headinthesandguy

David Attenborough has called on the world to cut back on the use of plastic to protect oceans. To find out about plastics can be recycled near you (if you are in the UK), a nice website is recyclenow.com In my case, the Cambridge council website has a nice page on recycling that says what goes in what bin. Here's what I've learnt from it about recycling in Cambridge: Blue bin:   - aerosol cans (e.g. deoderant) - tin foil/foil trays (scrunch up to a ball), - aluminium tubes (e.g. tomato puree) - bottle tops and plastic lids (put back on the bottle/jar) - bubble wrap - cardboard - cardboard egg boxes - carton (e.g. Tetra Pak juice carton) - catalogues - cereal packet plastic inner liner - cleaning spray bottles (leave spray trigger attached) - clean cling film - envelopes (including those with plastic windows) - glass bottles (rinsed, with caps put back on) - glass jars (rinsed, with lids on) - greetings/birthday/Christmas cards - ice cream tub and lids ...

I found it really interesting to read the recent article  How I stave off despair as a climate scientist by Prof. Dave Reay of Edinburgh University. In it, he describes how he has tried to reduce his family's carbon footprint by investing in 'solar panels, super-insulated homes and electric cars', and avoiding air travel. Now he and his family are taking a brave and big step, by buying a parcel of land in Scotland, and working towards his goal to pare down to a 'zero emissions' lifestyle at the very minimum, and ultimately to draw down carbon dioxide from the atmosphere by planting native trees. This undertaking will likely yield new insights into how people can live a 'zero emissions' life and capture carbon from the atmosphere by tree planting. Furthermore, since he teaches many bright students at the University, he says 'hopefully, my students can magnify its impact — learn from our trials and errors and help to take such carbon-management expert...

Anyone who lives in the UK can register now to take part in the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch 2019 (free event), here . The Birdwatch weekend is 26-28 Jan 2019, and will help find out which bird species are doing well, and which need more help, and where. A great opportunity to help wildlife in your area!

I've been listening to a brilliant series of BBC of radio 4 programmes, on how an individual can try to reduce his/her environmental footprint, especially with respect to global warming. It's called New Year Solutions and I'd highly recommend it, there are short programmes on topics such as cars, air travel, water, space, clothes and meat. It's given me lots to think about, from using a shower timer, to cutting down on washing jeans, to going vegan a couple of days a week...