Month: May 2010

Nice. Except this SME will be on holiday that week. Bums.

Good news on several levels – firstly, a plant saved from extinction is always good news; secondly, it provides a potentially interesting plant for horticulture (and plants that are popular in horticulture are always safe from extinction, even when their natural habitat is threatened); and thirdly, it provides an excellent media opportunity, which I'm pleased to see RBG taking full advantage of.

Interesting. Of course, building tunnels in the Netherlands, particularly cut-and-cover structures, must be simpler when you are digging in polder rather than hard rock (although, of course, there is the problem of the high water table).

What's the big deal? We have sorted our waste into *fifteen* categories for ages (paper, card, glass, metals, plastics, compostables, tetrapaks, electricals [covers light bulbs, dead toys, dead appliances], monitors/TVs [don't get many of them], soil, rubble, batteries, fabrics/clothing, polythene films [carriers, shrink-wrap] and "non-recyclables" [this last still disappointingly large]). We then take it to the recycling centre ourselves, although we will finally get kerbside recycling of some of these (not all) later this year. Some stuff goes to charity or is FreeCycled/Freegled. To be serious about recycling the maximum amount that you can at a cost that the local authority (i.e. tax payers) can afford, it relies on the householder doing the donkey work. I think that, in time, there will be more consumer pressure on manufacturers and retailers to simplify packaging. That will help with reduction as well as recycling – it has started, but will take a while to really gather momentum.

Online clearing house for exchange and lending of, well, things and skills – covering something that FreeCycle/Freegle has always shied away from. Quite new, apparently, so not many signed up yet.

Ooo ooo oo! I've heard Dynamite before (it was on the K&S March mix), but Get Loose has the makings of a simply awesome track and could go to the top of my list of favourite K&S tracks (along with, oh, most of their output). We're carefully watching their gig dates to see if they are going to play anywhere that we can get to.

We're in the market for bulbs for the garden, particularly specie Tulipa and Crocus. I see an advance order being placed shortly. I may also even be distracted and purchase a few other bits and pieces.

This looks fun. We'll be in the area later this monh, so hopefully we'll get time to take a look.