1. The artificial tree that captures carbon dioxide 1,000 times faster than a real tree. Developed by researchers at Columbia University, the tree, which resembles a cylinder, absorbs carbon dioxide and then releases it in a technique – called gas absorption – similar to a sponge that collects water. One tree can collect one ton of CO2 a day, the equivalent of the amount of carbon dioxide emitted by 20 cars. But each synthetic tree costs £15,000 to make and millions would be needed just to offset the emissions of Britain’s cars.

2. Injecting the air with particles to reflect sunlight. It may be possible to inject artificial sulphate particles into the upper atmosphere to reflect sunlight – but the theory does not address ocean acidification caused by rising CO2 levels and there could be side effects such as acid rain.

3. Creating low clouds over the oceans. Increasing the Earth’s albedo, or reflectivity to sunlight, by pumping water vapour into the air to stimulate cloud formation over the sea. This could involve a fleet of ships spraying salt water to increase the density of clouds by raising the concentration of water droplets within them.

4. Mixing the deep water of the ocean. James Lovelock, working with Chris Rapley of the Science Museum in London, devised a plan to put giant tubes into the seas to take surface water rich in dissolved CO2 to lower depths where it will not surface. The idea is to take CO2 out of the short-term carbon cycle, cutting the gas in the atmosphere.

5. Giant mirrors in space. Deflect sunlight with a giant mirror (pictured right) or a fleet of small mirrors between the Earth and the Sun. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has said that 1 per cent of reflected sunlight could make up for 400 years of man made emissions into the atmosphere.

6. Planetary skin. A global “nervous system” that will integrate land, sea, air and space-based sensors, helping the public and private sectors to make decisions to prevent and adapt to climate change. The pilot project – a prototype is due by 2010 – will track how much carbon is held by rainforests and where.

7. Earth sunglasses. Arizona University astronomer Roger Angel suggests using electro-magnetically powered spacecraft to blast trillions of ultra-thin silicon lenses into space to deflect the sun’s rays. Once in place, they would create a 100,000 square mile sunshade, reducing the sun’s rays by about 2 per cent.

8. Smoke filters. Superfilters fitted to factory smokestacks can turn pollution into harmless baking soda. Plastic mesh filters being tested on the smokestacks of Texas power plants trap 90 per cent of the carbon dioxide emitted which, when mixed with sodium hydroxide, is turned into sodium bicarbonate.

9. Mirrors in the desert. The amount of sunlight reflected back into the sky naturally averages 30 per cent — but in areas covered by snow or ice, it’s a healthy 90 per cent. But the ice caps are melting fast. To counter this, say scientists, we would need to lay vast sheets of reflective material across 1.2 million square miles of the Sahara desert, at a cost of £20bn over 10 years.

10. Wave-riding rubber tubes. The Anaconda is a 200m-long tube, 5.5m in diameter, that could turn wave power into a commercially viable option. As each wave hits the front of the tube, a pulse is created in the water inside. This is forced down the tube by the wave, ultimately powering a turbine in the “tail” of the tube to generate electricity. Each tube could generate enough power for more than 1,000 houses. If the company secures the £17m it needs for a prototype, it hopes to have the first full-size Anaconda ready by 2014. The ultimate goal is to create farms of about 50 tubes in west-facing coastal areas of Britain.

10 green gadgets: Fridges, phones & a wind-up torch

1. EnergyHub Dashboard

Can let you know exactly how much energy household appliances are using and how much it’s costing you. It can also turn appliances on and off and adjust temperatures.

2. Magnetic fridge

Whirlpool is developing a new type of fridge that is based on magnetic refrigeration technology. When the magnetic field is removed, the materials will cool below their original temperature.

3. Carbon-neutral phone

Motorola launched the Moto W233 earlier this year, claiming it is the world’s first carbon-neutral phone. The plastic is from recycled water bottles and the company offsets carbon emissions involved in the manufacture.

4. Green computer

Fit-PC 2.0 claims to be the world’s greenest PC. Manufacturers say it uses 90 per cent less energy than a standard desktop PC, and less power than a low-energy lightbulb.

5. Ego Street Scoota

Electric scooter travels up to 30 miles at 30mph, and produces no emissions.

6. Brunton SolarRoll

A portable solar panel that rolls up like a towel and can charge laptops and phones.

7. Green satnav

Enter details about your car and it’ll give you a route that’s best for fuel consumption, and also advise on gear and accelerator usage.

8. ECO Showerdrop Meter

A low-cost universal shower meter (left) that lets you know how much water you are using. A family of four could save £180 a year and more than 600kg of CO2.

9. Siemens WM14S79B Washing Machine

Uses HydroSensor technology to check how hot the wash should be and if the water can be used again.

10. Puma wind-up torch

No batteries required for a beam strong enough to light an area up to 30m away.

10 ways to change your life: No kids, no meat, no flights

1. Don’t have kids – or at least stop at two. Continuous population growth – it is predicted that there will be between 8 billion and 10 billion people on the planet by 2050 – is multiplying the impacts of climate change.

2. Stop taking short-haul flights – a major source of carbon emissions that has grown with the advent of budget flights – and go by train instead.

3. Drive fewer than five miles a week. Try walking instead of driving to replace one short car journey a week. Or get a bike.

4. Give up meat Cutting out meat consumption on one day a week can have a major impact on reducing CO2 emissions – with global livestock production accounting for at least 18 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions.

5. Insulate your home If every household in the UK had 270mm loft insulation, it would save the equivalent of the annual emissions of three and a half large gas-fired power stations.

6. Switch off appliances when you are not using them. Leaving household appliances on standby costs about £800m a year in the UK alone.

7. Recycle and reuse as much as possible. And eat up your leftovers: the average UK household spends £424 a year on food that goes straight in the bin.

8. Shop low carbon Go for products with a low carbon footprint. Look out for the Carbon Trust’s Carbon Reduction Label, which shows the footprint of various products.

9. Go for a green TV The Sony KDL-40WE5 saves 50 per cent of the power compared with one of the company’s standard models, and has a presence sensor that detects when you leave the room and it then switches the screen off.

10. Boost your radiators A small fan can capture the heat from the back of your radiator and circulate it back into the room. A radiator booster could save an average household £70-£140 per year.

The company says technology waste will always make its way to developing countries because valuable materials such as copper are contained in old PCs, despite government efforts to legislate against it.

Toxic substances such as PVC and brominated flame retardants (BFRs) cause big environmental and health problems for the people who remove valuable materials by burning parts of computers.
Dell said providing ways to extract these materials safely is a better answer than trying to stop people extracting them at all.
Mark Newton, Dell’s lead environmental strategist, said, ” Regulation is not going to solve the problem. Legislation is not going to be imposed in informal emerging economies. The economics is just too strong. There is an intrinsic value in the materials in electronic waste, and we need to work with that.”

Recycling is a big business in developing countries – while western economies recycle just 10% of their e-waste, developing countries generally recycle 98%.

“People who burn technology waste in the streets do not want to be doing it, but it is the only way they can make a living,” Newton said. The answer, he said, is to provide an economic incentive to recycle the waste safely. If recyclers use methods that will safely extract more valuable materials per tonne of waste than workers would by burning it on the street, they would be able to pay people to bring technology waste to its plant, giving them a better method of earning money.

The pilot plan is currently only at the “conceptual stage”, but more activity and information can be expected in 2010. Other technology companies in the mobile market are planning similar pilots.

Most charities and recycling experts lay the blame – and the responsibility – for the global e-waste problem at the doors of big profitable IT companies such as Dell. Newton agreed that the responsibility for end-of-life technology lies with the technology producer, and added it may be easier to get IT companies to invest in recycling plants than some might predict.

“Investment would not be purely altruistic. It is a way to manage costs, and is much cheaper to the IT industry than to have to pull this equipment out before it even enters these countries.” And many emerging economies don’t even have basic waste management plants – if IT companies wait around until these start being built, the level of investment expected of them will be much higher than if they invest now in technology waste plants.

Peter Phillips, Liberal Democrat councillor for Bishops Castle, has gained Local Government Association backing in a campaign to force the government to think about the waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) which could be sent to landfill under the plans.

He told the Ludlow & Tenbury Wells Advertiser: “The proposed switchover will … have significant carbon footprint implications, as DAB radios consume more power than transistor sets. Waste authorities will be affected in having to dispose of analogue radio sets.”

It is thought that WEEE schemes will be put under extra strain to make sure that the required number of old radios incapable of receiving digital signals are recycled in order to meet regulations.

Letsrecycle.com recently reported that a fresh campaign has been started by the Waste and Resources Action Programme in order to get Brits to recycle their small items of WEEE.

Used inkjet cartridge collection boxes have been placed in offices right across the county and since Ilminster-based Samson Office Supplies joined forces with St Margaret’s back in June, used and unwanted cartridges have coined in the cash for the charity.

Samson’s Dan Batten said: “We and our customers are delighted to be helping St Margaret’s by raising funds for them.

“Our toner and inkjet cartridge recycling scheme not only helps raise vital funds for the hospice, but also reduces the amount of cartridges sent to landfill.”

St Margaret’s fundraiser, Teresa Wort, added: “We are extremely grateful that Samson Office Supplies have chosen to donate the funds raised from their cartridge recycling scheme directly to St. Margaret’s.

“Thank you also to all the local businesses that have shown their support by participating in the scheme.”

If your office is interested in raising funds for St. Margaret’s Somerset Hospice by having a cartridge collection box, please contact Dan via e-mail on dan@samsonofficesupplies.co.uk .

However, 37 percent of consumers also think that recycling their e-waste should be a free service, according to “Electronics Recycling and E-Waste Issues,” a study released Thursday.

That’s not to say consumers necessarily believe electronics manufacturers should be the ones picking up the tab. Only 10 percent of those surveyed saw recycling as a “producer responsibility,” and only 14 percent thought the cost of free e-waste recycling should be built-in as part of product purchase price.

The independent survey was conducted by the research firm as a Web-based questionnaire on a “demographically balanced” sampling of 1,000 Americans.

The study results are a bit surprising because many companies offer rebates on new items in exchange for recycled goods, implying that there is already an e-waste recycle tax built into the price of products. There are also many company-sponsored recycling programs. If you go by the statistics in their sustainability reports, the biggest producers and sellers of electronics also do recycle a relatively large amount of consumer e-waste.

Some consumers might also be a bit lazy when it comes to recycling their old tech junk. The average consumer had “2.8 pieces of unused, broken, or obsolete electronics equipment in their home or storage area,” according to Pike Research.

Thirty-five percent also thought there should be a convenient service wherein e-waste recycling is picked up at their curb, like they have for other trash.

But not to worry, Pike Research released a report in May that concluded that e-waste build-up will plateau by 2015.

In a speech aimed squarely at the Conservative grassroots, Mr Cameron said that while there was often a “noble” intention behind rules, Labour had an “over-the-top” culture of health and safety.

The Tory leader appointed Margaret Thatcher’s former Trade Secretary, Lord Young of Graffham, to conduct a review of the Health and Safety Executive. The peer has called on ministers to “lighten or abolish much of the health and safety legislation”.

Mr Cameron said: “Something has gone seriously wrong with the spirit of health and safety in the past decade. When children are made to wear goggles by their head teacher to play conkers. When trainee hairdressers are not allowed scissors in the classroom. When office workers are banned from moving a chair without supervision. When staff at a railway station don’t help a young mum carry her baby buggy because they are not insured. When village fêtes are cancelled because residents can’t face jumping through all the bureaucratic hoops.

“What began as a noble intention to protect people from harm has mutated into a stultifying blanket of bureaucracy, suspicion and fear covering the actions of millions of individuals as they go about their daily lives.”

The body representing health and safety professionals said that Mr Cameron was in danger of “muddling myths, generalisations and fact”.

Ruth Doyle, of the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health, denied that legislation was the problem. She blamed widespread misunderstanding of the rules.

She said: “David Cameron is retelling some of the myths in order to highlight the issue. The politicians should query them if we are to tackle the issue.”

There had been only one case, five years ago, of a teacher at a primary school asking children to wear goggles while playing conkers, she claimed.

A Department for Work and Pensions spokesman said that the Health and Safety Executive wanted to help to ensure that businesses could comply with regulations in a way that was sensible and proportionate.

“Health and safety is not just about rules and regulations, it is about the reduction of accidents and injuries in the workplace,” he said.

Original Article: The Times

Click here to view the embedded video.

The regulations have significant implications those who treat or recover WEEE, and stipulate that users must store, collect, treat, recycle and dispose of WEEE separately from other waste.

It is now a requirement that you obtain and keep proof that your WEEE was given to a waste management company, and was treated and disposed of in an environmentally sound way. You can read the full regulations

By placing the legal obligation on the waste producer to ensure that redundant electronic waste is re-used or recycled wherever possible, the Government is hoping to force both businesses and consumers to examine the amount of waste they produce and embrace waste minimisation and recycling programmes.

Under this broad legislation, items as diverse as mainframe computers, toasters and electrical staplers have to be separated from normal waste and marked for recycling or reuse.

For further information on the WEEE Directive please visit:
www.environment-agency.gov.uk