iblog

Charlotte: 20% of the population admit to putting all their Christmas waste in the bin and there are no doubt others who just do not own up to being un-green. Over 8 million Christmas trees are bought each year and 90% are thrown away. Instead, why not take them to a recycling centre? Alternatively some DIY stores accept them for turning into wood-chip. As for Christmas cards: instead of binning them, take them to Tescos, WH Smith or T K Maxx for recycling, or cut out the pictures and make gift tags for next year. An extra 750 million bottles and jars and 500 million drink cans are used at Christmas, all of which can be recycled. If you are having a pre- Christmas clear out to make room for the presents, take unwanted toys and books to a charity shop. Finally, make sure that you buy rechargeable batteries for all the new gadgets that come your way this Christmas.

Charlotte: Last week there were two fatal car crashes leaving six teenagers dead. In both instances the drivers were both teenagers. The statistics make shocking reading: young drivers are ten times more likely to be killed or seriously injured while driving than those in their 40s and the large majority of these accidents happen on a Friday or Saturday night. Is it not time to introduce legislation reducing the number of passengers that inexperienced young drivers can carry or introducing a night time curfew. Too many young lives are wasted in this carnage and whatever steps are necessary to reduce the death toll should be taken without delay.

Charlotte:
Gordon Brown announced in his Pre-Budget report that Air Passenger Duty was to increase by 7% from Feb ‘07. The rises will vary from an extra £5 on economy flights to European destinations, right up to an extra £40 on a business or first class fare to other countries. Whilst many people would agree that we have to pay the price to make the planet a greener place, there are very few people who do not feel they are being conned having already booked and paid for their post-Feb flights and then being hit by a retrospective tax. Easyjet has written to the Treasury asking for the duty to be put into action for all tickets bought after 1 Feb - we shall see!

Charlotte:
If you are planning a backpacking holiday staying in budget accommodation especially in third world countries, here are a few handy things to pack:
1) a small vanilla scented candle - even unlit it smells nice and can cover up the smell of sweaty trainers which often pervades communal dorms
2) a sheet sleeping bag liner and pillow case can be handy if the bedding looks grubby
3) a pack of antiseptic wipes can save the day if you encounter the toilet from hell
4) a small chain with a combination lock can give you peace of mind when travelling on buses and trains. It’s not always easy to sit near your luggage so chain it to a luggage rack.

Charlotte: If anything positive is to come out of the tragic deaths of the Ipswich prostitutes, our attitudes and laws on prostitution must change. There will always be men seeking the services of prostitutes and there will always be women willing to work in the industry for a variety of reasons. Why therefore can we as a society not be adult and non-judgmental and provide access where the business can be conducted safely and legally?

Charlotte:
Don’t you feel sorry for Prince William and Kate Middleton? First it was Woolworths with their commemorative mugs and tea towels all ready for the announcement. Then it was the papers: Kate has had a private lunch with the Queen, Kate has been invited to Sandringham, Kate has started having riding lessons. All this can only mean that William is about to pop the question! Given some of the marital disasters in William’s close family the couple would do well to ignore the hype and get married when they are ready and not before.

Charlotte:
We all know that fizzy drinks are bad for us: all that sugar rotting our teeth, making us fat and as for the caffeine…However that’s not the end of the story. The phosphoric acid in fizzy drinks inhibits our ability to absorb calcium and is seen by many experts as the cause of the rise in thinning bones in young women. Osteoporosis is not just a cause for concern for our mothers so think twice next time you fancy a drink and stick to water.

Charlotte:
Whatever happened to the two lines at the bottom of the Christmas card updating old friends on the year’s events. Nowadays we are more likely to be the unlucky recipients of newsletters detailing the problems faced by Sophie and Ben restoring their Umbrian farmhouse (Tuscany is just too touristy these days), Bill’s triple by-pass or Glenys’ hysterectomy - too much detail but marginally less irritating than the ones along the lines of “Phoebe continues to shine musically and has just gained Distinctions at Grade 8 in clarinet. Her training for the Olympics is a huge commitment so how she managed to gain 15 A*s at GCSE is a mystery. She must of course have been inspired by Sebastian who, you may recall, is the youngest ever brain surgeon but still finds time for his mountaineering. Everest is on the must-do list for next year”. It makes me want to reply saying that now my rehab is completed I’m back at the lap-dancing club in a bid to support myself and my six kids - the thing is they might believe me!

Charlotte:
How many public loos have you been in where there is no hook for your handbag, meaning that you end up putting it on the floor? Well, if you read the scary statistics that I did the other day you might think twice before you do it again. In a test carried out by a microbiologist from the University of Arizona, 30% of women’s handbags were found to have faecal matter on them, some with as much as 100 million bacteria per square inch. It doesn’t take much for these germs to end up on your fingers and from there it’s an easy step to your eyes, nose or mouth. If you don’t want to end up with diarrhoea this Christmas, hang on to your bag at all times and better still, treat your bag to a weekly wipe with disinfectant.

Lottie: I just love the freak weather we have in this country and the fact that, despite it’s unpredictability, it somehow always manages to remain, sort of, mild.

Take yesterday’s ‘tornado’ for instance. Instead of staging an apocalyptic meteorolgical rampage through the streets of London gathering speed and debris and old ladies in rocking chairs, it damaged some houses and caused a few minor injuries. If you were to class the tornado as mere wind then yes, it would have been extreme, but as a tornado it reached about the strength of a kitten with a bandaged paw…

Now, i seriously don’t want to play down the fact that people were hurt during the tornado yesterday and that it could have done more serious damage in another place at another time. But my experience of the whole event, which was going on just a mile or two North from me, was seeing the sky suddenly darken through my window at work, moving in for a closer look, muttering something about how unpredicatble the weather is in this country then going back to my desk. Tepid.