Who knows if Einstein really said: ‘No more bees, no more pollination, no more plants, no more man.’  If he did, he didn’t specify just honey bees, did he?  While it is right to be concerned about the decline of the honey bee, the effects of pesticides on them and the spread of strange sounding diseases and parasites such the varroa mite, we need to look out for the wild bee too.  Having recently met the enthusiastic team behind the Bee Guardian Foundation, I’m staggered to learn that there are over 20,000 species of bee around the world, 250 of which can be found in the UK. Solitary or social these bees go about their work not causing any fuss. Bees are responsible for pollinating around 80 per cent of our main crops. So whilst a old Albert, or whoever is was, might have been over dramatic in his/her prediction, it’s true to say that the world would be a very different place without these important pollinators.  As the Bee Guardian Foundation says “Without bees many fruits and vegetables would become scarce and prohibitively expensive, or not available at all.” And it’s not just the stuff we eat, bees pollinate flowers and plants supporting other organisms, we rely on plants for biodiversity.

Mason bees (do they have a strange handshake?), leaf-cutter bees, carpenter bees, sweat bees (mm nice!), mining bees (I imagine they wear hard hats), and of course the humble bumble bee all have vital roles to play in the environment.  The bumble bee also has it’s own champion in the Bumble Bee Conservation Trust , set up to stem their decline. And the Help Save our Bees campaign is working to do just that.  We need to do what we can to safeguard all our bees; simple things like making your garden bee friendly – wildlife gardening, even window boxes and tubs can be planted to attract bees, making bee houses – simply sticking up bits of wood with drilled holes they can nest in, avoid using pesticides, and tell others how important wild bees are.

What about wasps? – sorry, I can’t bring myself to champion these.

We’d noticed that during the past couple of years our turbines have been spinning a lot less due to a change in wind direction – from a South Westerly to a North Easterly. So it’s disappointing, but not surprising to have it confirmed by the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) annual Energy Statistics, that the amount of energy created from on-shore wind turbines dropped by 7.7 per cent in 2010. That’s despite a 14 per cent growth in the number of turbines last year, so the decline per turbine in actually much greater.

According to DECC’s figures the average output from Britain’s 275 onshore wind farms fell to the lowest level on record, due to a drop in wind speeds. The report said: “Ten months of 2010 saw lower wind speeds than the ten-year average.”

So how can we keep the lights on? December 7 last year, must have been a cold day because we saw the demand for electricity at its fourth highest level recorded, and wind farms produced only 0.4 per cent of the power needed by the country. This opens up the argument for opponents of wind farms, claiming that if the government relies too heavily on this sector, we will see power cuts.  So is it inevitable that nuclear got to be part of the nation’s future energy mix? Can’t we come up with something else?  And we can still do more to reduce our energy consumption, all the things we’ve heard before…. Putting on an extra jumper, insulating our homes better, buying energy efficient appliances. But we’ve still got to find a safer solution to our energy needs, as, no matter how windy it gets, on-shore wind turbines can only generate a small amount of energy. Let’s hope it’s a long hot summer for all those people who’ve invested in solar PV panels!

I’m always nervous when a low-energy light bulb blows. You wouldn’t think this happens very often given their supposed lifespan, but it does, and I have a boxful waiting to be recycled. Why should I be nervous? Well, low-energy light bulbs contain a small amount of mercury giving them their energy-saving properties. So I worry that one will break. And, whilst this may not be harmful on its own, if large quantities of these bulbs end up going to landfill they could be damaging to the environment.

But research by the Lighting Industry Federation, the recycling scheme Recolight and others, showed that I am quite alone in my concern with 8 out of 10 consumers unaware that low-energy light bulbs MUST be recycled.

Only 18 per cent of those surveyed were aware that low-energy light bulbs need to be recycled through specialised recycling facilities. Alarmingly, when asked what they thought they would do when their old low-energy light bulbs reached end-of-life, 69 per cent said they would throw them away in the normal household rubbish.

And with the research showing that there are approximately 133 million low-energy light bulbs currently in use in homes across the UK. That could add up to a lot of mercury. As Recolight Chief Executive Nigel Harvey explains; “In the next three to five years we expect large quantities of low-energy light bulbs to start reaching end-of-life. It is essential that we raise awareness now of the importance of recycling these bulbs so that they don’t end up in landfill.”

“We are working with retailers and local authorities to provide more facilities for consumers to recycle their old bulbs, therefore making it easier for people to do so and helping to raise awareness of the issue. We have also set up a community recycling initiative to enable recycling champions to set up recycling facilities in convenient community locations, using our specially designed collection container.”

So to help promote the need to recycle a colourful animation was created by Sam Duggan, illustrating how people can help increase recycling rates of low-energy light bulbs in their community by becoming a CoBRA volunteer.

CoBRA was set up to create volunteer ‘recycling champions’ up and down the country who help take responsibility for collecting used low-energy light bulbs for recycling in their local area. These ‘Champions’ take on responsibility for collecting the used light bulbs in specially designed collection containers which can be placed in community locations of their choice. The waste light bulbs will then be taken to a central collection facility by the volunteers, ready for collection and lead to responsible recycling. So think twice before you chuck the next bulb to blow in the bin.

The Port of Tyne has welcomed the world’s most energy efficient car carrier, bringing 60 Nissan LEAFS ready for their UK sales launch on March 1st. The carrier, the City of St Petersburg, has an aerodynamic bow, which reduces wind resistance by 50% and saves 2,500 tons of CO₂ emissions per year.

Nissan is focusing on reducing CO₂ emission across the board, so as well as manufacturing electric and environmentally friendly vehicles, they are working at reducing CO₂ emissions during the production, transportation and sales processes.

A major step in reducing CO₂ emissions will be in 2013 when LEAF production begins at Nissan’s Sunderland plant, until then they will continue to be imported from Japan for distribution to 25 UK Nissan EV dealerships.