Wasteful ways

I could be more frugal. I could waste less. That being said, I found this absolutely appalling.

So I am there yesterday stocking up on dog food and I noticed a mini-van, parked, engine running, in the parking space adjacent to mine. an hour or so later, when I was wheeling out my cart, I noticed the van was still there, still running, and I could hear the compressor cycling on and off. I could only conclude that she [the vehicle owner] was ensuring that her vehicle would be a brisk 60 degrees upon her return. At that moment, I saw America’s impending demise.

I can't say that I quite predict the demise of the good ol' US of A from leaving a vehicle running, but it does smack of the downfall of profligate Rome. And it is downright annoying and needless and wasteful.

I'm not a big proponent of man-made global warming theory, but you don't need to believe in global warming to see that there are negative externalities from this kind of behavior. The choking emissions, the waste of a non-renewable resource.

I don't want to sound like a sanctimonious European, but every time I go to America I'm shocked by how waste has become the norm.


HT: Music City Bloggers where the comments went a little crazy.

It's a rat trap baby

England's landfills are full to the brim. And they're expensive, too. Central Government has placed high taxes on landfill usage to encourage recycling. Recycling has increased by a lot (mostly by making it more convenient for people) - but a lot of "recyclables" end up taking a very long cruise to third world countries - where they're picked through by the desperately poor for anything useful. I guess that's recycling.

But anyway, we could all recycle more and we should - or at least reuse or choose goods with less packaging. And so far, the British public has responded fairly well to inducements and positive messages. And more could be done.

They say you can attract more flies with honey than with vinegar. The Labour government knows another good vermin attractant. That's trash. That'll be trash that's been cooking in the bin outside your house for two weeks.

In fact, not content with the measures already in place - or successful measures used by other countries (e.g. regulation, tax on packaging, etc) the Labour government is just plain determined to make our lives miserable. And yes, it will be miserable if we switch to fortnightly collections of rubbish as Environment Minister David Miliband is suggesting to councils.

Via the Evening Standard

Fortnightly rubbish collections are to be forced on millions of homeowners by a backdoor stealth campaign, it was revealed. Town hall chiefs have been told to go ahead with ending weekly visits by the binmen in winter - so that the cold weather will keep the smell down.

The hope is that by the time people notice bad smells and vermin it will be too late to bring back once-a-week bin collections. Councils have also been told to bring in cutbacks in their refuse collections away from election times so that voters cannot interfere. The cynical instructions on how to use stealth tactics and steamroller opposition have been put out on behalf of Environment Secretary David Miliband.

Now, I'm not 100% opposed to the idea of picking up recyclables on week and picking up the trash on alternate weeks. Maybe that would work in rural places, although I don't think it would be that nice. But in London - no way, never.

Londoners are filthy little piggies. Londoners have been wallowing in filth attracting vermin since Roman times. We have a little saying in London - you're always within 10 feet of a rat. And soon there will be visible evidence of the little blighters as they revel in your rubbish. Of course, that's if the giant-sized raggedy foxes don't scare off the rats in their bid to get to your festering rubbish - being stored right beneath your front window. (Since very few Londoners have big front gardens).

I feel like this is just a giant step backwards - big strides in public health were made by ferrying away our waste in the sewers and dustcarts. Let's not wallow in more filth than we have to.