The title says it all... This week is Recycle Now Week... Visit their website for information and ideas about recycling!
Showing posts with label recycling. Show all posts
Showing posts with label recycling. Show all posts
Tuesday, 5 June 2007
Monday, 26 March 2007
Reminder - Young Geographer of the Year
A reminder that you have just over a month to get your entries in for the Young Geographer of the Year competition...
Some fabulous prizes to be won - and all you have to do is come up with a magazine cover (Age 12 and under) or write a magazine article (13-15 years old and 16-18 years old) considering the question "Can recycling save the world?".
You can find full details of the competition from the Geographical website by clicking on the picture, and there are lots of links to get you started on Rob Chambers' blog.
Once you've got your entry together, come and see me to complete an entry form and then we can get them sent off in good time!
Thursday, 22 February 2007
Competitions...
While we're on the topic of cold places...
Time is running out to get your entries in for the Ice Edge competition to win a trip to the Arctic! All you need to do is get a team of 2 -4 people together, and come up with an idea to save the planet... Click on the logo to find out more from the website, or come and see me in H5.
Time is running out to get your entries in for the Ice Edge competition to win a trip to the Arctic! All you need to do is get a team of 2 -4 people together, and come up with an idea to save the planet... Click on the logo to find out more from the website, or come and see me in H5.
Young Geographer of the Year...
also has an environmental theme... Some great prizes up for grabs here as well... Scroll down to the post from 11th February to find out more. Rob Chambers has some useful links on his blog to help you get started... www.geobytesgcse.blogspot.com
Ordnance Survey World Map Competition
The Ordnance Survey are running a competition for students to design a world map with a theme... More details tomorrow...
Sunday, 11 February 2007
CAN recycling save the world? What do YOU think?
Cast your vote below...
And if you think it's a waste of time, what should we be doing instead? Or should we just stop worrying? Leave a comment and let us know!
And if you think it's a waste of time, what should we be doing instead? Or should we just stop worrying? Leave a comment and let us know!
Can recycling save the world?
That's the question you need to try and answer if you want to be in with a chance of being Young Geographer of the Year 2007!
There are some fantastic prizes up for grabs - including an Amazon expedition and working with elephants in Namibia - in the annual competition run by the RGS-IBG.
There are three entry categories - Senior Geographers (16-18 years old) and Young Geographers (13-15 years old) are asked to write a magazine article entitled "Can recycling save the world?", while the challenge for Junior Geographers (12 years and under) is to design an "exciting magazine cover" with the same theme...
You have until the 30th April to get your entries in, so click on the picture for more information about the competition, get your thinking caps on, and then come and tell me all your fab ideas when we get back to school!
There are some fantastic prizes up for grabs - including an Amazon expedition and working with elephants in Namibia - in the annual competition run by the RGS-IBG.There are three entry categories - Senior Geographers (16-18 years old) and Young Geographers (13-15 years old) are asked to write a magazine article entitled "Can recycling save the world?", while the challenge for Junior Geographers (12 years and under) is to design an "exciting magazine cover" with the same theme...
You have until the 30th April to get your entries in, so click on the picture for more information about the competition, get your thinking caps on, and then come and tell me all your fab ideas when we get back to school!
Tuesday, 23 January 2007
Packaging, packaging... and more packaging!
An interesting article on the front page of today's Independent - looking at the (in my opinion rather ridiculous!) amount of packaging waste generated by your average visit to the supermarket...
Reading the comments that have been sent in by Independent readers, it seems I'm not on my own!
Does toothpaste really need to be in a plastic tube AND a cardboard box? Are pizzas better for being packed in a polystyrene tray with a plastic wrapper and a cardboard box?
And although Sainsbury's sell some of their organic fruit and vegetables in compostable trays, the majority of this unneccessary packaging cannot be recycled.
The comments from the supermarkets are interesting as well... "We are committed to making sure packaging is not excessive." (Tesco)... "We already have a target to reduce our packaging..." (Sainsbury's)... "We plan to minimise packaging in the first instance and transfer the remaining packaging to biodegradable." (Waitrose). One reader had commented on the USB memory stick she'd bought from Staples - in a cardboard box, shrink-wrapped, in a plastic display case and a further plastic storage box. Staples declined to comment!
The good news is that the Environment Minister (Ben Bradshaw) and the Secretary of State for the Environment (David Miliband), as well as a number of other politicians, have expressed their concern and are backing the Independent's campaign...
So... what can we do about it?
The politicians suggest that we write to our local councils and the Trading Standards Authority and "shop the shops".
I once wrote to Marks and Spencer, returning some packaging to them that I couldn't recycle, and asking them to dispose of it in an environmentally-friendly manner... I never heard from them... I guess the packaging went to a landfill site...
Some people suggest unwrapping everything you buy in the supermarket, and leaving the packaging at the checkout - I've not been brave enough to do this yet!
Perhaps avoid buying products with unneccessary packaging? Then you end up (assuming you keep shopping in supermarkets) in the situation that I did the other day... Broccoli grown in Lincolnshire in a plastic, cling-film wrapped tray? Or broccoli grown in Kenya in a compostable wrapper? (Interestingly, it was the Kenyan broccoli, and not the Lincolnshire-grown, that was organic!)
So... packaging... food miles... organic... and then when you bring Fairtrade into the equation... What a complicated world we live in these days!!
Leave a comment and let us know about excessive packaging you've experienced... And more importantly, any great ideas you've got for dealing with the problem and getting the supermarkets to change their ways!
Reading the comments that have been sent in by Independent readers, it seems I'm not on my own!
Does toothpaste really need to be in a plastic tube AND a cardboard box? Are pizzas better for being packed in a polystyrene tray with a plastic wrapper and a cardboard box?
And although Sainsbury's sell some of their organic fruit and vegetables in compostable trays, the majority of this unneccessary packaging cannot be recycled.
The comments from the supermarkets are interesting as well... "We are committed to making sure packaging is not excessive." (Tesco)... "We already have a target to reduce our packaging..." (Sainsbury's)... "We plan to minimise packaging in the first instance and transfer the remaining packaging to biodegradable." (Waitrose). One reader had commented on the USB memory stick she'd bought from Staples - in a cardboard box, shrink-wrapped, in a plastic display case and a further plastic storage box. Staples declined to comment!
The good news is that the Environment Minister (Ben Bradshaw) and the Secretary of State for the Environment (David Miliband), as well as a number of other politicians, have expressed their concern and are backing the Independent's campaign...
So... what can we do about it?
The politicians suggest that we write to our local councils and the Trading Standards Authority and "shop the shops".
I once wrote to Marks and Spencer, returning some packaging to them that I couldn't recycle, and asking them to dispose of it in an environmentally-friendly manner... I never heard from them... I guess the packaging went to a landfill site...
Some people suggest unwrapping everything you buy in the supermarket, and leaving the packaging at the checkout - I've not been brave enough to do this yet!
Perhaps avoid buying products with unneccessary packaging? Then you end up (assuming you keep shopping in supermarkets) in the situation that I did the other day... Broccoli grown in Lincolnshire in a plastic, cling-film wrapped tray? Or broccoli grown in Kenya in a compostable wrapper? (Interestingly, it was the Kenyan broccoli, and not the Lincolnshire-grown, that was organic!)
So... packaging... food miles... organic... and then when you bring Fairtrade into the equation... What a complicated world we live in these days!!
Leave a comment and let us know about excessive packaging you've experienced... And more importantly, any great ideas you've got for dealing with the problem and getting the supermarkets to change their ways!
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