Saving the Environment - A Missed Opportunity

[Python]

I just received our local newsletter in my e-mail today. One of the topics is how to be more environmentally friendly with a huge emphasis on recycling and how to save energy.

Here are some of the points raised. This is copied directly from the e-mail:

Climate change - Five things you can do:

• Turn your thermostat down 1 oC
• Turn appliances off when not in use
• Replace your light bulbs with energy saving ones
• Do your washing at a lower temperature
• Get a home energy check

Cycling has been totally ignored Why?

It is the most environmentally friendly and efficient means of local transport with enormous health benefits yet this has been totally omitted

I shall be writing forthwith to our local Councillor and our Member of Parliament.

I will let you know what they say when I receive a reply.

[meridian]

From what I gather based on the items that were mentioned, it looks like they were reaching for a 'no excuse' approach.

I bet the criteria was something like:

something absolutely anyone can do
non-time consuming
little or no cost involved
do not take any extra effort to accomplish

..aka basic/lazy/broke things you can still do to change the climate for the better?

[Python]

Not really, Meridian. There is extra time and cost involved to everyone in this hare-brained, ill-thought out scheme. For a start our weekly rubbish (garbage) collections are going to be put back to every two weeks. Great. We'll be plagued by rats and mice not to mention flies and maggots and the stench. Even with weekly collections we had a hot summer last year and the stench of rotting trash was disgusting. We pay Council Tax to cover the cost of refuse collection (among other things). This year the tax was increased yet again but we're now only going to get half the service.

They're bringing in new recycling boxes for plastic bottles - but they are telling us we'll have to wash the bottles out. That means WE, the taxpayer have to fork out more cash to cover the cost of more water used and the cost of detergent plus the time taken to wash out said bottles. There's no mention of cans being recycled - yet. If they do, you have to wash them out and remove the labels too so yes, there is extra cost and extra time involved.

We've been recycling cardboard and paper for some time now. Fine, but very often the men who collect and empty the recycling boxes drop half of it on the pavement. Do they pick up what they've dropped? No, so our street ends up looking like a bomb has struck it

We have a recycling plant approximately 8 miles from where we live. Go there any evening or weekend and you will sit in a queue of cars. That's more fuel used to get there plus sitting in a slow moving queue with the engines running. Not exactly environmentally friendly!

The ones that should be targetted are the big businesses that insist on putting so much plastic wrapping on things. I bought a packet of biscuits (cookies) tonight. Trying to get into the packet was harder than trying to break into Fort Knox because there was so much plastic wrapping on them. I succeeded - eventually.

I am in favour of recycling, but the way they are going about it in this country is going to deter people, not encourage them.

And yes, I do agree that many people are just too lazy nowadays.

[Zen]

What really chaps my bum are businesses and their lit like Vegas block out the night sky parking lots, especially Wal-Mart. Open 24 hours and the entire interior is glowing.
Grrr

[Python]

We've got that problem here too. It really annoys me when the government and the town councils are preaching (and forcing) ordinary people to save energy but have offices, buildings, car parks (parking lots) lit up like Christmas trees

It also annoys me that encouraging cycling seems to have been forgotten

[Pax]

Python - I was appalled at the amount of waste leaving our little two person apartment so in the last year we started looking for items with much less wasteful packaging, that has helped quite a bit. They also have a recycling drop off at the edge of our grocery store parking lot so I've taken to standing at the car removing excess packaging as I'm putting the groceries in, then I drop off the recyclables on the way out of the lot.

Starting this week we're going to hit the natural foods store (a smaller shopping trip than a big grocery one) on our bikes!!

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

I just received our local newsletter in my e-mail today. One of the topics is how to be more environmentally friendly with a huge emphasis on recycling and how to save energy.

Here are some of the points raised. This is copied directly from the e-mail:

Climate change - Five things you can do:

• Turn your thermostat down 1 oC
• Turn appliances off when not in use
• Replace your light bulbs with energy saving ones
• Do your washing at a lower temperature
• Get a home energy check

I remember lists of energy saving suggestions EXACTLY like this being passed out 20 years ago! Didn't work much then, won't work much now.
The majority of people will not do things that inconvenience them unless not doing it hits them RADICALLY in the wallet.
Remember the old "Save water...shower with a friend" bumper stickers?

People will start saving electricity when it becomes rationed or is 3x what it costs now. Likewise with water. They will start riding bicycles more when gas is 3x the price it is now. They will stop smoking when their cigarettes cost half their weekly paycheck to buy or if they can't qualify for health insurance or health care if they smoke.
Too bad junk food is so cheap. They should put a giant tax on junk food that would be put towards the opening of local gardens and organic local produce production. Then fewer people would have clogged fatty arteries and heart disease and wind up costing society a fortune in hospital care because they ate unhealthy fried processed "food" for decades.
Ooops...rant over.