just an American issue, Greenpeace  announced three weeks ago, that this Dirty Oil is now being used in British, and Brummies, cars.

Phil Burrows from Birmingham Friends of the Earth is concerned about this of this second low-blow to the oil market:

“Not only is it having a massive negative impact on the environment, the natives that live on these Tar Sands are being forced out of their homes by this deforestation.”

Phil, a member of The Birmingham Co-Operative Film Society, thinks the best way to get people to see just what is happening over in Canada, is to show them.

On Thursday June 10th, at The Co-Op’s Member Centre by BCU’s Conservatoire campus, the film Dirty Oil is being played.

“This is the only place in Birmingham to see the film and I urge everyone to go and see it. Something needs to be done about this oil and people need to know what they are putting in their cars.”

Birmingham Friends of the Earth want to see a switch back to conventional and renewable sources of oil, despite these tar sands being the second biggest reserve of oil.

So, apart from seeing the film, what else can you do to combat this Dirty Oil?

Phil suggests writing to MP’s and MEP’s, using your vote to say no to tar sands and joining ethical pension schemes.

Dirty Oil is being shown on Thursday 10th June at 7pm.

[polldaddy poll="3296264"]

97% of residents in the suburb near Bournville, south Birmingham, are now recycling their paper, cardboard, plastic and garden waste.

This figure comes from a local council newsletter delivered to residents back in April of this year.

The newsletter claimed:

“Paper, cardboard, glass, tins, plastic bottle and green waste are now collected from 97% of properties in Stirchley and Hazelwell.”

People living in this area have massive access to recycling facilities, shown by the map below. BirminghamRecycled spoke to Stirchely man David Reynolds, of Pineapple Road, to see how this affects the residents:

“I have been recycling my paper and glass waste for years further up the road, but since the recycling boxes have been provided it is much easier.  I like to do my bit and give something back. I’m proud to say I live in Stirchley with recycling rates that high!”

But the good news doesn’t transcend across all of the city, with Birmingham on a whole only recycling 33% of its rubbish.

When asked how the city could improve their recycling rates, and what other areas should do to keep up with Stirchley; councillor for the Bournville ward, Nigel Dawkins, said:

“Over the last 5 years we have rolled out the largest multi waste recycling collection system in Europe. I am sure that other areas in Birmingham are also approaching these kinds of figures as we continuously improve the service to residents.”

So for now at least, keep your eyes peeled for a recycling bin and help keep Birmingham green!

View Recyling in South Birmingham in a larger map

McCabe, who stood as MP for Hall Green from 1997 until 2010, won 17,950 votes (38.5%) in the area, a loss of 7.6% on the last general election. The Conservative candidate Nigel Dawkins, managed to get 14,468 votes, a share of 31.1%. Dave Radcliffe of the Liberal Democrats won 10,371 votes (22.3%) and were down 0.7% on the last election.

As for the minor parties, BNP candidate Lynette Orton won just 3.9% (1,820 votes) on the parties first term in Selly Oak. Jeffrey Burgess of UKIP won 1,131 votes (2.4%, up 0.1%), and Christian Party candidate Samual Leeds won just 159 votes (0.3%) in his first term in the constituency.

It was bad news for the Green party and James Burn who came sixth out of seven candidates with just 1.4% of the votes (664), a decrease of 2.4%.

Steve McCabe has big plans for Birmingham:

“We’ll take projects like the hydrogen fuel cell, at the University of Birmingham, from the lab to the factory and create thousands of new jobs in green energy businesses. We’ll unleash the talents in digital media, film and arts and build the medical technology businesses of the future – so that the city of a thousand trades is once more a centre of creativity and manufacturing.”

However, McCabe’s win is somewhat tarnished.

He recently found himself caught up in the MP’s expenses scandal after allegedly claiming £5,000 for a new bathroom – something which he has strongly denied but still rings true in many Selly Oak voters minds.

McCabe has thus far declined BirminghamRecycled’s offer of an interview.

Blogger and lecturer Dave Harte posted the shocking plans on Twitter on Thursday (11/03/2010)

The plans, taken from Dave’s Skitch, see the high-speed train line making a beeline for the University’s new campus development.

Dave tweeted:

‘Does the new high speed rail terminus plough right through the new Birmingham City University campus?’

He also added:

‘Ref my earlier tweet about new high speed station in Eastside. Yep, goes thru new BCU campus. Not sure anyone here was made aware b4 today’

With HS2 on a collision course with the university, this revelation is sure to upset both the lecturers and students and throw the proverbial ’spanner in the works’ to their own new developments.

BCU lecturer Jon Hickman says of the plans:

‘They’re pretty concrete. Who knows what happens next.‘

It has been reported that construction for the high-speed link, daubed HS2, will begin in 2017 and cost anything up to a cool £30billion.

In terms of the effects on Birmingham, the new information unveils plans to re-open the old Curzon Street railway station in the City Centre, and create a link between Birmingham New Street and Birmingham Snow Hill stations.

BBC News also reported that the HS2 lines would create some 10,000 jobs within the Midlands.

The BBC also reported that ticket prices for the 45minute journey to London from Birmingham would be 20% more than what commuters pay now – which can be anything up to £100.

While these factors all have a positive effect on the Midlands, it is easy to forget the ‘green’ implications of the route and the construction.

Birmingham Friends of the Earth have already expressed concern over the plans for HS2 and its potential environmental impact, but the question remains what Network Rail are proposing to do to ensure the construction is as ‘green’ and ‘eco-friendly’ as possible.

Network Rail declined the offer of an interview and simply said:

‘Network Rail is not proposing any particular route for the line, and so we have not taken any ‘green ‘ issues into consideration. This will be the responsibility of HS2.’

This railway is already being hailed by the national newspapers as a ‘victory’ that could ‘bridge the North/South divide’ but it has been criticised by Birmingham Friends of the Earth, who said that the claims of it reducing CO2 emissions are ‘extremely optimistic at best’.

The proposed £34 billion high-speed rail link, or HS2 as it is referred to, is set to slash journey times by more than half in the 2020s and is a welcome move by Network Rail for some commuters.

The plans are part of New Street Stations regeneration programme and they plot the train travelling between Scotland and London via Birmingham and Manchester.

There has even been some talk of the HS2 line extending to Paris, drastically cutting the current crossing time on the EuroStar.

Environmental issues

Despite that the HS2 line is still almost ten years away from becoming a fixture on the West Midlands countryside, it is still overshadowed by doubt.

Birmingham Friends of the Earth said:

“The most serious damage to the environment will be caused if we take the wrong decisions in the next five years during which time we need to ensure that CO2 emissions start falling globally.

It is also important to protect biodiversity and habitats in this country, so it is essential that the route for any new rail services is considered very carefully.”

The group are still to be convinced over the apparent benefits of such a scheme:

“…We are not sure that these up. 1/2 an hour off journey times to London does not seem a good enough benefit, so there would have to be proven benefits including a package of measures around it for us to be convinced.”

Positive side

Many commuters, regardless of the potential environmental issues, would welcome the HS2 lines:

Senior Lecturer at Birmingham City University, Paul Bradshaw, says:

“Yes I would (use high-speed trains). Off peak times are getting shorter so you only have a 1-2 hour window for meetings”

Student Jessica Dutton adds:

“I travel to London for work placements and sometimes use the London Midland service because it’s cheaper, however it takes a lot longer. I would definitely use a high speed train service as I am not fond of travelling.”

But what about the one thing we are all glued to: our mobile phones?

While everyone will tell you they want to reduce their ‘carbon footprint’, it seems like just greenwash as they are less than willing to put one of the biggest contributors to once side and just write a nice letter.

But fear not! For those of you with an iPhone, Apple have launched a range of ‘green apps’ sure to get you bitten by the ‘eco’ bug without having to brake the bank – the most expensive ‘app’ costs only £5.99  so there is really no excuse to not snap them up.

The Top 10 ‘apps’

The Top 10 ‘green apps’, as complied by The Guardian, features GoodGuide (free); your shopping guardian angel with a database of over 50,000 products, it allows users to scan the products and tells you its “environmental and social credentials”.

The rather handy greenMeter (£3.49); uses the phone’s ‘accelerometer’ to see just how efficient you really are at driving.

Does anyone remember the Top Gear episode where they went on an ‘eco-drive’? Well this is the sort of thing this ‘app’ encourages.

So no more being ‘trigger happy’ with the old accelerator, although, what this app doesn’t tell you is that its far cheaper (and lets face it, easier) to just empty your boot and check your type pressures.

And for all you ‘twitchers’ out there; how about downloading Chirp! Bird Songs of Britain and Europe (1.79), to test out your knowledge of bird songs on its ‘Name That Tune’ style game

User Reviews

So that’s three of the ‘apps’ in brief but how good are they? Birmingham Recycled asked a few iPhone users in the West Midlands to test them to find out.

Sarah Ford, 20, from Kings Heath, Birmingham says:

“I found GoodGuide very useful.

As a synchronised swimmer I need to eat healthily and this app looks at nutritional information on food.

While it was useful I don’t think I would keep up using it, mostly due to lack of time.”

She also tested the Pollution and Sceptical Science ‘apps’, adding:

“I found both of these ‘apps’ not so good because they were rather complex, crammed with lots of scientific knowledge and not very user friendly.”

So while The Guardian, and Apple, rate all these ‘apps’ it seems that while the intentions are there; there is still a long way to go before checking GoodGuide before you buy your shopping becomes second nature.