Whatever it may be you want to reduce, suppress or get rid of – expect the REBOUND.

This goes for a desire to feel loved after a recent breakup as much as for unwelcome thoughts of consuming yet another chocolate bar while on a diet. This goes for body builders who worry about rebound effects on their thirsty bodies from post-competition binging. And for land masses that were depressed by the weight of the ice during the last glacial period.

Unfortunately, it also goes for energy savings.
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Let’s face it, we don’t know, do we? In my office, I shove most of my recycling in here (see below), occasionally wondering why it’s necessary to clean food containers, but on the whole glad someone else takes care of my waste:

The story about to be told is a mixed one. Although recycling capacity has dramatically improved over the last decade, I’ll try to demonstrate how the UK’s drive for quantity at the expense of quality has ended up with much of our waste going across the world for reprocessing. I’ll argue that one way to keep it in the UK is for us to put some effort into finding out what we can recycle and taking the advice of that sign in my office –  clean our items.

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campaigning on behalf of bugs         (c) istockphoto/pernter

On March 1 a new campaign to save the tiger was launched a St Pancras train station in central London. The station is filled with images and sculptures of the majestic creature while campaigners wander around with clipboards and collection tins asking for support or donations. At the same time, Coca-Cola has lent its mighty marketing machine to support the WWF’s campaign to save polar bears, again festooning its cans and television adverts with images of cute and cuddly polar bears. What these campaigns have in common, along with so many others, is the attractiveness of their subjects.

Don’t get me wrong, any campaign to protect the environment or wildlife is great, but stop for a moment and think – would you give your support if the campaign was for the protection of worms?
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