Bed Time

A novel way to tackle climate change was launched by the Japanese government this week.  Japanese citizens are being urged to go to bed an hour early to reduce carbon emissions.

The logic behind The Morning Challenge campaign is that the electricity saved from going to bed an hour early and getting up for an extra hour of sunlight in the morning will reduce the nation's carbon footprint.

This isn't the first unique eco campaign launched by the Japanese government.  Five years ago it encouraged workers to wear short sleeved shirts to cut back on using air conditioning in 28 degree heat.  If the good weather stays for long enough here maybe Minister Gormley will be unveiling something similar!

Read about the Morning Challenge in the Daily Telegraph.

Earth, Wind and Spire 25 June 2010

This week's show was presented by Padraic Ryan.  The reports were by Jeannie McCann, Valerie Flynn and Jack Cane.  Christina McSorley read the news.  The show was produced by Jeannie McCann.

 

   

Earth, Wind and Spire 25 June 2010

   

Jeannie McCann's Podcast

 

 

 

 
 

What the oil spill would look like if it was in Dublin

Short on imagination? This handy webtool shows you what the oil spill would look like if it took place in your home town.

So this is what would happen if it all went down in Lucan.

Yeah, I wouldn't really mind either if Lucan was destroyed by some awful ecological disaster. BUT, as you can see, we'd all have to go and live in Cork or Mayo or Donegal...or Bray.

Jesus.

On Tomorrow's Show

Just a quick preview of tomorrow's show

Padraic Ryan interviewing Patricia McKenna.

Tune in Friday at 3pm.

Tomorrow @ 3pm you'll be listening to...

Coming up on Earth, Wind and Spire this week...
Padraic talks to former Dublin MEP Patricia McKenna about green politics, feminism and the eco lifestyle.
Jack finds out about creative ideas for unused spaces around the city.
Val learns how to create an environment for butterflies at South Circular Road Community Garden.
Jeannie hears the debate on how to make Ireland's future sustainable.
And Christina has all the last enironment news in Dublin.
Tune in at 3pm tomorrow on Dublin 103.2FM or listen online http://www.dublincityfm.ie/

Sellafield downsizing *boo hoo*

Following 'efficiency savings', sixty job are to go at the British state agency responsible for shifting control of Sellafield to the private sector, the BBC reports.

The local Council is gutted. The leader of its strategic policy commitee says: "This does not mean that West Cumbria is not committed to the nuclear industry.

"We have a strong industry with a skilled workforce and there is still much work in nuclear decommissioning and potentially new nuclear sites here in West Cumbria."

(Phew! For a minute there, we were beginning to worry that they'd stop creating oodles of badly stored radioactive waste on the coast of our sea.)

Ominously though, that dude (one Tim Heslop) is a member of the Alliance Party. His party colleague and Minister for Energy Chris Huhne is the currently the last barrier between the nuclear-friendly Conservative administration and a whole new generation of nuclear reactors. But the Lib Dems seem to be coming round to the idea of nuclear power. One to keep an eye on.

News just in: Gulf of Mexico is far away

The Irish Times reports the EPA's assurances that no oil from the BP spill in the Gulf of Mexico will reach Ireland.

An EPA spokeswoman said that: “Due to the distance between the Gulf of Mexico and Europe and also the nature and frequency of autumnal storms in the Atlantic Ocean, the likelihood is that the oil will disperse and evaporate in the ocean, possibly leaving 'tar balls' which should sink to the bottom before reaching Ireland."

It's not clear who was worrying about this in the first place.

Speaking of the oil spill, this article from The Onion is very good. "A thick coat of oil should help these animals tremendously, especially with the cold weather coming."

In other news today, the Herald reports that Dublin City Council is going to do something about the morning jam on Camden Street's so-called 'Quality Bus Corridor'. Apparently buses there move at an average of 5km per hour, which is more or less the same as a person walking.

And the big shiny yoke at the bottom of Infirmary Road has won a prize.

Cup of tea?

Ever wondered what damage you are doing to the environment with that caffeine addiction?

According to the Guardian, drinking four lattes a day uses as much carbon as flying half way across Europe!  It's the milk that's the problem - thanks to all the methane cows give off.

And, the environmentally conscience should think about how to boil water.  The old-fashioned stove top kettle is over efficient than its new electric equivalent!

So, it seems a cup of tea does more than give you a kick in the morning!

http://bit.ly/bNL0ic

Very hungry caterpillars

Earth, Wind and Spire went along to the South Circular Road Community Garden yesterday afternoon, where Bob Aldwell from the Dublin Naturalists Field Club gave a workshop on butterflies.

Bob was impresssed by the amount of insect life in the South Circular garden. If you've ever walked by it (coming from Clanbrassil Street, it's on the right-hand side before the turn for Dolphin's Barn/Cork Street) you'll have noticed that it is very overgrown, with the grass beside the railings well over a metre high. This is because a large plot at the front of the garden has been left wild to create a habitat for insects like bees, butterflies and ladybirds.

The vegetable plots are behind the tall grass, but you can't really see them from the road. One of the vegetable plots has been left fallow. Here is a photo of the fallow plot, with poppies and dog daisies growing in it, next to a plot with mustard (the yellow flowers).

This policy of having cultivated and wild/fallow plots side by side seems to be working. There were two Small Whites fluttering round the garden the whole time. Can you spot two of their cunningly disguised offspring on this brassica?

(Clue: They're on a small leaf right in the middle.)

Of course, the only problem with this hippy-dippy, insects-are-our-friends policy is that the caterpillars will have eaten the plant to bits by the time they're ready to pupate. You can see the damage in the above photo. Bob suggested that the most practical approach is to have one or two plants, or a little section of your garden that you don't mind losing to caterpillars, and just move them there when you find them.

There will be an item on butterflies, including an interview with Bob Aldwell, on next week's Earth, Wind and Spire.

Earth, Wind and Spire 18/06/2010

This week's show was presented by Padraic Ryan and this week's environmental news was read by Valerie Flynn. Reports by Lorcan Archer, Jeannie McCann, Christina McSorley and Fergal Reid. The producer was Jack Cane.

EWS 18/06/2010

EWS - Jack

Ten Minutes To Go... Can You Wait?!

You'll just have to, I'm afraid.

But never fear, today's show will be worth your fingernails having been bitten down to the quick. In but ten minutes hear all about:

- The protests at Dublin City Council by angry locals (tm) over proposed swimming pool closures and all the other environmental tid-bits from the evening's debates.

- Why aren't Ireland's beaches blue? Because they're mostly that off-grey coarse sand that gets between your toes for days. But now we have less Blue Flag beaches than we've had for a decade. We find out why.

- Seen many building cranes on the Dublin skyline lately? For most it probably means better evening vistas but for budding architectural graduates it's a source of despair. We visit DIT's Graduate Show to find out how Dublin's face will change in the new sustainable future and how graduates are coping.

- Bought a pack of eco-friendly light bulbs? Good for you. We talk to a family that's going a little further in their pursuit of a green lifestyle, with all the green ideas coming from the children and their school.

The podcast of the programme will be available tomorrow, right here on the blog. But you're hardly going to miss it now, are you?

Podcast of show, June 11

On this show...

On yer bike #2: Wheely good ideas for National Bike Week.
School's in for summer: Dublin hosts the European Biodiversity Summer School.
Greenbacks for green business: Why aren’t the banks lending to eco-friendly companies?
And...
Bloomin’ lovely: Green highlights from last weekend’s gardening extravaganza.

As well as our weekly round-up of environmental news in Dublin.

Earth, Wind and Spire, June 11

val's Podcast

Presented by Padraic Ryan. Reports by Christina McSorley, Lorcan Archer and Valerie Flynn. News by Fergal Reid. Research: Jeannie McCann. Producer: Valerie Flynn.

This afternoon at 3pm...

Christina gears up for National Bike Week. Lorcan learns about the birds and the bees at the European Biodiversity Summer School. Padraic asks why the banks aren't lending to green businesses. Val checks out organic gardening and other eco exhibits at Bloom.

And we'll have our weekly round up of environment news from Dublin City and County. It's all happening at 3pm on 103.2 Dublin City FM.

Without Further Ado...

Excuse the delay, planeteers! The latest episode of Earth, Wind and Spire is available below.

EWS 04/06/2010

EWS - Jack

For Your Aural Pleasure

Today on the next exciting instalment of the city's favourite* effusive environmental extravaganza!

(*Probably)

Will turning off the lawnmowers turn out to be a snake in the long grass for Fingal County Council? Lorcan Archer dives in and finds out.

Are you a fan of ours on facebook? Then you're probably a young trendy type! You'll probably want to hear all about Dublin's new soundstaged/organic/farmer/vintage gear market at the Point Village from Jeannie McCann so.

Find that your friends think damming the Amazon is a good idea and organic food's a waste of time? Christina McSorley visited a green drinks event where you can meet likeminded souls for a pint and a bit of environmentally related banter: the best kind of banter!

The iconic Poolbeg chimneys seem to be on the way out, just as they've seen off millions of visitors to Dublin in the past. Fergal Reid hits the town to talk to politicians in favour of keeping them and people on the street whose opinions are a little harder to read...

Plus all the weekly environmental news in Dublin from Valerie Flynn.

This edition was produced by Jack Cane, and presented by Christina McSorley.

Podcast available here after the programme has aired at 3pm today on 103.2 Dublin City FM, which according to the ad for Little Steven's music show after our own programme is the "coolest radio station in town". Fact!

Bank Holiday stuff

Morning all. Two big green events in Dublin this weekend.

The first is, of course, Ireland's answer to the Chelsea Flower show - Bloom in the Phoenix Park. This year at Bloom there will be a major emphasis on sustainability. Display gardens will demostrate how to conserve water by gathering rainwater, and the importance of Irish native species for food and to the economy.

The second is the European Biodiversity Summer School, organised by Coast Watch and The Irish Environmental Network, with lectures in Trinity College's Science Gallery, nature walks and, er, biodiversity-themed live music (not sure what that's about). Some of tomorrow's events are in Wexford, but there are "special mystery tasks on the train" from Pearse (not sure what that's about either). Here's the programme.

If you're away for the weekend, don't worry because we'll be reporting on the highlights of both events on next week's show.