According to T.S. Eliot’s poem The Waste Land, April is the cruellest month; not so for our waste blog! Rather than spending our time breeding lilacs out of the dead land, we’ve instead opted for a spot of springtime horticulture in the fertile Land of Blog. So, if you’ve spent the past month wrapped up in modernist poetry lamenting the moral decline of western civilisation, what have you missed?
One of our champions of blog, Thomas Vergunst — whose article on the case for reusable nappies remains our most read piece ever — returned to the topic of how we manage the less attractive side of babies with a look at how the disposable nappy could be brought into a circular economy. In doing so, he scored himself top place on April’s blog charts with the month’s most read article, once again proving the power of anything baby-related to capture our readers’ imagination, but also showing a common interest in dealing with a common waste problem.
Number two in the charts last month was Peter Jones, who drew from his personal experience working on local authority trade waste collections to explain why it makes commercial sense for councils to think more seriously about commercial waste. Considering the legislative and operational differences between local authorities and private contractors Peter considered the difficulties authorities face, but also the opportunities they may be presented with.
Energy expert Jonathan Johns made a welcome return, this time to discuss the importance of the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) to the success of community energy projects. The government’s 2014 budget made clear that investments under the EIS would not be available to projects also claiming DECC’s Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) or Renewable Obligation Certificates (ROCs), and Jonathan’s article shows why this could stand in the way of community renewables growth.
It’s always pleasing to welcome a new author to the site, and April saw a first article from Sarah Ettlinger. She has for some time been considering the myriad certification schemes for different foods, and the potential advantages of a more unified approach. To tie in with the publication of this year’s Ethical Consumer Report, Sarah made her Isonomia debut with an exploration of the problems conscientious consumers can face on their journey down the shopping aisle.
Thanks to all those who commented on our articles; it’s something we and our authors really appreciate. Offering a platform for a variety of opinions and generating debate is what we’re all about, so if anything you’ve read here has made you coo like baby or throw a tantrum, please do let us know through our comments section or even with an article of your own. We try to provide an informed but accessible viewpoint on a wide range of environment issues, so whether it’s collection trucks or life cycles that are on your mind, please do get in touch.
It’s easy to shift from visitor to commentator to author, and we’re always glad to hear from you. Whether you’re from Telford or Toronto, Botswana or Bottesford, with your help we will create a space where thoughts on topics from across the environment sector can be expressed and explored, enabling communication and cross fertilisation of ideas.
As the promise of summer draws closer, what balmy treats lay over Isonomia’s horizon? Well, we will be welcoming back father of the waste hierarchy Ad Lansink, who will be turning his attention to product reuse and the challenge it presents for producers and consumers. We will also continue our exploration of waste around the globe, as new author Wale Bakare joins us with a piece on the municipal waste management problems being faced by Nigeria.
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