Diving... Again

I've just come back from a dive trip to Bali.

It frustrates me that so many developing countries (particularly those in South East Asia) that have been blessed with beautiful dive sites do not have basic environmental preservation guidelines in place, let alone waste management controls.

Diving and dive resorts take a huge toll on reef ecosystems. Testament to this? Even sites like the Great Barrier Reef, while very well managed, are still affected. I've dived the Great Barrier before, and during the trip, a bunch of people who were holidaying on the same island and who had dived there many years before, told us the coral and reef life are totally different today.

I think the dive industry and the hospitality industry built around it are probably too far down the road for diving to be banned or severely limited, and diving is likely to remain a largely accessible sport. Of course, it will continue to be more accessible in countries that do not have proper environment protection guidelines in place, where it is consequently cheaper for dive operators and hotels to operate.

So what should we do? Obviously countries need to get their act together and come up with proper policies, but this is not the right medium to achieve that effectively.

Rather, I'd like to appeal to the dive population out there. After all, I believe environmentally responsible diving is no different from general environmental consciousness. Its all about awareness, education. Talk to your dive buddies, make them more aware of what they do and the impact it has. Don't support dive operators who are obviously just out to make a quick buck and who leave big dents in the environent in the process. And so forth.

Have a think about some of the main things that happen during a dive that could affect the environment, reef, and marine life. And make a mental note to try and stop these things, and to get your buddies to stop doing them too. My list -

- Gasoline from boat (sadly, not a whole lot you can do about this)
- Plastic wrappers and packaging, e.g. from mineral water bottles, packed lunches, etc that are not disposed of properly and get into the sea
- Related to the above point, a lack of bins
- Sunscreen: hurts when it gets in the eye doesn't it? Imagine how much it must hurt sea life
- Antifog for dive masks (just use spit)
- Cigarettes
- Bad divers who kick and damage coral (yes get trained properly and if not, don't go too close to the reef)
- Dive gear breaking down: e.g. plastic bits breaking off, etc

Go NSW!

Saw this in the papers yesterday, and managed to find it on the web today:

Link: http://www.theage.com.au/environment/water-issues/nsw-premier-nathan-rees-bans-bottled-water-20090709-ddyh.html

Extract: "NSW Premier Nathan Rees has announced an immediate ban on all departments and agencies buying bottled water, including supplies for water coolers.

It was the first step in a Government campaign to reduce significantly the consumption of bottled water in the community, Mr Rees said.

In a double blow for the bottled water industry, the sleepy Southern Highlands hamlet of Bundanoon voted to ban bottled water, just hours after the NSW Government announced its boycott."

Bottled Water - Rationalising "True" Cost

Came across a dated but interesting article that tries to quantify the environmental cost of bottled water at http://www.salon.com/mwt/feature/2008/01/14/ask_pablo_water/. Some headline numbers stand out, in particular "Based on my calculations, an empty 1-liter bottle requires over 7 liters of water in its manufacturing process, uses 162 grams of oil, and results in over 100 grams of greenhouse gas emissions.". This of course excludes other eco-unfriendly contributions for the transportation process.

Pretty scary numbers eh. No idea how accurate they are, and I did come across another post that said the author of the article subsequently revised down his original estimates.

Accuracy aside, I think the point that should be made is this: ultimately, the environmentally conscious consumer (and you should try to be one if you aren't already) should be guided by common sense. If you have 2 options as a consumer, and one is considerably less resource intensive than the other, take it. Example in point - bottled water. Doesn't take a genius to figure out that this is a lot less friendly than the alternative tap (even filtered / boiled). Bottled water uses plastic (which in turn is made from petroleum based products, uses water in the manufacturing and cleaning process, and needs to be subsequently disposed of), and consumes fuel when being transported to your local market (the French Alps are pretty far away from most places).

Don't be extreme. If you're out at a bar and you feel like a Perrier, have one. But where concessions can be given, give them. There's no need to drink bottled water at home if you live in a country where tap water is potable. If you don't like the taste of tap, boil it or run it through a filter.

Got Junk In The Trunk?

Ever wondered how much extra petrol is being consumed by that crap in the back of your car? I did, and decided to write in to the manufacturer of my trusty 1.5L LX Corolla to find out.

Q: What is the incremental petrol consumption in litres for a 1.5L Toyota Corolla carrying an additional 1kg of weight over a distance of 100km? i.e. approximately how much additional petrol consumption would this 1kg of weight cause over a distance of 100km? (I suppose for ease of calculation we can assume the vehicle travels at a steady speed of 80km/hour)

The answer I received from a Mr Q. Holmes from "Toyota Customer Experience" quite simply said:

"We apologize; our office is not set up to respond to your inquiry."

Oh well - I wasn't really expecting a reply. As if Toyota doesn't have better things to do with their time.

Don't suppose any brains out there know the answer to this question, or at least an intelligent way to hazard a guess?

Btw - one (unrelated) thing that did interest me was that when I hit http://www.toyota.com/ to find an email address to write in to, the website that popped up appeared to be the US Toyota website. What a cop out. Isn't Toyota Japanese?

Diving & Anti-Fog

I don't see the need for anti-fog when saliva works just as well. I'm sure the world's dive sites and marine life would be happier without traces of anti-fog (chemical!) floating around.

Singapore Airlines Economy Meal Trays

I'd be curious to find out if the Singapore Airlines economy meal tray could be stripped down without affecting passenger satisfaction. There are several items on the meal tray I hardly, if ever, use. Salt and pepper. Butter. Evaporated milk. The nasty crackers that seem to come with most meals. The cheese. The toothpick.

I've no idea what happens to these unused items when the tray gets cleared, but I suspect they all get binned.

Could these items (or at least the most commonly unused ones - don't know what % of passengers use/do not use these or other items) be provided on an on-request basis?

Though of course airlines - and SIA in particular - are no dumb cookies and the meal service process has probably been through countless iterations of streamlining and refinement.

Worth a thought though.

Postscript 14 October 2009 - On a few recent trips on Singapore Airlines, I noticed that crew have stopped offering wine during the economy meal service. Interestingly, I failed to ask for a glass - or even notice this - on several occassions. Could this be done for all those little meal amenities I mention above? i.e. if these little extras are taken away, will people notice, and if they do, will it negatively impact their overall meal experience? After all, I was surprised that wine wasn't explicitly offered, but I wouldn't mind so long as it is available upon request.

Japan

I've just come back from a trip to Japan. Japan always intrigues me. For a country that uses such absolutely excessive packaging and has very few trash bins in public spaces, Japan's metropolitan cities are clean and have crisp, clear air very unlike that of say Hong Kong or China. Countrysides are lush and green. The country yields extremely high quality fresh produce (fruit, seafood, meat).

Where does all the waste go? They must have pretty good waste management systems in place. I'm sure it helps that households take great pain to sort their trash properly. Something we should all learn to do.

Bin Lining

I try to minimise my plastic usage by not taking plastic bags at the supermarket. For some people, this raises the question - if I don't take plastic bags, what do I use to line my bin? Supermarket plastic bags are nice - and for some people, essential - bin liners, though if you look carefully consumer packaging uses plenty of plastic that can easily can be used to serve the same purpose, i.e. line a bin or hold trash. Think the plastic bags used for bread, food, clothes, etc. Perfect.

Born!

This blog is a place for me to collect thoughts and ideas on the environment and how we can all be a little kinder to it. I hope you enjoy reading, and also that some of this finds its way into how you live life.