Votes in from 16 countries and growing.

April has arrived (and so has yet another birthday) and votes for the 'most moving tunes on Planet Earth' have come in from across the planet, with 16 different countries so far on the list. As ever more are always needed.

The largest number of votes come from the UK and USA but other countries are well represented in the voting and include Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Phillipines, India, Pakistan, Nepal, Singapore, Maylasia, Norway, Greece, Denmark, and Peru. The most moving tunes on Planet Earth are coming in slowly but surely, which is really great news.

A short documentary on efforts being made by individuals and groups in response to the environmental plastic problem will include 24 Hours On Planet Earth. It's being made by Birmingham University and should be on u-tube to view in May.

Some of you (especially the Aussies) will have heard of Shirley Lewis AKA 'The Baglady' who was instrumental in highlighting the problem of plastic bags in Australia from 2000. She created the first Australian baglady and subsequently baglords. She now campaigns in Northern Ireland and has given her support to the 24 HOPE website calling it a 'brilliant idea'.

I've had a few questions asking for clarification on what it's all about and have updated the FAQ to try and make it easier to understand the purpose of the site without having to read all of it.

Just in case you are still a little unsure 24 HOPE aims to give plastic in the environment a value by paying for it to be picked up for collection, recycling and reuse. By removing the plastic the environment is improved, and so is the local economy. The funding required to pay for the plastic is to be raised via the sale of the complation of the most moving tunes on planet earth collected by the 24 Hours On Planet Earth website.

As ever many, many more votes are required. I'm hoping for a million votes as that will raise the profile of the problem immensely and open up many more options for funding, recycling and reuse.

Until next time

Lionel