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Follow me onBurning issues - 6th January 2011
Big Ben is ablaze (albeit a cardboard effigy rather than the iconic genuine article), and coalition policy steams ahead with the enthusiasm of a tiger cub taking part in its first kill. Let's hope you recharged your batteries over the Christmas break because whatever your political persuasion, you can bet that the year ahead is going to see some shaking up. For starters, while the government is set on flogging off national woodland, the UN – with perfect comic timing – has declared 2011 the International Year of Forests. You might think environmental PR had never had it so good, at least in terms of column inches.
For years, those working in environmental communications have struggled with a perceived lack of interest from the wider public. Sure, green issues have hit the mainstream but increased press coverage and corporate greenwash have contributed to making sustainability a victim of its own success and moving beyond relatively easy wins like energy saving light bulbs is a whole other ball game.
We're constantly bombarded with messages suggesting our own apathy but if recent student protests are anything to go by, 2011 will see people out on the streets in unprecedented numbers for recent years. The proposed sale of the Forest of Dean rallied a crowd of 3,000 that included politicians and religious figures among the more predictable conservationists and local campaigners, with 110,000 signing a petition to defend England's 650,000-acre forestry commission estate from sale. If you're tempted to make a stand for the trees, biodiversity and the preservation of green spaces, also spare a thought for a very different kind of threat – the dismantling of local authority recycling schemes.
Recent weather conditions brought many council waste and recycling collections to a halt. Lest we forget, major transport networks also experienced chaos, the Royal Mail Christmas post delivery faced major delays and thousands of schools and offices across the country closed. No one has suggested that since X primary school failed to open for a week, it should be closed down, but this ludicrous assessment is being applied to councils across the country by a sub-plot determined to put a stop to the practice of alternate weekly collections (AWC).
Having witnessed the UK's almost meteoric rise in recycling rates over the last 10 years, it's difficult to make sense of a policy that focuses unwaveringly on residual waste and the householder's right to choose not to recycle. Of course not all successful recycling authorities operate AWC but those that do are most certainly not offering the lesser service that Eric Pickles and his cohort Bob Neill describe, Rather, the majority of AWC councils provide a comprehensive recycling service, often leaving only problematic materials such as plastic film consigned to the traditional wheelie bin.
As members of Pickles' party, most notably Peter Ainsworth, chair of the Conservative Environment Network, battle over the pros and cons (see letsrecycle story), it's worth remembering that major battles are won and lost on seemingly insignificant issues. The average householder may not gave a fig for the detail of recycling collections, so it's vital that they hear balanced views, and this is where environmental PR can come into its own. While we join forces to support the mighty oak, we need to remember that any fall in recycling leads to a loss of biodiversity, maybe not in the UK, but anywhere that natural resources are sourced and sold for profit.
