Seven Themes of 2077 AD

1.      A fanatic attempts to sabotage the Global Federation’s mission  to blow up an approaching asteroid on course to destroy the Earth, having decided the human race deserves to die.

2.      Terror attacks on civilians are prevented by the Knights of Peace employing non-violent marshall arts and deception technology.

3.      £xplosives and weaponry world wide are targeted for non-violent destruction using novel methods (e.g. explosives eating bacteria).

4.      A popular musician renounces atheism after an epiphany and starts a new Christian monasticism which spreads over Earth and then to Mars.

5.      ‘Dominophiles’ seeking to persuade others to commit violence are ‘impounded’  and spiritually reformed over 6 months, then released whatever the outcome.

6.      A love quadrangle develops  between the 4 main characters and new social structures based on biblical principles.

7.      Removal of orbital debris using scoopships and plastic waste in the ocean systematically removed using roboship.

Gotham Books

November 2022

Actions by Individuals to reduce global warming, water use & waste

 

 Project AIRGLOW

  Actions by Individuals to Reduce GLObal Warming, water use and waste

Don’t overdo it or make life tedious. If we all do a good proportion of these things the global problems of waste disposal , carbon emissions and water shortage would diminish without the necessity of drastic state enforced measures, which could do more harm than good.

MMT = mining, manufacturing and transport, all of which consume energy and emit pollutants such as CO2. Most new products entail all three.

NB: The less water you use the less pumping power is expended getting it to your home

Showers: shorter, less frequent, cooler, manual not power >>> Saves on water & load on national grid. Buy & fit more efficient shower? NB this would mean disposal of old one & MMT for the new one

Showers: fewer installations in the home  >>>  Less MMT

Baths: fewer, cooler, shallower. Use dirty water for garden  >>> Saves on water & load on national grid

Washing machine: avoid buying a new one >>>  No MMT

Washing machine:  lower temperature, less rinsing >>> Less electricity & water. Longer lifetime of machine means lower MMT

Avoid having a spin drier at all  >>> No  MMT. No waste. No electricity.

Avoid using spin drier so frequently >>> Less electricity needed.

Central heating: set lower and to manual >>> Less electricity or gas

Cooking: lower temperature, shorter cooking time >>>  Less electricity or gas

Lighting only when needed >>> Less electricity

Avoid using dish washer so much >>>Less electricity, less water, longer lifetime, lower MMT

 Avoid buying dish washer >>> No MMT

Cook at lower temperature, for shorter periods, less often >>> Less gas & electricity. Cooker lasts longer, less MMT

Lawn mower: avoid buying new one >>> No MMT

Avoid buying a new vehicle where possible >>> Less waste disposal , less MMT

Buy smallest, lightest vehicle practicable >>> Less MMT, less waste disposal at end of life.

Walk instead of drive where practicable >>> Less emissions, longer life of vehicle means less MMT

Travel by taxi or public transport rather than private car >>> Avoids need to buy a vehicle or reduces environmental cost of ownership

Computers & mobile phones: keep as long as possible >>> Less waste disposal . Less MMT

Clothes: wear longer, repair rather than dispose of >>> Less waste disposal. Less environmental cost of manufacturing new ones

Gardening: use power tools less, water garden sparingly >>> Less electricity & water used

House alterations: restrict to essential >>>  Less MMT, less electricity (e.g. for power tools)

John Sears

cosmic.jo@gmail.com

Waste from the Western World

We are all aware of the huge amount of waste generated in the West but in our daily lives it is easy to forget this. In 2011 I came across some startling data in the seminal book Natural Capitalism: the New Industrial Revolution by Hawken, Lovins and Lovins (Rocky Mountain Institute, 1999), which I can thoroughly recommend.

The information below is for the USA but other developed countries need not feel sanctimonious!

The data will be an understatement because the world-wide industrial-cum-consumer engine will have grown a lot in the intervening 20 years, although some efficiency and recycling measures will have been taken.

On average the US citizen (1990s) generates 1 million pounds of waste per year. In the nation as a whole the annual wastage includes:

• 3.5 billion (3,500,000,000) pounds of landfilled carpet

• 3.3 trillion (3,300,000,000,000) pounds of carbon dioxide

• 19 billion pounds of polystyrene peanuts (I’ve no idea what these are but this is not a joke)

• 28 billion pounds of food discarded at home

• 710 billion pounds of hazardous industrial waste

• 3.7 trillion pounds of construction debris

Add to this the waste generated abroad on behalf of US citizens and subtract the 2% of waste which is recycled (mainly paper, glass, plastic, aluminium and steel) and we get 250 trillion pounds of US resources transformed into nonproductive matter each year.

One can only quake at the thought of these being scaled up globally. A third world country typically produces less than 10% of these amounts per person, yet they all aspire to develop western-type economies, including China and India with a combined population of over 2.5 billion, which is 8x the US population. Since the above data was compiled China's GDP has grown to be roughly equal to that of the USA. India has also greatly increased its output of waste.

Can anything be done about it? Yes, but it needs a change of mindset to make a real impact and with it the whole economic system and infrastructure would need to be transformed. International trade, agriculture, manufacturing, service industry, energy production, transport and education will have to change, since these all generate waste either directly or indirectly. It i. s also linked to the global warming problem.

The current coronavirus  pandemic has demonstrated the wastefulness of our way of life, especially in the West. Just a few months of reduced consumption and  transport have made visible impacts on the environment, which is encouraging. New methods of recycling plastics are being talked about and put into practice. There is also a growing awareness that nature itself is able to heal some of the injury we have inflicted. We need a few leading nations to cooperate to make a big difference.

see also Story of a canned drink

John

cosmik.jo@googlemail.com