iblog

Rushda: Residents are being warned about a breeding boom of poisonous caterpillars in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire. The inch-long caterpillar of the brown tailed moth has caused serious asthma attacks, rashes and headaches to many who have been in contact with it or its blown-away hairs. The caterpillars, which are usually found in parks and beaches, will stick around till the end of May when they will cocoon and turn into moths. Until then, a spokesman for North East Lincolnshire Council urges that we all remain cautious around these caterpillars. Anyone who does come into contact with them is advised to wash hands with soap and clear their eyes with eyewash.

Caroline: I have a friend who has such a hatred of traffic jams that she will drive miles on the back roads to avoid jams and plan the timing of her journeys meticulously to make sure she is not stuck in traffic. However, even she has never thought of taking to the skies like David Grimes. He “commutes” from his home in Shoreham to his office in Brighton by kitesurfing. It takes him about thirty minutes each morning which is faster than it would be by car. The only problem is that coming home in the evening would take two hours because of the prevailing winds so Mr Grimes packs his wet suit and kite up and gets on the bus. Not only is it far less frustrating than sitting in traffic but it’s good for the environment too!

Anna: A proposed “Bridge of Reeds” that will connect Cambridge to a green and pleasant hinterland is, I think, a great idea. The bridge, and don’t worry it’s actually made of steel not reeds, will link the University town to Wicken Fen via a network of paths for cyclists and walkers alike. Providing traffic-free spaces where Britain’s city dwellers can breathe fresh air and relax is not a new concept, but it’s one we need to make sure is preserved and put into practice as more and more of the urban periphery is consumed by somewhat soulless housing developments. Jonathan Porritt, former Director of Freinds of the Earth and well-known environmental crusader, sums it up:

“The bridge of reeds is going to be an enormously important landmark for the East of England. Too often people take for granted the precious natural habitats in and around our cities. The Cambridge area is thriving, one of the fastest areas for development in the country, and so it is more crucial than ever that nature reserves such as Wicken Fen and the surrounding countryside are valued and even greater access is provided for people in local communities. “

Anna: Are we getting the message about the impact of air travel on the environment? Even with all the publicity about carbon footprints, and stay-at-home eco-friendly holidays, it seems there’s no stopping growth in the airline industry. Compared to May 2006, there will be an additional 8000 flights to and from the UK this month, according to industry magazine “Travel Weekly”. The publication also notes that 16% of airline flights are now low cost. So with a huge number of budget flights on offer, perhaps we just can’t resist jetting off on frequent breaks?

Anna: You might have noticed that an increasing number of petrol stations are offering Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG). You might also have spotted that this fuel is typically half the price of petrol or diesel. A mixture of propane and butane, LPG’s simple chemical make up means it burns more cleanly, so it’s better for the environment and your pocket. LPG is a by-product of the extraction and refining processes needed to produce oil. It was previously flared off as a waste gas, so harnessing it to power vehicles is a definite step forward. The UK produced 6.4 million tonnes of LPG in 2001, but less than 10% of this was used to power our cars so there’s great potential for an increase.

To find out more about reducing fuel costs, paying less road tax and converting your car to use LPG, log on to The Greenfuel Company. If you travel by car a lot, the money saved on fuel could pay for the conversion within a relatively short period of time. I’d like to see someone set up a LPG taxi company - green cabs would certainly brighten up the streets of London and the reduced emissions would help make the Big Smoke less smoggy.

Anna: “Walk to School Week” runs from 21st-25th May this year. It’s a big event, with over 2 million children joining in to raise awareness and enjoy the benefits of walking to school. As well as this event, organised by Living Streets, Sutstrans is running an ongoing campaign called Bike It to encourage pupils to cycle to schools, and to urge schools to promote cycling in general.

I don’t remember anyone arriving at my primary schools by car when I was younger. Personally, I’d always arrive a little late on my bike, pedalling furiously to keep up with my mum. It wasn’t far - perhaps 3 miles - but a bit too far to walk twice a day for a 6 year old, so my mum learned to ride a bike (at the age of 43) so as to escort me every day. So it’s amazing what a desire to travel sustainably can do on a personal, as well as an environmental, level. I know I may be imagining some time-rich, car-poor utopia of a future here, but walking or cycling to school is such a good idea. It exercises kids (and parents), wakes pupils up before they arrive at school, teaches then to think and look out for themselves, and it’s fun. If you’ve got kids, I urge you to leave the car in the garage!

Anna: I’m in a fortunate position in that I work flexible hours from home, and live in a well-appointed small town. I can get my fruit, veg and cheese from the weekly market, buy fresh-baked bread, local milk and umpteen other things from shops within a few hundred yards of my door. Sure, I do go to the supermarket from time to time but if Tesco was to disappear off the face of the planet I could still go on. And unlike the second mortgage you need if you shop at Borough Market in London, buying produce from stalls and small outlets here often actually saves me money.

Many of us, though, are reliant on supermarket shopping. I’m becoming increasingly concerned about this because of the impersonal environment that a supermarket inevitably creates, and the lack of fairness and equity in trading relations between supermarkets and their supply chains. For overseas producers and smallholders, access to markets is difficult and the push for cheaper goods and bigger profits is constantly harming farmers and producers both at home and abroad. Expanding to accommodate supermarket demands only to be left high and dry when a buyer doesn’t come back is an all too common story, and just one example of why mega-stores are a dangerous phenomenon. Sadly, you can’t assume that buying fair trade items will necessarily make a big difference. Supermarkets need to make an overall commitment to Corporate Social Responsibility, some already do, and fair trade, organic and other “choice” brands, are treated as a high-end niche - an extra cost to consumer and not a change in the way supermarkets conduct their business. So here’s the question - how long do you think the shelf life is for supermarkets? Will we all wake up and smell the farm-shop bacon, or are Tesco and friends here to stay?

Rushda: Buy a salad and get a toad free. Sound exciting? Well that’s the offer one woman got when she bought a salad in a Huntingdon Sainsbury’s recently, and it turned out to contain an entire toad amongst the leaves. I’m not sure how such a big creature went unnoticed and travelled in the salad all the way from Portugal. More surprising is that when she took the salad back to the store, she got a generous £10 voucher. Hmmm, that’s not fair…not only did she get a new scrumptious pet but she got paid for it too.

Anna: This is the perfect time of year to visit the Seychelles, not too wet and not too windy. This group of 115 islands has always been a luxury destination, though I think the ever-increasing credit limits banks are prepared to give us have allowed some to sample its exclusivity without actually being able to afford it! The archipelago lies in the western Indian Ocean, between 4 and 10 degrees south of the equator, and, at the closest point, still 480km distance from east African coast. The 41 Inner Islands are the oldest, composed of granite, while the remaining 74 are low-lying coral atolls, sometimes so small that they are barely discernible from the surrounding ocean. There are also two UNESCO World Heritage Sites in the Seychelles - the Vallée de Mai on the island of Praslin where the coco-de-mer nut grows, and the coral atoll of Aldabra, largest raised coral atoll in the world.

What I think is fantastic about the Seychelles, as well as the pristine beaches, rainforest and abundant birdlife, is the way tourism has been managed so as to have minimal negative impact on the physical and social environment of the islands. Since Seychellois tourism took off 30 years ago, there has been a determination to keep quality high and visitors numbers relatively low. Annual tourist numbers will, by 2010, be limited to 200 000. Almost 15% of the archipelago’s 80 000 inhabitants are employed in tourism and the daily yield per tourist (their spend on accommodation, food and activities), currently at £105 is projected to grow to £365 by 2010. I’m happy not only to have visited and enjoyed the Seychelles, but also to have the knoweldge that this destination won’t be ruined by mass tourism and will, hopefully, retain it’s amazing natural wealth untouched by man for many generations to come.

Rushda: A new highly ambitious project has been started up in order to create an online encyclopedia of all known life forms. This will be a detailed collection of information for every plant and animal species known to man. It sounds absolutely enormous given that there are 1.8 million known species, and in this virtual encyclopedia there will be a page on each one including photos, videos, and information, all collected by top experts. The archive will take over 10 years and cost £50m to build but it is hoped that it will come in useful for both educational and conservational purposes.