Have a green Christmas

Achaleven Primary School in Connel, Argyll, have been promoting green, sustainable, package and rubbish-reduced living.

Last Tuesday, 24 November, the school put on a coffee evening themed Have a green Christmas.

The children sold eco-friendly bags and cards as well as gifts to promote their eco work. Head Teacher Sharon Burt and her team put on a fantastic spread of baking; there were also a lucky dip and a raffle with great prizes.

Despite really horrible weather, the room was packed with parents and friends.

All money raised will be put towards further developing the school's garden.

(© Photo: Caroline Askew, The GRAB Trust)

Sustainable Oban / Oban Plastic Bag Free! were happy to be present with displays promoting the two organisations. Thank you for your hospitality, Achaleven.

Our Petition to the Scottish Government: Ban plastic carrier bags throughout Scotland...

Dear All

At long last our Petition has gone out to the Scottish Government. Oban Plastic Bag Free! sent 87 signatures to Mr Jim Mather, MSP for Argyll & Bute and Minister for Enterprise, Energy & Tourism, with the following covering letter, demanding the ban of plastic carrier bags throughout Scotland and serious action against plastic packaging in general:

17th November 2009

Mr Jim Mather MSP for Argyll & Bute
Minister for Enterprise, Energy & Tourism
31, Combie Street
Oban, Argyll, PA34 5HS

Petition to the Scottish Government to ban plastic carrier bags in Scotland and take serious action against plastic packaging in general

Dear Mr Mather

As Minister for Enterprise, Energy & Tourism it must matter to you that our environment be as clean and healthy as possible. Plastic bags and plastic waste are a blight on our environment. Small plastic particles attract toxins and enter the food chain via marine and land-based creatures. It was recently reported "that human hormone-mimicking phthalates commonly found in PVC plastics would appear to alter the brains of baby boys making them 'more feminine'"; they are known to have a serious impact on male fertility.
In view of your past positive responses to messages from Sustainable Oban and the Oban Plastic Bag Free! Initiative, I am taking the liberty of passing on to you a total of 87 signatures to a Petition to the Scottish Government to ban plastic carrier bags in Scotland and take serious action against plastic packaging in general.
We will appreciate it if you will kindly forward this petition to the Scottish Government in Edinburgh. We will appreciate it even more if you will defend this petition and help us push it through into legislation.
With many thanks and best wishes
[signature]
Margaret Powell-Joss
[co-initiator of OPBF! and Secretary, Sustainable Oban]

Enclosures

Copy to The Editor, The Oban Times, Oban

*) International Journal of Andrology, quoted in
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/8361863.stm, see also http://obanplasticbagfree.blogspot.com/

Of course now we look forward to getting results.

The Story of Stuff -- Sunday, 29th November 2009, Benderloch, Argyll, Scotland

Dear All

On Sunday, 29th November, 2009, an extremely instructive and entertaining cartoon documentary will be shown at 7pm at the Victory Hall in Benderloch, Argyll.
Admission free -- donations welcome.

The Story of Stuff

What it's about:
"From its extraction through sale, use and disposal, all the stuff in our lives affects communities at home and abroad, yet most of this is hidden from view. The Story of Stuff is a 20-minute, fast-paced, fact-filled look at the underside of our production and consumption patterns. The Story of Stuff exposes the connections between a huge number of environmental and social issues, and calls us together to create a more sustainable and just world. It'll teach you something, it'll make you laugh, and it just may change the way you look at all the stuff in your life forever." (from the Story of Stuff website)

Following on to watching this short video together, we will have a discussion and a "freecycle"-inspired STUFF SWAP. So, please bring something that you've long been wanting to get rid of and swap it for something someone else may bring and that you would like to have.

Mairi Stones and friends, as well as Sustainable Oban, look forward to seeing you there.

Let's get rid of plastic -- it's toxic in many ways

Dear all

The showing of a documentary at Benderloch's Victory Hall yesterday evening once again underscored our extreme dependency on oil for everything - from fuel to petrol to plastic to cosmetics and much, much more. We need to get rid of plastic. It is not only a blight on our landscapes and endangers sea-dwelling creatures, it has also slowly been poisoning the food chain and the human body.

Quite by chance I just found more evidence for the latter. Read the following article, which underscores how little we know about the effects of the oil-based synthetics we have been producing and using for the past approximately 60 years. It would appear that phthalates cause disruption of male reproductive health and affect male behaviour. We are constantly exposed to these chemicals through our use of plastic.

Let's get rid of plastic, or at least reduce our use.

Toxins in plastic 'feminise boys'

Chemicals in plastics alter the brains of baby boys making them "more feminine", say US researchers.

[Page last updated at 10:23 GMT, Monday, 16 November 2009]

Males exposed to high doses in the womb went on to be less likely to play with boys' toys like cars or to join in rough and tumble games, they found.

The University of Rochester team's latest work adds to concerns about the safety of phthalates, found in vinyl flooring and PVC shower curtains. The findings are reported in the International Journal of Andrology.

Plastic furniture

Phthalates have the ability to disrupt hormones, and have been banned in toys in the EU for some years. However, they are still widely used in many different household items, including plastic furniture and packaging.

There are many different types and some mimic the female hormone oestrogen.

The feminising capacity of phthalates makes them true 'gender benders' E. Salter-Green, director of CHEM Trust

The same researchers have already shown that this can mean boys are born with genital abnormalities.

Now they say certain phthalates also impact on the developing brain, by knocking out the action of the male hormone testosterone.

Dr Shanna Swan and her team tested urine samples from mothers over midway through pregnancy for traces of phthalates. The women, who gave birth to 74 boys and 71 girls, were followed up when their children were aged four to seven and asked about the toys the youngsters played with and the games they enjoyed.

Girls' play

They found that two phthalates DEHP and DBP can affect play behaviour. Boys exposed to high levels of these in the womb were less likely than other boys to play with cars, trains and guns or engage in "rougher" games like playfighting.

Elizabeth Salter-Green, director of the chemicals campaign group CHEM Trust, said the results were worrying.
"We now know that phthalates, to which we are all constantly exposed, are extremely worrying from a health perspective, leading to disruption of male reproduction health and, it appears, male behaviour too. This feminising capacity of phthalates makes them true 'gender benders'."

[Elizabeth Salter-Green] acknowledged that the boys who have been studied were still young, but she said reduced masculine play at this age might lead to other feminised developments in later life.

But Tim Edgar, of the European Council for Plasticisers and Intermediates, said: "We need to get some scientific experts to look at this study in more detail before we can make a proper judgement."
He said there were many different phthalates in use and the study concerned two of the less commonly used types that were on the EU candidate list as potentially hazardous and needing authorisation for use.

DBP has been banned from use in cosmetics, such as nail varnish, since 2005 in the EU.

PHTHALATES
There are many different types.
The most commonly used are deemed entirely safe by regulators [MPJs emphasis].
[Potentially hazardous phthalates needing authorisation for use:]
DEHP - used to make PVC soft and pliable and used in products like flooring
DBP - used as a plasticiser in glues, dyes and textiles

For the original article, please go to http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/8361863.stm

*****

My own two cents, to be taken with a pinch of salt:
The world might be a better place if males were a bit more feminised and less testosterone were coursing through their veins...

Plastic litter on UK beaches

Dear all

44.30 minutes into Autumnwatch 2009, Episode 7, Chris Packham and Kate Humble confirm what Oban Plastic Bag Free! have been clamouring for: abolish plastic bags, and significantly reduce the use of plastic in general.

Chris Packham: "We think that 100,000 mammals die every year because they are ensnared by pieces of plastic. And those are just those the ones we find on the beach. Imagine how many more there are out at sea!"

It is said that the average fulmar has got 30 pieces of plastic inside it.

Kate Humble: "As plastic breaks down it becomes the size of plankton and enters the food chain."

To watch the programme, go to http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00ny9ct – you have 13 days left to watch, i.e. approx. until 26 November 2009.

The Marine and Coastal Access Act

Dear all

As you may have heard, the new Marine Bill was very recently given Royal assent and became the UK Marine and Coastal Access Act. It is a fantastic opportunity for everyone on these islands to become more familiar with the coast and the marine environment beyond.

What we now need is a strong Scottish Marine Bill
We would like to join the Marine Conservation Society in their call for action:
As the Marine (Scotland) Bill enters a crucial phase in the Scottish Parliament, please take one action to let your MSP know how important it is that the Bill delivers real protection and recovery for Scotland’s seas: click here -- there is still just time, but please hurry!

What the UK Marine and Coastal Access Act can do, in the words of TV presenter Nicholas Crane:
"[…] Since the Land Reform (Scotland) Act of 1973, the view from the Inaccessible Pinnacle has embraced the land of the free-spirited; a landscape that is not blocked with barbed wire and Keep Out signs. In Scotland, there is a statutory right of responsible access over most areas of open countryside; a right to roam over much of the country’s moorland, mountains, forests, farmlands, riverbanks and coast. The Scots have a history of enlightenment.
"Thirty-six years after the Act received Royal Assent, the Scottish countryside has not been trashed by millions of vandals wearing bobble hats. Open access has brought tourism and a greater understanding of country needs. Everything I’ve learnt about the management of deer herds and salmon – and their contribution to local economies – has been gleaned during chance encounters with gamekeepers and ghillies whose estates I can cross without trepidation. Scotland has put its people back in touch with the land. And that, as we career into an era of accelerated environmental change, can only be a good thing.
"South of the border, we’re playing catch-up, but the Marine and Coastal Access Act, which became law on Thursday, is a historic breakthrough. The creation of a continuous, coastal access zone, and the protection of our marine habitats, will help us to see that we belong to a global biosphere. Part of that imaginative leap is the rediscovery of our status as islanders, with a responsibility for our own shores and coastal waters.
[…]
"But the Marine Act is much more than a walkers’ charter. Stand on any beach or cliff-top, turn to the sea’s horizon, and you will be gazing across the most important – and least visible – habitat on earth. Half of the UK’s biodiversity lives in our coastal waters, but rising sea temperatures, acidification, bottom-trawling, overfishing, sewage, garbage and a host of ugly threats are exacting a fearful toll. In UK waters, 22 species of wildlife are facing the threat of global extinction. The Marine Conservation Society regard the new Act as “a milestone”, which they hope will lead to the creation of 73 marine conservation zones intended to protect a range of species from cold-water corals to sea horses and basking sharks. […]"
[[By Nicholas Crane, published: 7:00AM GMT 14 Nov 2009, in the Telegraph]]

For the full text and some beautiful photos, please go to http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/environment/6563864/Marine-and-Coastal-Access-Act-our-coast-is-now-a-treasure-to-share.html