Let see where this goes....

[Chris Perkins]

Because we seem so good at temporarily loosing the subject I thought I would start this area just to deviate in. Perhaps we can do the equivalent of going from nuts, through Hitler, to cabbage in less than 10 posts!

Let me start the subject with, erm, well this is quite boring, but let's see where it goes......

Do the conservative party have a chance of winning a British election within the next 50 years? And just for good measure... who quite fancies Shania Twain?

[Sylvester]

Do the conservative party have a chance of winning a British election within the next 50 years? And just for good measure... who quite fancies Shania Twain?

Well i keep voting for them so hopefully...

And i prefer Miss Moore.

[Chris Perkins]

I'm not down with the kids anymore, exactly who is that Miss Moore, that you so desire?

[Geoff T]

Because we seem so good at temporarily loosing the subject I thought I would start this area just to deviate in. Perhaps we can do the equivalent of going from nuts, through Hitler, to cabbage in less than 10 posts!

Let me start the subject with, erm, well this is quite boring, but let's see where it goes......

Do the conservative party have a chance of winning a British election within the next 50 years? And just for good measure... who quite fancies Shania Twain?

Yes, but these days they call themselves New Labour

[Chris Perkins]

Damn right, it's all the bloody same, they just wear different coloured ties, and make you believe that there really is some kind of choice.

[william]

Yes, but these days they call themselves New Labour

Do they really?

Errrmmm.....let me try and deviate here! Who likes the Simpsons? Everyone uses a coin for there avator, so i thought i would have a change. THE SIMPSONS! Any tips on how i can improve it?

[william]

I have to admit, it does look a bit silly; it is too wide and looks blurry! How can i improve it?

YAY! This is my 100th post!!

[Chris Perkins]

You have to reduce the size of the picture via paintshop or something like that, so you have a small clear picture you can use, instead of using a huge one and having the forum software struggle to re size it.

[Emperor Oli]

I hope the conservatives win the next election - Lord knows we've put up with enough rubbish from Labour. People say "The Conservatives are just upper-class toffs with no idea about modern issues", but they're wrong. The Conservatives promise tax cuts and to repeal all this red tape labour has stuck round us all. However, the hapless labour voters will no doubt vote labour again because they like blunkett's dog.

[Chris Perkins]

Hmmm, I sense a conservative flavour in the forum.

[Sylvester]

Hmmm, I sense a conservative flavour in the forum.

Is there any other flavour?

[william]

YES...coins!

[Chris Perkins]

Very well put, and they are available in far more varieties.

[Emperor Oli]

Is there any other flavour?

The Green Party *stifles laugh*

[Chris Perkins]

You know, you may laugh at the eco warriors, but every green party in Europe has the same ethics and could probably unite far more easily than the other parties ever could. Can you imagine a super European Green party?

I saw a thing on TV. They even have pan Europe Green party meeting now you know.

[william]

Can you imagine a super European Green party?

Nope!

[mint_mark]

Which do you think are the greenest coins? And no, I'm not talking verdigris

I mean, which coins use least energy to make, leave fewest nasty chemicals in the ground or water and take the least amount of energy to recycle? Anybody know?

After several new recycling initiatives by my city council I still have nowhere to recycle old batteries or old carrier bags. And apparently you're not supposed to throw away low energy light bulbs... nasty stuff inside :/

[Sylvester]

Which do you think are the greenest coins? And no, I'm not talking verdigris

I mean, which coins use least energy to make, leave fewest nasty chemicals in the ground or water and take the least amount of energy to recycle? Anybody know?

After several new recycling initiatives by my city council I still have nowhere to recycle old batteries or old carrier bags. And apparently you're not supposed to throw away low energy light bulbs... nasty stuff inside :/

Well i would say gold, chemically inactive, can be found in nature in isolation. Soft so the dies don't wear as fast...

But of course these days most of it is mined at great expense.

Low energy bulbs probably have mercury in them somewhere, most things like that do...

[mint_mark]

Sylvester you're right, gold probably is the most environmentally friendly I think we've been making most "coin metals" since the iron age (except for aluminium and steel), but most need a lot of processing before you get to make the coins, and of course gold is least destructive after it it made.

Slightly related... on the radio the other day (Material World, Radio 4) they said you can get 7 megawatts from a landfill site full of unsorted rubbish. The expert said if it was sorted appropriately that figure would be higher. All the putrescible (new word!) waste generates methane. Apparently you can kick start a new landfill site by adding material from an older one and introducing a bit of sewage :/

[Emperor Oli]

Slightly related... on the radio the other day (Material World, Radio 4) they said you can get 7 megawatts from a landfill site full of unsorted rubbish.

I saw the same thing on the News! I despise landfills - they are so ugly and smelly but I also hate the hassle of splitting up plastics, glass, metals, fabrics, wood, paper, blah blah blah. I suppose however that there is no other way for recycling to be done efficiently unless it is done at home.

[Geoff T]

I've heard that a substantial amount of the material we set aside for recycling actually ends up in landfill sites as we don't have the resources to reprocess it.

The other day I dutifully put out my recycled paper at 8am only to find it still there at 6.30pm. When I rang the council they told me they'd sent out the wrong collection schedule for my area. Faced with inefficiency like that it's no wonder people are tempted just to chuck it all in the bin.

Mind you, it's the litter louts who can't even be bothered to do that who really get my dander up...

G

[william]

Let's see how well we've deviated! First we had the Conservatives, then Shania Twain, more of the Conservatives, Miss Moore (whoever she is!), the Conservatives (again!!), The Simpsons, avators, more politics(sigh!!), the Green Party, eco coins (in the 'Nothing whatsoever to do with coins area nonetheless!!), landfills and recycling! We've done really well! What'll be next?

[Emperor Oli]

Mind you, it's the litter louts who can't even be bothered to do that who really get my dander up...

We should follow Singapore's example of stringent, zero-tolerance laws towards chewing-gum, but apply it to all rubbish.

[Chris Perkins]

In Germany we're supposed to seperate paper, glass and plastic from the rest of the rubbish and put them in different bins. It's such a drag, especially when many things are made of 2 different things. Like Jiffy bags with paper on the outside, plastic bubbles on the inside etc. The authorities have been known to actually check what rubbish come from whom, and there are fines and probably even prison sentences!

We have a blue bin for paper, an area for glass (but only milk and i think Wine bottles. The other glass bottles have to go back to the shop), a yellow bin for plastic (which should be cleaned of foodstuffs first) and a dark bin for the rest. We have to clean the yoghurt pots and other plastic packaging before throwing them away. Non PET plastic bottles have to be taken back to where you purchased them for the return deposit.

Because people can't be bothered to return the drink bottles, and especially in summer, some areas run out of bottles, so they have to make new ones anyway. The fact you have to take them back to where you got them is a nightmare too, especially if you're travelling. I have a coke bottle from Berlin that i've had for a year and a half because I haven't been back to Berlin!

I so look forward to going to the UK and just chucking everything into one bin without having to clean them, split them up and risk being arrested if I don't!

But of course it's better for the environment, and the UK is way behind the lengths the contintal peoples go to.

Although I heard that the transport costs of getting all the packaging/bottles back to the factories or reprocessing plants, as well as having to supply seperate bins, and pay different companies to collect different things, the extra time it takes in the shops to seperate the returned bottles by type/colour, that it would probably work out cheaper to just make new packaging and bottles!

[Sylvester]

Although I heard that the transport costs of getting all the packaging/bottles back to the factories or reprocessing plants, as well as having to supply seperate bins, and pay different companies to collect different things, the extra time it takes in the shops to seperate the returned bottles by type/colour, that it would probably work out cheaper to just make new packaging and bottles!

There's a simple soloution to all that, make all the bottles and everything out of the same material and limit the number of colours, or have them all transparent, like a cola bottle.