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Top of the morn' to you all

Happy Birthday to us!

Here we are, yet again, with more 'All Things Good'. Apologies for the late arrival of this month's issue - No 'leaves on the line' excuses we're afraid...but the first anniversary celebrations of your favourite goody packed monthly email were so extensive it has taken the Wasteminister and surrounding cronies a while to get back on our feet again....but we're back! Like the Robin Hoods of the 21st century - trying to bring some form of equilibrium to this place we call home.

You know what we always say - if you're with us, come on in and take a seat....if you wish to say adieu - leave us and you shall not darken our doorway again...and fair ye well.

The new look of 'All Things Good ' seemed to go down a treat - a couple of missing gifs here and there but we probably all suffer from that every now and then.

"Nobody knows the age of the human race, but everybody agrees that it is old enough to know better." Anonymous

This Month in All Things Good:

Cleaning up your act

There is more to your toiletries than meets the eye. There has been a staggering proliferation of chemicals being use to produce virtually everything imaginable. Chemicals which are more often than not, toxic and sometimes carcinogenic (cancer forming). They are used because they are cheap and often they are no different from the harsh toxic chemicals used in industry. Some of these chemicals are being linked to the development of diseases such as MS, ME and arthritis - so worth taking time to consider these facts.

Look out for some of the following little horrors included in the chemical cocktails that make up our toiletries:

Propylene glycol (PG) is a wetting agent and solvent used in make-up, hair care products, deodorants and aftershave. Also a main ingredient in antifreeze and brake fluid.

Isopropyl an alcohol used in hair rinses, hand lotions and fragrances, also used as a solvent and found in wood finishing lacquers.

Sodium lauryl sulphate (SLS) used in toothpastes, shampoos and just about every personal cleaning solution, it is a harsh detergent commonly used as an engine degreaser.

As we use them every day of every year of our lives, the long-term affects can be serious, so why not consider changing your brands to products that are free of these chemicals. As always, they can be found in most organic stores, Fresh and Wild has a large range but many 'normal' high street stores and supermarkets sell such products. We suggest Avalon, www.avalonnaturalproducts.com , you can order on line, it is as a good line & cheaper than most - these have been tried and tested by the Wasteminister. Others include Tom's of Main toothpaste and Aveda products.

Smile!

Question: What do you call those cameras, sold in most chemists and photographic shops which you buy, use and that's it?

If your answer is disposable....then wash your mouth out with soap and water, you naughty things, cos you are telling porky pies.

The 'throw away' design of these cameras caused such an environmental stir when they first came onto the market in the 1980s that the manufacturers had to go back to the drawing board to redesign them. Now, they are an almost entirely recyclable product, and by ensuring that the camera has to be handed in to get the photograph developed, the retrieval rate is about 100%.

Kodak, Fuji, Konica and other have a reciprocal collect and exchange scheme - the cameras are disassembled, most of the parts are reused, they are checked and then go back out into the shops with new film....now isn't that a pretty picture.

The Best Things in Life...are free

If you haven't already seen it, get ya'sels down to the 'Earth from the Air' exhibition outside the Natural History Museum RIGHT NOW. This incredible exhibition is in London until early June and then heads off around the country....amazing photos, fascinating facts and liberatingly free.....

That's all folks...

thewasteminister@green-solutions.com

75% of illnesses are caused by stress.

When Rover sent some simple energy saving tips to its employees at the Longbridge car plant, the total energy savings worth £1 million were achieved in just 6 months.

In the UK 5 billion plastic cups are thrown away each year - use mugs or glasses. Don't forget the old mantra -(all together now) reduce, reuse, recycle....

Air pollution, mainly from vehicle exhausts, kills more people in Britain than die in road accidents.

'We have some very exciting news' announced two constituents of Wasteminster last week....on tenterhooks the Wasteminister hardly dared ask - a promotion? a new car? an engagement to be married? 'No - our orange sacks have arrived'. Truly exciting news indeed, for pair of avid recyclers live in Hammersmith and Fulham are benefiting from the new recycling scheme to sweep through the boroughs of Wandsworth and H & F. IT IS SO EASY. Get your orange bag from the council, put your paper, glass, tins, cans and plastic bottles in together and put it out on the right day and off it goes....The councils are very pleased with the results so far.

If you live in these areas and you aren't already doing this - beware, as there will shortly be a 'hall of shame' in the cabinet office..wo betide anyone who makes it in there.

So now there's green boxes in Teeside, Lambeth, Brent, Hackney, Ealing, Waltham Forest to name but a few...bag recycling in K & C, H & F, Wandsworth....could it be easier?

Why don't you....

....stop reading this email and do something green instead! There are many conservation organisations out there that need you, 'think globally, act locally'

The leading organisation in Britain is BTCV, www.btcv.org, their vision is of a world where people value their environment and take practical action to improve it. You can do projects locally or go on one of their holidays - imagine how lovely to be spending a weekend in a secluded wooded valley in the heart of the North Yorkshire Moors whilst learning how to build dry stone wall or other conservation tasks.

For further projects, contact the National Trust www.nationaltrust.org.uk, RSPB www.rspb.org.uk and the Association of Countryside Voluntary Wardens, www.naturenet.net .

You may already work for a company that gets involved in conservation projects and you may have even volunteered, banks such as Deutschebank and Barclays are a couple that do. HSBC are about to undertake some teamwork training with a local environmental charity in London. If you want your organisation to get involved - ask your human resources department and contact the Wasteminister if they want more details..

Reply - your feedback

Like the new look - much easier to read - thanks

Re-spond...yourquestions answered.

Q. Is there is an alternative to the water cooler system in most offices? Presumably the environmental costs of chauffeuring water about in plastic containers is relatively high. Is there a commercially viable (i.e. cheap and low maintenance) green alternative that avoids London tap water?

A. For small offices you may consider buying a filter jug - the Wasteminister enjoys drinking lashings of water from such a contraption. The water coolers plugged into the mains are also quite a good idea - but of course these both involve drinking tap water. It is possible to fit separate 'drinking water' taps to your mains system - which puts the water through an extra purifying process before it comes out of the tap. If you are concerned about the amount of fuel being used up to ferry water containers for your office machine, but still prefer that water - encourage your office manager to order more at a time and store them up. Swiss Re has even started bottling water in its own reusable branded bottles - so there's no more Abbey Well or Perrier in the Board Room, it is Swiss Re through and through.

Q. Am trying to get a recycling scheme going for where I live - do you have a list of the recycling options that local authorities offer? There is so
much inconsistency in London - we must iron it out!

A. The best place to find this sort of information is on a website called www.capitalwastefacts.com. That should give you an idea of the schemes run by all the boroughs and an idea of how to contact your local recycling officer. www.letsrecycle.com provides contact details for local authority recycling officers throughout the country.

Q. Do I get a prize? I am down scaling - leaving London to go and work for a company based in the North of England which produces an environmentally sound bacteria that guzzles the fatty deposits which cause drain blockages...no more 'one shot' or dyno-rod - these hungry little monsters do the trick!

A. Well your immediate prize is unlimited quantities of clean air, a simpler journey to work everyday and beautiful countryside to look at on the way and we will charge you less for the privilege, but perhaps you may be the first in a long line of 'downscalers of the month' exposing themselves through 'All Things Good'.

Q. I work for a firm of Chartered Surveyors and we seem to be accumulating rather a lot of old and unused keys because we have changed the locks on so many premises and i wondered if you knew of anywhere they could be sent to for recycling ?

A. This is the first time the Wasteminister has received such a question...so more research is needed, but have you tried taking the keys back to the key cutters? Otherwise it might be worth contacting a scrap metal merchant. They might all be different metal mixes and hence of little value, but it might be interesting to hear from any other readers who have found a solution to a similar problem.

Newsletter Design By: www.green-solutions.com

Editorial By: The Wasteminister Images From: www.freeimages.co.uk