Islington is London's greenest borough - it's official!

By abi_silvester | Tuesday, June 08, 2010, 12:56

A new report has confirmed what many of us already suspected or knew: we're living in the most environmentally-friendly borough in London. Islington's status as the capital's greenest borough is the result of our own efforts to live greener lives, and of smart policies put in place by the council.

Efficient, once-weekly mixed recycling has helped make us the greenest borough in London (image: e-magic)

The in-depth environmental study, whilch was commissioned by the Green Party and published last week, ranked Islington top of the league of green boroughs, taking into account levels of household waste, recycling, carbon emissions and energy usage. For what we lack in green space, it seems we make up in sustainable living: bottom of the league, with the poorest rates of recycling and energy consumption was leafy Kingston.

Islington Council's environment spokesman Paul Smith reacted to the news with caution, saying “We're of course pleased to see this table but will not be resting on

our laurels. Top of our to-do list is better home insulation,

which will help the environment and tackle fuel poverty among our

poorest residents.”

Having lived in several London boroughs, I have certainly noticed more resources being put into green and sustainable measures locally than I've encountered elsewhere. The recycling system works efficiently, and I think that giving each home a 'mixed' recycling box that doesn't need any complicated sorting really helps encourage uptake. It's also easy to dispose of most larger objects responsibly, the streets are kept in great condition and there are plenty of visible green initiatives like "Islington in Bloom" to aspire confidence.

I also find it interesting that 'greener' measures I've heard about in neighbouring boroughs - such as twice-weekly recycling and free wormeries do not seem to have resulted in a higher score on the Green party's league table. Perhaps the most important changes are being made behind the scenes.

Are you surprised at the news that Islington is London's greenest borough? Do you think the council are doing enough to address environmental issues, or could they help us become even greener?

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Comments

Hey, well now we can be even greener! Everyone's a winner :)

By abi_silvester at 11:14 on 15/06/10
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Ok - my rage is misinformed as ever. (http://tinyurl.com/2vb7z8n)
when I last checked the site (and as a good boy, put a copy over my bin) only plastic bottles and cartons were eligible.
I apologise for my unnecessary contribution to the landfill... perhaps I should complain about council communication instead...

By Room262 at 13:47 on 14/06/10
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Hi there. What types of plastic do you mean? As I understand it, it depends on what the items are made from. I don't think it matters whether it's a bottle or another form of packaging, as long as it's a type that can be recycled. The problem as I see it, is that many items can't be recycled anywhere - flimsy plastic bags, etc, are just not suited to the process.

By abi_silvester at 13:40 on 14/06/10
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All well and good, but why aren't we recycling plastic (other than bottles) in Islington? So much is recyclable and is a crying shame to put it in our general rubbish.

By Room262 at 10:37 on 14/06/10
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