It would be very easy for me to start with the usual opening of unless we start recycling everything we use the world is going to spontaneously combust or the fact that the polar bear is running out of ice to tread on but then we have heard this time and time again.
Did we get green all of a sudden? Or did the governments realise that they were missing a trick by creating a wealth of stealth taxes as a result of us all being "dirty"?
For most of us the last time gasses (CFC's or Carbon) was a big issue was in the early 90's when demon fridges and spray cans were pronounced as the devil and we all had to find different ways of "spraying".
None of us have as yet spent the day in a farmer’s field sticking corks into cows arses either although I am sure it will not be long before we are seriously considering this I am sure.
The point is there is so much hype surrounding the great carbon debate that we have all kind of switched off from the smaller and bigger pictures. Who wouldn't though, let’s be honest if green = more tax then they know where they can shove it!
Still it doesn't have to be like this. There is a truth in the matter and if you take all the science out the way it is pretty fair to say that we are pretty bad when it comes to giving back what we have taken from the earth. (Think back to the last time you visited your local Tip, what could have been recycled rather than just dumped).
I'll give you an example sourced from the times online - 15 million handsets last year in the UK were sent to the great phone maker in the sky. The amount that was actually recycled was around 2% or 300,000 phones.
Yes there has been an increase in the amount of websites you can send your phone to for cash but even these sites do not tell you the real facts.
Of the phones which are not sent to charities etc or those that are refurbished and re issued there is a huge amount that either do not have a value or have just laid in a drawer for a few years and wouldn’t be of use to anybody (you think)
Now here is a thing. If you had 50,000 mobiles you would be sitting on around 25K for the gold content alone. This doesn’t sound like a lot but it soon adds up. you wouldn’t just throw a gold ring in the bin now would you?
This has nothing to do with Carbon footprints or Greenhouses - it’s just waste - waste which when you think about it is pretty shocking.
Start adding your other electrical into this (DVD machines, Sat navs, TV's etc) and all of a sudden you may realise that it’s not the carbon that’s the problem but the fact that if anything electrical lasts more than 5 years these days it’s a miracle.
If you could actually see the pile of electricals you have amassed over the past few years I can imagine that you would be pretty shocked.
I’ll be letting you know over the next few weeks what you can do which will effectively rid us all of this problem for ever. The best thing about it is you don't even need to leave your house to make a change, or invest in the next greatest thing - but for now that would be telling !
