European recycling Is the sea a sewer, the land a rubbish dump, the air one large exhaust pipe? Are third world people just a labour market, their countries merely economic resources?
See The Corner House, a North Dorset-based organisation with a very interesting website. Also see Wastewatch, a really interesting site including schools materials. 		How to deal with waste better

Dorset Beaches

Why are some of Dorset's most popular beaches too polluted to swim at? The Good Beach guide (compiled by the Marine Conservation Society, based on proper scientific tests) lists the following information. Check the guide for yourself, why not read it before selecting your holiday destination? What is the incentive for water companies to upgrade their sewage treatment facilities? Where do their management go swimming? Abroad, perhaps, or on the cleanest beaches? Write to them - tell them what you think, ask them if it is safe to take children on to these beaches, tell them explicitly about any unpleasant side-effects!
If you swim in the sea and are ill the next day it is almost certainly due to dirty water which in turn will be due to an unclean discharge.
Also remember it is less safe to swim following heavy storms since these can provoke overflows of certain sewage systems. 		SJ's Surf Forecast for the South West
Yuk! - "These beaches are
heavily contaminated by sewage
and should not be used for bathing.
Vote with your feet, don't swim here"
  • Swanage, South beach: Yuk!
  • Swanage, North beach: Yuk!
  • Charmouth, East: Yuk!
 Dive In! - "Lowest bacterial counts, cleanest in the UK"
  • Weymouth Dive In!
  • Shell Bay Dive In!
  • Sandbanks Dive In!
  • Branksome Dive In!
  • Ringstead Bay Dive In!
  • Seatown Dive In!
  • Lodmoor Dive In!
  • Durdle Door Dive In!
  • Durley Chine Dive In!
  • Fisherman's Walk Dive In!
  • Eypemouth Dive In!
  • West Bay (west) Dive In!
  • Burton Bradstock Dive In!
  • Chesil Cove Dive In!
  • Church Ope Cove Dive In!
  • Portland Harbour Dive In!
Ugh! - "These waters are almost certainly
contaminated by sewage and
carry a significant health risk.
Keep out of the water, it achieves only
the bare minimum legal requirements"
  • Studland: Ugh!
  • Swanage, Central beach: Ugh!
  • Boscombe Pier: Ugh!
  • Charmouth, West beach: Ugh!
  • Lyme Regis, Church Beach: Ugh!
  • Kimmeridge Bay: Ugh!
[no doubt copyright, but the guide can be very difficult to get hold of]
Dorset local authorities are good at recycling. Recycling - ? Just do it.
Young Greenpeace site, go there! What you can actually DO to help!
Look for alternatives - can we do something in a cleaner way than now? What about cycling instead of the car? Wind power instead of coal-fired power stations? (they may look ugly but the rising sea level may mean there's nowhere to stand to admire the view)? Sustainable transport? link to SUSTRANS site.