Apr 042014
 

Blackdog Mar14 by Suzanne Kelly (8)By Suzanne Kelly.

While more southerly parts of the UK are currently worrying about Sahara sandstorms, Aberdeenshire has a nice long-running, ongoing mess at Blackdog.
The small community and its scenic beach were, some say, ill-used.

A landfill site, industrial area, marine pollution from offshore all contribute to the current status of a sandy beach which could have been a small paradise.

Reports were written about leaching pollutants, landfill leakages, hydrocarbons and pollutants from naphthalene to benzene which were all detected, and mitigation works undertaken after political wringing of hands.

But is all really well at Blackdog? Not so much.

Aberdeenshire produced and commissioned various reports on what was in the landfill, what was seeping into the beach, and what could be done about it.  Most of these reports can be found on the council’s website – although you’ll find that they don’t allow you to download such reports readily.

Some reports from c. 2009 recommend three or so years’ worth of further pollution monitoring. Aberdeen Voice will be looking into what the shire is doing, if anything, to ensure a full and proper beach clean-up is done.

Blackdog Mar14 by Suzanne Kelly (3)The photos taken on Saturday 29 March show what the area looks like at present, and it’s not exactly enticing.

Sea foam can be discoloured and extremely foamy and/or iridescent; often these types of foamy conditions are simply explained as naturally caused by algae blooms and dead organic matter.

But the real question in such cases is what causes the blooms and what kills phytoplankton and other sea life.

When it comes to the Blackdog area, perhaps the cause is hydrocarbons and other substances from landfill.

Blackdog Mar14 by Suzanne Kelly (7)

No doubt the shire’s environmental team are investigating; updates will follow.

When the area was photographed on Saturday 29 March, there were hardly any signs of wildlife on the shore and dune area. How clean and safe is this beach?

As well as discomforting mounds of foam in browns, greys and greens washing up on the shoreline, there was no shortage of plastic debris.

Blackdog Mar14 by Suzanne Kelly (5)Carrier bags were very much in evidence, a good reminder that plastics need to be disposed of in such a way that they can’t find themselves in the food chain for marine life or bird life.

Animals try to eat plastics, and many die from doing so.

Perhaps Blackdog is better environmentally speaking than it was in the recent past. Still, this area could and should have been a coastal wildlife haven and a recreation area.

It is a highly-polluted beach and artillery range with some worrying looking sea foam, rubbish, and oily streaks.

Ideas for mitigating measure are welcome.

  • Comments enabled – see comments box below. Note, all comments will be moderated.
Feb 072014
 

By Elizabeth Harley.

Elizabeth Harley moray dolphinThe Moray coast is a land of ever-changing light, rainbows, beautiful sunsets, clear bright stars and the aurora borealis. It is an area of outstanding natural beauty with one of the most equitable climates to be found anywhere in Scotland and a paradise for lovers of wildlife, nature and the great outdoors, offering everything from kayaking to windsurfing, rock climbing to jet skiing, walking to wildlife spotting.

The Moray Firth boasts the largest population of bottlenose dolphins in the UK, with numbers nudging over 200 with this year’s calves.

They are also the largest in the world, probably due to the colder conditions they inhabit. They are often to be seen close to shore, feeding, playing or travelling.

It is not uncommon to see 60-80 bottlenose dolphins making their way along the coast, with occasional sightings of huge pods of common dolphins a bit further off shore. The fortunate may also spot white-beaked and Risso’s dolphins, minke whales, orca, pilot whales and basking sharks.

Great viewing spots are the lookout at Covesea and the visitor centre at Burghead, which I renamed DHQ due to the likelihood of spotting dolphins from there. This year spotters counted 43 basking sharks in about two hours one summer evening, and just recently a porbeagle shark was sighted four miles off Hopeman.

The harbour at Lossie is also a good spotting place and when the sea conditions and tides are right, the dolphins can feed very close in.

Common and grey seals can be spotted all along the coast, especially at Findhorn, Burghead and around the Skerries at Lossiemouth.

Minke Elizabeth Harley

Other local wildlife includes deer, red squirrels, otters, osprey, puffins, king eider ducks and further inland, golden eagles.
Burghead is built on the largest Pictish fort in the UK. With some coastal rock formations 200 million years old, the past lives on in this ancient land, with its Pictish stones, the ancient ceremonial well at Burghead with echo chamber and the stunning quartzite rock formations and dinosaur footprints along the shore path to Hopeman.

The sharp-sighted may also be lucky enough to spot the odd mythical creature, as the Tappoch Hill at Roseisle used to be known as Dragon Hill…

Become involved:

If you enjoy wildlife spotting you can report your sightings

There’s a lot that we can do to protect our wildlife. Seal pups are born all year round – grey seals in winter and harbour or common seals in summer. If you see a seal pup on the shore, don’t assume there is a problem, as it is usual for the mother to leave the pup while feeding, and older pups will come onshore to rest.

However, sometimes the pup will be injured, abandoned, have an infection or be severely undernourished or dehydrated. It is not easy to identify this without experience, so please call 01825 765546 to notify the BDMLR (British Divers Marine Life Rescue,) who will send out a trained volunteer to report back and if necessary take the seal to the sanctuary in Hopeman, which was set up by BDMLR volunteers Boonie and Michelle; or to the SPCA rescue centre at Fishcross, in Fife.

Meanwhile, if possible, you could encourage people and dogs to keep away, as seals can give a very nasty bite and the last thing a weak seal needs is to be chased back into the water. Use the same number for any stranded cetaceans you come across.

If you are out on the water, there is a voluntary code of conduct for driving boats or especially jet skis around dolphins: http://www.seawatchfoundation.org.uk/marine-code-of-conduct

Elizabeth Harley moray sealCare for the environment:

Every year whales die due to ingestion of plastic, which looks like squid when floating in the water.

This fills their stomachs and prevents real food from being absorbed, and therefore they die of malnutrition.

So every bit of plastic you pick up from our coastline is one less bit to end up in the stomach of a whale or turtle.

And finally, the only good way to see dolphins is in the wild.

The captive dolphin industry is responsible for the deaths of thousands of bottlenose dolphins every year. For each captive, seventeen more die in the dolphin drives, or as by-product, so if you love dolphins go and see them in their own environment – wild and free. For more information watch the film The Cove, or check out www.savejapandolphins.org

Elizabeth Harley can be contacted at elizabeth@reikitraining.org.uk  01343 209616

  • Comments enabled – see comments box below. Note, all comments will be moderated.
Nov 012013
 

By Bob Smith.

what-they-now-do-with-waste-plastic flat

We hiv a problem in Aiberdeen
Keepin the bliddy pavemints clean
Litter strewn fae pillar tae post
Plastic cups an half aeten toast
.
Fag eyns lyin ootside office doors
As weel as aat o shops an stores
Lazy buggers jist fling them doon
Fin binnin them wid be a boon
.
Grub containers aa ower the place
Efter some bodie’s fed their face
If on the hoof ye maan eat
Dinna leave boxies on the street
.
Young mithers strollin doon the wye
They hear their little darlins cry
A sweetie is gien tae the geet
The wrappers drappit at their feet
.
Skweelkids oot fer denner or lunch
Some are a maist untidy bunch
Throwe a bag o crisps they cha’
Syne chukk the bliddy bag awa
.
Pavemints strewn wi chuddy blob
Spat oot o some nyaff’s gob
Stickin tae the slabs an sheen
Aroon oor toon o Aiberdeen
Fowk oot waakin their family pet
Some hinna got the message yet
Seems they think it fair absurd
Tae pick up their doggie’s turd
.
Nae jist in the toon ye’ll see
Fowks trash an cuttins fae a tree
Oot some bonnie kwintra lane
The litter dumpers are a bane
.
Auld cookers, beddin an sic like
Left aa aroon bi some orra tyke
Ower damn’t lazy tae show their face
An tak it tae a recyclin place
.
Ess problem society his richt aneuch
An een aat’s proovin affa teuch
Fowk are feart tae challenge dumpers
Fa micht turn oot tae be face thumpers
.
They say educashun stairts at hame
It’s time tae pit litter in the frame
So’s the neist generation are mair aware
An littered streets they are nae mair.
.
.
.
.
©Bob Smith “The PoetryMannie” 2013
  • Comments enabled – see comments box below. Note, all comments will be moderated.
May 172013
 

By Bob Smith.

There is a Native American sayin “Treat the Earth weel. We dinna inherit the Earth fae oor ancestors We borra it fae oor children” Aat bein the case oor affspring are nae gyaan tae be verra happy wis us.

We’re makkin a richt bliddy pig’s erse o lookin efter the planet we aa bide on.

Een o the biggest problems wi hiv is foo we use the lan we bide on.

There his bin huge pressure pit on the Earth’s ecosystems since the Industrial Revolution. Afore aat maist fowk workit in the rural areas bit wi the onset o fit poet William Blake described as the “dark satanic mills” fowk moved intae growen toons an pollution fair belched oot o factory lums and the coal fires o the workers hames.

It is alleged carbon dioxide levels hiv increased  by 38% since 1750 an methane levels by 148%.

So aat wis  the stairt o oor planet’s problems bit thingies hiv gotten worse ower the past hunner ‘ear an speecially so in the past fifty.

There hiv bin “land grabs” fae the indeginous fowk o various kwintras tae further the interests o big business throwe mair minin, loggin an cattle ranchin, tae name bit three, resultin in the loss o lan fer agricuture so aat the fowk can nae langer feed thersels.

Forests hiv bin cut doon, fowk displaced,the habitats o animals destroyed, aa in the name o so ca’ed progress. The human race is spreadin its tentacles aawye usin up the Earth’s resources at sic a speed the planet hisna hid time tae recover.

Awa back in time fowk jist used fit they nott an leukit efter the natural world, livin side bi side wi the ither inhabitants o the Earth. Nooadays we hiv becum greedy an it’s a race tae see faa can mak the maist dosh an nivver myn if wi leave ahint a trail o destruction in the rush tae achieve economic growth.

As a chiel faa cums fae a fairmin backgrun it pains me tae hae tae write iss next bittie, bit modern intensive fairmin practices hiv,in ma opeenion, contributed tae the pollution o the lan an destruction o habitat fer a puckle birdies an animals.

As far as a can see verra little crap rotation is deen nooadays

A myn on ma faither, nae lang afore he passed awa, sayin he wis gled he wisna stairtin up in fairmin noo as it wis nae langer leukit upon as a wye o life bit mair a business controlled by faceless bunkers, reid tape, an the agri-chemical business.

Noo ma faither did use fertilisers bit he didna like pesticides.

As far as a can see verra little crap rotation is deen nooadays an as a result the grun becums soor an loses its nutrient value hince the reason mair an mair fertilisers hiv tae be used.

Spreadin gweed coo’s shite in its natural form is nae langer a practice widely used. Mair an mair slurry is gyaan on tae the parks an bein in liquid form can leak fae the lan intae ditches an burns an syne intae rivers.

Fairmers hiv ower the past fifty ‘ear pulled up hedgin an knock’t doon dykes tae mak the parks bigger tae accomodate the muckle big tractors an machinery. The hedges an dykes war refuges fer birds an wee beasties.

The loss o roch grassland, loss o mixed fairms, conversion tae arable craps only, an a switch fae spring tae autumn sowin a mak life difficult fer fairmland birds like the teuchat an the laverock.

The bee population is thocht tae be suffrin throwe the use o certin pesticides an yet the fairmers need the bees tae pollenate some o their craps so fit wye div they keep on sprayin? Ae answer is – bigger yields are leukit on as mair important than the birds an the bees.

Noo there is a smatterin o fairmers faa hiv decided tae gyang back tae een or twa o the auld wyes o producin food.There are a helluva lot mair faa need convincin.

A noo cum tae a bit fit wull nae mak me ower popular wi some fowk.

the human population is risin an we need hooses tae accomodate aabody

Reports hiv bin sayin fer ‘ears we are nae able tae feed oorsels in iss kwintra. Nae bliddy wunner, we hap productive lan wi concrete in the form o hoosin and industrial developments an hiv great ribbons o tar criss crossin aawye.

We are telt the human population is risin an we need hooses tae accomodate aabody an fowk need their cars tae get fae A tae B.

Maybe it’s time we aa stairted waakin mair afen an foo aboot bannin bonkin fer a ear or twa? Aat wid fair reduce the need fer sae muckle cars an wid gyang sum wye tae halt a population explosion.

Myn ye, ma suggestion o bannin bonkin micht increase the amunt o wankers gaen aboot.

Tae git back tae bein a bittie mair serious. John Muir, the great Scottish born American naturalist, eence said

The gross heathenism of civilisation has generally destroyed nature and poetry and all that is spiritual”

We maun aa therefor hae a leuk at fit’s gyaan on in the warld an try tae influence the eens in power aat continued economic growth micht pit in jeopardy the future fer oor affspring.

As lang as the warld an his mither ging aboot consumin ower muckle, the Earth suffers.

  • Comments enabled – see comments box below. Note, all comments will be moderated.
Feb 252013
 

In this instalment of the Menie Estate Series, Suzanne Kelly considers environmental issues and describes her visit to the course on 16 February 2013.

Our elected officials largely shrugged their collective shoulders when consigning the Menie Coastline and its SSSI sites to history to accommodate Trump International Golf Links Scotland.
It was Aberdeenshire Council’s position that making money outstripped the importance of the Scottish coastal environment for present and future generations of people and wildlife.  They did phrase it a little less brashly than that:-

“Aberdeenshire Council supports the proposed development because the economic and social benefits through growing and diversifying the economy are sufficient to outweigh the conflict with national and development plan policies relating to the environment, protected landscapes and new house building.”
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/Doc/212607/0067709.pdf

At least a few gestures were made to protect whatever wildlife would survive comprising two 18-hole courses, clubhouse, parking, a 450-room hotel, 950 holiday apartments, 36 ‘golf villas’, 500 houses for sale, accommodation for 400 staff, and all the pollution this would bring.

An environmental advisory board, Menie (Links) Environmental Management Advisory Group, was appointed and Professor William Ritchie made its head.  Professor Ritchie has been Director of the Aberdeen Institute for Coastal Science and Management at Aberdeen University since 2002, and he has a long list of credentials.

Surely this would be a pro-active group headed by an experienced leader who would do everything possible to safeguard our environment and enforce any environmental conditions on the site.

Professor Ritchie is listed in the Menie Estate Report to the Scottish Ministers as being ‘in support of the case for the development For Trump International Golf Links Scotland’.  (http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/Doc/212607/0067709.pdf)

Some would find this hard to credit – that an academic at Aberdeen University would prefer to see a golf course in place of two unique SSSIs which would inevitably be compromised.   (Later on in the same report, Ritchie seems to say he is neither for nor against the planning application, which seems contradictory to the contents pages).

Despite claims in the report that Ritchie was on the Trump side of the argument, no doubt he would actively protect what could be protected through his role at the newly-created body, MEMAG.

MEMAG:

MEMAG holds meetings – which, according to minutes, the Trump organisation rarely sends representatives to attend :-

“The group noted that the absence of TIGLS representation at recent MEMAG meetings wasunfortunate but, on a positive note, contact had been made with John Bambury (JB) who is the new LINKS Superintendent.”
http://www.memag.org.uk/Docs/Minutes%20MEMAG%20-%2031May2012%20Website.pdf

Do MEMAG members visit the site regularly?  Does MEMAG answer relevant questions in a timely fashion?  Does it exercise its authority relevant to the following provisions made in the Report? Among other powers:-

“MEMAG has authority to prevent damaging activities…”
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/Doc/212607/0067709.pdf

MEMAG’s own mission statement reads in part:-

“to monitor environmental changes;
“to advise on good practice managerial responses;
“to act as an independent check that developer commitments in relation to the dunes environment would be fulfilled;
“to advise on mitigation and minimisation of environmental impacts; and
“to commence work before site work begins and to continue to advise throughout the operational life of the development.”

But like the sand dunes, things had shifted by the time MEMAG’s inaugural press release came out.  MEMAG’s previous ‘authority to prevent damaging activities’ became:-

“For the avoidance of doubt, MEMAG operates as an advisory body only and will not have the power to veto any proposal or action proposed by TIGLS…”
http://www.memag.org.uk/Docs/MEMAG%20Press%20Relaease%201.4b%20Final.pdf

At the time of writing, MEMAG’s website had no minutes since June 2012, and has not responded to some dozen environmental questions it received from me on 23 January.  Residents I have spoken with are not aware of having much or any contact with, or sight of MEMAG personnel visiting the site.

The following observations from my visit of 16 February should ideally be looked at by MEMAG, but perhaps it is time MEMAG itself should be looked at.

Digging the Scene

I walked the site for several hours on 16 February with an Aberdeen Voice photographer.  There seemed to me to be work in progress without specific planning approval.
Retrospective permission has been sought after work is completed on this site before, such as for the gigantic earth bunds which block light near the Munro property.

Surely the environmental monitors would step in and halt any further unauthorised work?

At 11am on 16 February I observed three separate sites where earth moving equipment was in operation for work which had not been approved as far as I or the residents knew.  Other vehicles on site included a digger parked near the Blairton Burn, which has permission for a bridge, as well as ever-circling IZON security vehicles visible several times on our walk.

The first work in progress is near the parking lot; a digger ( pictured top right ) is levelling out a large rectangular area.  I wonder whether it could be for the temporary marquee, which is not yet approved.

Another earth-moving vehicle was digging; I cannot tell what the purpose was.  This was on the west side of the course.  Finally at the very south of the course a third vehicle was also digging.  This might be the area set out for the second, as yet unapproved course.

This second course was announced with some fanfare in the press, but  no plans are available for it yet on the council website, and in a phone call, Aberdeenshire Council confirmed they do not have the plans.

These possibly unauthorised works were reported to Aberdeenshire Council’s Planning Department by email and phone from 17 February.  Although any unauthorised works can theoretically be stopped immediately, I have yet to receive word as to whether work has stopped, nor do I have any response yet from the council about this work.

The Blue, Blue Grass of Home

Like the pate of a certain bellicose billionaire, the greens of the first course seem to be thinning.  In the first case, a subtle, unnoticeable comb-over hairstyle is the answer.  In the case of the greens the answer is apparently – blue dye.

My visit on 16 February to the site was prompted by comments from a frequent Balmedie visitor:  huge swathes of the green (and a little patch of sand) had been ‘spray-painted’ a blue-green colour.

Mother Nature seems not to be accepting the imposition of this golf course on the coast very well.  First, part of the course was washed out to sea in winter storms.

Now the winds are blowing sand (hardly surprisingly) across the turfed areas, which can’t exactly be helping the grass to grow.

The height of the grass on some of the greens above the sand is very short indeed, making it seem that sand is covering the lower parts of the blades of grass. Is it possible that the grass is turning yellow in response to the sand and its proximity to the salt spray from the North Sea, making a dose of blue dye necessary for the appearance of health?

To me, from a distance the colour effect is of a less-than-natural turquoise green coloured grass.   On closer inspection it is, to my eyes, violently unnatural.  (Note – at no time did we walk on the greens, which would have been contrary to access codes).  My personal reaction is that had I been a millionaire golfing tourist, I would not be best pleased to have flown into Aberdeen to look at blue-green dye.

To digress for a moment from the lurid chemicals being used to dye the course – and the questions this raises about what other chemicals may be in use – at the area south of the Blairton Burn, the course is laid out in such a way that the only way to avoid walking on the greens for several yards is on a very narrow, steep sand dune bank.  The following excerpt from the Report springs to mind for several reasons:-

“2.1.54 Professor Ritchie thought that the fairway of hole 14 would be 30 – 40 metres away from the coastal dune and was surprised to be told that it scales at 21 metres on T2. …. It remains the applicant’s position that the coastal dunes should not be touched.” – IBID

At the point south of the Blairton Burn the green is only a few meters at best away from the coastal dune.  It is as if the movable sand dune system was – moving.  While the ‘applicant’ may have asserted that the coastal dunes ‘should not be touched’, arguably they are being planted with Marram grass and otherwise ‘touched’.  No doubt this will be of interest to the appointed environmental protectors as well as work at the Blairton Burn area.

Blairton Bridge Burn

The area which eroded into the sea is now being fortified with stone/concrete blocks at the sides of the burn.  Rocks are used at the base of some nearby dunes stretching towards the sea.  Whether or not this rock installation is on Crown land and meets with Crown approval has yet to be determined.

Perhaps it is time MEMAG visits the course again and considers whether some of it is far too close to the shore, making the course potentially likely to erode into the sea, and making life for people who wish to legally walk around the course difficult if not potentially dangerous.

How Green are Golf Course Greens?  The Green Desert

Is a golf course, set in an idyllic countryside setting necessarily a green haven?  Not necessarily.

I am unable to confirm reports that burrowing animals were gassed in order to create the course and maintain its smooth contours, but this is the suspicion of some of my sources, and would not be without precedent in the industry.  The long list of environmental charities objecting to the development included the SNH and RSPB.

A pool of water visible on the side of the course at both my visits is a rusty brown colour with a sheen on it.  This is not a large pool, but if I wonder about what is making it discoloured and oily, perhaps MEMAG should be likewise curious.

Aside from coloured dye, what other chemicals are being used?  Are golf courses perfectly safe?  There is growing evidence that fertilisers, pesticides and other chemicals may have some serious consequences for wildlife and people.

In their article entitled A Global Perspective on the Environmental Impact of Golf, Kit Wheeler & John Nauright collate some worrying statistics on human health and environmental damage resulting from the creation and maintenance of golf courses. The aims of the article include:-

“… examination of the environmental impacts that accompany projects that fail to take the environment at large into account; to discuss some of the implications for developing countries being targeted by money-hungry developers…”

I recommend reading the paper in full, but here are some excerpts:-

“One of the more obvious, and potentially dangerous, ways a golf course can impact the environment is through the large-scale application of chemicals including fertilizers, insecticides, pesticides and fungicides. These chemicals can be damaging, sometimes even lethal, to organisms that are exposed to them, either in the water, on the ground or even in the air… ”

“Chatterjee’s study published in 1993 stated that an average of 1500 kg of agrochemicals, some of them known carcinogens, are applied to golf courses each year and that 90 per cent of sprayed chemicals end up in the air.[30] A subsequent study by Chamberlain iterated that a typical 18-hole course uses 22,680 kg of dry and liquid chemicals annually.”

and

“It has also been shown that people who spend a good deal of time around [golf courses]… may also be susceptible to the effects of hazardous chemicals. …USGA volatilization studies report that organophosphate insecticides that possess high toxicity and volatility could result in exposure situations that cannot be deemed completely safe as judged by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)…”
– A Global Perspective on the Environmental Impact of Golf, Kit Wheeler & John Nauright
http://reearth.org/wp-content/images/2008/03/golf_environment.pdf

Golf And A Good Walk Spoiled

Part of the importance of the environment is our legal right to enjoy it.
The post of countryside access officer for the Menie area remains unfilled for some months; this person would be responsible for ensuring people can enjoy the area without security intervention or locked gates (at least two sites have gates which are locked making paths inaccessible to bicycles or people with mobility issues).

Finally

Failing any dramatic development, this will be the final article in this series, and a final report with recommendations will be issued soon.  Considering the way we have made people, the environment, and our own laws bend to the will of one man on a quest for a golf course, it is hard to see what we will ever gain, or whether next generations of people will thank us (or if there will be next generations of wildlife on that stretch of Scottish Coast).

Wheeler & Nauright summed the situation up perfectly:-

“Local communities are routinely excluded from the decision-making processes regarding course development… After losing their battle against developers, local residents often lose their land next. … These types of changes can wreak havoc on rural communities while also exacerbating urban problems of slums, pollution and congestion.”

Perhaps when we are all wealthy as a result of this ‘£1 billion pound’ development we will be wealthy enough to jet off to some unspoilt natural coastal resorts for some fresh air. 

Then again, we could simply have realised what we had before Trump came to town.

  • Comments enabled – see comments box below. Note, all comments will be moderated.
Sep 212012
 

Suzanne Kelly reports on the results of some important research presented at the recent Science Festival.

Aberdeen Science Festival had an amazing array of lectures, talks, trips and cabaret events which thousands of visitors enjoyed.

One of the more important issues covered was the very serious subject of second-hand smoke and its effect on children.  I took the  opportunity to talk to Dr Stephen Turner ( pictured ) of Aberdeen University and Rachel O’Donnell of ASH Scotland on a promising initiative to attempt to tackle this complex problem.

You smoke, or your partner smokes; you have a couple of children and a cat.  No harm in smoking around them in the house – just open a window and the smoke can’t bother them.  Can it?

You close the window when you’re done smoking.  You don’t smell much smoke and you can’t see any clouds of smoke at all, so there’s no risk to anyone.

The truth is that ANY smoke residue can definitely harm your children and your pets.  Smoke that you can see and other chemicals in smoke that you can’t see or smell are injuring kids.   About 85% of cigarette smoke is invisible.

You might not believe this to be true, but please remember the old ‘canary in a coal mine’ story.  Miners would take canaries down into the mines and if the bird suddenly died, either the oxygen was running out, or there was something dangerous, but invisible and scentless.  Things you don’t see can indeed hurt you and your children.

REFRESH is an intervention aimed at reducing the exposure children get to second-hand smoke which was presented during the Aberdeen Science Festival.  Dr Stephen Turner and Rachel O’Donnell were available to explain how they worked with smoking families when they did their research.  They were not trying to make parents stop smoking, but instead were making people aware what the consequences can be on children’s lives.  The full details are written in a paper called ‘REFRESH – reducing families’ exposure to second-hand smoke in the home:  a feasibility study.’

Families where young children were living with regular smokers were asked to take part in a study which would measure indoor air quality in their homes.  The personalised air quality data were presented to the smoker, then a motivational interview was held and positive solutions were suggested for cleaner, healthier air for the child.

There were about 60 Aberdonian participants in this study with each receiving four visits.  At the first meeting a questionnaire was filled in to get a picture of the household members and their smoking habits; saliva samples were taken for chemical testing and monitoring equipment was set up.  At the second visit the indoor air quality result was given to half of the households in addition to the motivational interview.

The chart below shows smoke levels in one study household.  

Any quantity over 25 micrograms of smoke in a cubic metre of air space is harmful; the higher the figure, the more harm.

When the smoker was asleep, the levels dropped to non-existent.  When the smoker lit that first cigarette, the levels went up to between 500 and 950 micrograms of smoke in a cubic metre of air.

Throughout the day, the smoke lingered – even when the smoker assumed the room was clear of smoke.

This came as quite a revelation for the smokers.  Here is what some of them had to say:

“Seeing the results made a big difference.  It was like a shock because I didn’t realise.  Like I don’t sit here and smoke in front of my child, I do it in the kitchen, but for the readings to be high like that when I’m not like anywhere near it, if you know what I mean, it’s like a shock factor to realise what it can do.  So I think that’s the best thing that like helped me.”

“I showed them how high it was, and some of them was like – you’re  joking?  And I was like no…”

“For it (monitoring) to be done in your own home and for you to know that the level of smoke is so high and you’re putting your children at risk of asthma, emphysema, all kinds of things, it’s quite shocking.”

One comment in particular shows the strength of the motivational factor provided by caring about children’s health:

“For me I think my son’s health, that’s my priority.  So I would like to think that all mothers would think like that, that their kids come first no matter what.  My bad habits shouldn’t be put onto my child.  Because I can’t stop smoking doesn’t mean he has to suffer.”

After one month the research team revisited the houses, repeated the air quality measurements and, this time, gave all the households their results.  During the month the air quality had not changed in the houses where air quality data was not initially given but air quality had improved by more than one third where the graph was used as part of the initial motivational interview.

  personalised measurements of smoke in the home, while shocking, can also be very motivational

The trial was not large, but its results show that a future, large-scale programme would be beneficial.  Like everything else, budgetary constraints are a factor.  The vast sums that the NHS has to spend treating smoke-related illnesses should be sufficient to show that prevention should be actively pursued as one solution to the smoking issue.

The study has shown that lay people can most definitely engage with science and can understand complex matters when it is presented using clear, audience-appropriate, audience-relevant formats.   Crucially, the personalised measurements of smoke in the home, while shocking, can also be very motivational.  As the paper concludes:

“…in almost all participating households, indoor air (quality) approached a threshold considered unhealthy, suggesting a need to reduce indoor air (quality) in many households across the UK, and that many people would benefit from such an intervention.” 

It seems that this combination of personalised data, positive suggestions and active participation of smokers might be the way to tackle smoke exposure to children.  It is hoped this small study won’t be the end of the matter.  The research goes on but, in the meantime, parents who smoke can create smoke free homes and smoke free cars to protect their children from the harmful effects of second hand smoke.

Smoking is still a social norm for many families but in the same way as drink driving and not wearing a seat belt are no longer acceptable, in future smoking will be considered as not acceptable by society.

PS for animal lovers –  according to Dr Turner, the incidence of feline leukaemia is twice as high in cats that live in a smoker’s home than for cats that live in a smoke free environment.

  •  Comments enabled – see comments box below. Note, all comments will be moderated.
May 172012
 

John Fraser lifts the lid on the worrying social and environmental impact of our ‘must have’ consumer society.

Pandora’s Box – a metaphor for our time.

Are we mature enough as a society to protect our last remaining wildernesses and ecosystems or, are we to be like Epimetheus and not have the foresight to see the true implications of our actions beyond our primitive desires?

A recently released report by the Gaia Foundation on the extractive industries and all that goes with them brings into clear perspective the scale of destruction and almost frenzied rate of extraction going on with total disregard for populations and the environment.

I would like to give just an outline of this report, a feel for what is happening worldwide, what this means for all of us and how we are all connected in one way or another, whether it happens in the North Sea, the Amazon or Africa and what we could do about it.

It is the sheer scale and rate of extraction which is startling and it is increasing year-on-year. These industries are far bigger than most people realise and are growing. We are now entering a new phase where old deposits are being reworked due to the development of new technologies added to a new scale of demand.

For example, in the last ten years, extraction of iron ore has increased by 180%, Cobalt.165%, Lithium 125% and Coal 44%. Prospecting is also more prevalent which means a massive increase in years to come. Enormous industrial wastelands are created, with the accompanying effects on habitat, water and land pollution. Displacement of population follows.

Human rights, mainly but not exclusively those of indigenous peoples, are being ignored. Environmental laws are broken or circumvented.

To produce one ton of copper, 300 tons of waste is created.

Along with this insatiable hunger for the Earth’s resources comes a great need for water, a resource that in some countries is not plentiful. Even now, SE England is suffering drought.

In Scotland we are in the early stages of fracking which requires 1.8 million gallons of water. To frack nickel requires 377 litres/kg, titanium 100 litres/kg, steel 80 litres/kg, aluminium and copper around 40 litres/kg and to top it all, gold 225,000 litres/kg, giving an indication of how much water is required for this type of industry. The accompanying pollution of each locality is a major problem where waste pollutes the air with particulates and water courses with metal-improving chemicals such as cyanide and mercury.

With all land extraction we find deforestation, destruction of natural water courses, top soil removal and in the USA even mountain top removal, which has been linked to 60,000 cases of cancer according to a Financial Times report. The US Environmental Protection Agency contends that 3.93 billion lbs of toxic chemicals were released into the US environment in 2010, up 16% from 2009, and the mining sector was responsible for 41%.

The volume of minerals which can be recovered from rocks has decreased from the early 1900s, copper from 3% to 0.3%. This leads to more expensive mining and a huge increase in waste materials. To produce one ton of copper, 300 tons of waste is created.

In a 2011 report by Pricewaterhouse Cooper, The Game Has Changed, it is stated that the remaining reserves of most minerals have a lifespan of between twelve years for zinc and 53 years for thermal coal. No doubt new reserves will be found but with more contentious implications such as with offshore mining in Greenland and the Arctic. A huge amount could be recovered by recycling, but this does not solve the problem.

A good start would be for people to know the story behind everything we think we need to have.

Just because most of the extraction happens elsewhere we cannot ignore the fact that indigenous peoples are being displaced from traditional lands by lies and brutality and the earth is being laid bare. These minerals are in the products that we use.

The bridges and roads we build use huge volumes of these resources. All electronic goods are a cocktail of metals and plastic. People in South America, Africa, India and many other parts of the world are asking us for our support to save their lands.

The world is now faced with a huge increase in demand for resources as the populations of China, South America and India all want western lifestyles. This is just not possible. A recent Scottish Government report acknowledges that we would need three planet Earths to achieve it. Yet, here in NE Scotland we want to build 28 miles of dual carriageway and a new ’garden’ is to be created with huge quantities of the world’s resources being used up in the process.

What do we really need? And what do we desire to have? Increasingly we need to ask these questions and find the answers. As a world community it will be forced upon us.

A good start would be for people to know the story behind everything we think we need to have. Where do the minerals in our laptops come from? How much concrete and aluminium is it going to take to build that road, ‘create a new garden’? We might be surprised – and maybe, just maybe, we’ll realise that we don’t need a new iPod, or more roads. We’ve managed up to now and with a positive change of outlook we can manage into the future, beginning to respect the earth and its peoples, and be grateful to do with less.

The full Opening Pandora’s Box report by Phillipe Sibaud is at www.gaiafoundation.org.uk

Apr 192012
 

By Bob Smith.

Lit’s hear it fer the fowk fa waak
Aroon the streets in ivvery toon
Fa’s only wish is ti be free
Fae motor cars aa fleein aroon

Streets faar ye can walk in peace

Nae noise fae larry or car
A toon cinter free o fumes an steer
Faar the motor vehicle’s nae the Tsar

A placie faar the high street shops

Can dee their trade in tranquility
An cafes hiv tables an chairs ootside
Wi fowk  enjoyin a coffee or tea

Streets faar kids can waak ti skweel

Nae aye driven in faimily cars
Fowk’ll  think there’s mair chunce
O seein aliens fae the planet Mars
Fowk war born wi things caed legs
Bit they’re nae noo used sae muckle
Instead o haen a fyow car free streets
Lit toons aim ti hae a fair puckle

Git fowk back livin in toon cinters

So some widna hae ti drive ti wark
An maybe they cwid enjoy some peace
Like the car free island o Sark

Ye think am livin in a fantasy warld?

Maybe so bit we maun surely try
Ti mak toon streets fowk freenly
Reclaim oor streets shud be the cry
.
.
.
.
©Bob Smith “The Poetry Mannie” 2012

Picture Credit: Richard Slessor

Mar 152012
 

Voice’s Old Susannah considers the upcoming council elections, the UTG referendum result, the happenings on Tullos Hill, International Womens Day, blogging beasties and generosity. By Suzanne Kelly 

Tally Ho!  The May elections are coming, and not a second too soon.  Some of our tireless (or is that tiresome?) councillors are packing up and preparing to move on.  Let’s hope they bring all of their talents to their new areas.

I hear that there is now a shortage of packing crates at the Fortress of Doom (aka The  Townhouse) as heroic councillors get ready to head into the sunset.  I hope they don’t let the doors hit them on their way out.

As to the UTG Referendum?  Well, I guess that’s it – it has been a totally above-board, fair-and-square contest.

The grapevine would have it that some of the rich and powerful secret members of the Vote for the City Gardens Project are less than pleased it’s cost so very much money to have such a small margin of victory, but they still got the result they wanted, if not the landslide they’d prayed for (or is that ‘paid for’).

In the next few days I’ll write about the dozen or so wee problems that some people have with the referendum and how it was run.

Did you know that over 300 votes arrived just a wee bit too late to be counted?  Did you know it would be totally illegal for any of the campaigning organisations to see the register as to how the votes went?  No, neither did I until recently.  I also have it on very good authority who some of the VFTCGP backers are.  Old Susannah is toying with the idea of naming them.

They would be free to deny the association – but why should they want to be secret in the first place, after all, they were the heroes behind the scenes helping us poor souls know how to vote.  Who could turn down their promise of 6,500 new permanent jobs or their £122,000,000 flowing into the city each year?  Think of all the parties and portraits that would buy!  Wow!

(You might be interested to know that PriceWaterhouse Coopers were asked by me if they had intended their projections about money and jobs to be used as the VFTCGP did in its propaganda.   PwC might have been expected to say they were delighted, and that they stand behind their projections 100%.  However, they said that as the projections were made for a ‘private client’ they can make no comment on them to me.  Of course the bills I’ve seen for PwC look like you and I paid for this great work out of our taxes, but there you go).

And other great news from Tullos  Hill.  HoMalone is having her way, backed up by impartial ‘expert’ C Piper (perhaps related to the CJ Piper firm which was already paid £42,000 for the bang-up job delivered on tree planting to date?).  Yes, the gorse is gone, and with it all those annoying butterflies, bees, moths, and insects.

The birds that would have eaten these critters and the small and larger mammals which lived in the gorse are homeless.  If only I had an environmental degree, then I could say we’ve interrupted the food chain and interfered with existing biodiversity on Tullos.  As it is, I’m not allowed to make any such observation, however obvious.

Any small mammals or deer rendered homeless should apply at Marischal College reception to declare their homeless status.  Of course these creatures are likely now to wind up as road kill.  Surely not even HoMalone or Ranger Bigboy will dare to claim any roadkill we see now will be due to overpopulation?  Well, we’ll see.

  Women around the world lack rights and comforts we all take for granted

Some of those animal-loving, meadow-loving radicals will be handing flyers out and collecting signatures on petitions this Saturday at 12:30 in front of Marks & Spencer Union Street.  The petitions apparently are to protest the use of school children to plant the 89,000 trees on Tullos.

Ms Malone indicates this will be an educational experience for the little mites, and I’m sure it will.

Having seen the state of the hill, they will learn about cuts, tetanus boosters, chemical pollution, industrial waste, and dead deer.  Thank you, Aileen.  I do hope she will make it to the hill to plant a few trees herself.  That would seem only fair to me.

For the paper petition, further info, and a PDF of the new flyer, visit:  http://oldsusannahsjournal.yolasite.com/

Finally, Old Susannah attended two events in the last week which celebrated International Women’s Day, a great Oxfam fundraiser held by Bead Crazy on St Andrew Street.  A dozen or so guests were treated to cocktails (thanks for the Black Russians), brownies and beads.  Everyone made pieces from recycled materials which was right up my street.

I’ve turned an old domino into a necklace that says ‘Keep Calm and Carry On’, and a bottle cap into a brooch with an Oxfam fact.  Women around the world lack rights and comforts we all take for granted.  Thanks to Alex and everyone at Bead Crazy for the event.

Then at the Belmont last Saturday I ran into a collection of women celebrating Women’s day a bit differently.  They were all dressed as fairy godmothers, and were collecting wishes from the public as to what people would like to wish for our young girls’ futures.  My wishes didn’t include any granite webs or deer culls.  Thank you Merlyn and all the other women.

As well as a definition or two, this week I am pleased to announce that Aberdeen Voice has negotiated two new Celebrity Bloggers!  They will be featured in this column for the next several weeks.

And now – the first ever Millie & Cattie joint Blog!

“Hi I’m Millie, the Caterpillar!”

“And I’m Cattie the Millipede!  We’ve had a horrible, tragic few days:  our meadow home was destroyed and many of our friends with it.”

“Yes, sadly that’s true, Cattie.  Bulldozers showed up without warning to our Tullos Hill home, and ruined our wildflower and gorse home.  We had our rescue quite by chance.”

“That’s right Millie.  We were chewing on a Foxglove plant and suddenly it was ripped up and hurled into the air.  Sometime later the plant was found by a kindly passerby, and we were all taken to a safe house where we all now live.”

“We were both reluctant to launch this blog, but Old Susannah showed us the coverage Aberdeen was giving to a talking cactus, Morris the Monkey, and Jake the Ghost.  So we thought, ‘Why not try it?’   We know Spike the Cactus is very popular, and if people are willing to take voting advice from a monkey and a ghost (no offence), then people should know our story, too.”

“Yes Millie – we have a responsibility to let people know our beautiful home is gone, and an entire generation of moths, butterflies, bees have been wiped out.  What will become of some of our larger friends like the birds, small mammals and especially the kindly roe deer is our huge worry now.”

“Agreed Cattie.  We are grateful we were saved – we only hope our friends who haven’t been destroyed yet will be spared.  Got any lettuce?”

Cattie and Millie will give us an update next week and for the foreseeable future.

Charity:  (adjective) state of being generous, donating time or money to those  less fortunate.

While our very own local billionaire works selflessly to ensure his lasting granite memorial will bring his family continued and visible dominance over a certain city, a less savvy multi-millionaire has displayed a woeful lack of commonsense.

When it looked as if there would be some public outcry against his web, he calmly threatened to take his ball and go home.

J K Rowling, creator of the Harry Potter saga read the world over, has donated over £100 million to charity in the past year and a bit.  Now I don’t know about you, but I’ve heard hardly anything about her donations.  Where were the press cuttings, the headlines, the photos?  What did she get in return to show for it?

Ms Rowling has a lot to learn I fear.  Not only has she given enough away to nearly pay for the granite web we all long for, she’s dropped way down on the UK’s wealthiest list.

We will remember for quite some time how Sir Ian made his gracious £50 million donation to Aberdeen.  As long as we did what he wanted with it, and let unelected entities ‘manage’ our common good land, it was a great gift indeed.  When it looked as if there would be some public outcry against his web, he calmly threatened to take his ball and go home. Charity begins at home, and we’re going to take his charity, whatever form it takes, and like it.

Sure, Rowling may have made children all over the world discover the joy of reading,  and her books got people to read together in families and groups.   Her money may have helped countless people the world over across a wide variety of problems and concerns.  She may have made important points about the value of love, courage, kindness and friendship –  

But where’s the statue?  Alas, if there’s no granite monument and not a ton of press coverage bragging about the money, then the donations might as well never have happened.  Shame.  Perhaps a great PR firm could help…

One of the more radical points I picked up from these ‘children’s books of Ms Rowling’s ran along the lines of this (I deliberately paraphrase)  “One thing the tyrants of this world fear is that one day, one of the people they have oppressed will rise up against them.”  Can’t for the life of me think why that particular idea should spring to mind, but there it is.

New Acronyms!

Hooray!  We’ve more acronyms in this town than we know what to do with.  First it was the ‘Tree for Every Citizen’ scheme or “T’FEC!’ as it is affectionately known in Torry.  The tree scheme’s supporters (all 3 of them) are so pleased with their recent successes that they have more plans up their sleeves, or so I hear.

‘Forget Allowing Citizens Anything for Free’  is a brainchild for the coming budget cuts which are  in the pipeline, reflecting the service cuts and support staff cuts.  It will be called ‘FAC AFF!’ for short.

If this proves successful, phase 2 may be launched.  Its working title is Forget Every Citizen Utterly – or ‘FEC U’ for short.

If you want to see these schemes enacted, then don’t rock the boat at the elections, and we will continue on our happy course.  See you down at the Granite Web or Monorail station soon!

Next week? – At this rate what our Council will dream up is anyone’s guess…

Feb 292012
 

By Bob Smith. 

Union Street-eence an elegant lady
Full o verve an flair
Nooadays she’s an aul hag
Faa’s sprootin facial hair

Biggins they war clean an bricht
Maist wi a fine granite wa
Some noo in need o a dicht
Ti wash dirt an stoor awa

Ye hid shoppies o aa descriptions
Sellin different kines o goods
Noo ye’ve git phone shops
Sellin mobiles ti flashy dudes

Fer smairt sartorial elegance
Yon Fred Watt fittit the bill
We’re left wi multi nationals
Faa’s prices wid mak ye ill

We hid bakers an grocers shops
Car showrooms showin their wares
Local baccy shops an fruit merchants
As weel as butchers sellin hares

Shopkeepers eesed aye ti keep
Pavements free o sna an ice
Ask them ti dee aat nooadays
Maist widna tak yer advice

On pavements eence bonnie an clean
There’s tabbies an chuddy aa stuck
Faith ye nivver are affa sure
Fit’s drappit amang iss muck

Biggins up abeen the shops
War clean an used as flats
Nooadays they’re dreich an worn
An mair suited for some bats

The restaurant at the Capitol
Wis famous fer its high tea
Syne ye gid throwe ti the picters
An drooled ower Sandra Dee

Setterday nichts on Union Street
Eesed ti be aa gweed fun
Noo ye’ll git a richt kickin
As yer lyin on the grun

Worst o aa noo is the traffic
The cause o noise an soss
Maist drivin doon Union Street
They jist cudna gie a toss

©Bob Smith “The Poetry Mannie” 2011