Each year more than 10 billion carrier bags are produced in the UK.
If these were laid end to end they would stretch to the moon and back five times.
80% of shoppers put everything into free carrier bags at the supermarket.
Most carrier bags are used only once.
100,000 tonnes of plastic bags are thrown away each year in the UK, which is the same weight as 70,000 cars.
CHARITY
An appeal has been set up for money for a children's hospital in Wales which needs some vital equipment. It needs £4 million.
The patrons of this charity are three multi-millionairesses: Dame Shirley Bassey, Charlotte Church and Catherine Zeta Jones. Why are they asking the general public for this money?
Could they not find £4 million pounds in disposable income between them?
Cultures of inequality, fragmented citizenship, excessive drinking, drugs, celebrity, compensation, risk aversion, gambling, lawlessness, hatred, manipulation, distrust and disrespect, rage, greed, control and happy slapping.
Through liberalisaton and interference the majority of these cultures have come about in the recent past.
It is time MPs stopped interfering all the time with professionals doing their best to provide vital key services and concentrated on eradicating these modern day cultures which, between them, are the root of our fragmented and unhappy society.
ECO HOLIDAYS
If you are now planning a summer break abroad, have you considered an eco holiday?
Have you thought about if your air miles are necessary and the damage holidays abroad can do to the environment?
One celebrity who seemingly doesn't give this a second thought is Wayne Rooney's fiancee Coleen.
She is having a £3 million wedding in Spain to which her many guests will be flown
Her wedding dress is being made in New York and she is making regular trips there for fittings.
Mark Wyatt, of KCR, said:
"Why should ordinary individuals be persecuted for taking holidays abroad when some people carry on like this? All the good work they do is quickly undone by unthinking celebrities like Coleen."
Want to be greener?
Then visit tesco.com/greenerliving for some fun ideas.
These include ideas from growing a green teddy with edible cress, to taking an interest in nature, recycling and the environment.
The site has lots of ideas for children from pre-school age up to 14 years.
Kent Community Recycling Newsletter
Click HERE for a printable version.page 1 of 2. For page 2 click HERE
Issue 122 April/May 2008
HELLO READERS
Welcome to our April/May newsletter.
We hope there is lots to interest you here and the information and views we have expressed might encourage you to recycle more and waste less!
If you would like to contact us, or pay us a visit, we look forward to hearing from you by email:mark.wyatt@tiscali.co.uk,or seeing you at our Resource Recovery Plant in Hawkinge.
Shepway District Council has recently announced it is considering buying 15 new style litter bins.
They will have several compartments so members of the public can deposit their drinks cans, bottles and newspapers for recycling.
We understand these bins will cost £750 each, which means more than £10,000 is to be spent.
Mark Wyatt, of KCR, said: "Fifteen years ago I went to Hastings and saw this kind of bin and as a result contacted Shepway council about them. Together we sited one of these bins outside WH Smith in Sandgate Road, but sadly had to take it away as it was misused. People put things in the wrong compartments. I will need to be convinced that they are going to be of any use. My concern is that they will be misused as they were 15 years ago.
"Even if members of the public do exactly as they are asked is it guaranteed the council's contractors will keep the material separated when it ends up at their plant at Ross Way, which in my opinion doesn't have a good record for quality of material it handles.
We hear the new bins will cost £150 a year more to service than existing bins.
We would like to know how much the current bins cost to service.
I find the whole thing a bit gimmicky."
However, there is some praise for Shepway Council.
Earlier this year the Cabinet Member for the Environment, Rory Love, said he would look into introducing a scheme whereby householders across the district could recycle their kitchen waste.
Here at KCR we would very much welcome that.
Here at Kent Community Recycling we are now able to convert glass into sharp free chippings which have a range of uses.
We took delivery of a new imploder about six months ago and have been fine tuning the system ever since then. This is a machine which was invented to reduce the volume of glass on ships and we believe we are the first to use this technology in this way, for the benefit of the community.
The chippings can be used for many practical and decorative uses.
They are very useful for the retention of moisture, for example, if used around the base of a tree or a plant in a pot, to keep the moisture in. We have trialled this and can guarantee the moisture is retained ! !
Alternatively, the chippings can be used to retain heat. They can be put around pipes, whether it is a pipe sunk into the ground,or a pipe above ground, when you need to keep it warm and frost free. The glass chippings will ensure heat is not lost - and this was recently shown on a BBC television programme.
There are many ways they could be used decoratively. One use is in acquariums, instead of gravel, which has to be washed and can be toxic if it is coated. Our glass chippings are non toxic and can be used indefinitely.
They are completely safe, attractive and very cheap.
A choice of colours are available. People can buy our chippings, or bring their own glass to convert to chippings for 50p a kilo, which goes toward the cost of using our machinery.
We look forward to seeing you use this service!
We have written to the Secretary of State for Justice asking that the Editors of local papers be provided with lists of all court judgements, details of which can be passed on to the public for them to judge the effectiveness of our laws, and also that the Probation Service provides details of all tasks carried out for the benefit of our community and environment by those serving Community Service Orders.
Whilst thinking of ways to promote respect we would suggest that all those working for us, whether they be politicians or officers, refer to all funds as our money, the people’s money, which is what they are.
In these days of affluence when the vast majority of our Members of Parliament are millionaires, many being multi-millionaires, we feel there should be further indicators of wealth. The use of the term “multi-millionaire” is too vague, it can indicate any amount, from £3 million to £999 million.
Let us know what you think