How Green am I? or You

[SarzWix]

We're probably not as green as we could be, but do our best under restrictions. My heating is on a thermostat and goes off under 16oC, any colder and i seize up! We have a drier, which we use whenever I can't manage heavy baskets - the washing comes out & goes straight into drier right next to it, then comes out and gets folded into basket one thing at a time, OH takes them upstairs when home. To make up for it, we've signed up for 'green' electricity. We also have 2 cars, OH has company car which he couldn't do his job without, and mine is essential as public transport is very hit & miss round here and some days I can't even get to bottom of drive, never mind to the shops without it! Hopefully, these days will continue to get fewer and I won't need the car so much.
On the good side; We have energy saving bulbs in every room, insulation in the loft, and our landlord is putting double-glazing in last few windows this spring. We compost/recycle as much as poss and freecycle big stuff. And obviously, trying to Grow Our Own will reduce air-miles etc. Most importantly, we're raising our kids aware of the issues and what they can/should do about it.

[Tigerella]

Hi

[QUOTE][Joking aside, is the consensus that environmental concerns are not yet mainstream?/QUOTE]

This thread highlights that alot of people have concerns about global warming, but some feel a few bulbs (that save them money as well) changed and we might be ok.
I would say that people who grow their own veg would be greener than average.
And it is difficult to judge from a few posts on here how committed people are, I dont think most people are ready for big changes.
I have made changes, but I can do more and this may take time.
What do you others think?

Tigerella

[TEB]

I think your last line is one of the most important, kids are aware of the issues but (wide ranging comment coming up) are too apathetic to do anything about it even at a personal level. We have 6 of the breed between us and they look at you as if you come from another planet when you mention about turning the lights off, wearing clothes for more than an hour, drink water sometimes, dont leave the TV on standby etc and I am positive they have a stall at the market because how on earth can you get through that many batteries in a week and did I mention the lights. With the warmer weather they have taken to reading outside (good encourage) but whats this they have to have all the garden lights on and then shine angle poise lamps through the windows of my office (to see a bit better by) - is it me - anyone want any lazy kids (youngest 15 - oldest 27 (almost at the huiman age))

[OverWyreGrower]

This thread highlights that alot of people have concerns about global warming, but some feel a few bulbs (that save them money as well) changed and we might be ok.
I would say that people who grow their own veg would be greener than average.
And it is difficult to judge from a few posts on here how committed people are, I dont think most people are ready for big changes.
I have made changes, but I can do more and this may take time.
What do you others think?

Tigerella

The problem is that it is actually quite hard to be "green", even before you're at the "living in a cave wearing hemp knickers" stage of being green.

For example, I welcomed the introduction (2 years ago) of fortnightly collections of alternate recyclable and non-recyclable waste. Makes it easier for me, and we've never had any flies/maggots, issues with space etc.
In one of the tabloid papers over the weekend was a huge article about how bins contain the plague bacteria as they haven't been emptied for over a week and how people should complain to their council about it.

We recycle all we can, we grow our own, we freecycle a lot of stuff, and try and buy local to reduce food miles etc.

We would use public transport, but like Sarah, it's hit and miss. We don't go on a lot of holidays (flying or otherwise!), we turn stuff off and have changed all our bulbs.

There is a lot more we could do to be greener, I know it, but without money (to get a wind turbine or solar panels) we're stuck. We both have to drive to work, and to see family; I'm rather attached to my tumble drier in the winter (yes, I'm SO un-green! ); we buy new clothes (but not often) that are probably made by orphans sat in the dark in a sweat shop thousands of miles away etc, etc.

I think the average family may not look at doing more except changing bulbs and recycling their packaging. They like supermarket shopping and flying abroad, they like their 2 cars and their thermostat up high. The people in charge (i.e. the Govt) have not put enough emphasis on changing things and the media would rather print stories about the black death in people's bins than global warming.

[laura g]

i think one of the hardest things about environmental education is discerning fact from fiction.

As OWG says, the newspapers are kicking up a stink (no pun intended) about refuse services. Is it true what they are saying concerning bacteria? We consciously decided to not book any more flights. Because of the harm air travel does. Then that programme that came on debunking GW.

I'm not pretending to be the cleverest most informed person - but what's right and what's wrong? And if I feel like that so must the majority of the population???

Having said that, its not hard to see that life and consumerism is spiralling out of control. Only common sense that we should cut down and cut back and just stop and THINK for a few moments.

Tigerella: you mentioned 'big' changes. What does everyone think constitutes a big change? What's the biggest change you've made???

ps I am, I believe, the only mum on the school run without a giant shiny 4x4. does that count??!

pps amend 'living in a cave with hemp knickers' to 'living in a pigsty with frayed knickers' and that's me, that is!!!

[TEB]

Please someone tell me how changing to a biweekly refuse collection is supposed to be "eco" or reduce the amount of rubbish generated by a household in any way.

I cannot see how its the govt that should be doing something - we are all supposed to be reasonable educated these days, surely its ourselves that should be "doing something" - haven't we had enough of being told what we can and cannot do.

Common sense along with common courtesy seems in very short supply nowadays - now where my cave and self mortification knickers (washed fortnightly in a dead nettle solution)

[OverWyreGrower]

In theory, you'll recycle more as it will be collected seperately or something.

I think most councils switched over to bi-weekly when they introduced the recycling facilities. We got a green bin, a blue bin, a green box and a black bin at the same time the collections switched over.

By the Govt. doing something I meant spending some money on public transport, other recycling initiatives, alternate power sources (wind, water etc).

We are supposed to be reasonable educated, however reading the trash in the papers and seeing some of the stuff on TV, leads me to believe that most people believe whatever is told to them by the newspapers and actually have no common sense.

TEB: I hope you're washing the knickers at 30 degrees or lower?

[TEB]

Luckily we are still on a weekly collection here but we have the different boxes for different materials. If we went to biweekly I can imagine that people would just bag everything up and take it to the tip themselves.

Public transport - is there such a thing - isnt it all owned by privately owned companies (or nearly).
Isolated as I am I dont read newspapers and only watch about 2 hours of TV a week.

No power in my eco cave so the knickers are batted on the rocks in the nearby river

[laura g]

leads me to believe that most people believe whatever is told to them by the newspapers and actually have no common sense.

Newspapers exist for one reason - to sell newspapers.

not just the press though that is 'to blame'. what about food packaging? this says low fat - must be fine. These say gm free - brilliant!

not so much people having no common sense - not having the time to think is an issue. modern life. great eh?

[OverWyreGrower]

Luckily we are still on a weekly collection here but we have the different boxes for different materials. If we went to biweekly I can imagine that people would just bag everything up and take it to the tip themselves.

TBH, we've not found the biweekly collections any trouble at all. Everything is seperated into recyclables, plus anything that can be composted is!

The unrecyclables go in bin liners (biodegradable ones), so we never have any mess or smell and because we're recycling everything, there's hardly any of it anyway!

I can't understand the people who say that their bins smell and are crawling with maggots etc. If it's all bagged up and only the minimum thrown away, what's to rot??
I can only think that there is a lot of food (cooked/uncooked/compostable stuff) thrown away, or maybe no bin liners are used.

[TEB]

We live in the country and the council give us a black bin liner a week and 2 blue recycle boxes, if we leave out the black bags on collection day within 30 minutes the bags are ripped apart by the crows (vulture sized) during the day and by badgers/foxes/deer/cats by night. I went and bought a wheelie bin to put my landfill rubbish in but some of the neighbours dont and they have to rush out when the refuse collectors arrive, other neighbours dont bother and let the wind take the spilt rubbish which just ends up in the hedgerows. Its a very rural area with consequently poor wages/lack of work and some households cannot justify the expense of buying bins/wheelie bins and to have to store 2 weeks worth of rubbish will make matters worse and my cynical self is saying its only a cost cutting exercise anyway.

The FIL lives in an OAP complex which are on 2 weeks and he said that they have seen rats and "heightened tensions" between residents leading to "an almost fisticuffs" from 2 of the less moribund inmates err residents

[OverWyreGrower]

We live in the country and the council give us a black bin liner a week and 2 blue recycle boxes, if we leave out the black bags on collection day within 30 minutes the bags are ripped apart by the crows (vulture sized) during the day and by badgers/foxes/deer/cats by night. I went and bought a wheelie bin to put my landfill rubbish in but some of the neighbours dont and they have to rush out when the refuse collectors arrive, other neighbours dont bother and let the wind take the spilt rubbish which just ends up in the hedgerows. Its a very rural area with consequently poor wages/lack of work and some households cannot justify the expense of buying bins/wheelie bins and to have to store 2 weeks worth of rubbish will make matters worse and my cynical self is saying its only a cost cutting exercise anyway.

The FIL lives in an OAP complex which are on 2 weeks and he said that they have seen rats and "heightened tensions" between residents leading to "an almost fisticuffs" from 2 of the less moribund inmates err residents

I see; our council provided us all with our multicoloured wheelies, so no more bags. We used to have bags, but, as you said, they were ripped apart by scavengers.

I have no doubt it's a cost cutting exercise! I think its a good one though generally, as it does force people to recycle more...

[Tigerella]

Hi

[QUOTE][my cynical self is saying its only a cost cutting exercise anyway.
/QUOTE]

It is because people have this attitude about recycling and global warming that brings many of the problems.
I am poor and I believe in global warming, if I was wealthy, every penny spent would add to my carbon footprint.
So anyone who is wealthy or has more than 2 children cannot be a environmentalist.
Unless of course you have seen the error of your ways and you repent.

Tigerella

[yoanbob]

we would love to have bi weekly collections, aparently the green bin waggon cant get down our street, funny that you can get a skip truck down it then

so we said, thats ok, we will walk it up the street and round the corner onto the housing estate for your convienience, ok they said heres a green bin, when do we put it out? say we, oh we dont know when they will be emptying in your area, its about every 4 weeks, we only have 1 green waggon.
so 3 stollen green bins later and they never once emptied it anyway 'cos by the time they came some d**k head on the estate puts non recyclables in it and we gave up.
there are people on our street that leave bin bags on the street the night before collection, the foxs have it strewn about every week, i stopped picking the litter up, it drives me mad! complain to the council, they send a man round to pick it up, but he only removes it from the foot path not the road, when they resurfaced the road last year they tarmaced the litter into it! so no the genral public shouldnt be free to choose they should be responsible but there not, if they have no sense of responsibility they should be treated like children untill they can prove otherwise.

[beefy]

So anyone who is wealthy or has more than 2 children cannot be a environmentalist.


Tigerella

Explain why that should be please.