Bees-What are the British , Spanish , Danish and Belgian Goverments doing? Money over Nature, Profit from destruction

 

The British government has just given the green light for bee-killing pesticides to be sprayed in the UK. The pesticide being used has been banned for being poisonous to bees, but it’s just been approved to help grow sugar beet in the spring

 

This is about bees, but it's also about us. If we keep harming bees, we risk our food supplies. It's estimated that a third of our food is dependent on pollinators, of which bees are some of the most important. A third of bee populations are already shrinking.  We can’t allow pesticides to destroy our environment and kill any more bees. 

 

Can you sign this petition so we can get the Environment Minister to act fast? only applicable to people living in the UK.

“Enforce a total ban on bee-killing pesticides.”

Sign the petition

 

 

 “We cannot afford to put our pollinator populations at risk.”  These were the words of Michael Gove when he introduced the ban on bee-killing pesticides in 2018. So how come it doesn´t apply in 2021?

 

So what’s changed since then? Well, it’s certainly not the science. Pesticides, including neonicotinoids, are still bad news for bees. Studies have shown that these pesticides can affect bees’ navigational abilities and breeding success, and they are unsurprisingly ravaging other insects as well.

 

The government are now saying that their reasons for allowing emergency use is to protect growers of sugar beet. But this is a short-sighted and dangerous approach to take, especially when you consider we rely on bees to help pollinate lots of crops like apples, beans, squashes and almonds.

 

George Eustice has the power to change all of this. We have the opportunity to shift away from chemical-intensive agriculture to organic farming that protects nature. As Environment Minister, he can show he’s on the right side of protecting nature by enforcing a total ban on bee-harming pesticides. Can you get the Environment Minister to act now?

 

We have the power to make George Eustice act. He’s approved this emergency use of a deadly pesticide, but we need to remind him that we’re in the middle of a climate and nature emergency. 

 

We can stop this now. If lots of people sign this petition we can pile pressure on the government to quickly reverse its decision and keep bee-killing pesticides away from our environment.

 

An article in the Guardian Newspaper reported the following:

A pesticide believed to kill bees has been authorised for use in England despite an EU-wide ban on its use outdoors two years ago and an explicit government pledge to keep the restrictions.

Following lobbying from the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) and British Sugar, a product containing the neonicotinoid thiamethoxam was sanctioned for emergency use on sugar beet seeds this year because of the threat posed by a virus.

Conservationists have described the decision as regressive and called for safeguards to prevent the pollution of rivers with rainwater containing the chemical at a time when British insects are in serious decline.

Formally, EU members in 2018 banned most neonicotinoids for use on crops outdoors, to protect bees. Subsequent decisions by 11 countries to allow emergency use come amid a growing awareness of the harmful role played by refined sugar in the development of long-term health problems.

Matt Shardlow, the chief executive of the invertebrate conservation group Buglife, said it was an “environmentally regressive” decision that would destroy wildflowers and add to an “onslaught” on insects.

 The UK, however, has now joined EU countries including Belgium, Denmark and Spain in signing emergency authorisations for its use, according to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).

A similar emergency application for England in 2018 was refused after government pesticide advisers said it would “cause unacceptable effects to bees in flowering crops and flowering plants in field margins”.

It added that it would harm “birds and mammals eating seedlings from treated seed and birds consuming pelleted seed” and risked “adversely impacting populations of aquatic insects”.

Scientists have observed significant declines in some British bee species since 2007, coinciding with the introduction of thiamethoxam, which was previously widely used. Studies suggest that it weakens bees’ immune systems, harms the development of baby bees’ brains and can leave them unable to fly. Another study has found honey samples being contaminated by neonicotinoids.

The proposed use of the pesticide to protect beet crops in the east of England in 2018 was estimated by the government to be worth about £18m. Yields from 2020 are forecast to be down by as much as 25% on previous years, Defra said. The pesticide, sold by the Chinese-owned agrochemical company Syngenta, is advertised as increasing crop yields by 13%.

A Defra spokesperson said: “Emergency authorisations for pesticides are only granted in exceptional circumstances where diseases or pests cannot be controlled by any other reasonable means. Emergency authorisations are used by countries across Europe.

“Pesticides can only be used where we judge there to be no harm to human health and animal health, and no unacceptable risks to the environment. The temporary use of this product is strictly limited to a non-flowering crop and will be tightly controlled to minimise any potential risk to pollinators.”

In the final line of its background statement, Defra added: “Protecting pollinators is a priority for this government.”

• This article was amended on 13 January 2021 to make clear that the EU ban on most neonicotinoids prohibited use outdoors.

Let us hope that these guidelines are adhered to and that the producers don´t find loopholes to use this awful pesticide for a long time.  It dismays me to read about this because without the bees we are all in serious trouble.  Yet again, money rules.

The blog song for today is:"  Price Tag" by Jessie J

TTFN

Climate change and instead of just letting it happen, DO SOMETHING

Despite what many of us having being saying for years and trying to avert by bringing it to the attention of everyone, it has not been enough.  Because we as people have refused to change even the smallest of things ranging from cutting down on waste, using the car less, recycling, eating less meat to name but a few.  There are so many ways in which we all could have and still can do to try and slow down the warming of the planet.

On one of my favourite websites I found this article, it is not all doom and gloom, but everyone has to do their bit, not leave it to others to do, but actually taking responsibility for their own actions. One small change can help.  Here is the article.

"1.5° C Warming Is Inevitable Despite the Paris Accord, Scientists Warn

An international team of scientists have analyzed recent climate trends and warn between 1.5° C and 2° C atmospheric warming is virtually certain to happen, according to a report in Nature Climate Change. The current Paris Accord CO2 targets are not aggressive enough to prevent reaching this critical tipping point. Andrew Dessler of Texas A&M University, one of the report coauthors, told EcoWatch: “While I would not categorize this as good news, it is not game over for the climate.” In other words, we can set more aggressive limits on carbon emissions. Dressler explained the findings in a YouTube video. These reports echo the comments on a recent Earth911 podcast with James Renwick, coauthor of the upcoming 2021 United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (UNIPCC) report and head of the School of Geography, Environment and Earth Sciences at Victoria University, Wellington, New Zealand. What can we do? In addition to supporting a rapid transition to renewable energy, we can embrace electric vehicles and stop driving internal combustion vehicles. Renwick also suggested that reducing the amount of meat in our diets, particularly industrially raised cattle, will make a big difference.

Scientists Call for Declaration of Climate Emergency

Another team of climate researchers published a call for a global declaration of a climate emergency in Scientific American this week. Pointing to record global temperatures, a historically long hurricane season that caused more than $41 billion in damages in the U.S. and Caribbean, and wildfires that burned more than 4 million acres in California, they declared that, “The climate emergency has arrived and is accelerating more rapidly than most scientists anticipated.” Earth911 will have coauthor William Ripple of Oregon State University on the podcast in the coming week. The call for a climate emergency comes on the heels of another Scientific American report that atmospheric warming is reshaping ecosystems as animals and plants respond to higher temperatures. But minds are starting to change, too. A University of Houston survey found that four out of five Texans now acknowledge climate change is real. It is time for steps toward a sustainable future. Let’s hope that this week’s calamitous events in Washington, D.C., lead to a fundamental shift in the national dialogue and that we respond forcefully to the emerging global crisis."

  

Horses panic as a wildfire approaches near Canberra, Australia in February of 2020. Credit: Getty Image 

I understand that people have the opinion that nothing that they do is affecting the rest of the planet, but it is! We really must all try to do something.

"The climate emergency has arrived and is accelerating more rapidly than most scientists anticipated, and many of them are deeply concerned. The adverse effects of climate change are much more severe than expected, and now threaten both the biosphere and humanity. There is mounting evidence linking increases in extreme weather frequency and intensity to climate change. The year 2020, one of the hottest years on record, also saw extraordinary wildfire activity in the Western United States and Australia, a Siberian heat wave with record high temperatures exceeding 38 degrees C (100.4 degrees Fahrenheit) within the Arctic circle, a record low for October Arctic sea ice extent of 2.04 million square miles, an Atlantic hurricane season resulting in more than $46 billion in damage, and deadly floods and landslides in South Asia that displaced more than 12 million people.

Every effort must be made to reduce emissions and increase removals of atmospheric carbon in order to restore the melting Arctic and end the deadly cycle of damage that the current climate is delivering. Scientists now find that catastrophic climate change could render a significant portion of the Earth uninhabitable consequent to continued high emissions, self-reinforcing climate feedback loops and looming tipping points. To date, 1,859 jurisdictions in 33 countries have issued climate emergency declarations covering more than 820 million people.

In January 2020, we warned of untold human suffering in a report titled World Scientists’ Warning of a Climate Emergency with more than 11,000 scientist signatories from 153 countries at time of publication. As an Alliance of World Scientists, we continue to collect signatures from scientists, with now more than 13,700 signatories. In our paper, we presented graphs showing vital signs of very troubling climate change trends with little progress by humanity. Based on these trends and scientists’ moral obligation to “clearly warn humanity of any catastrophic threat” and to “tell it like it is,” we declared a climate emergency and proposed policy suggestions. We called for transformative change with six steps involving energy, short-lived air pollutants, nature, food, economy and population"

 How many more times will we ignore what is going on!  The time to do something was YESTERDAY! and TODAY and TOMORROW.

We cannot keep blaming businesses, governments, everyone else for the things that we are ALL not doing.  It is the fault of us HUMANS for the mess we now find ourselves in, so it is up to us to put it right.

Make those lifestyle changes, even if it is just you, others will too in the end.  It is up to people like you and me to convince people that even a small action can make a difference. This wonderful planet is our only  home and we must act to save it, NOW.

The blog song for today is" It´s a living thing" By Electric Light Orchestra

TTFN

 

Plastic Coat Hangers, can they be recycled?

   

The answer is yes and no!  To dispose of them they cannot be placed in the yellow bin because of what type of plastic the coat hanger is made of, which is a problem for normal households.

At the moment the instructions from Ecoembes (the recycling company here in Spain) are to take them to a local recycling centre.  The nearest one here is on the Poligono in Ciutadella, they are open in the mornings until around 13.00 and in the afternoons from 15.00 until at least 18.00.  There is a new system in place where you have to register and then everytime you drop something off, if you are in a car, there is a weighing system when you enter and when you leave!

The ideal solution is to buy wooden or cardboard coat hangers, so when they do break then they can disposed of easily.

On a larger scale there are companies available to arrange recycling, however I have not found any in Menorca.

There are companies in UK but they only recycle plastic coat hangers – not wooden hangers or metal. Your coat hangers need to be 100% plastic although the metal hook parts are absolutely fine.

After they are collected and taken to the plant the following happens: 

Shred the coat hangers

They use special machines to shred your plastic coat hangers into tiny pieces at their licensed recycling facilities.

Granulation

Lastly, they granulate the plastic coat hangers after shredding. This lets the plastic be reprocessed and used as new products.

So really they are not recyled but are reused to make different products.  I suppose it is better than them filling up landfill sites.

I do find that plastic coat hangers seem to last for ever! Also I keep inheriting them which is good so at least they are being recycled in some form.  

The blog song for today is "crazy little thing called love" by Queen

TTFN

Cutting down on plastic, refill used containers with your own home made products! No 1. Fabric Conditioner

  As you know I have been looking for ways to avoid buying stuff in plastic containers and have also been searching for ways to make my own products.  I have come across an easy recipe for Fabric conditioner, which I have tried and it does work! This means that I can reuse any plastic bottle over and over again, terrific for the planet, and also for saving money! 

The most expensive ingredient was the essential oil, but if you check out an earlier blog you will see there is a use for it for making home made reusable wipes.  I will also be giving more tips for home made products soon, so it will be needed again.  I have also bought Orange essential oil which smells heavenly!

Ingredients:

330ml Hair Conditioner (any type, obviously palm oil free would be the best)

375ml Distilled White Vinegar (or Malt Vinegar will do)

750ml Warm Water

20 drops of Lavender Essential Oil

Utensils:

Air Tight Container

Large Bowl

Whisk

Method:

Put the Hair conditioner in the bowl, add the vinegar and the water.  Whisk until fully combined then pour into the airtight container.

65ml for each wash should do the trick.

I can also say that this product is fully Zero KM! 

The blog song for today is : " December 1963" by Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons (brings back memories of dancing around our handbags 1975 style)

TTFN