Global Warming, Personal Health, & Finances

[Python]

The Ozone layer is something I'm not convinced about either. Perhaps the hole in the Ozone layer has always been there we just didn't know about it until the advent of space satellites and computers.

I'm more concerned on a local level. In the centre of our town there are so many "traffic calming" schemes that cars end up crawling or sitting stationary - and it stinks. We definitely have too many cars, lorries and buses on the road. Parking space is at a premium - and it's expensive. Getting to work on my bike is so much easier too. It takes a maximum of 16 minutes to get to work as opposed to anything up to 35 minutes in the car. 35 minutes to go 2 1/2 miles Even going home is quicker by bike as in the car at peak periods you end up stuck in a bottle-neck and it can take 45 minutes for the same journey. 20 minutes maximum by bike (and I hope to knock a few minutes of that time as I get fitter). If hubby drove the car from our place of work and I took the bike, I'd have his cup of tea waiting for him by the time he got home LOL.

In my house I switched to energy saving bulbs a long time ago for two reasons. 1. They work out cheaper. 2. They last much longer than conventional bulbs. Using them does have a knock-on effect for the environment too.

It does frequently cross my mind that by using my bike I am helping the environment in a small way but I'm still not convinced about the hype on Global Warming. It is a natural phenomena that's been around since time began. I just think it's being exploited to clobber ordinary people with taxes they can not afford, certainly in this country.

[Veronica]

If you really want to do something for the planet, have fewer children.

Have one or two of your own. If you love kids and want more, adopt or become a foster parent. Volunteer in your local school. There are lots of ways to fill that need for kids w/o actually having them.

If you only have one or two kids, you won't need that huge SUV.

V.

[Python]

I only had two kids - one of each They're grown up now (27 and 20 respectively).

One of our neighbours has five kids. That many kids would drive me nuts!!!

As for 4x4s (SUVs) our government has decided to penalise owners by doubling the road tax to £440 per year. Why? There are other cars that are not 4x4s that use even more fuel. They haven't been penalised. Why not? If "gas guzzlers" are going to be penalised with extra road tax then it should be across the board, not just single out one particular type. Of course, our government ministers zoom around in "gas guzzlers" like Jaguars etc. so it wouldn't be anything to do with that now would it?

Try getting a dialysis machine and everything that goes with it plus luggage, a dog and 3 adults into an ordinary car. Won't fit. If it wasn't for the fact that we have a 4x4 my son would not have been able to visit his Uncle in Scotland or his sister and hubby who also live in Scotland. By penalising 4x4s, our government has penalised people who rely on 4x4s to get around. As it happens last year my son went down with appendicitis and due to the proverbial "c*ck up" between two hospitals ended up with two unnecessary operations and an abdomen full of adhesions so his home dialysis is no more. He now goes to the local renal unit 3 times a week for dialysis. In two weeks time my brother is coming down from Scotland to be tested to see if he might be a suitable live donor for my son. We therefore don't need to rely on the 4x4 any more so I will be selling it very soon (once I dig out the registration document - can't remember where on earth I put it). The proceeds of the sale will pay off the outstanding balance of my new bike and buy a small, economical car which, hopefully after this summer is all we will need.

Although I don't buy the global warming theory, I suppose I do try to help the environment. Another sore point over here is recycling. No doubt a good idea but as usual, our government is going the wrong way about it. We recycle wherever possible. I use a compost bin and recycle cardboard and paper. We are to have the recycling extended in our area to tins and glass later this year. However, in other areas where this is being done, people are being criminalised for putting the wrong paper in the wrong bin. Just recently people were taken to Court because their little boy (only about 3 years old) had put a piece of paper in the wrong bin. Not only were the parents fined but now have a CRIMINAL record. This is so wrong when people committing REAL crimes get off Scot Free. That is not the way to encourage people to recycle. Many people are saying they won't bother now as they fear being criminalised and who can blame them.

What I'd prefer to see would be incentives to recycle. Perhaps recycle X amount and receive a pack of energy saving bulbs or something like that. I think that would definitely encourage people to recycle. Everyone likes a freebie or two, especially useful ones.

Most importantly, though is to encourage people to get out of their cars and cycle or walk. There's no doubting the enormous benefits for both people and the environment.

As far as cycling goes, I'm now completely converted to cycling - even looking ahead to winter and winter clothing.

[northstar]

One reason SUV's are often taxed higher is due to their higher ground weight. A Hummer or a Chevy Suburban does more damage to roads than a Jaguar sports car. They're both paying more in gas taxes because they use more gas than the majority of vehicles, which I doubt most would have a problem with. Heaver vehicles cause more wear and tear on the infrastructure than smaller, lighter vehicles. So I totally support a higher registration on those vehicles. They cause more surface maintenance issues. To be honest, I doubt that most people who drive SUV's have a need to load three adults, a dialysis machine and a dog into it every single day. Many of us need to stop buying vehicles for what they "might need." (I'm not necessarily saying that is your case, Python.) Just because a person hauls the boat to the lake or river once a year and puts it in, doesn't mean they need to drive a vehicle that sucks 14 mpg all year round. Just because they live in an area where it snows, doesn't mean they need four wheel drive. I grew up in southwestern Minnesota on the snowy, wind-whipped prairie, and got by just fine with my front wheel drive Geo Prizm. I personally cannot fathom any reasonable explanation for someone who lives in a city (or really, anywhere else) to drive a Hummer. Unless they are a wilderness safari tour leader on the weekends. Hmm...don't know anyone like that.

On global warming...our honorable (? Ok, not my favorite) congresswoman, Michele Bachmann, got roaring laughter when she used dubya's line, "the jury's still out on global warming" in a debate. That might be out on Youtube somewhere.

Yay for us for getting out of our cars and onto our bikes. Now plant some trees. Spend the money to get the efficient light bulbs and appliances. Lobby your city for pedestrian and bike friendly development. Plant a community garden and get your neighbors together. Put a receiver hitch on your car and pull a small trailer on those days when you need to haul something. Heck, go in on one with some of your neighbors.

Getting off my soapbox now.

[madscot13]

I think this is a great post. 10% of people who read this post have something to say (and that doesn't count the psoters who are coming back to reread).

I think it is great to have a dialog on all of the aspects of biking and all of the other decisions we make. We might get eachother to start thinking new things or we way start thinking about what we are already doing in new ways. (if that makes sense)

[Python]

Northstar. My 4x4 does 35 mpg on the open road and about 24 mpg in town. Many smaller cars don't do that much. As for wear and tear on the roads, most 4x4s aren't much heavier than some cars. Lorries, particularly the Juggernauts absolutely murder the roads and so do buses.

Years ago most freight went by train and often canals. In the 1960s a government minister called Beeching closed down many of the railway lines. Bad mistake which has had a bad impact on the environment. Moving freight by canal was slow but environmentally friendlier than the means we use now.

Our town is considering opening up the old canal for public transport. I think it's a good idea and I would use it to get from one side of town to the other. I think it would be a nice laid-back way to travel.

To be fair to our Town Council they are alternative transport friendly, particularly for bikes. Builders are no longer allowed to build housing estates unless they include extensive cycle paths in them and haven't been for some years now. We use the cycle paths a lot in the evening when son and me go out for a ride. Some of the paths cut through some really pleasant scenery. We often see wildlife like squirrels and at the moment the scent of the blossom and wildflowers is lovely. Things you don't see and smell sitting in a car. My son tires easily so doing a round of the cycle paths isn't too strenuous for him and it's easy to get home again.

The whole thing is, over the past 30 years or so people have got very lazy. Just hop into the car to go a few hundred yards to the local shop instead of walking or cycling - and they wonder why they have health problems.

A woman in our street has two girls. Mum is obese and can hardly move because her knee joints have given out as has the rest of her joints. She was incensed recently when the school nurse sent for her and told her to put her daughters on a diet as they are fat. Not surprising. They refuse to eat healthy food and will only eat chips (French Fries), greasy pies etc. Last week when I was cycling to work I passed their father's car on the way. He'd just dropped the kids off at the local school. The local school is two minutes walk from their house - approximately 500 yards, yet he drove them to school because the lazy little madams didn't want to walk. Incidentally, it was a lovely, warm spring morning. My kids were brought up on healthy, home prepared food. I wouldn't have given into their demands for junk food or anything else either!

The mother refuses to get off her fat, lazy a*se to even make a cup of coffee. Her husband runs to her every beck and call. He can't see he's doing her no favours. I'll give her another 2 years maximum and she'll be in a wheelchair or suffer a major heart attack. She only turned 40 this year. Hers is a vicious circle. She needs to lose weight but to do that she needs to go on a strict medically supervised diet. She needs to take exercise but says she can't because it's too painful. It's also because she can't be bothered. Why should she when she is waited on hand and foot. I'm afraid I lost patience with her a long time ago. Her other vice is she drinks too much alcohol. How can anyone be so blind?

People need to be encouraged to take exercise and be more environmentally friendly, but governments wielding a big stick with draconian taxes and punishments will only succeed in putting people off.

[northstar]

The market has driven the development of more environmentally friendly SUV's in the last five years or so. Cheers to that. Those are not the type of SUV's to which I was referring in my post.

With that, I'm bowing out of this thread...off to see Spiderman 3.