Mersey Basin Campaign Blog

Springfield suffers the consequences of polluting, d'oh!

I went to see the Simpsons Movie last night and I just had to write something on the MBC blog.

I'll not go too much into the story, I don't want to spoil it for anyone who is planning on going to see the film anytime soon. As with all movies, the themes usually touch on topics that are in the news and the Simpsons Movie is no exception...they look at environmental issues.

Near the beginning of the film, we are faced with a scene we all hate in the world of water conservation...citizens and businesses dumping sewage, bottles and other stuff into the local lake...arrrgghh! Something we are all familiar with.

Not long after, we see the citizens of Springfield cleaning up the lake, sorry for polluting it. Only one person spoils the clean up effort (mmm usually the case!) and the Environmental Protection Agency gets very very angry...D'oh!

I'll not tell you what the EPA do, but it is something you will only see in the Simpsons...though I did wonder for a while (well about a minute) whether it would work in real life...

I did notice that there was no sign of the infamous three eyed fish in Springfield's lake, it must have been too polluted!

RHS Tatton - Stockport covered with glory....

Further news about Stockport council's Mersey-themed flowerbed at the RHS Show, Tatton......we've just heard that the entry has been awarded a silver-gilt medal. Congratulations, Stockport!

Mersey flowerbed at the RHS Show, Tatton

We've just spotted this post on Snappy's Garden Blog, showing entries to the National Flowerbed Competition at the RHS Show, Tatton. Stockport Council's entry chose to represent the River Mersey, which has its start at Ford Street, Stockport, at the confluence of the Goyt and the Tame. It even features a canoeist and a leaping salmon (could it be a distant relation of our own Sammy?).

Manchester Bloggers

MBC blog visited the Manchester International Festival Pavilion last night to meet up with the BBC's Manchester Bloggers group. It was really interesting to meet so many local bloggers, all writing about different things - such as Craig McGinty, Vince from It's a Blog! Not a Log!, Stephen Newton, Paul Hurst, Spinneyhead, and Edward from Mamucium not to mention Robin Hamman and Richard Fair from the BBC, and other bloggers to numerous to remember without the aid of the Pavilion's wifi network to actually write them down at the time. The festival's main social meeting place seemed to be buzzing, with live music and film and very tasty-looking food and drink it made a fine shelter from the ubiquitous Manchester rain. Sustainability Northwest joined us for the trip too, perhaps they will be tempted to join the world of blogs soon?

We hope we'll be able to join up with the Manchester Bloggers again soon.

Manchester is my planet

Manchester is my planet......

But I do like a nice little corner of the web when I can find one, so it's good to see that Manchester is my Planet, which aims to encourage action on climate change in Greater Manchester, has relaunched its website. The new, all-singing, all-dancing affair includes much more information about the hows, whys and wherefores of climate change (because we're not all Al Gore). There's a downloads section where you can grab logos and slogans to MIMP-ify your emails or blog (see above for an example...), and a section detailing the various projects that are happening around the area right now - including a Green Parking initiative which could impact on Manchester's congestion charge scheme, and the results of Manchester's climate change survey.

At the moment there's not that much interactivity on the site - though you can take the MIMP Pledge - but it seems as if a forum is on it's way so that carbon-counters can exchange ideas and talk to one another. I've also just discovered a carbon counting application on Facebook - though I'm not sure how user-friendly it's going to be. Does anyone know of others?

Give us a another gallon of that chip fat...

Interesting story on the BBC website today - it seems McDonalds are planning to run their fleet of wagons using recycled oil from their restaurants as fuel. Is it genuinely sustainable, or just a piece of good PR? See what you think.....

reduce your car-borne carbon footprint....

Just a quick post to tell you about a new social networking site aimed at reducing our collective carbon footprint, and getting some cars off our roads.

www.isanyonegoingto.com is new, free social site that aims to link up travellers before they make journeys, thus enabling people to car-share and lessen the load on our roads.

You can upload your details, photo and information about your  journeys to www.isanyonegoingto.com, and then communicate with potential sharers by skype or messenger.

The site's creators aim to improve the environment by reducing the number of single car journeys, help us to reduce our carbon footprint, and ultimately change the way we travel.

They're looking to introduce 500 000 travellers to one another during their first year, and three months in, things are looking positive, with 6000 members, and an average 20 introductions a day.

So what are you waiting for? Log on, link up and get sharing..........

100 days of attitude

In some parts of the country, the popular image of the Northwest of England might still be a Lowry-like landscape of factories and terraced houses, peopled by flat-cap-wearing, whippet-toting men and headscarfed women who model themselves on Ena Sharples. Now, we know that's very far from the truth -just look at the regenerating cities of Liverpool and Manchester, about to become Capital of Culture or the new Northern home of the BBC.

But how often do you take the time to appreciate the natural assets of the Northwest?

A new organisation, Natural Economy Northwest, has launched a campaign to draw attention to the region's environment, and to encourage us to brag about our natural assets. Here are some numbers to get you going - scribble them on a beer mat and become an instant pub expert on the matter:

• 30% of the Northwest is in a national park or an area of outstanding natural beauty
• It's the only place in England where you can spot Golden Eagles - at the RSPB reserve in Haweswater, Cumbria
• 80% of the region is countryside
• It has the longest stretch of undeveloped coastline in England, some 1400km. But only 50% of us have actually visited the Northwest's coast.
• 7 of the 16 red squirrel reserves in Northern England are here - and Formby's National Trust reserve is one of the best places in Britain to spot Tufty.

If this has whetted your appetite, and you're hungry for more statistics to make your friends in London / New York / Milan jealous, visit the campaign website. You can also sign up for a handy email, supplying you with seven facts a week. Bargain!

Lancashire's very own Loch Ness monster?

Forget the trek up to Scotland to see if you can spot the legend that is the Loch Ness Monster, we might have our very own, if not slightly smaller critter in Lancashire.

For five years, eye witnesses have reported a beast lurking in Martin Mere, near Southport. The sightings have posed a bit of a mystery for local people, especially bird watchers using the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust site.

Check out this link to the Lancashire Evening Post who have reported the story in more detail, though you may have to wait a day or two to find out how 'monsterous' the 'monster' is!

Fly-tipping problem highlighted by the Litter Trap

On Sunday 13th May 2007 members of the public enjoyed junk music and puppet-making with the PickleHerring Theatre Company to launch the River Darwen Litter Trap Project in the community. 

Although we were horrified to see the trap is blighted by fly-tipped waste (I counted 43 tyres - see photos below!) at least the waste will be easier to remove from the trap than they would have been if they had been washed down through the catchment of the River Darwen into the River Ribble and the Ribble Estuary.  This highlights the importance of the litter trap and, in a way, is very encouraging.
   
Information about the fly-tipping has been passed on to the Environment Agency and we await the results of their investigation, hoping this will help in the project's most important aim - to prevent litter and debris from getting into the River Darwen in the first place.  If you have any information to help the Environment Agency please contact the Incident Hotline on 0800 80 70 60 quoting incident report number 494131.

WATCH THE LITTER TRAP IN ACTION HERE