June - College results and environmental wins

My final results from the Data Visualisation course arrived. I gained a B+ which is a combination of both modules.
This excellent postgraduate certification in data science and journalism will stand me in good stead.
When I look at an online article with interactive graphs, or a dashboard, I know how they were made. I can make them myself in the future if I wish. My thanks go to IADT for this interesting and useful course.

As I won an award for work carried out while I was at DBS, that college has published a piece to inform students, staff, alumni and the public. Awards reflect happily on the college and its standards. Independent authors are happy with any publicity, so here is a link to this pleasant short item. The award was the SMedias for Journalism Relating To Health.
https://www.dbs.ie/about-dbs/news-and...

I was invited to attend a UN Environment Programme discussion on the topic of marine plastic waste. I told LinkedIn:

“Busy morning at the UN Environment Programme, as we discussed the ongoing plastic waste issue. Among the takeaways: many governments and groups want a baseline to be measured to see how much plastic waste exists and where it is coming from. But industry and action groups are engaged in moving on to the recover and recycle stage as fast as they can.
12% of Indonesian households said they had no waste collection; down from 25% during 2020. Many multinationals are making sustainability pledges, to include recycled materials in products.

Singapore trialled reverse vending with great success and is about to oblige deposit and return. Local plastic waste collectors are unionising and becoming involved in talks.”

One of the environmental actions I take, besides voting Green at every election in my life, is answering surveys.
I tell companies what I want.
I told coffee machine makers that I wanted recyclable pods, not K-cups. They have had to start making these, either aluminium or compostable.

I told the electricity suppliers and government that I wanted to be paid for putting electricity back into the grid, as this would offset the price I would need to pay to install a solar panel on my roof. That’s about to be realised.
I told makers of goods in plastic that I wanted them to use recycled plastic. That’s happening.
I told those asking that I wanted a deposit and refund on soft drink bottles and cans, reverse vending, and that is now law and will be operating here by September.

The environmental movement has room for people in all niches. But consider where you can make the most impact. We need people to pick up litter, and choose carefully what they buy; and we need people to pester the manufacturers and marketers and vendors of that litter, and the governments who have to pay to clean the litter and manage the waste.

I enjoyed some fantastic books this month, including Sunrise on Half Moon Bay, The Test Pilot’s Wife, Rummage, Murder On The Road and Stone Cold.







This month I am making Murder At Scottish Mensa free 15 – 18 July.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00E78J0W0
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00E78J0W0

Follow my published articles on Medium or my JournoPortfolio page.
https://clareobeara.journoportfolio.com/

Watch my book trailers for my science fiction series:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GadPp...
Visit my website:
www.clareobeara.ie
for news, puzzles, books, reviews and events.

We have created a new page for Young Adult readers. This contains plenty of horses and dogs! You can find my podcasts on the News and Events page. I provide a Writers’ Page giving tips about how to be an independent publisher. I am also adding book covers to Pinterest boards after I review the books, so feel free to find me on Pinterest.