Daily review 18/03/2021

5 comments on “Daily review 18/03/2021 ”

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1. Drowsy M. Kram 1

   18 March 2021 at 9:27 pm

   Today was Global Recycling Day. More recycling will help – so will less consumption.

   Global Recycling Day: We need to think resource, not waste
   Society has consumed more resources in the last 50 years than in the rest of history and, of the 78 million tons of plastic packaging produced every year, only 2% of plastic packaging gets recycled in a “closed loop”. This behavior is not sustainable.

   The ongoing battle with plastic waste
   Currently, the world is not efficiently handling this resource. Only 14% of the world’s plastic waste is captured for recycling, meaning the majority of our packaging is going to landfill, being incinerated or being lost into the environment. According to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, 32% of plastic packaging ends up polluting our land and oceans as litter.

   Only 2% is being kept within the closed loop. That means 98% of plastic packaging currently is being lost outside of the circular economy, a truly staggering amount.

   This stems from the tradition of a linear model of ‘make, take, dispose’ when it comes to plastic packaging. Every year, more than 1.4 trillion plastic beverage containers are sold. That’s one million bottles every minute, and a figure that’s expected to grow by 20 percent by 2021.
   • greywarshark 1.1

     18 March 2021 at 10:10 pm

     This costly environmental issue is a fit one to follow on from the above.

     https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/ldr/438674/half-tonne-fatberg-blocks-gisborne-wastewater-two-years-after-similar-incident

     Two years after $100,000 was spent jet cleaning a "fatberg" from Gisborne's sewer network a half-tonne mass largely composed of fat, wet wipes and rags has built up in the same place….

     [Council infrastructure manager Neville West] West said blockages were a "major challenge" but they had increased budgets for jet cleaning to remove fatbergs.

     "What we're actually getting through is a lot of wet wipes and this is a national issue that's come about in the last five years," he said.

     There has to be a determined effort to change the public's attitudes, behaviour. Street meetings with balloons for the kids (I know more rubbish but a ploy to get changes). Go into schools so that kids tell their mothers and perhaps fathers about the no-no. Get preachy so people take in the message. 'It is a Responsibilities matter that go with living together in a place that is clean and safe and pleasant to be in. All need to help to make it that way.'

     The Council make a threat that they will pick up the stuff, put it in a skip and dump it around the city, shifting locations, and let everyone have a smell of what their poor behaviour leads to. That would lead to criticism of the Council, and they could say actually it is a criticism of your lack of community solidarity that you can't do things to keep the community clean and hygienic like adults should do. Those that don't block the drains have to pay to clean up for those that are doing it. It's not fair to them, and to the Council.

     And there are tonnes of clothing thrown in landfills each year, and much of it could he cut up and used as a wetwipe. Stop using the wipes, make use of some of the clothing, then throw it out, would be a better idea.
     • Graeme 1.1.1

       19 March 2021 at 7:34 am

       In my local body engineering days the problem was pantyhose down the loo getting wrapped around pump impellers in the sewer. And plastic drink bottles in large stormwater pipes, they get wedged in household laterals where the lateral joins a large pipe. Both were reduced by pretty simple engineering fixes but wipes are in another league. They stick to protrusions and pressure points in the pipe and to each other, so made to block pipes.

       A blockage in the same place as a previous one doesn't reflect well on the council engineering and maintenance depts. The reason the wipes snagged there should have been identified, and if not rectified at least monitored.
2. Drowsy M. Kram 2

   19 March 2021 at 3:57 am

   Reports on the death of Queenstown 'premature' says Stuart Nash
   "And if the Prime Minister doesn't pull finger and get on with this [she is] going to end up with the death of Queenstown on her." – Judith Collins

   Is this the first time the NZ msm has reported an MP using the phrase 'pull finger' in relation to a PM, cf. ‘the Government’? A new low for the 'Honourable' Collins, imho – she's making this personal. Such a disgraceful and dishonourable creature – simply vile.

   English: rural school housing disgraceful
   "Good teachers is the only way to ensure good education and a bright future for our kids. The Government should pull finger and show they appreciate teachers by ensuring their housing is at least average."
   – National party Education spokesman Bill English [2004]
3. GreenBus 3

   19 March 2021 at 9:39 am

   Tsunami Zone-Gisborne. My wife and I (along with 15 or so others) were parked up at the beach 10k north of Gisborne when the recent earthquake hit at 2.30am. Well, our bus was going up and down like a yo-yo, it was strongly felt but not violently so, I thought. Nobody at this beach parkup did anything, including us. I talked to the wife about the Tsunami danger we were in, (our front wheels were touching the sand) remembering the TV warnings we constantly watch. We decided that the shaking was not that strong, risk was low and tried to go back to sleep.

   2 things here.

   In hindsight I regret not immediately moving to high ground. This could have turned out badly. Bad decision.

   Field officers from the Gisborne council turned up at 4.30am and blasted all of us for not moving. WTF?

   What is the point of turning up 2 hours later? A Tsunami will likely take 15-30mins to arrive. And where were the sirens? Nothing. If this is the level of warning the public can expect we are knackered if such an event actually does happen. I will certainly be gone the next time this happens, no waiting for officials or anyone for advice online. We were lucky I think.

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