The latest survey undertaken by The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) has shown that homes in the West Midlands attract a wide range of British wildlife, ranging from frogs to herrings to foxes.

These animals are making homes around the West Midlands their new habitat due to the installment of ponds and feeding areas in our back gardens. Of the 1,443 people quizzed in the recent poll: 40% said their gardens were regularly visited by toads, a third were visited by foxes along with a fifth by hedgehogs.

Louise Pederson of RSPB’s Birmingham office spoke to the Birmingham Post on how our metropolitan county is attracting wildlife more commonly associated with the countryside due to resident’s special efforts in the garden.

”Many people are seeing foxes, hedgehogs and badgers on a regular basis. As more and more people realise the importance of feeding and gardening for wildlife they are delighted by the variety of species visiting their garden”.

Along with looking at the more uncommon visitors that have been gracing our gardens, the survey also revealed that our gardens are home to an average of ten different species of bird, the most regular being the blackbird and the woodpidgeon.

Below is a list of activites taken from the RSPD website, giving you tips on how to attract this diverse range of wildlife into your very own garden this season:

The top ten activities:
-Provide seed mixes, particularly sunflower hearts and millet-seeds for house sparrows and starlings
-Provide plants/shrubs of different sizes, shapes and ages
-Grow a range of plants
-Provide flowering plants as a source of nectar for butterflies and moths
-Grow plants attractive to insects in tubs and planters
-Retain dead flower stems and heads over winter
-Maintain any beds with a good layer of ground cover, shrubs and herbaceous plants for song thrushes and blackbirds
-Provide a nestbox or build your own for small birds
-Provide dense, thorny bushes for cover for song thrushes and blackbirds
-Prune trees, shrubs and climbers during January or early February

Students at Aston University have become involved with a project hoping to develop low carbon emitting transport for the UK.

This project is the biggest of it’s kind to date and will see a sample of over 100 vehicles being tested across our city using alternative energy sources such as battery and water powered motors along with hybrids.

These Aston students will be collecting and analysing data gained from the road testing of these vehicles in their effort to help assist these large scale project.

Brian Price, Engineering Systems & Management lecturer at Aston commented to the Birmingham Post on the University’s involvement with the green car scheme,

”There is a still a lot of work to be done with petrol and diesel engines but the time is right to go back and think about how cars could reduce their emissions and hydrogen and hybrid cars are a great way to do that. Aston University is playing a part in looking at how these vehicles will be used and the routes, timings and efficiency of them”.

 

The paper published on July 29th by the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition questions the benefits organic foods have on consumer’s health.

Dr Alan Dangour, the driving force and principal author behind the paper said,

“Our review indicates that there is currently no evidence to support the selection of organically-produced foods over conventionally-produced foods on the basis of nutritional superiority.”

Organic foods have become increasingly popular in the past few years, majorly due to TV programmes such as Jamie Oliver’s crusade against traditional school dinners for example. These programmes mirror and shape our current health obsessed society.

Whilst we may be aware of our weight, the weight of our wallets is a much larger concern in today’s financial climate. Many businesses specialising in organic food believe consumers will be put off and mislead by studies such as this and opt for cheaper, manufactured foods opposed to their pricier organic brands due to the recession.

Simon Dunmore, Edgebaston grocer, claims to have lost up to 50% of sales in organic foods due to the credit crunch. Simon mirrored the anger felt by organic businesses across the whole country when he spoke to The Birmingham Post,

“Something like this report is not good on top of that,” he said. “It could destroy the industry. The claims are absolute rubbish. I can’t believe they’ve said it”.

Launching the ‘Purple Goes Green’ initative back in 2007, Cadbury are looking ahead to the future and have set out a series of goals and targets they hope to achieve by 2020.

In the ‘Purple Goes Green’ initative, Cadbury have set out the following targets:

Energy:
A 50% reduction in our ‘absolute’ carbon emissions.

- We will aim for 30% minimum of this reduction from Saving and Switching company emissions

- We have committed to offsetting the balance to achieve a net 50% absolute reduction

Packaging:
A 10% reduction in packaging and a more stretching target of 25% for seasonal and gift ranges. We will also aim for 60% biodegradable packaging.

Water:

All ‘water scarce’ sites will have water reduction programmes in place.

To view the complete ‘Purple Goes Green’ initative visit: http://www.cadbury.com/SiteCollectionDocuments/Purple%20Goes%20Green%20-%20Our%20Vision_Final.pdf

Not content with simply watching their carbon and environmental footprint, the Birmingham based Cadbury take an active role in caring for and helping the community.

July saw the completion of an 18 month project in which Cadbury worked alongside the Birmingham and Black Country Wildlife Trust in raising money for and creating a wildlife park at St Anne’s Hospice for patients and staff to enjoy.

Amy Jolly of Cadbury Land ,who played a major role in spear heading the two year operation commented on the completion of the wildlife park for St Anne’s,

” There is a great sense of achievement amongst the team now that we can see the result of our hard work. Working with the Wildlife Trust has been fantastic and they have helped us all understand how to help our local environment”.

This UK event see’s the biggest players and companies in the waste and recycling field take over the Birmingham arena. Along with hundreds of stalls demonstrating areas of the industry such as products, brands and management technique, there is a large number of Key Note Speakers attending the event to give special talks regarding their field.

The Recycling & Waste Management Exhibition has continued to develop and grow with each year, 2009 being no exception. New to the exhibition this year are such features as live recycling , allowing visitors to see the actual recycling process take place before their very eyes. Also new to the exhibiton this year are the outdoor exhibitors, showcasing the machinery and vehicles behind the recycling and waste management process.

Peter Jones of London’s Waste and Recycling Board commented on this year’s exhibition,

What’s hit me this year is the sheer scale both in terms of the area and the diversity of the representation. We are seeing a lot of companies that are linked in with the conventional engineering sector and it’s great now that waste and materials management is becoming mainstream

If you are interested in attending this year’s Waste & Recycling Exhibition or seek the wealth of further information availible, then visit the offical website at: http://www.rwmexhibition.com/page.cfm/Link=1/t=m/goSection=1

This new campaign headed by Advantage West Midlands (www.advantagewm.co.uk) will see Birmingham at the forefront of recycling in national workplace recycling throughout the UK.

Businesses and workplaces throughout the city will be encouraged to recycle used drink cans in the new ‘Every Can Counts’ campaign through posters and screensavers along with special collection bins introduced into the workplace.

Tim Baldwin of Advantage West Midlands commented on the new scheme to The Birmingham Mail,

” We want Birmingham to lead the way in workplace recycling. Businesses can cut their waste management costs and their CO2 emissions by encouraging staff to recycle drinks cans. ” 

The new scheme, which is partially funded by major drink can manufacturers, hopes to do it’s part in saving natural resources and energy through recycling of drink cans in the workplace.

The new label hopes to put an end to the confusion regarding the countless other different labels used previously  across the UK.

The label consists of three sections, stating the product’s likelihood of being recycled by local authorities.

These three sections consist of:

Widely recycled: This means 65% or more of local authorities collect that packaging type in their area.

Check local recycling: this means 15% to 65% of local authorities collect that packaging type in their area.

Not currently recycled: this means less than 15% of local authorities collect that packaging type in their area

The product will have the appropriate section highlighted in green letting consumers know whether it’s packaging is suitable for recycling.

Director general at the BRC Stephen Robertson stated,

“Customer confusion is the biggest barrier to improving recycling rates. Replacing a potentially confusing array of symbols and messages with a single, standardised logo will help customers recycle more of what can be recycled.”

The LGA report stated that over 40%  of packaging found in a typical shopping basket cannot be recycled.

It was found that Waitrose had the most excessive packaging and LIDL had the highest percentage of materials in it’s packaging which could not be easily recycled.

Praises however must go to Tesco which has the least excessive packaging and Sainsburys for it’s highest ranking of materials which could be recycled.

Margaret Eaton, chairman of the LGA, stated

“If we had less unnecessary packaging it would cut costs and lead to lower prices at the tills. When packaging is sent to landfill, it’s expensive for taxpayers and damaging for the environment. Supermarkets need to up their game so it’s easier for people to do their bit to help the environment.”

With the LGA raising awareness of problems in waste and recycling along with Asda scrapping the traditional free plastic bags, what can YOU do to help the enviroment ?

Recycle Today demonstrate 4 easy to follow tips that can help you do your part in helping save the enviroment within everday life:

1) Recycle on your doorstep

‘ Nine out of ten of us have kerbside collection schemes, so if you don’t already have a recycling box or bag provided by your local council, it’s worth you calling them up and checking that you haven’t been missed out! ‘

Top Tip: Keep your recycling bin next to the main bin so you can take out the rubbish and recycling at the same time

2) Find out what you can recycle

‘ Different councils collect different materials although most collect cans, glass and paper. ‘

Top Tip: Make recycling part of your weekly supermarket trip and “drop when you shop” at supermarket recycling centres

3)  Sort your rubbish

‘ Now that you know what items you can recycle, find a handy place to store them. Make sure you encourage everyone in your house to think whether items can be reused or recycled before they’re thrown away.’

Top Tip: Some things need to be washed before you put them out for recycling – use your old washing up water to give them a quick rinse

4) Check the date and put out your recycling

‘ Find out from your council what day your recycling will be collected. In some areas recyling is collected every week and in others it’s collected fortnightly.’

Top Tip: Mark the date on the calendar or request a recycling calendar from your council

The supposed ‘blitz’ which took place earlier this year saw 68 on the spot £60 fines dished out to members of the public by environmental wardens, unsurprisingly over half refused to pay according to Byrne.

At one point the supposed blitz also saw just 3 fines issued in one week, it was later found for each individual fine issued, it cost the campaign a ridiculous £300.

Byrne criticised the scheme in saying

” City politicians can’t blame people dropping rubbish and then fail to use the law to fine them. Handing out three penalties a week in one of the messiest parts of Birmingham tells me the council is just not taking this problem seriously”.

MP Liam Byrne is also behind the ‘Rubbish TV’ channel on youtube, raising awareness of dirty and unclean streets in his constituency. A video detailing Byrne’s criticisms of the scheme can be found at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kriGBN9cDec

A spokeswoman for Birmingham City council has stated that Byrne was ‘incorrect to suggest that almost half the people handed fixed penalty tickets had not paid the fines’. She also added that the council had taken legal action to gain the money required when 31 members of the public had refused to pay fixed fines.

Original source: http://www.birminghampost.net/news/gogreen/2008/11/12/birmingham-cleaner-streets-blitz-is-branded-waste-of-money-65233-22237972/

These recycled nappies will be turned into material that can be re-used in countless plastic based products such as cycle helmets and home insulation. This means that in a few years time the pen lid you’re chewing on could be made from recycled used nappies!

Local councillor Ian Ward commented to the Birmingham Post,

” It is remarkable that such waste can be turned into plastic cladding and roof tiles. This is so much better than putting it into the ground”.

The nappy recycling plant will cost £12 million and will be able to recycle up to 36,000 tonnes of nappy products per year. According to a report in  Builder and Engineer, work should have already started on the project with the aim of the plant being up and operational by early 2010.

Original blog link: http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/Resources/Daily-news/Renewable-energy2/Groundbreaking-nappy-recycling-plant-gets-go-ahead