For someone with a degree in politics (well, half-a-degree: it was joint honours), I have had little to do with the practicalities of local politics. Similarly, election literature usually ended up in the recycling bag.

For some reason, however, I decided to read the less-than-lavishly produced DTP document that was posted through our door on behalf of the Labour Party candidate in the latest round of local votes. I was really looking for any mention of the absence of a pelican crossing over to our local health centre from the car park opposite. Currently there is a zebra – highly dangerous for sick and disabled people on a major road, particularly as drivers don't seem to know you're supposed to stop these days.

I digress. What the document did tell me was that the hung council had closed our local 'tip', or recycling facility. The nearest place to dispose of WEEE or light bulbs, or any of the other recyclables that the council doesn't have a bin or a bag for, is five miles away. Now that, to me, is a big environment news story. The term 'recycling miles' used to describe the process of carting used goods across continents to process them (fridges spring to mind). In a more modern sense it can be used to describe the sometimes ludicrous journeys people are being forced to make to recycle stuff in order for local authorities to save a few quid. It doesn't make sense.

Said Labour bloke got elected – I'm following with interest his efforts to get our tip re-opened. And about that pelican crossing...

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I don't normally watch Points of View on the BBC, but last Sunday the TV was switched on waiting for something else to start and I walked into the living room to hear the presenter, Richard Vine, state vis-à-vis the inimitable Mary Beard: "...the message coming through, loud and clear, is 'ditch celebrity presenters and wheel in the expert'."

Shortly afterwards I was enthusiastically invited to witness a spectacular 'live' wildlife programme, to be presented by – Richard Hammond! No, not Richard Hammond the environmental tourism expert of The Guardian, but the Richard Hammond who is best known for that greenest and most wildlife-friendly programme, Top Gear. Oh, and for presenting a programme set in a forest clearing in Argentina wherein sad people are jetted halfway around to world to take part in some puerile games. I'm sure there are more suitable people to present the programme listed in the Environment Directory. I can only imagine the casting people at the Beeb DID get the wrong Richard Hammond.

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The ultimate solar torch was ignited today, at Olympia on the Peloponnese peninsula of Greece. A 'special device' was used to capture the Sun's rays and light the flame: a lens to you and me. The ancient site is uniquely preserved (the component stones of the pillars of the Temple of Zeus lie in lines on the ground as if pushed over by a giant toddler) and the Greek people take a great deal of pride in the origin of the Olympic flame. From Olympia the flame will travel around Greece and thence to Cornwall. And I thought my old light bulbs put in the miles.

A lengthy, and somewhat rambling, treatise on this site on the effect recycling is having on retail raises some interesting points – and points out some valuable initiatives. For example, Marks and Spencer offer a £5 voucher to everyone who donates their old clothing to Oxfam. That's an environment news item we can all profit from.

Mike Barry, head of sustainable business at M&S, is quoted as saying: "Customers come back to shop with us for their next piece of clothing rather than going off to one of our competitors."

The arguments are worthy, but the article sees the Holy Grail of recycling as being that of creating like from like. "We can fly to Mars, but we are not yet able to make a T-shirt back into a T-shirt," according to Stephan Wiegand, chief executive of I:CO, which makes and distributes the brightly coloured recycling boxes that are cropping up in stores across Europe.

The seeds of that fallacy are in the paragraph above it. Like-for-like recycling has been going on for ever in all societies – it's called 'second hand'. At Oxfam a T-shirt IS recycled into a T-shirt: you take a T-shirt into the shop, someone else buys it and it becomes a T-shirt again – somebody else's T-shirt. So the ultimate clothing recycling initiative was the grunge movement. As a founder member I like that!

The same used to be true of cars. If you wanted a spare part for a car you went to the amateur mechanic's Aladdin's Cave – the scrapyard. You took what you wanted off an old car and put it on your own. When the gearbox finally dropped out of my beloved Citroen Xantia I 'phoned the bloke in the next valley who specialised in parts for French cars and he came and carted it away. He even paid ME for the privilege. Nowadays you have to pay THEM to come and get it.

OK, you can't run the modern world like that, and there is just so much more stuff than there was. But there are still bits of commerce that are recycling the same as they always have. Not so long ago I reported for this magazine on a company in Salford that has been recycling clothing since 1959. Some becomes wipes or paper (the 'rag content' of paper is a measure of its quality), but most is reused as clothing, mostly in Eastern Europe and the developing world.

And there are other companies in the Environment Directory that can claim similar pedigrees.

While the growth in awareness of the environment among the population at large is a great source of encouragement, there is a small element that is inviting the older ones among us to egg-sucking lessons.

Chris Stokes

David Cameron has finally been tempted out of his environmental purdah to talk about his Government's record on the environment. It has, he declared to assembled energy ministers from 23 leading economies, achieved its aim of being the 'greenest ever'.

That claim comes just a month after a poll showed only 2% of the population believed that to be true, and less than three months after the facilitator of his 'husky hugging' jaunt in 2006 – that signalled the change in branding of the Tories as 'nice, not nasty' – suggested the image was becoming 'retoxified'.

"There are huge challenges facing governments across the world today," said Mr Cameron, "and one of the most important of all is how we meet our growing energy demands in a way that protects our planet for our children and grandchildren."

There was a clue in the speech as to how it was nigh-on impossible for this government NOT to be the greenest ever. He went on to say: "Our commitment and investment in renewable energy has helped to make renewable energy possible. Now we have a different challenge. We need to make it financially sustainable."

Thus, he simultaneously admitted that previous governments didn't have the ability to promote renewable energy – because the means to produce viable quantities has only recently emerged – and nodded significantly towards the Chancellor, for whom being 'green' appears to be just a financial inconvenience.

That fact was picked up on by commentators on environment news almost immediately after the speech was made.

Mark Kenber, chief executive of the Climate Group, said: "Today the PM sided with those in his government that feel that the green agenda is a 'burden'. It is not only a failure of leadership; it is nothing short of neglect of Britain's economy and future."

Martin Wright, chairman of the Renewable Energy Association, said: "There is a tendency to focus on the costs of renewables as opposed to the benefits. Renewables give us energy independence; they are totally sustainable; there is no waste, and over the long term they will provide low cost energy and, above all, price stability.

"Essentially, renewables represent a tremendous business opportunity now, and offer long term comparative advantage for the UK economy. In anyone's books that is a compelling proposition."

Dusty Gedge of livingroofs.org summed up most observers' view of the claim most succinctly. "Can you believe it," he Tweeted.

One aspect of attempting to go 'green' to be wary of, according to the RICS in its latest environment news story, is leasing out your roof for the solar energy produced by PVs on it. These so-called 'free' solar panels, wherein the installer leases the roofspace – typically over 25 years – and sells surplus energy back to the grid, are leading to mortgage applications being refused when properties are being sold.

RICS director of residential David Dalby said: "We fully support the use and production of sustainable energy; however, at a time when prospective buyers are finding it tough to secure mortgages, 'free' solar panels can cause a further barrier to homeownership. An inflexible PV panel lease, without a buy-out clause, could result in a failed transaction."

The ideal solution, according to the institution, is for the solar company to offer a 'buy-out' option to the prospective buyer who can purchase the installation at the price stated in the original lease agreement, less depreciation.

The worst case is where the company refuses to sell the installation to the new homeowner and seeks to charge them for removing the panels and the loss of income from the feed-in tariff, effectively prohibiting the sale of the property.

That approach would get renewables an even worse reputation than being endorsed by Dave, and is one which would not, I'm sure, be countenanced by those companies featured in the Environment Directory.

Chris Stokes

I know I’ve been going on about water for quite some time, but there is one story about water that is actually a good environment news story. It is also a terrific yarn for those interested in medieval history.

Many moons ago my wife and I enjoyed weekends in the Ribble Valley in Lancashire. The Ribble is joined by the River Calder near Whalley, which has a historic abbey. On the Calder near Whalley Abbey there has been a weir for some 600 years, which originally powered the corn mill and is now to be used for producing electricity. Planning permission was finally granted to Whalley Community Hydro this month, following a long process of feasibility studies.

This is a small-scale, community-based project that will resurrect a historic feature of the man-made landscape for a modern version of its original use. As an industrial and provident society Whalley Community Hydro will be able to sell the electricity and reinvest the money in more renewable energy schemes for the community.

The monks of Whalley Abbey (now, incidentally, a Church of England retreat and conference venue) would have been delighted.

The Whalley scheme is just one of hundreds of community-based renewable energy schemes supported by the energyshare network. Boosted by the popularity of Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s TV series, it brings together people who are trying to set up their own renewable energy schemes.

Returning to the issue of wind energy, other environment news concerned a survey carried out by Ipsos MORI for RenewableUK and published on 19 April shows that over two-thirds of people in the UK are in favour of wind energy. The survey returned a figure of 38% strongly in favour and 28% tending to be in favour, while only 8% were against. The publication of the survey result co-incided with the launch of a campaign in Parliament opposing wind energy.

Maria McCaffery, chief executive of RenewableUK, said: "It's clear that the majority of those surveyed are supportive of energy from wind – strongly indicated from our survey results. Wind is an abundant, clean, secure and affordable energy source. It is therefore not only undemocratic to allow the vocal anti-wind minority to derail the UK's plans for renewable energy, but also damaging to our economy, undermining investment and jobs that will help to rebuild communities across the country and put the UK on a path to future economic prosperity."

Members of RenewableUK, a trade association for wind and marine energy, can be found in the Environment Directory.

Reporting on the survey, The Guardian noted that the figure was slightly higher than a survey carried out by itself in March, which showed 60% of people in favour of wind farms ‘near their homes’. Clearly there aren’t as many NYMBYs as previously thought.

Chris Stokes