Wheelie Clean

A local resident has set up a business offering a cleaning service to wheelie bin users.

Visit the Wheelie Clean Bins website and find out about their domestic and commercial services.

Everyone agrees that we cannot simply send more and more waste to landfill. There wouldn't be enough holes in the ground and the ones we have are rapidly filling up. As the waste in them breaks down, gases contributing to climate change are released.

There is also the problem of chemicals leaching into the ground and water resources. Continually burying and burning rubbish is no environmentally sound solution to the waste we produce.

Also the earth and its natural resources are a finite resource. Recycling ensures maximum use of the resources we do extract from the environment while also reducing the amount of environmentally damaging emissions produced.

South Ribble residents have expressed a high degree of satisfaction with the waste and recycling collection we introduced. We would like to thank all residents for their co-operation and hard work in helping to make South Ribble an environmentally responsible place to live.

Weather Forecast

The sunshine has made a welcome return to Leyland and its environs after the wet and wild weather of recent weeks.

Elsewhere across the globe, China has just seen its worst weather conditions for 50 years. One traveller caught up in the weather chaos described the scene:

"The railway stations in Guangzhou are a scene of horror, with countless thousands of desperate and freezing people besieging them...." Read more..

In America on Tuesday some of the worst tornado clusters in US history ripped their way through 5 states killing at least 31 people in Tennessee, 13 in Arkansas, seven in Kentucky and four in Alabama.

Parts of Australia have been particularly drought-stricken over the last decade which it is believed is due to climate change. (It has also pushed the price of wine up!)

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Whilst it is difficult to pin any one weather event on global warming the increasing number of extreme weather events seen around the world is in line with the predictions on climate change. And while a minority dispute the precise extent and balance of causes of the changing climate the degree of consensus on the evidence that it is happening and we need to do something is overwhelming.

The challenge is how we prepare for the full consequences and try to minimise our own impact.

Even in the arch-capitalist United States of America some influential businesses together with environmental groups last year formed the United States Climate Action Partnership to demand tough national legislation from the federal government to require significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.

Back in Leyland our very own Matthew Tomlinson, Labour councillor for Golden Hill Ward and County Councillor, is showing leadership by example. He has pledged to reduce his own carbon footprint by going to work less by car and using other forms of transport more such as buses, trains and bicycle.

Matthew Tomlinson in the Leyland Guardian, 16th January 2008.

Trump that for a planning application!

Last week at Aberdeenshire council, a mild-mannered councillor who travels around by bicycle, Martin Ford, cast the deciding vote which turned down US billionaire Donald Trump's planning application to create a £1 billion golf complex.

Unfortunately the plan for two championship golf courses, a five-star hotel, a golf academy, almost 1,000 holiday homes and 500 private houses also included trampling all over a Site of Special Scientific Interest. See a photo gallery of the area.

Trump's proposals have divided the community. Some argue for the development as an economic boon to the area. On the other side are those who want to protect the beautiful, ecologically important landscape and question the business argument for the proposal.

They have set up a petition on the government's e-petition website which already has 2,871 3,482 signatures and is open until 01 March 2008. The petition wording reads:

"We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to back SNH and stop Donald Trump from building a golf course in Aberdeenshire that will damage a SSSI and one of the top 5 dune sites in the UK."

Also featured in various news items on the issue has been the local man, Martin Forbes, who refuses to sell his property to the developers to make way for the complex.

In an unprecendented move the rejected application has now been 'called in' by Scottish Ministers. A statement from the Scottish Government said:

"Ministers recognise that the application raises issues of importance that require consideration at a national level. Calling the application in allows ministers the opportunity to give full scrutiny to all aspects of this proposal before reaching a final decision."

In response, Councillor Martin Ford said: "There is no doubt in my mind that the council has been bullied over the last few days and that has caused us immense difficulties. The result is that the application has taken a most unusual route and ended up with the Scottish ministers.It is inescapable that this has happened in response to the behaviour of the applicant. It calls into question the integrity of the planning system."

Meanwhile the RSPB have also got involved. Stuart Housden, director of RSPB Scotland, said:

"Ministers should not be hurried or bullied by the strong-arm tactics of Donald Trump. The Infrastructure Services Committee of Aberdeenshire Council took a carefully considered and principled decision when they voted to reject his planning application..." Read the rest of the statement here.

The whole controversy has been likened to the film 'Local Hero' starring Burt Lancaster as an American oil tycoon who wants to buy an entire Scottish village on which to build a refinery. Although some villagers are keen to get their hands on the 'Silver Dollar' and can't believe their luck a local hermit and beach scavenger lives in a shack on the crucial beach which he also owns.

See the similarities? It is sometimes said that "art follows life"! But what did happen at the end of the film?

Whatever happens let's just hope that democracy and justice are well served.

Read some associated news stories:
The Scottish fisherman who didn't want to play golf
Scottish councillors reject Trump's £1bn golf course
Trump decision being 'undermined'
Photo gallery of the area
Sustainable Aberdeenshire

Green Lights for Christmas Lights

As domestic, commercial and civic Christmas lights begin to be switched on around the Borough, some other areas are leading the way in efforts to make their Christmas displays more environmentally friendly.

Manchester City Council have swapped traditional bulbs for over a million low energy LED bulbs which consume less energy. They are also using a real Christmas tree complete with root ball which can be planted in one of the city's parks afterwards ready for re-use next year.

The South Wales seaside resort of Porthcawl have gone further by installing solar-powered light decorations this year. Read about it here.

Meanwhile, across the Atlantic where they often do things bigger, the city of Mason in Ohio will again be treated to the Christmas light and sound extravaganza of engineer, Carson Williams.

Warning: Contains flashing lights.

See this and more related videos here

Williams is noted for decorating his home and garden with homemade displays which synchronise christmas lights with music over FM radio channel (to keep the noise down for his neighbours).

One of his displays was used in a beer commercial and his displays have become an internet phenomenon with many videos featured on YouTube.

The music is from rock opera group Trans-Siberian Orchestra.

For more information and links read the Wikipedia entry for Carson Williams here. Also see the feature about the lights at local media outlet Pulse Journal.

More footage of the display and Carson Williams interview on MSNBC here

Save Your Energy

National Energy Saving Week sounds quite delicious doesn't it .....put your feet up, have a cup of tea/coffee/beverage of choice and expend very little energy.

While its actual intent -saving the planet- does sound rather more energetic. It doesn't have to be. It must have been quite a feeling for this man when he became the first Londoner to sell energy back to the national grid which was generated from his solar panels. After this success he is now installing a wind turbine at his home.

Though not everyone can go this far, taking a range of simple energy reduction measures such as boiling the kettle with a little less water in it can make a big contribution. So you can still relax, have a cup of tea and help save the planet all at the same time. But remember not to leave the tap running when you brush your teeth afterwards. You might not be able to sell your energy back but forking out less on energy bills is certainly a warm and comforting thought so you won't miss turning down the thermostat by 1°c.

The Energy Saving Trust, the organisation behind National Energy Saving Week would like to see everyone adopting a range of energy saving measures to help reduce 20% of our energy consumption.

The cheap and simple, Top 10 and efficient driving energy saving tips can all be found at their website www.energysavingtrust.org.uk

In a separate initiative, Farington County Primary School in Leyland will be setting a shining energy saving example as they are set to receive solar panels worth more than £20,000 paid for by the Co-operative Group's £1m Green Energy for Schools scheme and match-funded by the government.

Headteacher Joanne Ramsbottom told the Lancashire Evening Post: "To be one of the first schools in the country to receive free solar panels through the scheme is fantastic. All the children, especially the Eco-School committee members, are very excited."

The school is one of the first, and one of only 100 nationally to benefit from the scheme. Read the rest of the story here.

So unplug those mobile phone chargers when not in use, (fully) load up that washing machine and then put your feet up and have an energy saving cup of tea. Every little helps and every little put together means alot. Saving the planet is all in a day's work.

Free Money!

Concerned about climate change?

We have already observed this year the effects of extreme weather events in our own country and around the world. Some parts of the UK experienced two months' rainfall in just 24 hours.

But do not despair! We can do something about it.

Lancashire County Council's 'Climate Change Fund' of £250,000 per year for three years is to be distributed through the 12 'Lancashire Locals' (next South Ribble meeting 7 pm, 4th October, Samlesbury) to support community action on climate change. The proportion of money available to each area is to be allocated according to carbon dioxide emissions per head of population and South Ribble has available £17, 857 this year.

Each Lancashire Local is to invite expressions of interest from individuals, community and voluntary groups, or Parish Councils for grants to support local climate change projects that help reduce greenhouse gas emissions or help communities cope with the inevitable impacts of climate change.Businesses and individuals may also apply, but a clear community benefit must be demonstrated.

Projects which the fund could support include carbon capture through tree planting, mini wind turbines and solar panels on community buildings; community ‘micro renewable’ energy schemes; energy efficiency measures and awareness raising.

The money is to be 'match funded' with some 'in kind' contribution (such as volunteer time) from the applicants. But don't let the jargon put you off ....

To find out more email Lancashire County Council's Cabinet Member for the Environment, County Councillor Matthew Tomlinson at matthew.tomlinson@cc.lancscc.gov.uk Matthew is also County Councillor for Leyland Central and South Ribble Borough Councillor for Golden Hill Ward.

If you don't feel able to build a wind farm in your back garden, the simple and cheap measure of switching to energy efficient lightbulbs is highly recommended if for no other reason than one would only have to totter precariously on a rickety stepladder without the aid of a safety net once every five years or so.Other things to do...

Picture byAdbusters

Now we all like a good moan about the weather....

Horrible isn't it here in Leyland today ....grey and miserable. Today there were more news reports of extreme weather events with parts of the UK hit by tornadoes.

This week New Scientist magazine reports that "The world gets wetter as well as warmer". Benjamin Santer, a climate scientist in California, has been studying the water content of the atmosphere. Using satellite data and computer simulations including 22 different climate models, far more than any previous study, some using such natural processes as volcaninc eruptions and fluctuations in solar radiation he found that the one which most closely matched was that using greenhouse gas emissions. He explains that extra atmospheric water fuels the development of hurricanes and also acts as a potent greenhouse gas in its own right.

Santer concludes "The climate system is telling us an internally consistent story".

In May Aqqualuk Lynge, the leader of Greenland's Inuit people presented evidence to the public inquiry into the plans to dramatically increase the number of passengers using London's third airport, Stansted. He told of the loss of Inuit villages and hunting grounds across the Arctic...

Photos courtesy of Amanda Graham,Instructor of Northern and Circumpolar Studies at Yukon College, Canada, under a Creative Commons License. More beautiful and poignant photos here.

"What happens in Britain affects us in the north...The serious consequences affecting my people today will affect your people tomorrow... The Inuit are experiencing first- hand the adverse effects of climate change. We are on the front line of globalisation.

Discussion of climate change frequently tends to focus on political, economic and technical issues rather than human impacts and consequences. I want to alert you to the impacts that Inuit and other northerners are already experiencing as a result of human-induced climate change, and to the dramatic impacts and social and cultural dislocation we face in coming years.

For generations, Inuit have observed the environment and have accurately predicted weather, enabling us to travel safely on the sea-ice to hunt seals, whales, walrus, and polar bears. We don't hunt for sport or recreation. Hunters put food on the table. You go to the supermarket, we go on the sea-ice. When we can no longer hunt on the sea-ice, we will no longer exist as a people. Already hunters are telling us the sea-ice is unpredictable in many places and they are not always sure of dealing with the different ice we see today.

Traditional hunting grounds of ice floes, in some cases, have disappeared. And they tell us that some hunting areas are impossible to get to because of eroding shorelines. Talk to hunters across the north and they will tell you the same story: the weather is increasingly unpredictable. The look and feel of the land is different. The sea-ice is changing.

We have even lost experienced hunters through the ice in areas that, traditionally, were safe.

Several Inuit villages have already been so damaged by global warming that relocation, at the cost of hundreds of millions of dollars, is now their only option. Melting sea-ice and thawing permafrost have caused:

* damage to houses, roads, airports and pipelines;
* eroded landscape, slope instability and landslides;
* contaminated drinking water;
* coastal losses to erosion of up to 100 feet per year;
* melting natural ice cellars for food storage.

Climate change is not just a theory to us in the Arctic, it is a stark and dangerous reality..."

Read the rest of the extract here

Further information: If you're concerned watch the documentary/film 'An Inconvenient Truth' by Al Gore.