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Posts Tagged ‘idea’
Idea #5 – Wedge
Saturday, May 22nd, 2010Idea #4 – paying people to recycle
Friday, May 21st, 2010I don’t believe in the government overcompensating for the rest of the population when it comes to positive change. Whether the aim is to send less to landfill or to create a population that is not obese, I don’t see why money should ever seriously come into changing people’s habits.
With recycling, I think targets should be met by educating people about the facts of landfills rather than by bribing them to recycle more. Perhaps the issue of landfills filling up quickly is one considered important enough to use money to change people’s habits, but I think if something is considered important by people they will act on it.
As with any ideas of tackling obesity by paying people to lose weight, increasing the reuse and recycling of materials isn’t an idea dreamt up for the fun of it. It is in our own interests to do something about our landfill situation, so why do we have to even consider being paid for it?
It’s one thing to make recycling easier so that targets can be met, but handing out money is well beyond making it easier. We should take some responsibility for our lives (and environment).
(Incidentally, is anybody using the phrase “nanny state” in response to the suggestion of being paid to recycle more, or is it only used when there’s no suggestion of monetary incentives for a change in our behaviours?)
Idea #3 – recycling
Thursday, May 13th, 2010Maybe recycling isn’t as great as it first appears. For example, I’d not considered that white recycled paper was once paper that was not white and ready for reuse. How did it become white again? Was it bleached? What is the ecological impact of making the paper white again in terms of chemicals and energy used? How many more times can this recycled paper be recycled?
In the end, it seems, recycled materials will end up in landfill. It will just take longer to get there, as materials are recycled until they are no longer useful.
Idea #2 – Reason washing machine
Saturday, March 20th, 2010I just watched a video of Andrew Reason talking about the washing machine he invented. The drum slides open and you just drop the washing into the drum. It has a 10kg capacity, yet has standard European dimensions. When the washing is put into the drum, the washing machine weighs the load, and only uses that amount of water. It has some other clever details, too.
Idea #1 – urban farming
Monday, February 15th, 2010One idea and a thought before I go to bed: “Paris, just one century ago, grew more than 100,000 tons of crops; it ended up with so much that the surplus was shipped to London”.