Peoples Republic of South Devon

Sustainability South West’s top ten environmental tips

… to save the planet, save your (non-denominational) soul and save money.

Today’s top 10 are from Sustainability South West

1. Develop sustainability learning and skills. Explain and promote the ‘what’, ‘why’ and ‘how’ of sustainability and develop ‘systemic thinking’, professional skills and leadership to support sustainable solutions

2. Improve physical and mental well-being, Reduce health inequalities by supporting: healthy, balanced lifestyles; healthy homes and workplaces; clean, safe and green environments; and supportive and inclusive communities

3. Improve equality in meeting basic needs, Reduce inequalities (prioritising those who are most in need) in access to: decent and affordable housing; essential goods and services; an adequate income; and safe and satisfying employment, learning and leisure opportunities

4. Be resource wise. Cut consumption of resources and adopt high energy, water and resource efficiency at home and at work; maximise the use of local, renewable energy; minimise waste and prevent pollution

5. Support thriving low carbon economies. Boost competitiveness, business markets and employment opportunities by supporting a low carbon approach to innovation, enterprise and economic development in ways which meet local workforce needs eg local renewable energy, sustainable construction and renovation, environmental technologies and local/regional supply chains - see Fair Share Fair Choice for low carbon advice and support and to sign up to the principle of ‘fair and safe carbon shares for everyone’.

6. Reduce high carbon travel. Use, promote and plan for low carbon access/travel eg walking & cycling, home-working, mobile services, ICT/video-conferencing, online facilities, local multi-service centres, demand-responsive public transport and alternative fuels

7. Use local and ethical goods and services Use locally and ethically sourced goods and services - and strengthen local/regional supply chains - to boost our local economies and support people in other parts of the world

8. Enhance local distinctiveness and diversity including biodiversity. Protect and enhance our natural environment and biodiversity and culture and heritage and celebrate diversity and distinctiveness

9. Help everyone to join in public decision-making. Support wider, more informed participation in public and community decision-making to foster citizenship and involve people in the solutions to local and global challenges

10. Take a long-term approach. Take into account the needs of future generations including mitigating and adapting to climate change. Ensure the genuine sustainability and success of what you do by pursuing integrated, lasting ‘win-win-win’ outcomes for society, the economy and the environment.

These are the South West’s 10 sustainability principles – part of the Regional Sustainable Development Framework. Sustainability South West (SSW) coordinates the Sustainability Shaper. SSW is a charity who raises awareness and provides advice and guidance to accelerate change towards a more sustainable region. In addition to its membership, SSW has a small staff team headed up by director Leslie Watson. Currently its chair is Julian Dennis, director of compliance and sustainability at Wessex Water and its president is Jonathon Porritt who is also Chair of the Sustainable Development Commission.

More SSW news and information is available on the Sustainability South West website.

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October 3rd, 2008

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Super incinerator gets money to burn

posted by Cptn

Plymouth’s incinerator is intended to cut down on landfill

Gone are the day’s of burning all your rubbish on bonfires, thank goodness, but as the chill in the air turns our attention to Guy Fawkes, it’s worth having a thought about Plymouth’s new super-incinerator, which came a step closer with £95 million in PFI money from Defra.

The incinerator will see nearly all biodegradable waste diverted from landfill sites by 2020 – up to 293,000 tonnes a year, according to the Western Morning News.

By taking up the scheme, the partnership of Plymouth City Council, Torbay Council and Devon County Counci is predicted to save £3 million over the next 30 years - the difference between shoveling the waste in landfill (£1.9 billion) to building said super incinerator (£1.6 billion).

Mark Turner, partnership project manager, told the paper: “Energy from waste incinerates waste and produces two types of heat. One can be turned into electricity and fed into the national grid and the other is steam. This is a clean technology and a reliable process.”

Nevertheless, environmental campaigners at Friends of the Earth are worried the money will be spent on a large-scale incinerator, fuelled by waste that could be recycled.

Mike Burkin, South West campaigns coordinator for the group, he told the paper: “We believe that it is much better for councils for go for smaller local facilities with more flexible ways of dealing with waste.

“Devon will end up with a massive incinerator which has to be fed with paper and plastic to keep it working.”

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October 3rd, 2008

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The Horrors of the Net

The weekly technology column from those gurus of geek at Plymouth’s at Orange Crate

The idea of listening to a presentation talk at 7:30am is probably just as horrific as the idea of actually delivering it. So I suppose I can forgive my audience this morning for not being the most lively bunch. Add to this a content disturbing enough to put most people off their full English breakfast and you have a potential for an interesting 10-minute slot!

When I say disturbing, it wasn’t meant to be that way - after all I’m an IT consultant not a forensic pathologist or a crime scene investigator (a man can dream…). Following the usual company overview of services and products, the crux of the presentation took the format of an ‘education slot’ dealing with the threat of malware. And here, ladies and gentlemen, is where the fear set in.

Let’s take a look at some statistics: In April 2008 there were 1.1 million malware threats on the internet, and 711,912 of these were only recognized in the last year. This suggests that 64% of malware was created in 2007, a massive exponential growth which is predicted to continue. Granted, stats are just stats, but even if these are only partially accurate it is a concerning trend. Add to this the reality that malware activity in email rose by 500% from December 2007 to June 2008, and you begin to see why my audience were beginning to look uncomfortable.

The unfortunate truth is that everyone is a potential target for some level of malware infiltration. But the good news is that it doesn’t cost the Earth to protect yourself and your computers from the dangers of the on-line world. First up though, let’s have a look at what those dangers are…

The term ‘malware’ gets thrown around a fair bit these days, but I’m now convinced that many people don’t know what it really means. Short for ‘malicious software’, it is an all-encompassing term used to describe such nasties as viruses, worms, adware, spyware, trojan horses, and other nefarious pieces of software code.

Each of these sub-divisions are recognized by the different kind of damage or intrusion they are responsible for and unsurprisingly, none of them are welcome visitors. Viruses are so-called because of their infectious nature. They can be ‘caught’ by downloading or transferring infected files from the internet, emails, usb pen drives, cd’s, or over networks. Among other things they can infect other files, corrupt sections of your hard disk, and generally ruin your computer. Like biological viruses, some can also mutate, making them harder to track down and quarantine.

Worms are similar to viruses but, in general terms, infect networks. They can eat up bandwidth, slow down performance, and have similar effects to viruses. Trojan Horses are becoming more and more prevalent at the moment. They share their name with this particular piece of Hellenic ingenuity due to their being disguised as something desirable when they are actually just the opposite. Notoriously destructive, some ‘trojans’ can be responsible for installing background applications on your computer that will download further malware, driving your pc to an unusable state.

In terms of their aims, adware and spyware are slightly different although just as malicious. Some are just annoying – by settling itself into your machine and monitoring your on-line behaviour a piece of adware can gather information which it then uses to bombard you with ‘relevant’ advertising, often in the form of pop-ups or email. On the other end of the danger scale, certain spyware can even go as far as monitoring your keystrokes, potentially acquiring user names and passwords in the process. Such illegal software is occasionally known as ‘crimeware’.

If all of this wasn’t frightening enough, there are also people out there in cyber-land who want to rip you off (believe it or not!). Most people have, while surfing the net, been presented with a pop up box telling them their computer is ‘infected with a virus’ and that they should ‘click here’ for a ‘free scan’. And a surprising amount of people do, then go on to pay for a piece of useless software that they are consequently encouraged to download.

So perhaps you can see why people were scurrying for advice on pc security after my little 10-minute horror story? Next week I’ll let you in on some easy tips that will help you avoid the worst of it, and come out smelling of roses rather than Trojan Horse manure.

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October 3rd, 2008

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Devon news round up: GOOD WEEK/BAD WEEK

Exeter bus station - good week or bad week for the transport hub?

A look at the winners and losers in this week’s news from in and around the People’s Republic of South Devon

GOOD WEEK FOR
Exeter Bus Station: Councillors approved spending £175,000 on a master plan to redevelop the city’s bus station. Private funding is also needed for the scheme which could cost more than £225m.

Barnstaple: The town council of which has pledged it to become the “greenest town in Devon”. It has enlisted the help of consultancy firm Envision with the plan to co-ordinate commercial recycling, and gain promises by firms to reduce their carbon footprint.

Air Ambulance: The Devon Air Ambulance launched the new EC135, the first custom build air air ambulance in the country. The helicopter, a collaboration between Eurocopter, the South West Ambulance Service and the Devon Air Ambulance Trust, cost over £3.5 million.

BAD WEEK FOR
ITV Westcountry: It was confirmed that the main base of ITV Westcountry, at Langage Science Park near Plymouth, will close with the loss of 90 jobs.

Torbay Artsbase: A heckler disrupted proceedings at its awards ceremony at Oldway Mansions, Paignton, when Torbay Mayor Nick Bye was to present the award in the performing arts section, which went to Paignton Operatic and Dance for their junior production of Les Miserables.

Barnstaple Councillor: Karen Rollings, a Barnstaple town councillor, has been disqualified because she didn’t attend any meetings for six months.

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October 3rd, 2008

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