A Question of Energy

Recently the media publicized further financial percentage increases, twenty percent for electric and ten percent for gas that energy consumers must pay from autumn this year. Yet this hike was not segregated by increasing the charges for consumers paying for fossil fuels whilst not increasing those of consumers already using renewable or sustainable energy. Instead the hike was aimed at all consumers regardless of their energy derivation. Had segregation occurred one ponders whether a behaviour surge of new customers would have taken place requesting that they be switched to renewable or sustainable energy from their energy supplier?

2011
06/18
CATEGORY
Environmental Management
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Oniscid asellus

[This is a poem about a woodlouse]

We are special and live in the Kingdom Animalia
Taxonomic division phylum, my peers and I are Arthropoda
Our exoskeleton is tough calcium carbonate; secreting ammonia gas odour
Segmented body overlapping cuticles, jointed branched legs, bodies various colours
********
Sub-phylum is Mandibulata; sensory antennae directing behaviours
Modified jaws for chewing and biting, one of many survival saviours
Evolution super-class terrestrial arthropods; four antennae Crustacea
Class Insecta, sociable scavenger; litter nutrient recycler neighbour
********
Isopoda Order adult’s seven pairs of appendages; young six
Use brood pouch when egg and hatched; incomplete metamorphosis
Family armadillidiidea, lobed sides of head occurs at every stage
At one end of the carapace near dorsal plate

2011
06/17
CATEGORY
Entomology
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Invertebrates

Invertebrates are animals which do not have back bones. This includes many insects.

Some of these little creatures are regular invaders in to our homes consequently many people obliterate those insects using pesticides to remove them from bathrooms, kitchens and hallways.

However spare a thought for these leggy and winged invaders as they are needed to meet societal requirements and for equality and biodiversity in Animalia to occur as well as assisting the food web.

This weekend in the UK there is an opportunity for natural history fans to become involved in Bugs Count created by OPAL. Opal is The Open Air Laboratories who aim to assist nature fans to explore areas of natural history at local and at national scales regardless of your day job. All they require is your enthusiasm for nature.

In the UK understanding nature has been a centuries old quest. In their thirst for knowledge, theorists were not always as popular as they are today, such as Charles Darwin. His theory of evolution The Origin of Species challenged religious beliefs, something which he recognized and so delayed the release of his findings by years, understanding that once released his evidence would need to be irrefutable. His theory is now accepted by the majority and has been well documented upon TV and in natural history documentaries, such as Charles Darwin & the Tree of Life; narrated by David Attenborough and taken to TV screens by the BBC as part of their Darwin Season.

The BBC has brought many natural history programmes to its viewers and encourages viewers to become involved where feasible for them to do so. However nature is embodied with UK legislation and not solely with media or historical science. For advice on how not to breach wildlife laws and what to report and to who visit your local police website who have a Wildlife Crime Unit and who can direct you to approved national groups.

However not all wildlife is considered good wild life; not solely because they are not native to UK shores but because of their ability to damage UK wildlife competitively and in all media. Historically some species were introduced because they looked nice such as the Himalayan Balsam or because of their relationship with industry such as the mink. More recently however some have come on their own such as the Harlequin ladybird.

The UK government recognizes that these species out compete native species and to the detriment of our species therefore has created guidance within the Environment Agency Wildlife and Conservation pages explaining what invasive species are, how they are dealing with them, how you can get involved locally and internationally.

Above describes and illustrates that there are many groups of people who work together for the benefit of wildlife and in doing to actively and accidently interact with invertebrates. These little creatures have survived for many thousands of years yet due to a multitude of reasons require our benevolence and understanding so that we can further understand their behaviour, their importance and why their numbers are declining.

References
BBC (2011) Nature UK Available:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/uk/. Last Accessed 10th June 2011.

Environment Agency (2011) Wildlife & Conservation Available:
http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/homeandleisure/wildlife/default.aspx. Last Accessed 10th June 2011.

Greater Manchester Police (2010) Information centre: wildlife crime Available:
http://www.gmp.police.uk/mainsite/pages/Wildlifecrime.htm. Last Accessed 10th June 2011.

Metropolitan Police (no date) Wildlife Crime Unit Available:
http://www.met.police.uk/wildlife/index.htm. Last Accessed 10th June 2011.

Moore, A.A. & Palmer, M.A. (2005) Invertebrate biodiversity in agricultural and urban headwater streams: implications for conservation and management. Ecological Applications, 15(4),2005, pp.1169-1177. Available:
http://www.colostate.edu/Depts/GDPE/Distinguished_Ecologists/2006/Palmer/Moore.pdf. Last Accessed 10th June 2011.

Natural History Museum (2011) Charles Darwin Available:
http://www.nhm.ac.uk/nature-online/science-of-natural-history/biographies/charles-darwin/index.html. Last Accessed 10th June 2011.

OPAL (2011) About OPAL Available:
http://www.opalexplorenature.org/aboutOPAL. Last Accessed 10th June 2011.

OPAL (2011) Bugs Count Available:
http://www.opalexplorenature.org/bugscount. Last Accessed 10th June 2011.

2011
06/10
CATEGORY
Entomology
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Recycling

The Waste Framework Directive 75/442/EEC in 2006 directed the UK of how to manage UK waste in a different way to how it had traditionally been undertaken. Nevertheless some parts remained similar to what they had already been doing in Australia reduction, reuse, recycling and disposal according to Choe and Fraser (1999) of whom we shall return to later.

Since 2006 abundant guidance has been issued by the UK government, local authorities, and other interested parties guiding the general public to which environmental responsible actions to take with regards to unwanted household and indeed industry items.

Recycle Now, delivered by the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP), offers comprehensive information to individuals and groups including school children of which items are able to be recycled, where they can be recycled and why one ought to recycle those items. WRAP is funded by the UK government, work with local authorities, business and industry, as well as individuals to promote the waste hierarchy and how its stakeholders are able to meet it. They do this using a myriad of approaches, including voluntary agreements that have influenced industry to alter its product designs so that they use fewer resources in packaging, have positively contributed to the UK economy, and have diverted tonnes of waste from being disposed into land fill.

Eichner and Pethig in 1999 discussed product design and waste management and how they each affect economies and policies as materials thus illustrating that product design has been on the discussion agenda for a number of years as have other notions which are now usual practice.

One such practice is Land fill Tax. Landfill tax (known as a Pigouvian tax; an environmental tax) began in the UK in 1996; at land fill licensed sites for waste destined for land fill unless that waste meets with exceptions. People liable to pay the tax are the licensed/permitted operator/undertaker of the land fill site and/or the permit holder should that be someone different to the undertaker (HM Revenue & Customs 2011). There is not one rate but two rates of tax (Lower Rate and Standard Rate) which apply to the different types of waste given, based upon the potential pollution by those wastes, in the Land Fill Tax (Qualifying Material) Order 2011. Since 1996 the Lower Rate has risen per tonnage from £2 – £2.50 whereas the Standard Rate has increased per tonnage from £7 – £56.

In their paper Choe and Fraser argue that householders who pay high costs for waste collection and disposal are more likely to use illegal waste disposal methods when trying to undertake household waste reduction when the waste management policy does not take into account the types of household waste generated or disposed of. However please note that this research is twelve years old and was undertaken in Australia.

However their research illustrates that there are needs for the UK government to promote reduce, reuse, recycling, energy recovery and disposal to avoid the findings of Choe and Fraser being repeated in the UK. This is what the government ate doing, nationally, regionally and locally using organisations such as WRAP and Recycle for Greater Manchester who are a part of Recycle Now.

If you would like to get involved this weekend in National Environment Day go along to The Trafford Centre, Greater Manchester who with the assistance of Dave Spiky will attempt to break the Guinness World Record for the biggest collection of clothing to be recycled at once.

Where: Lower Regent Crescent, The Trafford Centre
When: Saturday 4th June 10-8pm; Sunday 5th June 11-6pm

References
Choe, C. & Fraser, I. (1999) Analysis of household waste management. Journal of Environmental Economics and Management 38, 234-246 (1999) Available:
http://mie.esab.upc.es/ms/informacio/economia_tractament_residus/economic_analysis_household_waste_management.pdf. Last Accessed 3rd June 2011.

Eichner, T. & Pethig, R. (1999) Product design and efficient management of recycling and waste treatment. Journal of Environmental Economics and Management 41, 109-134 (2001). Available:
http://infolib.hua.edu.vn/Fulltext/ChuyenDe2009/CD158/18.pdf. Last Accessed 3rd June 2011.
Europa (2009) Waste: Revision of the Waste Framework Directive Available:
http://ec.europa.eu/environment/waste/framework_directive.htm. Last Accessed 3rd June 2011.

H M Revenue & Customs (no date) Land Fill Tax available:
http://customs.hmrc.gov.uk/channelsPortalWebApp/channelsPortalWebApp.portal?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=pageExcise_ShowContent&id=HMCE_CL_001206&propertyType=document. Last Accessed 3rd June 2011.

H M Revenue & Customs (2011) A general guide to land fill tax Available:
http://customs.hmrc.gov.uk/channelsPortalWebApp/channelsPortalWebApp.portal?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=pageExcise_ShowContent&id=HMCE_CL_000509&propertyType=document#P127_13291. Last Accessed 3rd June 2011.

Recycle for Greater Manchester (2011) Home Page Available:
http://www.recycleforgreatermanchester.com/. Last Accessed 3rd June 2011.

Recycle for Greater Manchester (2011) Events Calendar Available:
http://www.recycleforgreatermanchester.com/community/events-calendar?caldate=2011-06. Last Accessed 3rd June 2011.

WRAP (no date) Recycle Now Available:
http://www.recyclenow.com/. Last Accessed 3rd June 2011.

WRAP (2011) Our impact Available:
http://www.wrap.org.uk/wrap_corporate/about_wrap/our_impact.html. Last Accessed 3rd June 2011.

2011
06/03
CATEGORY
Environmental Management
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What is Environmental Management?

For decades environmental management has been discussed by scholars of different disciplines yet their discussions result in a term which does not have a definitive definition. An overlapping theme of the disciplines is the myriad of legislation intricately entangled along with economics which remains deeply embedded and persistent within all areas of environmental management which has thus shaped environmental management as a pivotal tool for change.

Environmental management to different disciplines means different things. For ecologists Walters and Holling (1990) concluded environmental management as being able to have the ability and power to coordinate ecological experiments in such a manner that the outcome could either stabilize or destabilize an ecosystem. They discussed management programmes which when combined with science were able to affect resources economically as a harvested product. Geographers Tong & Chen (2002) modeled hydrology effects upon land of specific substances and their significance to global environmental change. They noted that the information accumulated by hydrological research additionally affects policy-decision making as well as hydro quality upon land and aquatic arenas.

This notion, to an extent, was confirmed by economists Khanna and Damon (1991) who found that the greater the economic incentive offered to firms the more likely voluntary participation occurred by those firms in America’s 33/50 programme. In 1998 Khanna et. Al. discussed whether the behaviour of stakeholders to the chemical industry was affected if they were made aware of environmental protection information. They found that it did affect stakeholder investment but that it barely altered the outputs from the firms who required investments.

However it must be noted that the papers above are all American. A UK paper by Fraser et. al. (2005) also noted the power of environmental management in policy instruments yet accepted that it is able to bring involvement of communities which in turn assists policy making with regards to sustainable development on different scales and in different global locations. They note the trend shifts in who had traditionally and currently influences environmental management policy making and that it is now inclusive to community individuals.

To conclude, this discussion has attempted in part to illustrate that the definition of environmental management has a different meaning to different individuals based upon the context of their interest. However common themes are its ability to influence policy making and that it is a necessity in society which can aid change locally and globally.

References
Fraser, E.D.G.; J.Dougill; W.E.Mabee; M.Reed & P. McAlpine (2004) Bottom up and top down: Analysis of participatory processes for sustainability indicator identification as a pathway to community empowerment and sustainable environmental management. Journal of environmental management 78 (2)(2006) p.p.114-127 Available:
http://www.manometmaine.org/documents/FraserBottomupandTopdown2006.pdf. Last Accessed 31st May 2011.

Khanna, M. & Damon, L. (1991) EPA’s voluntary 30/50 Programe: Impact on toxic releases and economic performance of firms. Journal of environmental economics and management 37 (1) p.p.1-25 Available:
http://siti.feem.it/gnee/pap-abs/damon.pdf. Last Accessed 31st May 2011.

Khanna, M.; W.R.H. Quimio & D. Bojilova. (1998) Toxic release information: a policy tool for environmental protection. Journal of environmental economics and management 36(3) p.p.243-266 Available:
http://siti.feem.it/gnee/pap-abs/khanna.pdf. Last Accessed 31st May 2011.

Tong, S.T.Y. & Chen, W. (2002) Modeling the relationship between land use and surface water quality. Journal of environmental management 66(4) p.p. 377-393 Available:
http://www.mansfield.ohio-state.edu/faculty/ocosta/Mohican/Tong-2002.pdf. Last Accessed 31st May 2011.

Walters, C. J. & Holling, C. S. (1990) Large-scale management experiments and learning by doing. Ecology 7 (6) p.p.2060-2068 Available:
http://training.fws.gov/bart/Resources/Decision_Analysis/Articles_from_Seminar/Walters_and_Hollings_1990.pdf. Last Accessed 31st May 2011.\

2011
05/31
CATEGORY
Environmental Management
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Landfill Construction Waste

The volume of construction waste to land fill has been discussed for many years. According to the Institution of Civil Engineers (1995) in Managing and Minimizing Construction Waste: a practical guide in their summary:

The construction industry is a major generator of waste, generating more waste than the household sector. Construction waste can account for more than fifty percent of the waste deposited in a typical landfill.

In 2008 a new initiative was launched Halving Waste to Landfill thus illustrating that the UK government is keen to avert the waste and transform it into a resource. They commissioned the Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP) to assist the public sector, individuals and businesses to reduce their waste.

WRAP’s review of their operations in 2009/10 identifies that their voluntary participation three year Business Plan is on target to divert eight million tonnes of waste materials from landfill even though they were affected by economic issues in recycling organisations. By working with forty other agencies they have began to design out waste from buildings in addition to delivering waste reduction tools to public authorities. The report shows evidently by participation in a myriad of sectors that they aim to reduce waste in all areas of waste production.

The ‘waste’ product derives from the construction of infrastructure: roads, private and commercial new builds and the demolition of unwanted builds. There is however more long-term wastes which occur from the maintenance and repairs of the construction once it has been built. It is these hidden wastes which are easy to overlook and are therefore not easily identified as wastes deriving from construction.

The repairs and maintenance of the building and its appliances is able to significantly add to the carbon footprint of an organisation responsible for that building. The replacement of internal appliances with white goods is a responsible and energy efficient solution which complies with the WEEE Directive yet this can be extended further and in a manner which can create financial savings to the organisation.

Having a carbon efficient repair maintenance programme goes further into the realms of efficiency by utilizing technological advancements such laptops containing software programmes. This enables the repair person to identify solutions to Error Codes stating what is wrong with an appliance, access an online manual illustrating how to repair the problem, order online replacement parts which are delivered direct to the repair-persons’ home (using a Safe-Place system similar to the one offered by the Royal Mail), all of which are connected to the repair/maintenance job number. This system is able to be audited in a much simpler way than wading through paperwork.

This system is carbon efficient because it enables a lone-worker to be traced by their head office via the workers’ laptop inputs if they have access to the worker’s system similar to Google Calendar and Word Outlook.

Goods delivered to the worker’s home results in fewer trips to the office at the start of the day to pick-up a list of jobs to be undertaken that day therefore saving transportation associated carbon footprint and financial costs as well as reducing congestion on the roads during rush hour. This is repeated at the end-of-day too and overall places less strain upon the organisations need for a large car park. This system allows the repair person to begin his workday before the head office opens therefore the organisation is able to extend their repairs service so that repairs can begin before 9am and end after 6pm at no extra cost to the organisation.

Additional reduced impacts to the environment are able to be made and additional finances for the repair organisation if they offer environmentally-friendly products to the customer. For example if the maintenance person was checking the fridges and freezers of an organisation to establish whether that organisation was complying to the F-Gas Air Conditioning Regulations they would be able to offer an eco-friendly cleaning product for that appliance.

This system reduces landfill from construction by preventing waste going to landfill over a longer period of time as appliances are fixed and maintained during out-of-hours therefore there is no need for an organisation to replace their appliances using WEEE. It also takes eco-friendly cleaning products into organisations of whose containers can be recycled.

Overall this is a holistic approach to reducing construction waste to landfill.

References
DEFRA (2011) Fluorinated greenhouse gases Available:
http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/quality/air/fgas/. Last Accessed 29th May 2011.
The Environment Agency (2011) Waste and electrical and electronic equipment Available:
http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/business/topics/waste/32084.aspx Last Accessed 29th May 2011.
Homecare Essentials (2011) Whirlpool eco-friendly fridge cleaner Available:
http://www.homecareessentials.co.uk/acatalog/Whirlpool_Eco-Friendly_Fridge_Cleaner.html#aECO05. Last Accessed 29th May 2011.
Institution of Civil Engineers (1995) Managing and Minimizing construction Waste: a practical guide Available:
http://books.google.co.uk/books?hl=en&lr=&id=q0vWrr2ixkcC&oi=fnd&pg=PA1&dq=Construction+Waste+Landfill&ots=q0KbKBy4pD&sig=KKmYA8Pm6kzQ3oQfjpRQ6nSz_LM#v=onepage&q=Construction%20Waste%20Landfill&f=false. Last Accessed 22nd May 2011.
Royal Mail (2011) SafeplaceTM Available:
http://www2.royalmail.com/delivery/business-delivery-options-uk/safeplace. Last Accessed 29th May 2011.

WRAP (2011) WRAP’s Role Available:
http://www.wrap.org.uk/wrap_corporate/about_wrap/wraps_role.html. Last Accessed 22nd May 2011.
WRAP (no date) Review of the year 2009/10 Available:
http://www.wrap.org.uk/downloads/Review_of_the_Year_20092010.88dd7d88.9492.pdf. Last Accessed 22nd May 2011.

2011
05/29
CATEGORY
Housing
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The Day I committed Murder

Murder in the bathroom
Murder in the hall
Murder in the kitchen
Murder in the mall

How?

Half awake cleaning my teeth a fruit fly landed upon the sink
Without a second thought, splat, I killed it within a blink

At a hurried pace I raced down the hall to the door
Yes! the persistent slugs were caught in the salt trap on the floor

Got to work, put the kettle on, I was as thirsty as hell
I murdered a brew and at first didn’t notice the smell

Got to the mall for bleach and soap flakes
And whilst there I murdered half a dozen cream cakes

That’s how I committed:
Murder in the bathroom
Murder in the hall
Murder in the kitchen
And murder in the mall

2011
05/28
CATEGORY
Uncategorized
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Hard to Treat Dwellings

The Energy Saving Trust (EST) describes Hard To Treat (HTT) homes as having poor energy efficiency ratings with the energy efficiency having been based upon the Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP) criteria. SAP rating was developed by the Building Research Establishment (BRE) renowned for their certification and training standards.

SAP, a scientifically standardized and recognized methodology, is used to identify and measure the energy performance loss and retention from commercial and noncommercial builds from heat in water and space. The purpose of having a standardized assessment enables accurate comparisons be made between builds of different size; age; purpose; and material composition. Having this assessment tool drives environmental housing-related policy progressively forward to dynamically improve energy efficiency in all builds.

Having an A SAP rating states that a build is energy efficient whereas a G rating is extremely energy inefficient. According to EST (2011) energy inefficiency’s prevalent in almost three million UK dwellings and has lead to fuel poverty in those homes because the residents use more energy to heat their dwelling to an acceptable standard in the home’s rooms; boilers; and heating systems and at a higher than acceptable cost. They base the higher than reasonably acceptable cost as taking more than ten percent of the household’s income.

With regards to the environment the escaped energy warms the local climate and therefore contributes to climate change due to the roaming Green House Gases (GHGs) which are able to chemically react with other gases and infra red sunlight.

In their report, Hard to treat homes and fuel poverty, EST cited the Energy Efficiency Partnership for Homes who realized that HTT homes cost financially more to treat using normative energy efficient schemes that aide installations of loft and wall insulation. In 2010 energy efficiency schemes were reviewed in Parliament who stated that there are now four million homes suffering from fuel poverty. The results of which ought to impact upon households and energy producers by reducing the number of homes in fuel poverty whilst placing a Duty upon the suppliers to facilitate recommended solutions to customers. However the increasing number of suffering homes illustrates that although many homes have benefitted greatly from the schemes, one questions whether The Warm Homes and Energy Conservation Act 2000 underestimated the volume of HTT homes within the UK at that time?

Since the Act was enabled the government has been the driving force to reduce roaming GHGs from homes. One such scheme was the Carbon Emissions Reduction Target (CERT) which placed the onus upon energy producers to increase the energy efficiency of their customers’ homes. However the onus was to promote energy efficiency and not to supply it for free therefore how are customers suffering from fuel poverty expected to pay for the technologies which they clearly need?

Do not lose heart for all is not lost.

The Energy Efficiency Partnership for Homes have continued on their quest to comprehend householders classified as vulnerable adults and households having low incomes with regards to funding available technologies to help those identified households. The householders, using Green Deal from Department of Energy & Climate Change, are able to assist homeowners who own and rent the homes therefore enabling a greater percentage of fuel poverty sufferers to access the scheme.

Their target audience fits with findings published by the Communities and Local Government Summary which noted that the highest volume of homes that didn’t reach a decent standard were owned and that almost forty percent of vulnerable householders lived in homes that had not reached their decent standard.
Crudely to improve a build’s SAP rating for builds off the gas supply the energy ought to derive via Combined Heat and Power as this is highly efficient due to it capturing and utilizing heat that would conventually have been lost to its local environment.

However in the Summary available by ScienceDirect, Oreszczyn et al. (2005) insulation is a key component in improving energy efficiency in living rooms and bedrooms.

To conclude, there are wide ranging variables affecting energy efficiency in HTT homes. Therefore the UK needs continuing support from government agencies and the general public so that energy inefficiency will one day remain only in history books.

References
Building Research Establishment (2011) Certification Available:
http://www.bre.co.uk/page.jsp?id=1762. Last Accessed 20th May 2011.

Communities and Local Government (2008) English Housing Survey: Headline Report 2008-09 Available:
http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/statistics/pdf/1479789.pdf. Last Accessed 20th May 2011.

Communities and Local Government (2010) English Housing Survey: Headline Report 2008-09: Summary Available:
http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/corporate/statistics/ehs200809headlinereport . Last Accessed 20th May 2011.

Department of Energy & Climate change (2010) DECC Press Release 2010/104: Up to a quarter of a million jobs by 2030, says energy secretary Available:
http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/news/pn10_104/pn10_104.aspx. Last Accessed 20th May 2011.

The Department of Energy & Climate Change (2011) The Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP) Available:
http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/what_we_do/consumers/saving_energy/std_assess/std_assess.aspx. Last Accessed 20th May 2011.

Energy Efficiency Partnership for Homes (2011) DECC Workshop on Vulnerable and Low-Income Households- Event Report Available:
http://www.eeph.org.uk/FileUploads/Workshop%20on%20Green%20Deal%20Vulnerable%20&%20Low%20Income%20Hou_1304503204_13.pdf. Last Accessed 20th May 2011.

Energy Saving Trust (2007) Hard to treat homes and fuel poverty Available:
https://est.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/est.cfg/php/enduser/fattach_adp.php?p_sid=tD5-m1lk&p_accessibility=&p_redirect=&p_tbl=9&p_id=804&p_created=1241189004&p_olh=0&p_faqid=804. Last Accessed 20th May 2011.

Energy Saving Trust (2011) Hard to treat homes Available:
http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/business/Business/Housing-professionals/Interactive-tools/Hard-to-treat-homes. Last Accessed 20th May 2011.

Oreszczyn et al. (2005) Determinant of winter indoor temperatures in low income households in Europe Available:
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6V2V-4GV9SF0-2&_user=10&_coverDate=03%2F31%2F2006&_rdoc=1&_fmt=high&_orig=gateway&_origin=gateway&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_searchStrId=1758915079&_rerunOrigin=scholar.google&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=cf7284a707cc3e29724491b4d39248fb&searchtype=a. Last Accessed 20th May 2011.

Smith, L. (2010) Energy Efficiency Schemes Available:
http://www.parliament.uk/briefingpapers/commons/lib/research/briefings/snsc-05614.pdf. Last Accessed 20th May

2011
05/20
CATEGORY
Housing
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Dog Poop

According to Safer Pets (2011), within the UK the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005 requires dog owners to Poop and Scoop. Owners who do not scoop could be fined £1000 per offence. There are other reasons why scooping and disposing of dog poop makes good environmental protection sense.

Dog poop is able to transfer a variety of invertebrate parasites from the intestines of dogs to soil as part of its parasitic life cycle. Parasitic worms and eggs, not always visible to the human eye due to their miniscule size, are easily transferred to new hosts upon direct contact with the infected dog poop. Some eggs, Whipworms, are able to remain in soil for years without being damaged due to their hardened shell before being inadvertently taken up by a potential host.

Information has been publicized in books and on the web with regards to the types of parasites identified within poop. Examples of parasites are Tapeworms, Whipworms and Roundworms which have been examined and explained by Williams et al (2001) in the Veterinary Parasitology reference Manual as has their methods of transference from one host to another. The parasites are opportunistic and are able to survive in various commercial plants and mammalian intestines with some types being more prevalent in some than in others such as tapeworms.

Tapeworms are intestinal worms and there are many types, though it must be noted that not all are theorized to be bad for human health, such as the recent argument for the beneficial aspects that parasitic worms may offer within the human body which may be able to prevent asthma (NHS 2009). Echinococcus has been located in wild and domestic dogs in Australia (Jenkins et al. 2000) as well as domesticated dogs in the UK. Whipworms and Roundworms have also been located in the faeces of domesticated dogs and like the tapeworms’ echinococcus; taenia spp and Dipylidium caninum (D.caninum); they can cause ill health in dogs.

D.caninum is interesting as this is common amongst domestic cats and foxes. Its life cycle involves the gut of an intermediate host, a flea where the worm lives until it is able to be passed on. Transference occurs when the dog, cat, fox or human swallows that flea during its infective larval stage and the worm migrates to its preferred habitat: the small intestine. From there horizontal segments of the worm, called proglottids which contain embryonic eggs, are detached as segments and placed within the stools of faeces. The figure, by Richard Fox (2007) in the link, illustrates schematically an intestinally attached tapeworm containing immature proglottids and where they are expelled from the worms’ body. Continuing with the life cycle the larvae of fleas, living in soil become infected with the eggs when they eat them as a food source.

Roundworms are also known as nematode worms and are widely dispersed prevalent animals having habitats on land in soil and are abundant in decomposing vegetation including compost and in fresh and saline water. The classification of the nematode is:
Phylum = Nematoda
Class is one of two =
Adenophorea containing twelve Orders
Secernentea containing eight Orders

Roundworms contain common characterists such as body shape (symmetrical), contain a pseudocoel (false cavity), do not possess a circulatory system yet contain a nervous system with a pharynx and permeable cuticle (skin). One type of roundworm, known as the pinworm or threadworm, has infected humans so often that treatments can be bought at chemists. Pinworms are ingested and when they have reached their destination in the large intestine continues its life cycle. When it is ready to lay its eggs these are placed around the entrance to the anus where they irritate the host causing them to scratch the area.

Indicators of worm infestation within dogs include, but are not restricted to, weight loss, diarrhea, vomiting, anemia, poor coat and eyesight problems. It is vital that you protect your pet from infestations, so that they are unable to infestate you, by using the preventative measures offered by a veterinary surgeon and by scooping that poop using hygienic methods.

References
Anon. (2011) Dog laws in the UK. Available:
http://www.saferpets.co.uk/UKDogLaws.html. Last Accessed 13th May 2011

David J. Jenkins, Alasdair Fraser, Helen Bradshaw and Philip S. Craig. (2000) Detection of echinococcus granulosus coproantigens in Australian canids with natural or experimental infection. Journal of Parasitology: February 2000, Vol. 86, No. 1, pp. 140-145.

Ramel, G. (no date) The Phylum Nematoda. Available:
http://www.earthlife.net/inverts/nematoda.html. Last Accessed 13th May 2011.

Fox, R. (2007) Invertebrate anatomy online: Taenia pisiformis. Available:
http://webs.lander.edu/rsfox/invertebrates/taenia.html. Last Accessed 13th May 2011.

NHS (2009) Are worms key to health? Available:
http://www.nhs.uk/news/2009/01January/Pages/WormsImmuneSystem.aspx. Last Accessed 13th May 2011.

William, J et al (2001) Diagnostic Parasitology. Available:
http://books.google.co.uk/books?hl=en&lr=&id=paZZ6k_fOi4C&oi=fnd&pg=PP9&dq=Dog+Poop+tapeworms+whipworms+roundworms&ots=1rlGoRhwl8&sig=m8pTg-hvOO9MGDMe1qQb3mWvuHE#v=onepage&q&f=false. Last Accessed 13th May 2011

2011
05/13
CATEGORY
Dog Poop
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Networking

Standing in the doorway, the feeling of being overwhelmed returned. Being the daughter of Zeus was intimidating at the best of times but to be an overwhelmed God was excruciatingly embarrassing.

Athena found relief in the knowledge that no-one recognised her. Her global museum statues bore no resemblance to her true self. The general consensus is that she has wavy hair, wore armour and a shield and balanced an owl on her arm.
It was the metal helmet which caused her to smirk each time she saw a marble statue of herself. Obviously none of the sculptures had ever worn metal helmets or body armour during the summer or they would know that after eight hours at seventy degrees centigrade even a god could be transformed into an unflattering melted heap on the floor.
Her well meaning step-brother, Hermes; god of writing; realised that this misrepresentation irritated her so much that he transmitted a story into Mr L Frank Baum’s mind who entitled it The Wizard of Ox. Athena was the inspiration for the Wicked Witch who Dorothy caused to melt into the floor. Originally this had made her laugh but the joke had worn thin after a century or so of witnessing her death in books, on stage, and on film.
As for carrying an owl, this was ludicrous and impractical. In addition, she would have easily caught the attention of the Animal Cruelty Alliance who would no doubt have sued her for animal cruelty.

She’d never been to this place before. The sign on the door stated Information and Knowledge Exchange 2021. Everyone wore suits yet without hats, much to her relief. She closed her eyes and wished to wear an appropriate suit…and so it was. She looked down and admired her matching Vivienne Westwood skirt and waistcoat.

As she didn’t know how to conduct herself in this place, she followed a gentleman and copied what he did. He placed his jacket on a hanger on a rail and so she hung her waistcoat on the rail too. He requested a coffee, so she did too. The coffee did not quench her thirst for knowledge so she placed the cup back onto the table, smiling at the waiter.
Athena knew that Aphrodite; goddess of love, would love to have his telephone number so she gave him a business card and a wink.
The card was Aphrodite’s who never went anywhere without her mobile phone. It never ceased to amaze her that everyman who met Aphis’ gaze was instantly smitten and filled with lust and desire.
Aphis’ had worn out all mortal men out with her insatiable appetite. That was why she’d started her close friendship with Aries; god of war, a bearded anarchist.

Athena had come to this place because her father, Zeus, had demanded it. It hadn’t been necessary to be so demanding but he just couldn’t stop himself. At an early age she assumed and accepted that this was where Ares got his volatility too, that it was quite literally in his genes.

Athena looked around the room and found her true reason for being here. Behind the counter of Carbon Tracers Consultancy was Artemis; the goddess of hunting. By working for Carbon Tracers, Artemis was able to hunt organisation around the globe whose carbon footprints were too high, in accordance with their country’s Kyoto agreement levels.
Artemis stored her six foot bow at her father’s house, in a box in his attic, because it scared her work colleagues and was too cumbersome to carry about on planes. It was rather effective though when working with the organisations’ representatives!

Artemis recognised Athena instantly even though they’d not met for many years. For cover they began discussing the approaching Local Elections and Alternative Vote Referendum and would slip in unrelated sentences, which in themselves formed a private conversation.
Artemis told Athena that she was worried about Hephaestus; god of working-class ‘smiths. Hephaestus was suffering terribly with depression. The root cause was that there were not as many ‘smiths around such as blacksmiths, stonemasons and ironsmiths, etc, a trend which was global due to industrialisation. He was concerned that if he didn’t have enough followers, Zeus would recycle him, as he had with other unpopular gods. He might transform him into a god of telesales or suchlike. It didn’t help that Aphrodite ridiculed him publicly because he could not satisfy her sexually.

Athena told Artemis a similarly unsettling story of Demeter; goddess of food who had suffered a similar illness and who was highly anxious due to people eating so much fast food. When Aries joked stating that Demeter was the goddess of burgers, fries and milkshakes she had a breakdown and cried for months.

Athena managed to state that it was Zeus and Hara’s wedding anniversary and she wished to throw them a party. She’d bought cuckoo clocks from Austria and peacocks from a local estate. Hermes had written poetry which Apollo: god of music; had set it to music.
Between them they decided to ask Demeter to bake the celebratory cake and party nibbles. Artemis attempted to assure Athena that Dionysus; god of wine, should be allowed to organise the frivolities regardless of what had occurred at past celebrations. Athena wasn’t convinced but said yes anyway.

2011
05/06
CATEGORY
Environmental Schemes and Ramblings
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