Blog
(19th February 2010)
The week before last, I went north. Loch Striven is one of several sea-lochs near Glasgow. It "belongs" - I put that in quotes as I still can't see how the sea can belong to anyone, despite the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea - to Clydeport, a private entity that is the harbour authority for the Clyde river, firth and sea lochs. ...
→ Cruising
(19th February 2010)
I recently met a man who told me this story, which I will re-tell in honour of all the young ship's ratings who have to do the dirtiest jobs. Because even the best on-board wastewater treatment systems need maintenance and cleaning. "I started my career by working on a cruise ship. I was the lowest ranked recruit so my job was to clean the sewage ...
(19th February 2010)
I spent a happy year at the University of Pennsylvania in 1993-4, attempting to understand International Relations (and failing; I switched to comparative politics), living luxuriously on the generosity of the splendid Thouron Award (and Fulbright for the travel) and getting far too fond of the vegetarian meatballs served up by the Magic Carpet lunch truck just off campus. So I am extremely ...
→ Slow
(17th February 2010)
Slow is replacing fast in shipping. It is about saving fuel and money, essentially, but has the nice side effect of cutting greenhouse gas emissions too. Maersk Line, the world's biggest shipping company, now routinely "slow-steams," its ships doing sometimes as little as 14 knots when before they would do 20 and higher. It is good news, but Maersk is, as in many things, the ...
(17th February 2010)
I've been asked, gratifyingly, to chair the judging panel for this year's WASH media award, administered by the excellent Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC for short). The WASH awards celebrate the best of sanitation- and hygiene-related journalism. Not forgetting water supply. They'll be judged over the summer and awarded at World Water Week in September in Stockholm. Details of how to enter ...
(14th February 2010)
Something about neither sewage nor ships: Rest in peace, Dick Francis, an excellent writer in his glory years (about 1965-1985, roughly). In memoriam, here is something I wrote about him years ago for the Guardian. I still maintain that his economy of prose and mastery of narrative are as good as any "literary" fiction.
Why I love Dick Francis
by Rose George
My bookshelves always get the ...
→ Gangaji
(14th February 2010)
The Wall Street Journal reports on a(nother) new scheme to clean the mighty and holy river Ganges. The Indian government is paying $4 billion to ensure that in ten years' time, no untreated municipal sewage or industrial run-off goes into the river. As three-quarters of Indian cities' sewage is untreated - either the infrastructure or the skills are usually lacking - this is a ...