Day 30 - "Artistic Waste"

So, here we are. The last day of the 30 day challenge. I can't say it has been easy, but it has stretched my imagination to have to relentlessly keep coming up with ideas on the same theme. I have tried to explore the subject in a different way to I normally approach my photography. I have worried less about creating technically perfect work and tried to focus more on the issues. Some days this approach worked better than others. Overall I hope that the complete collection can be viewed as "art" even if each individual photograph would not normally be considered to be anything special in its own right.

I am ending the series with a photo taken on Troon beach of what some kids managed to create from the flotsom and jetsom brought in on the tide. If this had been produced by a famous artist it would probably find its way into the Tate Modern. As it is I see interesting shapes, lines and colours arranged in a pleasing way. Art? You decide!

Finally I want to take this opportunity to applaud everyone from Worth1000.com who took part in this challenge, whether or not they made it through the whole 30 day marathon. The standard of work created has been extraordinary indeed. Well done everyone!

Day 29 - "Batteries"

It is estimated that in 2000, almost 19,000 tonnes of waste general purpose batteries and 113,000 tonnes of waste automotive batteries required disposal in the UK.
Currently, only a very small percentage of consumer disposable batteries are recycled (less than 2%) and most waste batteries are disposed of in landfill sites. The rate for recycling of consumer rechargeable batteries is estimated to be 5%.

Wider use of rechargeable batteries would reduce the number of batteries being disposed every year and therefore reduce the number that find their way to the landfill sites. Ultimately even rechargables need to be disposed of. This should be done in an environmentally safe manner - batteries shouldn't just be thrown out with the household trash.

Day 28 - "Animal Feed"

What do you do with your waste veggies? You could compost them, or perhaps a better option would be to give them over to someone who would really appreciate them!

Day 27 - "Plastic Bags"

I mentioned these the other day in conjunction with the proliferation of plastic food packaging. We try to reuse ours by storing them in this neat holder. Whenever you need a bag you can just pull one out of the holes in the side.

Day 26 - "Waste of time?"

I took this photo today from a two-seater Piper Cub light aircraft over some of Scotlands most beautiful countryside. These monsterous wind turbines are sprouting up all over the place and are rapidly becoming a blight on the landscape. And all for what? A few extra mega-watts of power when the wind blows. Even if every hill in Scotland was covered in the things they still wouldn't produce enough power to meet demand; and even if they could, on still days we would need conventional power stations to plug the gap!

Day 25 - "Refundable"

When I was a child soda/pop came in glass bottles that you could return to the shop, when you had drunk the contents, in exchange for a penny. Needless to say you NEVER saw bottles littering the streets, stuffed in bushes or smashed in playgrounds. Every self respecting kid would trawl the neighbourhood collecting any that had been discarded in order to make a bit of extra pocket money.

The situation today is very different. Most bottles are now made of plastic; the sort that takes hundreds of years to biodegrade in a landfill site.

However, one Scottish drinks manufacturer, Barr, still operates the refundable bottle scheme. My photo today shows that you can get the princely sum of 20p for your empty bottle. This is the best type of recycling because it is 100% re-use with virtually no cost and a financial incentive to the customer.

The photograph today is taken with my new toy, the manual focus 35mm f/2.4 Carl Zeiss Flektogon lens I purchased on Ebay for ~£80. The bokeh (out-of-focus blur) with this lens is beautiful, especially when you make use of its ability as a 1:2 macro lens. It is fully manual and probably over 20 years old but it is a joy to use. Precision machinary at its best.

Day 24 - "Energy Saving Light"

Ah Ah! I discovered today that I do have one of these new fandangled fluorescent light fixtures in the house. Well OK, it is actually outside the house just by the back door, which explains the spider webs and other "stuff" you can see on this photo :-)