The environment: capitalism to the rescue

If you are concerned about the planet's wellbeing, it would be very easy to get discouraged at the steady drip of bad news about the environment. The nuclear disasters in Japan were bad enough in themselves but the predictions that they will result in even greater demand for fossil fuels make them a double blow. Recently we had World Water Day to highlight the growing crisis around water shortages in many countries (see map here A Graphic Look at the World Water Crisis).

So where's the chink of light in the gloom? Business is normally seen as a threat to the environment; profit maximising companies plunder resources and strew the planet with waste. But there is another side to this: capitalism is an essential part of the solution, with or without government legislation. I can think of at least three ways that capitalism will need to be harnessed if the world is going to grow sustainably:

- investment. The huge sums required to build smart grids, cleaner power stations and renewable energy sources can only be mobilised efficiently by capitalism. We have seen the results of state-led investment programs before and they don't work.

- technology. Innovation and the profit motive go hand in hand. There are countless examples of this e.g. this gas from rubbish process Harvest power biogas

- recycling. Capitalism is essential to the cutting of waste. Although private decisions to use less carrier bags use the car less are important, only commercial logic can make efficiencies on the scale we need. As an example of this look at the whole business of recycling.

And what a big business it has become; and I am not just talking about cardboard and glass. One of the biggest growth businesses in recent years has been in recycling mobile phones. And the concept is spreading to all sorts of goods which can be reused rather than thrown away or left to gather dust in a cupboard, particularly baby-related and electrical products. Ebay has done a lot to promote recycling, as have websites like recycle.co.uk ("Don't bin it, recycle it!")

Spain doesn't seem to have such a big recycling community although I did find some fledgling "freecycling" groups here: http://www.freecycle.org/search

Even in Spain there are some good examples of businesses which save customers money and cut down on waste. As an example many people want a new computer but don't need anything too fancy or advanced. They can pick up a working laptop for a fraction of the price of a new one from businesses like www.reconlaptops.com.

From our website Spanish Tax Form 210

Talking rubbish

There are a few things about living in Spain that turn me from a mild mannered accountant into the most Meldrew-ish of Grumpy Old Man in a flash. Usually the bugbears relate to breath-takingly bad customer service (e.g. see Will Spanish Business Ever Get the Internet?) or something car-related (does anybody use indicators any more?). Recently though I think it is rubbish that has wound me up the most. Specifically the laziness of people when it comes to its disposal.

It seems that Spain had no equivalent of the Keep Britain Tidy campaign that I remember from my childhood. Chucking takeaway cartons onto the street, leaving bags and cans on the beach and throwing rubbish out of the car, seem to be perfectly accepted disposal techniques.

But what really winds me up is the people who either make no attempt to recycle or leave their rubbish on the road next to, rather than in, the bins. If you have some papers or plastic bottles is it too much to ask to throw them in the right container which is right next to the green bin?

What I find especially infuriating is the people who have gathered up their recycling (say bottles) in a bag and who, because the particular rubbish stop they have parked at does not have the right container, leave it by the side of the bins. It's like they are say "look I've done my bit collecting the stuff but do you really expect me to go to any trouble finding the right container".

And what of people who leave cardboard boxes beside the blue paper bins rather than crushing them and actually putting them in the bin. Are they that busy or feeble that they can't finish the job. I DON’T BELIEVE IT!

I really must take a lie down and stop getting so worked up.

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