Over two billion litres of bottled water are sold in the UK every year, but only one in five plastic bottles is recycled. Millions of barrels of oil are used to manufacture plastic bottles and transport mineral water across the globe, producing massive carbon emissions.
We should have clean, filtered water dispensers out in the streets that people can use to fill up their own water bottles and flasks and do away with the need for bottled water. They have water fountains in schools, why not bring them to the streets?
In some parts of the world people have no access to water on tap, can you imagine their reaction at us turning our noses up at tap water and paying for bottled water, which is no healthier?
Bottled water is a waste of money, resources and the environment, and we should all know better and turn to the tap.
Photo: epSos.de (Flickr)
It was my nephew's birthday this week, and his mum told me he'd been hinting about remote control cars, so I snapped up the gift idea straight away - I was clueless otherwise!
The only problem was, when I went to the toy shop to choose one, the range was so impressive I ended up buying two, one for him and one for myself at the tasty cost of £80 each! They were just too great, I couldn't resist!
As you can probably imagine, he was absolutely over the moon when he opened it! And don't worry, I didn't do the typical Christmas morning goof but came prepared with a set of Ansmann rechargeable batteries for each car - wouldn't want to be stuck with no batteries!
They're serious machines! We took them to an abandoned car park and raced them around for hours.
It was a ridiculous spend, but it was so much fun. I got a cool RC car, and am the "best uncle ever" - win win.
Photo: budgieJen (Flickr)
You want to know a safety factor that really shocks me? Outdoor lighting UK.
There are just too many streets in and out of the city with inadequate, or worse, non-existent lighting! Whether the government and local councils like it or not, members of the public feel much more comfortable and most importantly, safer when walking around in well-lit areas, espcially at night.
It is no secret that night street crime such as muggings, attacks and sexual attacks are still a very real threat in this country, but many incidents could be prevented by well-lit streets and public areas.
Anyone that has to walk in a poorly-lit or unlit area will have no doubt felt on edge, fearful for their safety in that moment.
What's worst is that this is something that can be so easily rectified - councils just need to install adequate lighting, simple as.
Photo: whiskymac (Flickr)
I swear, the worst part about going to see the doctor is having to sit in the awful waiting room for any length of time.
Some doctors surgeries have nice spacious waiting areas, but mine is in an old high street building, and sometimes you get moved from the small main waiting room to an even more enclosed space upstairs.
I'm not claustrophobic or anything, I just always feel like I'm going to leave the doctor's surgery more ill than I was when I went in!
There's always someone with a heaving cough spreading their chest infection germs all over the room, someone usually has a sick crying baby, and you can usually spot a very uncomfortable person in the corner, maybe waiting for genital warts treatment.
It's awful, if you're just going for a check up you feel like you're stewing in everyone's lergies while you wait for your appointment!
Photo: magandafille (Flickr)
I read an article a couple of weeks ago about a private wealth management and investment company that lost an unimaginable £1.4 million in what they described as a 'black hole'.
I'm sorry - one point four million British pounds?! Whoa! That's a bit chunk of money! The company, Bristol-based Rowan Dartington said the money was discovered lost after a succession of new managers and mishandled book keeping.
According to Wikipedia, "A black hole is a region of space from which nothing, not even light, can escape." They managed to let £1.4 million bleed into a black hole? How is that possible?
I know there are countless occasions where companies have lost money and messed up, it's just scary when you see the figures and think that maybe that's a company you could have been holding your life savings with. How are you meant to know what they're up to?
Scary stuff!
Photo: thebadastronomer (Flickr)