Friday 31 October 2014

The Guardian: "Flytipping up 20% in England after falling for years"


Link to web site

"The number of mattresses in hedgerows, old sofas on road corners and other illegally-dumped rubbish rose by a fifth in England last year, marking the first increase in flytipping in years.

"Government figures published on Thursday show that there are now more than three quarter of a million incidents in England, taking the amount of rubbish dumped on roadsides, in back alleys and on private land back above 2010 levels, in what campaigners said was a worrying increase.

"Around two-thirds of the rubbish was from households, the equivalent of one incident for every 39 households in England.

"Guardian analysis of the data shows the borough of Newham in East London was the worst offender, with over 22 incidents per 100 people last year. The top 10 worst local authorities per 100 people is dominated by London boroughs, with Haringey, Enfield and Southwark following Newham. Only two areas outside the capital – Burnley and Great Yarmouth – made the list of the 10 worst."

Tuesday 28 October 2014

North London Waste Authority: "LCRN / NLWA Give and Take Days"


Link to 'Give and Take Days' web site

"The North London Waste Authority (NLWA) in partnership with the London Community Resource Network (LCRN) are delivering a series of re-use events in North London, as part of NLWA’s waste prevention programme which promotes reduction and reuse across North London.

"LCRN / NLWA Give and Take Days – your chance to pass on items you no longer need and pick up something you do for FREE.

"Please note that you can only give: books, DVDs/CDs, garden ware, IT, tools, clothes/shoes, small furniture, small electrical items and toys. We also accept: large furniture and white goods.

"FREE BULKY ITEMS COLLECTION - you can have large furniture and white goods collected for free by registering with us. No items outside the North London boroughs will be collected from households. Please note, collection will depend on availability as we expect a high demand on this service and that we will apply a First-Come, First-Served (FCFS) service policy.

"During the events we will also be running clothes up-cycling activities and repair workshops:
  • Clothes up-cycling activities - you will learn how to create new clothes, kitchen items, accessories and toys from old clothes.
  • Repair workshop - you will have the opportunity to repair your own electrical items and learn the most common DIY by participating to our repair workshop. Please make sure you have deleted all your data from your items and bear in mind we do NOT take responsibilities for your items. FCFS service policy will be applied."


Events Listing


HACKNEY Residents - Sunday 16th November (12.30 to 3.30 pm)
Kingsmead Community Centre, Kingsmead Way, Homerton, London, E9 5PP
"Give" 12.30 to 2.15 pm  and  "Take" 2.30 pm to 3.30 pm
Repair Workshop - 12.30 to 2.15 pm and 2.30 pm to 3.30 pm

BARNET Residents - Saturday 22nd November (12.00 to 3.00 pm)
Green Man Community Centre, Strawberry Vale, East Finchley, N2 9BA
"Give" 12.00 to 1.45 pm and "Take" 2.00 pm to 3.00 pm
Repair Workshop - 12.00 to 1.45pm and 2.00 pm to 3.00 pm

CAMDEN Residents - Sunday 23rd November (2.00 to 5.00 pm)
St James' Church, 2 Sherriff Road, West Hampstead, NW6 2AP
"Give" 2.00 pm to 3.45 pm and "Take" 4.00 pm to 5.00 pm
Repair Workshop - 2.00 pm to 3.45 pm and 4.00 pm to 5.00 pm

ISLINGTON Residents
- Saturday 29th November (12.00 to 3.00 pm)
Aubert Court Community Centre, Avenell Road, London, N5 1BL
"Give" 12.00 to 1.45 pm and "Take" 2.00 pm to 3.00 pm
Repair Workshop - 12.00 to 1.45 pm and 2.00 pm to 3.00 pm


The Independent: "Humanity's 'inexorable' population growth is so rapid that even a global catastrophe would not stop it"


Link to web site

"The global human population is 'locked in' to an inexorable rise this century and will not be easily shifted, even by apocalyptic events such as a third world war or lethal pandemic, a study has found.

"There is no 'quick fix' to the population time-bomb, because there are now so many people even unimaginable global disasters won't stop growth, scientists have concluded.

"Although measures designed to reduce human fertility in the parts of the world where the population growth is fastest will eventually have a long-term impact on numbers, this has to go hand-in-hand with policies aimed at reducing the consumption of natural resources, they said."