Does capitalism produce too much waste? The answer is "maybe not," though waste is a feature of the affluence that capitalism brings. In rich countries poor people can even live off the waste discarded by others.
In poorer countries waste is a valuable commodity bringing income to those who can re-use it. In Vietnam I saw young children spreading wet waste cardboard onto house roofs after a rainstorm, and was told they made money by drying it out and selling it on.
In World War II Britain there was little waste. With supplies scarce things were used efficiently. Potato peelings made soup, bones were boiled for stock, and leftover scraps were recycled into the next day's meal. It is because people live in surplus today that they can afford to discard things which might be used. Buying a chicken stock cube is easier for some than the effort of boiling a chicken carcass. Recycling has time costs which are usually overlooked.
Some so-called waste actually saves. Much food packaging keeps the food fresher for longer and prevents food wastage. Some of it keeps the food freer from dangerous organisms, too. Packaging often makes goods easier to transport and distribute.
Recycling is sometimes useful but can be counter-productive. It is good to recycle aluminium cans because of the energy required to extract the metal from its ore, but it's doubtful if newsprint justifies the cost of collection, transportation and processing, or the chemicals which leach into the environment when it is recycled. Better perhaps to farm young trees for paper.
There is indeed waste in the economy if we don't use it or dispose of it efficiently, but there is money to be made in doing that. What is waste for some can be profit for others.
Have I missed something? I can't find the Herculis Crossword today. There is reference to the 'linked clues' in Saturday's GK crossword but the Herculis doesn't appear on the back page of the Monday paper - is my eyesight worse than I thought or has it moved somewhere else?
This could be serious - I don't always do the Saturday one for lack of time but the Herculis is a habit.
Monday, September 8, 2008, 08:34 PM AEST [General]
Tazz: Hello and welcome to War!
Cole: Tonight we have a big night as the champ Hollywood Hogan defends his title in a rematch against Randy Orton.
Tazz: We also have a tag match with R-Truth & Bobby Lashley vs Test & William Regal.
(Gregory Helms comes to the ring) H: Im here to call out my opponent at Justify, Sting!
(Frosty's music hits) F: Helms im sorry to inform you that your opponent at Justify Sting was traded to Friday Night. But I have signed for the person I got in return for Sting to replace him at Justify. That person is.........Goldberg! Tazz: Goldberg's on War, OH MY GOD! Cole: Goldberg is just beating up Helms and all he can do is smile? What kind of animal is he?
Bobby Roode vs Tommy Dreamer This was an action packed match as both superstars literally fought each other to the death! In the end Dreamer was getting him set up for the DDT when Orlando Jordan interfered and cost him the match. Winner: Bobby Roode
Ted DiBiase vs Shelton Benjamin The match was a highly anticipated with Benjamin performing his athletic ability. Both superstars performed close pins and in the end a distraction by Charlie Hass was stopped by Road Dogg and allowed DiBiase to get a roll up. Winner: Ted DiBiase
(Coach on the TitanTron) Coach: I'm here with one of the competitors in the main event Hollywood Hogan. So Hogan can you explain what happened last week and about your match tonight? Hogan: Last week I won the Universal title off Randy Orton because of the "help" from Chris Benoit. Benoit you better not interfere tonight or i will- (Frosty interrups the promo) Frosty: I would just like to tell you Hogan that if Chris Benoit interferes in your match tonight he will be fired! (Hogan goes away and follows Frosty)
R-Truth & Bobby Lashley vs Test & William Regal This exlusive tag match was one of the greatest matches we've seen on War. With the athletic ability of both Lashley & R-Truth this team would be unstoppable. When R-Truth was at the ropes ready to perform his scissor kick Regal hit him with a chair which the ref didn't see and Test got the 1,2,3. Winners: Test & William Regal
Triple H vs Carlito w/ The Coach for the Blood Knuckles Title This match was mainly dominated by Triple H until the end of the match. at the 2:00 mark of the match Triple H had Carlito set up for the Pedigree when out of nowere Scott Steiner hit Triple H with a Led Pipe. He continued the beat down until Shawn Michaels came out and started belting Scott Steiner. Eventually, Eddie Guerrero came out to the aid of Steiner. Tazz: What will happen when these men meet in a Battle Royal next week?
Chris Sabin vs Paul London This cruiserweight match was absolutey amazing as both superstars did things others wouldnt dare doing. At one point even Chris Sabin performed a perfect Shooting Star Press. The outcome came when London had him set up for the Dragon 450 when Jamie Noble interfered and made London slip on the top rope. Sabin then performed a DDT from the top rope to get the 1,2,3. Winner: Chris Sabin. Cole: What are the Pitbulls doing? There destroying Sabin! Why would the- Tazz: Wait, is it, IT'S THE ULTIMATE WARRIOR! He's come to the aid of Sabin and is giving it to the Pitbulls. What will be the outcome of this next week?
Chris Benoit vs Ken Shamrock Benoit destroyed Shamrock until Hogan came out and distracted Benoit. Shamrock got the rollup & the tights 1,2,3! Shamrock beat Benoit! Winner: Ken Shamrock. Tazz: Why do these guys hate each other so much?
Universal Title: Hollywood Hogan vs Randy Orton This Universal title match was so fast-paced and action packed more than 13 pins were almost a 3. By the end both Hogan & Orton where bleeding heavilly and Hogan had just reversed and RKO into a DDT. Hogan was about to perform his infamous Leg Drop until Chris Benoit music started to play. Hogan was yelling but Benoit wasnt there. Hogan turned arounf and was given an RKO and got the 1,2,3. Winner and NEW Universal Champion: Randy Orton. Cole: Orton regained the title but why did Benoit interfere? Will he be fired nex week? Tune in next week to find out! Tazz: Goodnight everybody!
Our waste policy is now largely determined by rules at EU level. It's a good example of an area where people don't realise that things that affect their everyday life are the result of EU law.
For example, a lot of people are unhappy about fortnightly bin collections. So why are councils still bringing them in?
The EU's 1999 Landfill Directive obliges the UK to reduce the amount of landfill waste by 25 per cent from 1995 levels by 2010; to make a 50 per cent reduction by 2013 and then a 65 per cent reduction by 2020.
The Directive was implemented by the Landfill (England and Wales) Regulations, which came into force in June 2002. Failure to meet the regulations will result in fines estimated by DEFRA at more than £200 million if the EU targets are not met by 2013.
In order to meet the regulations, and avoid the fines, around 40 per cent of local authorities in England have adopted an "alternate weekly collection" system whereby waste is collected one week and recyclables the next.
This is where the law of unintended consequences kicks in. Reducing the amount of waste that can be landfilled has led to - you guessed it - a huge increase in the amount of waste which is incinerated. Official figures show that in the UK, the proportion of municipal waste incinerated went up from seven per cent when the directive was passed, to 9.4 per cent in 2006 (and it's been reported the figures are being fiddled by the department.)
The EU has also sparked an epidemic of car dumping and illegal car-scrapping through the 2000 "End of Life Vehicles Directive". This set out immensely complicated and costly rules about how to dispose of scrap cars. Once again, unintended consequences have kicked in. According to a BBC investigation there are now around 1.5 million cars being scrapped by a whole industry of dodgy scrapyards.
As one legitimate operator pointed out to the Beeb, this immediately undermines responsible operators: "You've only got to pick up the local paper, turn to the back page and there will be dozens of adverts with mobile numbers to remove your vehicles; and we can't compete with that."
The EU's 2002 Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive (WEEE to its friends) came into effect in the UK in July 2007. It rules that manufacturers that make electrical products must pay for them to be dismantled and recycled at the end of their working life.
Orgalime, a group representing 100,000 machinery and electronics companies, estimated in 2002 that the changes would cost industry more than €7.5bn (£4.7bn). Unsurprisingly, a dodgy industry has arisen - the mass export of electronic waste to Africa and other developing countries. Greenpeace found that Ghana had in particular has become a "digital dump."
I could go on and on. There is also the Packaging Waste Directive (2004); the Hazardous Substances Directive 2002; the Batteries Directive 2006 and the REACH directive on chemicals (2006).
What have all these policy failures got in common, apart from their origin in the EU?
I'd argue the problem is that none of them attempt to go with the grain of capitalism, and incentivise greener behaviour. For example, the US has dealt with its scrap cars far more effectively with a tax break - which allows anyone donating a wreck to a charity to deduct the value of the car from their tax. The charities then use them or get the scrap value.
In contrast the EU attempts to regulate and restrict - but fails to deal with the fact its own regulations create a built-in an incentive to circumvent them.
Ironically the thicket of regulation sometimes even prevents the development of good recycling businesses. Richard North has recorded on his blog how the EU's bureaucratic rules have prevented the development of two excellent green businesses: one which used waste cardboard to power micro-generation of heat, and another which extracted energy from waste via anaerobic digesters.
Old-fashioned recycling of the kind that Peter Wilby is nostalgic for (milk bottles, rag and bone men) didn't happen because of an EU diktat or our of some postmaterial motive. It happened because it made economic sense.
It is in capitalism's nature to turn the "waste" from one industry into the raw materials of another. EU policy makers should learn from the Yorkshire saying that: "Where there's muck, there's brass."
Some great cartoons in today's papers. Martin Rowson has a good gag in The Guardian with his usual Playdough Gordon; Andy Davey (lovely painting) and Dave Brown (The Times and The Independent) both succeed with cartoon standbys The Weather and the TUC carthorse. And there's more bad weather in Blower's Livedraw, if you missed it on Friday. Paul Thomas has a good joke in the Express, as mentioned on the Today programme this morning.
Change is in the Air, We can smell it when we go outdoors in early September.
That's what happened to me, earlier. I stepped outside on the deck; the wind was blowing. The season is changing, I thought. This led me to think about the Seasons God has provided for us.
There are four of them each year.
Winter Is a time to hibernate, that is, stay indoors, as much as possible! Okay, let me rephrase that... a time to get out and about when we can. A time of cold and blowy outdoors, and warm and toasty indoors.
Spring comes along, a season of new life and rebirth. We get to fancy up our gardens and yards, and greet people with a smile. The sun gets warmer, and so do we!
Then comes the hot hot days of Summer. Relatives visiting, family events, days sitting in the garden reading a book. At least, that's what it's supposed to be (depending on how many relatives come to visit!)
We are now approaching Autumn. Some say it is the "winding down of the year" season. I call it the "reap the benefits of a hard year of work" season.
Reflect on what you have accomplished in the past year. From September 2007 to June 2008.
Plan on what you will do during the upcoming year.
Reading from "The Living Bible"
1 Peter 4:10 God has given each of you some special abilities; be sure to use them to help each other, passing on to others God's many kind of blessings. Are you called to help others? Do it with all the strength and energy that God supplies, so that God will be glorified through Jesus Christ -- to Him be glory and power forever and ever. Amen.
Ephesians 4:7 "However, Christ has given each of us special abilities -- whatever He wants us to have out of His rich store-house of gifts".
Take a piece of paper, and write down at least one thing you think you are good at doing. If anything else comes to mind, write that down too. These are your God-given gifts; your talents, what you are called to share with others.
Romans 12:6 God has given each of us the ability to do certain things well.
and, 7: If your gift is that of serving others, serve them well.
and, 13: When God's children are in need, you be the one to help them out.
In fact, that whole section talks about helping others. Verse 16 says: Work happily together.
~~*~~~*~~
From Bountiful Blessings for Busy Women
Moments. written by Jack Kornfield, A Path with Heart
The things that matter most in our lives are not fantastic or grand. They are the moments when we touch one another, when we are there in the most attentive or caring way.
Mother Teresa put it like this: "In this life we cannot do great things. We can only do small things with great love."
~~*~~~*~~
Use what talent you possess: The woods would be very silent if no birds sang except those that sang best. --Henry van ****
2 Corinthians 8:7 NIV
You are rich in everything -- in faith, in speaking, in knowledge, in truly wanting to help, and in the love you learned from us. In the same way, be strong also in the grace of giving.
Helen Keller says: "I long to accomplish a great and noble task but it is my chief duty to accomplish humble tasks as though they were great and noble.
~~*~~~*~~
What does all of the above mean?
Our Ladies Group in our Church is down to five. We (they) are in need of some positive, upbeat words to get them "rejuvenated". i.e. they need a PUSH.
I'll be busy over the next few days; actually, most of the week - with church and family activities.
Everything "Red Hat" other than the Twins Program and related birthday cards, has been put on hold.
The VMA's opened with Britney Spears and Jonah Hill "preparing" for the show. It should have been funny but it was an EPIC FAIL. The crowd didn't even laugh at any of it. Here it is.CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE BRITNEY'JONAH INTRO
Then Britney "opened the show" by reading really fast for 30 seconds from a teleprompter. For all the hype MTV made about Britney opening the show, they should have made her do something more than the crap she gave us.
Rihanna REALLY opened the show with "Distrubia" and we all found out that Rihanna really can't sing when it comes down to it. The "Thriller" backup dancers were pretty cool though.
We didn't think Russell Brand was going to be that funny because we didn't really know who he was but he pulled it off, sort of. He wasn't as funny as like Chris Rock or someone like that but he did have a few good lines. He ripped on President Bush really bad and the fact that the Jonas Brothers don't have sex.
Then, like clockwork, Britney won her first MTV VMA moonman by winning "Best Female Video of the Year". We were starting to sense at that point that it was Britney's night and the fix was in. "Hey Britney, if you show up and let us make a big deal about it we'll give you EVERY award". Her acceptance speech SUCKED. She didn't even mention her BOMB a year ago at the awards or the fact that's she's been cracked out and mentally insane since then.
