Recycling

Prompted by a questionnaire from GLA Member John Biggs, I've been checking up the latest recycling position in B and D. The council's website was out-of-date and therefore in some aspects wrong when I looked on Christmas Eve.

Yellow Pages

if you haven't got yourself off the distribution list for a printed YP (see http://stibasa.blogspot.com/2008/05/paper-yellow-pages-no-more.html) then you should recycle your copy. You can now put YP in the orange bags (the bags say "directories") or you can take them to Jenkins Lane / Frizlands Lane. The council website incorrectly said that YP cannot be recycled.

Fruit juice cartons (Tetra paks) and similar

John Biggs assistant told (wrongly) me that these cannot be put into B and D's recycling schemes. There is a eurobin for them in Axe St and also one in the Tesco car park not far from the Town Quay.

Plastic

John Biggs' questionnaire said that all plastic can be recycled. I'm told that's not true even in theory. It certainly isn't in practice in B and D. In an e-mail his assistant wrote:

"the orange bag collection can take hard plastics (eg plastic bottles), but not soft plastics (eg wrappings, yoghurt pots)". I'm not sure how you tell hard from soft plastic if yoghurt pots come under soft - also I'm not sure if plastic can be recycled through other routes; one of the bins near where I live is labelled 'cans and plastic' (or similar).

Carrier bags

Tesco's have a hopper for these at their Highbridge Road branch. The council's website doesn't mention this - perhaps because they only mention recycling that they provide. Bit silly.

Orange bags

The council's website has a page headed: Recycling, Orange bags, what can be recycled. This is misleading as it means "what can be put in the orange bags." They need to sort this page out. If we want to know whow we can recycle things that can't go in the orange bag, the same page should tell us how / where.

Non cycling bus lanes in B and D (on A13) pt 2

1) Alfreds Way, westbound from River Rd.

2) As (1). Lane ends in segregated layby.
3) Alfreds Way -Westbound approach to River Road ("Volunteer")
4) Alfreds Way -Eastbound from Movers Lane.

5) Alfreds Way, eastbound, heading towards Ripple Rd ("Thatched House")

Non cycling bus lanes in B and D (on A13)

A13 Ripple Road eastbound, from Lodge Avenue.

Stibasa (LCC B and D) Google group disappearance

B and D LCC members with e-mail (most of you) will have had a message saying that the stibasa Google Group (GG) has disappeared from the internet. At the time of writing it had not reappeared, though from my limited research I know that other GGs that disappeared have re-appeared. So fingers crossed.

The consequences of this are several. (1) the archive of e-mails since I set up the GG is not available - though I hope it isn't lost for ever. (2) I've had to set up the GG again, and if you want to access its web page you need to join it, which requires you to have a Google Account. You should still get group e-mails even if you don't join the group on the web.(3) The GG's e-mail address is Stibasa2@googlegroups.com. It used to be plain old Stibasa@googlegroups.com but Google say that address is taken! It is, but it doesn't work. The GG's name is still stibasa. (4) Everyone is a new member of the GG, though most of you should have been members of the GG of the same name that disappeared. I'm sorry about this, but as the service is free, I don't suppose the geeks at Google will be running up and down trying to put it right.

I'm going to contact the BBC's technology TV programme 'Click' to see if they'll do an item on the phenomenon. www.stibasa.org.uk is still alive and quite well thank you musn't grumble and so is "our" blog - http://www.stibasa.blogspot.com/, so there's a bit of cyberspace with a local transport flavour. I say "our" blog, but your contributions are noticeable by their absence.

Welcome to any new members - please get in touch, by e-mail if at all possible as that makes my life easier.

East London Transit moves a step closer

I've had a letter saying there will be explanatory drop in sessions:

St Luke's Church, Baxter Road, Iford on Tu 2 December, 10-7
Vicarage Fields, Barking on Sa 6 December, 10-5
Sue Bramley Centre, Thames View,Tu 9 December, 1-7

In 2006 when they had a similar thing, I wrote to them and went to a drop in because the plans they were putting forward not only failed to tackle some long standing issues for cyclists, some of which had been formally identified by TfL in 2003 in a cycle route audit, but it also proposed to introduce further restrictions. It looks like I wasted my time, because the latest proposals as documented at August 2008 don't look much different - a bit worse if anything. See for yourself at http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloads/east-london-transit-maps.pdf

Do go along to the sessions, or write to elt@tfl.go.uk or phone 0800 587 3068

Stibasa Google group disappeared

Our LCC branch Google group has disappeared from the internet without warning or explanation. I have raised the matter on the forums, but I don't know how to get through to Mr Google himself to get the group back.

Low Energy Bulbs Myth-buster

"Low energy bulbs save you cash, carbon and inconvenience – so why aren’t we all using them?

What investment opportunity offers typical returns of up to 6000 per cent, an average minimum pay-in of just £3 and, as a bonus, has a positive impact on the planet? The answer: low-energy light bulbs.

A single low-energy bulb costing £1 can save you up to £60 in energy costs over its lifetime and avoid hundreds of kilograms of CO2 emissions.

So why isn’t everyone using them? One reason is that many people simply aren’t aware of the benefits. Another is that low-energy light bulbs, also known as eco bulbs or compact fluorescent bulbs, still have a reputation for poor quality.

Here are some of the most common myths about green lighting."