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dmb
Joined: 12 Feb 2003
Posts: 8397
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 Posted: Wed Jan 17, 2007 10:57 am Post subject: |
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| Thats a positive use for your old newspapers. Instead of throwing them in the trash... |
Haha, I'm sure Baba would agree the Daily Mail belongs there in the first place.
True story: I was doing a reading last week about pollution and big business. And in class we got talking about flushes. You know how lots of toilets have a button for flushing that is split into 2. One part is a quick flush and the other half is the long flush. well, there is no conformity. At home if I press the front half of the button I get the quick flush however in the office if I press the front half of the button I get the long flush. Just think how many litres of water in a water shortage country like Turkey is wasted every year. How do you educate people about this. again it goes back to my point about it starting at the top. The govt. need to pass a law stating that short flushes should be the front half of the button, the same as in dmb's home  |
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Baba Alex
Joined: 17 Aug 2004
Posts: 2411
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| Posted: Wed Jan 17, 2007 12:06 pm Post subject: |
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| dmb wrote: |
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| Thats a positive use for your old newspapers. Instead of throwing them in the trash... |
Haha, I'm sure Baba would agree the Daily Mail belongs there in the first place. |
Yeah, I'm not sure even a dog would want to read the Daily Mail. |
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dmb
Joined: 12 Feb 2003
Posts: 8397
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| Posted: Wed Jan 17, 2007 12:41 pm Post subject: |
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Yeah, I'm not sure even a dog would want to read the Daily Mail. |
You're being silly now Baba. They are Turkish dogs. They can't read English  Maybe give them the Sun and they could look at the pictures. |
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justme
Joined: 18 May 2004
Posts: 1944
Location: Istanbul
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| Posted: Wed Jan 17, 2007 12:45 pm Post subject: |
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I get the impression the gypsies are pretty thorough in their recycling, at least where there are gypsies to go through the stuff.
I, for one, am 80% sure I'll be using cloth diapers for the little one (which my mom will have to bring me from the US, as you can't find them here). So that's my part.
Having lived in San Francisco during a water shortage, I don't flush the toilet every time, and husband now does the same. I haven't yet resorted to taking navy showers or keeping shower water in a bucket to use in the washer or garden. But that's because they don't levy the huge fines here they did in SF for going over your water quota.
Laura777, you must have a big heart to worry about the big stuff like water pollution and deforestation. I have to keep my worries small or I can't sleep at night. |
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mongrelcat
Joined: 12 Mar 2004
Posts: 232
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| Posted: Wed Jan 17, 2007 1:00 pm Post subject: |
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| dmb wrote: |
No, it has to start at the top. There have to be laws introduced and enforced. I want to be green and recycle, Can I? No. I once saw a bottle bank in Mecidiyekoy... about 10 years ago when I lived there. Am I going to travel half way across Istanbul to deposit my empty bottles of Efes? No.
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i don't blame you....i wouldn't either. i'd probably make an effort and then get tired of it!!
what i meant to point out (but i was in a hurry when typing that reply) was that enough people on the bottom have to get pissed off enough to make the "people at the top" feel its worth their time to do something. This is the first country other than the US that i've lived in, so my only experience with "changing things" is by doing grass-roots stuff.
but we have to start the ball........look how much discussion has already been generated... |
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dmb
Joined: 12 Feb 2003
Posts: 8397
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| Posted: Wed Jan 17, 2007 1:04 pm Post subject: |
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I sometimes confuse being green to being Scottish. I just don't want a big water/gas bill at the end of the month.
Like a few of you, I was brought up in the 70s in the UK when they had strikes of all sorts.... and if you were cold you put a jumper on because there was no heating. Some things never leave you.... god I sound like my grandad going on about ' When I was in the war...'' I am a miserable git before my time... can't wait to be like those Harry Enfield characters. |
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dagi
Joined: 01 Jan 2004
Posts: 425
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| Posted: Wed Jan 17, 2007 4:45 pm Post subject: |
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"I sometimes confuse being green to being Scottish."
I am pretty sure that the Dutch and the Scottish are closely related. Turn the heating down to 18C and put on a jumper if you are cold, lol! And why on earth heat a bed-room? You are under the blankets anyway...my grandparents even collected the gift-wrapping paper and always opened envelopes carefully so they could be reused. So when it was your birthday high chance the gift was wrapped in exactly the same paper than the year before
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dmb
Joined: 12 Feb 2003
Posts: 8397
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| Posted: Wed Jan 17, 2007 5:00 pm Post subject: |
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| Hey Dagi, can you have a word with the Mrs in the morning? I just know she is going to be home soon and complain about how cold it is. As soon as she is out the room I'll be opening windows and regretting not having a/c. |
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FGT
Joined: 14 Sep 2003
Posts: 762
Location: Turkey
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| Posted: Wed Jan 17, 2007 10:47 pm Post subject: |
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As far as green organisations in Turkey go, why not join TEMA?
http://english.tema.org.tr/index.htm
They seem to do a lot more here than Greenpeace. (I was seduced into joining Greenpeace in Izmir a few years ago, paid my sub, was assured the updates were available in English and never heard from them again).
Recycling here is probably more efficient than in the UK. Not one bin gets emptied before someone rifles through it extracting paper, card, plastic, cans etc etc. I try to help by putting (eg) fruit juice cartons together in one bag. The scavengers (why call them gypsies, are they?) earn a crust at the same time.
Turkey was much greener in the past - remember when all drinks bottles were glass with a deposit? I would dearly love to boycott the plastic water bottles in favour of the glass ones if only they were still available.
I flew from Mardin to Ankara some years back and as we were coming in to land flew low over a valley that was FULL of blue rubbish sacks and their contents. Horrific. Turkey has a lot of valleys but at this rate the land fill sites will take over. |
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Baba Alex
Joined: 17 Aug 2004
Posts: 2411
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| Posted: Thu Jan 18, 2007 8:46 am Post subject: |
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| FGT wrote: |
| Turkey was much greener in the past - remember when all drinks bottles were glass with a deposit? I would dearly love to boycott the plastic water bottles in favour of the glass ones if only they were still available. |
Have you noticed how over packaged things are. I get a sandwich in the morning. It's already wrapped in cling film. It then goes into a paper bag, which then goes into a plastic bag. I always give the bags back as I only work over the road, and they're in the happy of not forcing me to take the bags.
One of the guys asked me why I don't like bags. Strange. |
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dmb
Joined: 12 Feb 2003
Posts: 8397
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| Posted: Thu Jan 18, 2007 8:51 am Post subject: |
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| ^ how rude, they don't give you a napkin. |
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Rabbinical
Joined: 21 Aug 2006
Posts: 11
Location: NE Turkey
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| Posted: Thu Jan 18, 2007 3:52 pm Post subject: |
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| mongrelcat wrote: |
| dmb wrote: |
No, it has to start at the top. There have to be laws introduced and enforced. I want to be green and recycle, Can I? No. I once saw a bottle bank in Mecidiyekoy... about 10 years ago when I lived there. Am I going to travel half way across Istanbul to deposit my empty bottles of Efes? No.
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i don't blame you....i wouldn't either. i'd probably make an effort and then get tired of it!!
what i meant to point out (but i was in a hurry when typing that reply) was that enough people on the bottom have to get pissed off enough to make the "people at the top" feel its worth their time to do something. This is the first country other than the US that i've lived in, so my only experience with "changing things" is by doing grass-roots stuff.
but we have to start the ball........look how much discussion has already been generated... |
Change must come from the top, but I don't think it starts from there. So I agree with Mongrelcat here, that enough people at the bottom have to cause enough of a stir to get the people at the top to do something. Governments should represent their people (in theory), thus if no one at the ground level cares about the environment, it will never work its way to the interests of the people up top.
However, it's much more comfortable for people to sit around and hope that the international community comes around and bullies a country like Turkey to take environmental steps. Unfortunately, we'll probably be swimming in the polar icecaps before that happens.
Anyway, on a practical note, I'm tired of walking through town in the winter and constantly inhaling clouds of coal smoke... |
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FGT
Joined: 14 Sep 2003
Posts: 762
Location: Turkey
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| Posted: Thu Jan 18, 2007 10:12 pm Post subject: |
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Quote: Baba Alex:
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I get a sandwich in the morning. It's already wrapped in cling film. It then goes into a paper bag, which then goes into a plastic bag. I always give the bags back as I only work over the road, and they're in the happy of not forcing me to take the bags.
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I assume "happy"="habit"?
Quote DMB:
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| how rude, they don't give you a napkin. |
And no plastic knife and fork? No sachets of salt, pepper, mayonaise or ketchup? And no sachet containing a "kolonyali Mendil"?
The latter is probably my biggest gripe concerning how inadvertantly green Turkey was compared to how it is now. 15 or 20 years ago, when arriving/leaving anywhere - bus/restaurant/shop/toilet/party etc - you were given a squirt from the plastic (re-fillable) bottle of cologne. Now you get given a handful of individually wrapped cologne soaked hankies that all go in the rubbish! |
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yaramaz
Joined: 05 Mar 2003
Posts: 2384
Location: Not where I was before
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| Posted: Fri Jan 19, 2007 6:16 am Post subject: |
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| I'm not sure how things are now, but Kayseri two years ago was still of the suirt bottle school of cologne. One on every desk, and a splash upon leaving every restaurant, and on all coaches leaving the city. I was surprised by the lack thereof in Istanbul. A school department just aint a department without a huge picture of Ataturk above a big wooden desk, a giant nazar hanging by the door, and at least two bottles of cologne. |
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Laura777
Joined: 13 Apr 2004
Posts: 101
Location: Istanbul Turkey
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| Posted: Fri Jan 19, 2007 7:01 am Post subject: |
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I have heard of Tema and am in the process of getting involved with them here at my place of employment.
With some self education on whats available here in Istanbul as far as recycling is concerned I want to make it happen. Even in my neighborhood.... Dont know how well it would go over. but I will try to do it. Its about time in Istanbul that people wake up.
Coal burnin is another issue altogether. We wont be comfortable when we are swimming in the sea where our houses used to be! 
Save a tree. Save the sea. Save your future for your children.
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