As the joint Chief Executive Officer of a spirited nine year old, global warming and the state of the environment that is passed on to her is an ongoing concern. The recent sweltering weather in many parts of Europe breaking records daily caused me to check my environmental compass yet again. Am I doing all I can?
The Government (in their wisdom) is advising us to put less in the recycling bin because so much of it (crisp packets, juice cartons, toothpaste tubes) can’t be recycled and it is contaminating the system.
Rather than compelling manufacturers to create alternative packaging for certain products, the onus is on consumers. Manufacturers are simply off the hook. They can sleep at night. The burden, it’s on us. We are deemed the packaging and recycling experts and it’s all our fault. We are bad people.
And get this……putting the wrong item into the recycling bin can mean whole tranches are tipped in landfill.
Actually, I will revise my initial assessment……we are terrible people. The worst.
Charged with being a good CEO to that nine year old, my plan is to set an example and be a good citizen……the best. It’s all on us, remember.
I set about trying to decode the baffling recycling symbols that are clearly a secret language that’s nigh on impossible to decode and far too confusing to be effective. I checked the symbol and did the honourable thing of asking Mr Google to decode the symbol. The result……“widely recycled”, which is excellent, but then adds: “as accepted by 75% of local authorities’’.
So am I one of the lucky 75%? I don’t have to phone my council, do I? I really don’t want to turn into ‘that person’. I know it’s absolutely inevitable that I will but I am doing my best to hold off for a few years before I morph.
I look on Darlington Borough Council’s website. Nothing about sour cream Pringles. But crisp packets……they’re a “no”. Then I note that under the symbol on the tube it says in tiny letters: “lid”. So only the lid is recyclable? And only by 75% of local authorities? Is my council a lid-accepter? I go back to their website. Nothing on lids.
I decide to move on to the next symbol on the Pringles. It says “tube” up top and then “recycle at recycling point”. “Do not recycle at home”. Where is this recycling point they talk of? I go to the Pringles website for guidance.
They have “Bring Banks”, apparently. I can do that. I can bring my empty tube to a Bring Bank. I scour the list of locations and my nearest is a 98 mile round trip involving paying to use the Tyne Tunnel (which will cost more than the Pringles).
Or I could go by public transport and it will take 6 hours. I appreciate it’s not most people’s idea of a day out but it’s school holidays and we have one planet (and all that).
But what’s this? They also have “drop-off points”. What are these mysterious drop-off points that pretty much everyone knows nothing of? I get redirected to a company called TerraCycle to learn that these points are run by members of the public who basically volunteer as a collector. Brilliant……my kind of people.
The volunteer is less than a mile away and I pass them on the way to the office. When I get there, it is a normal house. No recycling bin. No Pringles dayglo sign with an arrow pointing. What am I supposed to do? Knock? Post it through the letter box? Chuck the tube in the garden?
So here I am, having put in a day’s work on this……sitting here cuddling my empty tube……trying to keep it together. But it’s still all our fault. We must do better.
The Numbers
For me, too many people got waaaaaaaaay too excited over the inflation announcement this month……7.9% (down from 8.7%). Let’s be clear, this is still 4 times (give or take) the Bank of England target of 2%. Come back to me when we hit Rishi and Jezza’s magic 5% figure and I will still be utterly perplexed.
On the back of the inflation news, interest rates are predicted to rise less sharply. The Bank of England has put up rates 13 times since December 2021 to try to cool soaring price rises, driving up borrowing costs for millions. But it is now under less pressure to do so if inflation continues to fall. But will it continue?
Never have we seen such rapid interest rate rises, which makes it difficult to judge the stress points. There are going to be many losers in all this economic turmoil……it is just a case of who will be hit the hardest and some of the figures this month offer a clue.
- House prices fell at their fastest rate for 12 years, with higher mortgage costs and the cost of living squeeze putting buyers off.
- Then there is construction, with the rate of contraction in housebuilding the fastest in more than 14 years. UK brick sales last month were 27% lower than a year ago.
- There was a 27% increase in business insolvencies this month, compared to the same time last year.
- Then there is the Government, with borrowing costs rising to a 16 year high. This is expensive money for a Government whose debts are more than 100% of national income. If only we could grow GDP by 4%... increase our exports to the largest and geographically closest single market, reduce red tape and burden on small business. Oh yeah, thanks Brexit.
- The Government held emergency talks with the industry regulator in case the debt-laden Thames Water needs the option of nationalisation. Rising interest rates are piling pressure on leveraged companies across the sector, with Thames Water owing £14 billion (the highest debt ratio in the sector at more than 80%).
More optimistic news came from the US with inflation down to 3%, its lowest level for more than 2 years. That could mean US central bankers may finally pause their increases in borrowing costs over the next few months, easing fears that they would trigger a recession for the world’s largest economy.
My own favourite number this month……12C was the water temperature for the little lady’s first wild swim with me.
Trump of the Month
An interesting month of candidate considerations……especially as Parliament is closed for the next 6 weeks as (apparently) there is not much going on at the moment that needs their attention.
HMRC did their best to be considered, having made a right royal mess over recent times with the management of all things tax. Not content with such disorder, they have found a way to make things worse……by closing their self-assessment helpline until September. Offering no help on a complex process and matter is pure lunacy.
BoJo had a good crack at muscling in on the action by naming his new born son Frank Alfred Odysseus Johnson.
For those not up to date with Greek mythology, Odysseus was the king of the island of Ithaca and well known among the Greeks as a most unique speaker, womaniser and a cunning trickster. How apt.
And then there was NatWest……who kicked Nigel Farage out of their premier banking division (Coutts) as “his views do not align with our values”.
Really? And what values are they, given that NatWest had to be bailed out and are still part taxpayer owned? And what about your values when you held dictator General Pinochet (indicted for human rights violations committed in Chile) money as a client?
Do I agree with Nigel Farage’s political views? No. That’s a big NO.
Do I think banks should be able to close the accounts of people they disagree with politically? No.
Am I sick to death of hearing about Nigel Farage? YES.
When we rely on banks to set moral standards, we know we are in trouble. Sympathy is wasted on any of the participants in this story. Move on quickly.
Which leaves just one logical choice……the Trump of the Month for July is……Suella Braverman.
Suzy deserves huge credit for services to lunacy as every wheel came off her Rwanda Deportation Plan. The Government admitted the policy, which is designed to be a deterrent……won’t actually be a deterrent. It will also cost almost £170,000 per person deported.
The bill was torn to pieces by the House of Lords and then the entire policy was ruled illegal in the Royal Court of Justice. Rishi informed all that “I respect the court”. Suzy said that she “didn’t respect the court because it was rigged against the British people.
She went on to suggest courts should be abolished or ignored because “the majority of the British people demand a Rwanda policy” (really……the majority?).
And get this……she is the Home Secretary…..it is her actual job to uphold the legal system.
Absolute nutter.
Trump Lunacy Rating: 10 / 10
And Finally……
“If history teaches anything, it teaches that self-delusion in the face of unpleasant facts is folly.”
Ronald Reagan
No comments:
Post a Comment