I'm sure all of here care a great deal about the environment, and whether we believe in global warming or not, we all want to help the environment. But it's very easy to say that you help to look after the environment but it is a lot harder to do something about it. What do you do to help individually?
I try and do the little things like making sure things aren't on standby when they don't need to be, turning off the tap when I brush my teeth, recycling what I can, but I admit I haven't taken any big steps. I still drive, I will still fly when I go on holiday. I don't feel that I can give up driving and still do the job I do now, but I suppose that is what everyone feels. I would love to have a workplace close enough to walk or cycle, but that is unlikely to ever happen.
I am more fortunate in that I can, and do, ride my bicycle to work. Although I have not yet tried it when it is both pitchblack out AND icy/snowy in the winter.
Sometimes it may seem as if you are not doing much, but if every person did what they could, it would add up.
Kingfisher
I don't fly very much. While I enjoy flying (I've flown in a Tiger Moth - real Biggles stuff, SAR helicopter - including being winched in and out, 8 seat light airplane and a glider) I hate the whole commercial airline thing - the waiting and then being cramped into too small a space for 8 hours. For 4 years I spent a month in Egypt and was told that the plane which flew me there would use 47 Tonnes of fuel!
So, my wife and I spend our time away mostly in our motorhome. We tow a small car behind. When we get to our destination, we use the small car - almost 100 mpg - to travel round. We also take our cycles and use them - or just walk - whenever feasible.
I recycle whenever possible, but what annoys me most is the level of packaging that one gets with purchases. I bought some memory cards recently, the size of the plastics wrapping that they came in was just ridiculous, and so difficult to get into.
The onus should shift from local authorities being forced to reach targets on recycling, to industry to reduce the wastage caused by unnecessary packaging. This would both reduce waste and power consumption.
We do whatever we can: recycling paper and glass, composting waste food, installing low-energy lightbulbs and never leaving equipment on standby.
I also try shop to take into account the seasons and local produce to reduce the number of food miles (why exactly do we need strawberries in December??). This country used to produce over 100 different types of apple. How many English apples do you see stocked in your local supermarket?
Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be any local facilities for recycling plastic, which forms the bulk of our remaining waste.
However, regardless of what I do, unless industry is forced to make major changes (e.g. to the amount of plastic packaging produced, to reduce business flights and to stop bombarding me with junk mail) or government starts putting its money where its mouth is (e.g. stop airport expansion, increase tax on aviation fuel and curb unsustanable house building), I feel that I'm achieving very little other than personal satisfaction.
I completely agree that the amount of packaging on most items is ridiculous, especially when some councils don't recycle plastics so you have to throw most of it away. For example, I bought a stylus for a electrical appliance which is about 6cm long and 0.5cm wide. The packaging was at least 20cm long and 10 cm wide, when really it only needed to be slightly bigger than the object.
I also do what I can to help by doing the things already mentioned whenever I can. I do get frustrated with the government asking everyone to help, which they should do, but then doing very little themselves.
There has been a lot of talk about the effect flying has on the environment and whether there should be extra tax on flying and even that people should consider having their holidays in England instead of going abroad. I do object to being told that I shouldn't have a single yearly holiday abroad when politicians, business people etc are flying extremely long distance regularly. I also don't think a flight tax will stop these people flying, only the people who aren't as well off that have occasional holidays.
You bring up some good points, Bill. For me, a flight to the UK is not just for a holiday, it's to visit with relatives. Actually, all of my relatives are quite a distance away. The closest to me are not even MY relatives, but my husband's relatives. That's approximately 692 miles away from me, as my husband's mother lives in Yuba City, California. To visit my mother, I would have to walk, ride, drive, or fly to San Jose, CA--around 832 miles.
But that was one reason why we went to Eastern Washington for our holiday this year. That, plus the fact that travelling by air has gotten so unpleasant, we just didn't want to put up with it.
Kingfisher
I agree with lots of what you are all saying. Skip turned off all the standby's & now I have caught on. We recycle plastic, tins,bottles in one bin , Household in the other.Cardboard annoys me because I take that to the refuse tip for recycling myself & I would like another bin for that. We have a green bin for garden refuse which is turned into compost by the council & resold back a lot cheaper than you can buy. Stamps are collected for any charities.We recycle paper through the council also.We use to save silver paper, aliminium foil & milk bottle tops when we had milk bottles for Guide Dogs for the Blind. Clothes & other items are recycled through local charity shops not door stop collections. Toys are recycled for the Red Cross Fire Victim Support unit through work. We don't drive with our foot hard down.Use economical white appliances ie washer, dryer .Keep the thermostat turned down a couple of degrees in winter & have also had a brick in the toilet cistern in times of water shortage I think my major everyday crime is brushing my teeth with the tap running!!!
We do fly when on holiday which I have only just started doing in the last 2 years.OOps.
I do agree with everyone about the packaging & think manufacturers should be made to reduce the amount. It drives me mad.