I was wondering just how the bureaucrats in Orkney have organized their mandate to protect Orkney from the world's man-made assaults on nature...items such as waste disposal, re-cycling, sewage waste handling, and air quality protection, as well as ground water and sea water issues. From what I read, it seems that the population was in the order of 30,000 back when in the 1700's a lot of young chaps decided to chase beaver in Canada or kangaroos down under in Australia. So the population shrunk, which is a blessing for the environment, so it seems, initially. Then of course the Nazis decided to demolish and devour the British Isles, in an effort to relieve Winston Churchill of his cigars. I assume in Orkney there is still a lot of wartime rubbish, be they buildings or scrap metal or other structures, that never perhaps were dismantled and removed, laying and speaking forever of a Germany despised by every human being capable of human love. ( If WW2 scrap remains on Orkney, perhaps the cleanup bill should go to Germany. That would make as much sense as the Allies rebuilding Germany after the war ended. They(nazis) were never tried or fined for the damage they caused to the environment at sea and on land). I personally think abandoned military defense implants make crappy tourist attractions. I saw on a map outside Kirkwall, too close to Grimbister, a shot of their landfill site, or otherwise "bury and forget" dumpsite. It shocked me to the bone. It left me, for example, wondering if re-cycling exists and to what extent. How about ground water management and fresh water source management and identification? Household sewage is another. And where does the resultant sludge go from the sewage treatment plants associated with towns? Is that poison sprayed on farms for "fertilizer", or chucked onto the sea for the fish to choke on like in other places? Health and the environment become fascinating intrinsic topics when studied. Over here, people are afraid to eat beef because of Mad Cow Disease and the unknown impact of hormones and all he drugs jammed into bovine species , as well as the curious things the animals are fed. Lately, salmon are abandoned across Canada (Jan 2004) as it has been determined that farmed salmon are fed daily with things that render their flesh, as recently studied, toxic. Chickens are raised in six and a half weeks, hatched to shrink-wrapped packaging, in barns where they are deprived of sex, medicated and fed forcibly, and never see the light of day or walk on the ground. The packaged boneless breasts are transparent in their delightful point of purchase plastic dinner jackets unlike organic chicken which has colour. Vegetable garden farmers are in a chemical war worse than the trenches of world war one for their damage to humans.To grow an onion in the huge marshes north of Toronto, you start by depositing a chemical foot-rot inhibitor in the trench. Then you proceed chemical by chemical with daily and weekly manmade crop showers-- a variety and visual spectacle visible from the highway, featuring soaked- in chemicals selected by the "experts" who chuck out one "bad" chemical each year or so, and replace it with three others to protect our health, or the image of our elected folks, depending how one thinks, (if one thinks at all). Every Canadian family in the growth areas, has a relative or friend that has died or is dying of cancer. Healthy Economic Progress....... Big money influence, from the meat and produce in final form, back to the genetically altered seeds that produced them, be they flesh or be they plant. The cancer epidemic is downplayed as if it is as old as salt, with a date in the future where it will no longer exist. The food-chain poisoning goes on. Producers produce the flawed products, consumers buy them and consume them, and the government collects the taxes thereon at every bend in the road, from initial sales taxes on input items of the grower, to every piece of his equipment, land and buildings, through a similar process with the wholesalers and retailers and consumers. It doesn't have to be this way, but this is the route of shortcuts to profit and tax, desired by all the provider groups. The consumer's only flaw is trust....blind stupid trust. Orkney;s opportunity sprouts from the fact that all the pressures of growth and population expansion have escaped those wonderful islands for the most part. Aside from the threat of an oil spill as occurred in Spain and Alaska, there is no real imminent threat save as to normal localized "living" issues such a sewage, farming and water and air. Wind generated power seems a logical Orkney option. Bans on unfriendly packaging would be easy to control on islands. Farming practices could be more organic than perhaps they are. Sewage disposal could demand at the source, low flow toilets, showers and other plumbing fixtures by simple enforceable by-laws. In fact, Orkney could be the world example of effective intelligent environmental leadership and control, and good healthy living. All the other history and features notwithstanding, the title of world leader in environmental respect and with evidence of a compatible relationship with Mother Nature, would be the tourist attraction of this century. In reading this site and all the discussions from everywhere, it seems fascinating that the overlying impression of Orkney after words like friendly, quaint and fun, is that the Orkney environment is pristine, and that alone is unique. Nature abounds and overwhelms. I wonder if the safeguards are in place to protect that value, if the appreciation level is there to insure it, and the political priority is strong enough in Scotland where the politicians are, to make just environmental rulings on a place where so few voters live. Who would come first in the face of another oil discovery near those islands? Sorry folks, but where things like trees and the environment pop up, I often react. The Orkney National Dump I discovered near our ancient family Orkney farm recently, scares the hell out of me. Makes me wonder if it will be ever relocated, and what irreversible damage and pollution is buried alongside our long held farm, an assault to fundamental integrity. Why don't they take their garbage to a good planned engineered facility on some little island where nobody lives, and where proper technology can be applied on a long term basis. Look on a map people . Kirkwall throws it's trash over their shoulder in the back yard alongside some of the oldest architectural ruins in the world! Nice. Thanks. Therefore I hope and pray that the operators of that rude facility, follow the best rules available, monitoring everything they do, and making improvements as a priority wherever they can. I have a beautiful painting of the old farm, which I shall cherish forever. Now I feel I should have a painting of the Kirkwall dump, just to keep things in clear perspective. Hum Bug you say? Stephen

----- Original Message ----- From: "stephen davie" <stephen.davie@sympatico.ca> To: <ORCADIA-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Friday, January 16, 2004 2:41 PM Subject: [<orcadia>] Orkney Environmental Protection and the Kirkwall Dump > I personally think > abandoned military defense implants make crappy tourist attractions. I don't know about all- the Norman castles along the Welsh marches are lovely this time of year. > > > Health and the environment become fascinating intrinsic topics when > studied. Over here, people are afraid to eat beef because of Mad Cow > Disease In Canada more, not less beef was eaten after the 1st Mad Cow was discovered in Alberta several . >The consumer's only flaw is trust....blind stupid trust. Most people don't want to know where their food comes from. On this island -where all our water is from groundwater-thousands of fish are killed in streams every year because of pesticides washing off potato fields...we grew over 100,000 acres of potatoes last year-very few organically -and farmers are going broke because they can't sell their crop because of good crops in Europe/USA. Next spring the back fields will be full of rotting unsold potatoes. > Wind generated power seems a logical Orkney option. We supply approx 5 % of our energy here on PEI through wind generators- yet there is a huge outcry-both from natives & come-from-aways who don't want the scenery spoiled by more windmills. Same reaction in Wales. > > . Who would come first in the face of another oil discovery near those islands? The oil companies are testing offshore here-near Nova Scotia- fishermen/women are protesting...the gov't listened (briefly) and then allowed the oil cos in anyway. And really all we have left here is lobster, some crab, and herring. And the odd tuna. The cod & hake are long gone, never to return. > > Hum Bug you say? No- keep spreading the word. For the next generation's sake. Thompson in Prince Edward Island > > Stephen > > > ==== ORCADIA Mailing List ==== > To unsubscribe from the Orcadia mailing list, send an e-mail with the word > 'unsubscribe' in the message body to orcadia-l-request@rootsweb.com > >

I cannot disagree with anything you say Steve, but it should be on a global scale surely. I find Orkney a very clean and tidy place and they do recycle! The worst place I have encountered for litter is our capital, London, it is a disgrace! Janis Lancashire (avid recycler and owner of organic garden) ----- Original Message ----- From: "stephen davie" <stephen.davie@sympatico.ca> To: <ORCADIA-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Friday, January 16, 2004 6:41 PM Subject: [<orcadia>] Orkney Environmental Protection and the Kirkwall Dump > I was wondering just how the bureaucrats in Orkney have organized their > mandate to protect Orkney from the world's man-made assaults on > nature...items such as waste disposal, re-cycling, sewage waste > handling, and air quality protection, as well as ground water and sea > water issues. > > From what I read, it seems that the population was in the order of > 30,000 back when in the 1700's a lot of young chaps decided to chase > beaver in Canada or kangaroos down under in Australia. So the > population shrunk, which is a blessing for the environment, so it > seems, initially. > > Then of course the Nazis decided to demolish and devour the British > Isles, in an effort to relieve Winston Churchill of his cigars. I > assume in Orkney there is still a lot of wartime rubbish, be they > buildings or scrap metal or other structures, that never perhaps were > dismantled and removed, laying and speaking forever of a Germany > despised by every human being capable of human love. ( If WW2 scrap > remains on Orkney, perhaps the cleanup bill should go to Germany. That > would make as much sense as the Allies rebuilding Germany after the > war ended. They(nazis) were never tried or fined for the damage they > caused to the environment at sea and on land). I personally think > abandoned military defense implants make crappy tourist attractions. > > I saw on a map outside Kirkwall, too close to Grimbister, a shot of > their landfill site, or otherwise "bury and forget" dumpsite. It > shocked me to the bone. It left me, for example, wondering if > re-cycling exists and to what extent. How about ground water management > and fresh water source management and identification? Household sewage > is another. And where does the resultant sludge go from the sewage > treatment plants associated with towns? Is that poison sprayed on farms > for "fertilizer", or chucked onto the sea for the fish to choke on > like in other places? > > Health and the environment become fascinating intrinsic topics when > studied. Over here, people are afraid to eat beef because of Mad Cow > Disease and the unknown impact of hormones and all he drugs jammed into > bovine species , as well as the curious things the animals are fed. > Lately, salmon are abandoned across Canada (Jan 2004) as it has been > determined that farmed salmon are fed daily with things that render > their flesh, as recently studied, toxic. Chickens are raised in six and > a half weeks, hatched to shrink-wrapped packaging, in barns where they > are deprived of sex, medicated and fed forcibly, and never see the > light of day or walk on the ground. The packaged boneless breasts are > transparent in their delightful point of purchase plastic dinner > jackets unlike organic chicken which has colour. Vegetable garden > farmers are in a chemical war worse than the trenches of world war one > for their damage to humans.To grow an onion in the huge marshes north > of Toronto, you start by depositing a chemical foot-rot inhibitor in > the trench. Then you proceed chemical by chemical with daily and weekly > manmade crop showers-- a variety and visual spectacle visible from the > highway, featuring soaked- in chemicals selected by the "experts" who > chuck out one "bad" chemical each year or so, and replace it with three > others to protect our health, or the image of our elected folks, > depending how one thinks, (if one thinks at all). > > Every Canadian family in the growth areas, has a relative or friend > that has died or is dying of cancer. Healthy Economic Progress....... > Big money influence, from the meat and produce in final form, back to > the genetically altered seeds that produced them, be they flesh or be > they plant. The cancer epidemic is downplayed as if it is as old as > salt, with a date in the future where it will no longer exist. The > food-chain poisoning goes on. Producers produce the flawed products, > consumers buy them and consume them, and the government collects the > taxes thereon at every bend in the road, from initial sales taxes on > input items of the grower, to every piece of his equipment, land and > buildings, through a similar process with the wholesalers and retailers > and consumers. It doesn't have to be this way, but this is the route of > shortcuts to profit and tax, desired by all the provider groups. The > consumer's only flaw is trust....blind stupid trust. > > > Orkney;s opportunity sprouts from the fact that all the pressures of > growth and population expansion have escaped those wonderful islands > for the most part. Aside from the threat of an oil spill as occurred in > Spain and Alaska, there is no real imminent threat save as to normal > localized "living" issues such a sewage, farming and water and air. > Wind generated power seems a logical Orkney option. Bans on unfriendly > packaging would be easy to control on islands. Farming practices could > be more organic than perhaps they are. Sewage disposal could demand at > the source, low flow toilets, showers and other plumbing fixtures by > simple enforceable by-laws. > > In fact, Orkney could be the world example of effective intelligent > environmental leadership and control, and good healthy living. All the > other history and features notwithstanding, the title of world leader > in environmental respect and with evidence of a compatible relationship > with Mother Nature, would be the tourist attraction of this century. > > In reading this site and all the discussions from everywhere, it seems > fascinating that the overlying impression of Orkney after words like > friendly, quaint and fun, is that the Orkney environment is pristine, > and that alone is unique. Nature abounds and overwhelms. > > I wonder if the safeguards are in place to protect that value, if the > appreciation level is there to insure it, and the political priority is > strong enough in Scotland where the politicians are, to make just > environmental rulings on a place where so few voters live. Who would > come first in the face of another oil discovery near those islands? > > Sorry folks, but where things like trees and the environment pop up, I > often react. The Orkney National Dump I discovered near our ancient > family Orkney farm recently, scares the hell out of me. Makes me wonder > if it will be ever relocated, and what irreversible damage and > pollution is buried alongside our long held farm, an assault to > fundamental integrity. > > Why don't they take their garbage to a good planned engineered facility > on some little island where nobody lives, and where proper technology > can be applied on a long term basis. Look on a map people . Kirkwall > throws it's trash over their shoulder in the back yard alongside some > of the oldest architectural ruins in the world! Nice. Thanks. > > Therefore I hope and pray that the operators of that rude facility, > follow the best rules available, monitoring everything they do, and > making improvements as a priority wherever they can. > > I have a beautiful painting of the old farm, which I shall cherish > forever. Now I feel I should have a painting of the Kirkwall dump, just > to keep things in clear perspective. > > Hum Bug you say? > > Stephen > > > ==== ORCADIA Mailing List ==== > To unsubscribe from the Orcadia mailing list, send an e-mail with the word > 'unsubscribe' in the message body to orcadia-l-request@rootsweb.com > >