Get Green Issues posts delivered to your desktop More WLT news feeds »

Green Issues

A weekly column on current issues by John A Burton of the World Land Trust. The views expressed are personal, and do not necessarily reflect those of the WLT. Feedback and comments are welcomed.

Read the most current Green Issues posts here.

Water, water everywhere, and lights everywhere as well

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

850,000 litres of water were bought by the House of Commons, at a cost of £324,000, according to a recent article in London's Evening Standard newspaper. And this is a government allegedly committed to saving resources, reducing carbon etc etc. The company that delivers the bottled water clocked up some 70,000 miles delivering it, and each litre was packaged in a non-returnable glass bottle. According to the Evening standard Minister Phil Woolas claimed it 'Bordered on being morally unacceptable.' Perhaps an understatement.

Government twittering about energy, and everyone being exhorted to stop flying drive less, doesn't make a lot of sense, when you see huge amounts of waste. Bottled water must be one of the craziest of all -- shipping around the country a substance that it to all intents and purposes indistinguishable from what comes out of a tap, is a huge drain on energy and other resources.

And then there is my old gripe: street lighting. Light pollution is rife, with millions and millions of kilowatts blazing away into the night sky. Causing birds to get lost on migration, probably causing the extinction of many species of insects, and an aesthetically nauseating orange glow over much of the northern hemisphere. Before worrying about whether or not we have left the TV on standby, let's worry about the street lighting left on all night, the church towers floodlit, and all the other major forms of waste.

Labels: Energy and Renewable Energy Resources, General Conservation/Charity Issues

Posted by John Tuesday, April 15, 2008


Email this post:

1 Comments:

You know that's absolutely true. I've sat many an evening wondering why all the street lamps are on. I even work in a home which is in an apt block where the internal corridor lights are on 24/7 even tho daylight is flooding in. (and they can't be switched off else I would!)
If lighting is to be used for safety then it should at minimum be on those sensory systems so they go out after a few minutes. And the govt should be working towards new building and planning regulations to stop all of this waste.

By  Karen, at 17 April, 2008 16:17  

Post a Comment

Response Policy

The WLT reserves the right to delete any blogs that are are inaccurate, seriously illiterate, libellous, malicious, obscene or likely to cause offence on the grounds of decency. However, we will not normally delete responses that are simply critical or expresssing and alternative opinion.

Links to this post:

Read the most current Green Issues posts here.