The paper burden

Posted by David Roberts at 12:54 PM on 03 May 2006

Read more about: bikes | cars | hybrids | politics | United Kingdom

Oh, this is just too good. The leader of the UK conservative party, David Cameron, has been bragging about his green credentials lately (remember, they're sane in the UK, so they demand that all their leaders have green cred), and urging other MPs to change their personal behavior to demonstrate green values.

Oops:

David Cameron was forced to backtrack on his personal green credentials yesterday by admitting that he traveled to work by bicycle not to cut carbon emissions, but because he found it enjoyable.

The Conservative leader had to switch tack after it emerged that his car followed him carrying briefing papers and his shoes on the days that he cycled from his Notting Hill home to Westminster.

Hee hee. But it gets better:

He said it was "absolute rubbish" to claim he had misled anyone by sending his car after him, adding that he had not been able to find a bag or pannier large enough to take his papers with him.

He also defended his choice of car - a hybrid Lexus emitting 186 grams of carbon per kilometre. He said it was less polluting than his previous government-provided Vauxhall and that the smaller Toyota Prius he had been offered - which emits only 104 grams of carbon per kilometre - was simply too small for him and his entourage when they travel around the country.

He added that being green should not be seen as being all gloom and doom, or about making personal sacrifices.

He couldn't find a bike bag big enough to carry his papers. In fact, a Prius isn't even big enough to carry his papers. Dude's got a lot of papers!

For story: The paper burden
8 Comments | Post a Comment

The Mayor in No Rush to Flush

Well, at least the mayor of london watches his water usage:
http://www.sustainabilityzone.com/comments.php?load_this=214

http://www.sustainabilityzone.com

by dreadsword at 1:09 PM on 03 May 2006

Those Wacky Brits

Apparently going green is all about how you pee in Britain these days.

Conservative Party chairman Francis Maude (who really must have suffered much childhood abuse over that moniker) has this to say:

'If I share a tip with the audience it is that if you pee on your compost, it has a double environmental whammy - it speeds up its decomposition so you can get it on the garden more quickly, and it also saves water.'

The neighbors must love him.

by kmp at 2:22 PM on 03 May 2006
[ Parent ]

I'm with the Brits

David, David ... haven't you been scolding us for some time to avoid getting hung up on personal envrionmental purity?

If so, we've got to cut Cameron some slack. Let he who is without carbon emissions cast the first stone!

The bigger story is that the British politicians are vying to see who can be the greenest.

Makes our politicians look backward indeed.

About peeing on compost -- that's a great idea! Urine is a primo nitrogen source. Done right, there's no odor.

What is dumb is using vast quantities of water and energy to process human waste, as we currently do.

Then we use more energy and natural gas to produce nitrogen fertilizer. Of course it takes gas to transport all that bulky fertilizer to end users and apply it.

It looks like the Brits, even the Conservatives, are smart ones.

Bart
Energy Bulletin

by Bart Anderson at 3:07 PM on 03 May 2006

Can you imagine ...

... an American congress-person making such a statement?

"In yet another round of congressional eco-one-upmanship, House Speaker Dennis Hastert yesterday announced that he was swearing off toilet paper, and instead using only leaves, explaining that he intended to both save trees and further enrich the soil in his composting toilet. A short while later, photos leaked to the press revealed several cases of triple-ply Charmin being delivered to his Washington DC residence."

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by Corey McKrill at 3:11 PM on 03 May 2006
[ Parent ]

Bart,

Can't a guy have a little fun?

Oh, and Corey, I actually can imagine Dennis Kucinich saying that.

grist.org

by David Roberts at 3:42 PM on 03 May 2006

peeing on compost

I was trying to figure out a good way to do it, but it's tough during the daytime. Night is the best, but makes you feel like you're robbing the house or something.

by atreyger at 4:16 PM on 03 May 2006

covert urine application

Put urine in an innocuous opaque container, labeled "Nitrogen supplement"
Dilute generously.
Don't wait too long to apply (it gets smelly).
Take wife out to dinner to make up for keeping container in bathroom.

For more info, see Liquid Gold: The Lore and Logic of Using Urine to Grow Plants

------

David, as they say, "Consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds." I just wish the politicians in the US would at least make the pretense of being green.

Bart
Energy Bulletin

by Bart Anderson at 5:31 PM on 03 May 2006

From papers to pee

Using the nitrogen in urine to compost paper, a great idea.

MP Cameron needs to get with it and store those files on the net, no need to carry papers then. Conserve some trees you conservative you.

http://amazngdrx.blogharbor.com/blog John Schneider, Northern Wisconsin

by amazingdrx at 5:02 AM on 04 May 2006

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