Recycling in Spain

I was really impressed with the recycling facilities in Spain. In most of the places I visited there were recycling bins on the street (the photo is from San Sebastian on the north coast). Even more impressive, along with the bins for glass, paper and plastic, there would also often be a bin for compost.

I talked to someone at the environmental centre in San Sebastian and he explained that they have these bins instead of a door-to-door collection system the way we do. People in the surrounding apartments bring their rubbish and recycling out to the bins on the street.

The main trunk line

My main effort at making my Europe trip a little bit greener was to commit to not making any domestic flights. Everywhere that I reasonably could, I took the train.

So, the very first thing I noticed was that of all the places I wanted to travel (Spain, France, the UK) the only train journey that didn't have a scheduled service every day was between Wellington and Auckland.

That's right - the train between two of our main centres only runs three days a week in the winter. How crazy is that? I guess so many people fly instead that it's not viable to run more often.

But I reckon the train service is really valuable. It creates about 1/8th the carbon emissions of flying. It would be terrible if it stopped running altogether.

So I'm glad that I put my money into supporting it.

And, damn, it's a beautiful journey.

Europe

I'm just back from two months in Europe.

First up, I want to say right away that in no way do I think that flying halfway around the world is environmentally friendly. That's around 8 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions, chickees. About as much as the average New Zealander emits in a year. Or, shockingly, around eight times one of the suggested annual quotas if you divide allowable emissions equally among the world's population.

However, since I needed to go the UK on family business, I was bound to be interested in thinking about environmental stuff while I was there, right?

So I'm going to share a bunch of posts on a tourist's view of sustainability in Europe.

Electric cars and off-peak power

I think I've changed my mind about electric cars. Maybe they are A Good Thing.

I used to think: "Yes, great, zero emissions, but where the heck is all that electricity going to come from?"

I read a couple of different things, one from Waikato University(The Potential for Battery Electric Cars in New Zealand) that suggests 10% more electricity would be needed - if there's a move to public transport, walking etc as well. Twenty percent more if not. That sounds like a whole new Manapouri situation.

Then someone suggested the idea of recharging electric cars with off-peak power.

And it checks out. EECA says that there is enough surplus electricity generated off-peak to power all of our current fleet of cars.

And if you needed more, Good magazine gives you ten good reasons to buy one.

There's a little niggle in the back of my mind about batteries, but for now I'm feeling positive about the idea again.

Organic vegetables, bees, butterflies and hoverflies

I've switched to buying organic vegetables.

I'd been thinking about it for a while, because of all that good stuff about organics (more carbon held in the soil, less fertiliser runoff into waterways, more biodiversity) but it took me a while to decide to make the change - because organic does cost more.

While I was dithering, I read a blog post that reminded me about the worldwide problem with declining pollinators.

And I thought to myself: "I think I can't afford an extra $10 or 15 a week for vegetables, but I think I can afford to live in a world without bees?"

I guess we don't yet know for sure the reason that bees are declining, but it reminded me that my expectations about the price of food might be based on a slightly screwed-up system.

Cancun and deforestation

Great editorial in the Listener a couple of weeks ago on solutions for deforestation coming out of Cancun: Chop or change .

I want to find out more about REDD, the UN scheme for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation.

Cancun may only have been a small step forward, but it gives me renewed hope for a global agreement on reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Biodegradable pen

Look at this!



No, really, it is exciting - look closer!



Who'd've thought it? A biodegradable pen!

Amazing.

This one is made by Lecce , who don't give away a lot about what it's made of (though I suspect it might help if I spoke Italian).

And what's more, this is just the tip of the iceberg - have a dekko at this array of biodegradable pens.