Marks and Spencer hopes to cut plastic bag use with 5p levy

I wonder if any of the local supermarket chains such as PAVI, Smart, Scotts, Lidl etc have considered such a move to cut at our bad habit of filling our car booths full of goods in plastic bags. Personally, I doubt it. I still remember the outrage when the ecotax was announced. I am not aware of any figures that show wheter such a tax has managed to reduce the consumption of certain products, apart from filling the public coffers.

Marks & Spencer will charge 5p for each bag and the proceeds will go to charity. In Britain, 13billion bags are distributed each year, each of which can take up to 1000 years to decay. Plus they are made from the black gold called oil.

Can anyone tell some executive at these chains that reducing the distribution of plastic bags helps their bottom line and the environment? At least, they can start a trail at one of their many outlets and gauge customer feedback.

Source: The Guardian

Awesome football video

This video is so cool, I had to put in on this blog (apart from the fact that I have not blogged much lately). This video has to do with the EA Sport Fifa Street 3. Great promo video of course, and cool skills, especially the shot over the head! Enjoy

This is really pure genius - a car that runs on air!

Can you imagine this? A car that runs on compressed air! I could not believe this until I saw this video. That car and future off shoots can do wonders for the environment by reducing air pollution and CO2 emissions.

I wish all the best of luck to the two engineers on succeeded in the their project.

Also, the following comment caught my eye on youtube.com:

beautiful this cars will stop the terrorism we are sponsoring by buying oil from arabs

Climate change progress and the US

Is this deja vu or history repetition?

The conference (in Hawaii) ended with the U.S. agreeing to join nearly 190 countries to craft a blueprint for fighting climate change by 2009. But that only happened after participants loudly booed repeated U.S. objections to the document.

Source: CNN

Europe's map according to the Maltese

I could not let this go unnoticed...so good. The words are in Maltese of course!

Lost for words

This blog has been quite dry lately, not much to say, not much to write. But, I have some news I would like to share. On Thursday 14th of February, I am off to Paris for a short break from this country, MIRM and politics. I shall be back on Sunday night, so if you want to catch me at the airport...

I shall not be alone of course. Baanisuu will join me.

A wonderful Valentine's Day present.

Now this is a first!

"The Church of England is urging people to cut down on carbon, rather than chocolate, for Lent this year.

The 40-day plan lists simple energy-saving actions that can lead towards a lighter carbon footprint, including snubbing plastic bags, giving the dishwasher a day off, insulating the hot-water tank and checking the house for drafts.

Participants are asked to begin the carbon fast by removing one light bulb from a prominent place in the home and live without it for 40 days, as a constant visual reminder during Lent of the need to cut energy. On the final day of the fast, people are encouraged to replace the missing bulb with an energy-saving bulb."

The article on The Guardian also gives the 40-day plan. Some of the items are pretty simple, others require some investment. Whatever it is, you do not have to be a Church of England follower, or a Christian at all. What is good for the environment is good for Christians, Muslims and Buddhists alike.

Just read and follow.

Please note that the 'carbon fasting' must be carried out through the other 325(6) days of the year, of course.

Album of the Month: Dave Gahan - Hourglass

One of the things I like about winter is to have to keep the windows of my car shut while I am driving. This makes for an excellent opportunity to better listen to music since the sound waves are not distorted with the turbulence coming from open windows.

I grabbed this opportunity to get some new stuff. My pal R had made me listed to some staff from Dave Gahan, which I liked. I then managed to get his album Hourglass which was released last October.

My impression? Wow what an album! I must admit I was not much of a Depeche Mode listener so I cannot compare nor contrast. But Hourglass is really a good listen to, especially in a month like January where you are stuck with exams, assignment deadlines AND really tight work schedules.

Hourglass is for sure a welcome addition my list of favourites.