The Talk about Climate Change

The Fate of the world is in our hands. Isn’t it time to stop talking and act?

Nope I don’t mean more endless discussions or marches or parades. I mean new laws to ban pesticides and plastic, to ban anything that is not easily and truly biodegradable.

Can it be done? I think so. If you tell a company that anything not biodegradable will be taxed heavily, they will fins an alternative. Why? Because it will be very expensive and no one will buy the product.

If you tell them they have 6 months or a year, depending on the type of product, they will create a more eco friendly product. What do you think?

What is the talk about climate change?

There is a lot of talk

These are my questions, ideas and opinions from my perspective with much concern, as I have children and several grandchildren,

People are calling it the crisis of our time, and it is. Others call it nonsense.

But it’s easy to get lost in it all.

World leaders are meeting in Madrid to talk about the climate crisis and how to slow it down. And they’re under pressure from millions of people around the world calling for concrete action. It doesn’t help that rather than use a video link, more eco friendly, they all fly in from all over the world adding to the pollution.

Many well known people and celebrities talk about climate change and exhort us all to change our ways before getting into fuel guzzling cars and returning home via …….. ? Yes, you guessed it. The great polluter, an aeroplane!

Here in Britain there is much talk about it and yet they keep increasing the size of the airports. Are aeroplanes not a major contributor?

Youngsters and older people go on marches and protest, causing disruption. Is this right? I feel it merely angers people causing them to turn away from the issue and ignore it. A question I have of these people: Are you walking the walk, while talking the talk?

It’s a viable question I feel. Do they run electric cars, cycle and walk? Do they grow their own food, turn off lights not in use and turn their heating down? Do they make sure their laptops, desktops, ipads and phones last for years, rather than changing them often for newer versions? If not, why not. Surely they have seen the massive heaps where young children strip the cast off  electronics for anything they can sell. These piles of waste are in poorer countries, does that mean its okay to ignore them?

A post from last year on a blogger site, started out annoyed by an elderly man of 91, saying it was his duty to try and put right the damage  caused by his generation. Except, they didn’t have ready meals, plastic bottles, plastic bags, everything wrapped in one use plastic. There were no mobile phones, computers and when he was growing up very few televisions. Clothes and toys were passed on. Then by the time some research was done, there was horror at the sheer size of the problem facing us.

Then there is plastic.

Do I hear a sigh? Yes…. just the thought of the mountain of waste made me sigh too. Look it up.  It’s horrifying, the sheer volume of plastic waste and that’s not including all the plastic that passes into our bodies, even from something as basic as teabags.

Of course plastic bottles are a major contributer to the waste problem. But did you know that if re-used too many times the plastic starts to leach into the water you are drinking from them?

From an article on Livestrong website. Read it all HERE.

• The common and convenient practice of drinking water and other beverages from plastic bottles comes with downsides. You already know that buying a bottle of water costs more than filling a glass or reusable bottle at the tap. Using plastic drinking bottles also produces negative effects on health and the environment.
• When you hear of efforts to reduce dependence on fossil fuels, you may envision driving your car as the primary way you use petroleum. But every time you buy a plastic drinking bottle, you are also using some of the world’s limited supply of oil–manufacturers use petroleum to make and transport plastic products. Plastic bottle production in the U.S. requires millions of barrels of crude oil annually. Beverage companies then use fuel to transport the bottles all over the world, polluting the atmosphere in the process. The next time you drink a bottle of water, take a look at the label to see where it came from and how far it traveled. Bottled water frequently travels thousands of miles to people who already have clean tap water readily available.

From a follow on article on Livestrong website. Read it all HERE.

• Most plastic water bottles are recyclable, and yet most of them are never recycled and end up in the garbage. According to the Container Recycling Institute, consumers recycle only one of every five plastic drink bottles used. Though recycling facilities aren’t available everywhere, it’s important to try to recycle as many water bottles as possible. Not doing so can have disastrous consequences for our land, water and wildlife.
• It’s tempting to reuse a water bottle several times before throwing it out, but invisible scratches and cracks in the flimsy plastic can cause harmful chemicals from the plastic to leach into your drink. It’s better to recycle the bottle after the first use. If you do choose to reuse water bottles, make sure to wash and sanitize them thoroughly; not doing so can make them a breeding ground for bacteria that could make you sick.

Of course there are also the endless wipes.

They clog up the sewage system because people flush them away, even though they shouldn’t. The organic/biodegradable ones should not be flushed away either.

From a Daily Mail article. Read it HERE.

Nine out of ten ‘flushable wipes’ do not break down when they are flushed down the toilet say water companies

• A study showed majority of wipes would fail to break down in UK’s sewer system
• Many flushable wipes contain synthetic substances such as plastic or polyester
• Oils and fats from wipes congeal into balls known as ‘fatbergs’ that block drains
• There are approximately 300,000 sewer blockages every year due to wet wipes

The Standard article said: Read it HERE.

• As the government announces its plans to ban wet wipes, we take a look at the earth-friendly alternatives.

Now bearing in mind that the article was in 2018, you can see why we have a massive problem. Nearly 2 years on and it seems the wipes problem has faded into obscurity. I also suspect that many people think they are fine now as the furore has dies away.

Please do read those 2 articles as they report that even flushable wipes should not be flushed away. A lot of these things end up in the sea and do more damage to marine life.

What about the trees?

From google:

• They breathe in carbon dioxide and breathe out oxygen. Additionally, they provide habitat for birds and other wildlife. … Mature trees can absorb roughly 48 pounds of CO2 a year. The tree in turn releases enough oxygen to sustain two human beings.

From an article on the Clean Air Gardening website: Read it HERE.

• Trees are like the lungs of the planet. They breathe in carbon dioxide and breathe out oxygen. Additionally, they provide habitat for birds and other wildlife. But that’s not all trees do for us! To see just how much trees are essential to the planet and to humans, let’s look at the following statistics:
• CO2 is one of the major contributing elements to the greenhouse effect. Trees trap CO2 from the atmosphere and make carbohydrates that are used for plant growth. They give us oxygen in return. According to ColoradoTree.org, about 800 million tons of carbon are stored in the trees that make up the urban forests of the U.S. This translates to a savings of $22 billion in control costs. Mature trees can absorb roughly 48 pounds of CO2 a year. The tree in turn releases enough oxygen to sustain two human beings.

• Trees also help to reduce ozone levels in urban areas. In New York City, a 10 percent increase in urban canopy translated to a reduction of peak ozone levels by around 4 parts per billion.

• Trees reduce urban runoff and erosion by storing water and breaking the force of rain as it falls. The USDA reports that 100 mature trees can reduce runoff caused by rainfall by up to 100,000 gallons!

• Trees also absorb sound and reduce noise pollution. This is especially important for people who live near freeways. In some cases, a well planted group of trees can reduce noise pollution by up to 10 decibels. (Source: New Jersey Forest Service.)

Trees really help the environment, give us oxygen and take in carbon dioxide, just a few of the very important things they do. So knowing this why are we trying so hard as a species to destroy as many as possible?

Aren’t they all making it worse by trying to solve it?

So many different aspects of climate change to consider.

The trouble is, so many are making it worse with the many aeroplane flights to meet up, their jollies in various hotels. Cars from the airport. Pretty sure they don’t get on the bus or tube/train. They are clearly too important for such things, after all, they are supposedly saving the world. But are they really?

The Extinction Warriors?

Are they walking or cycling to these places to protest and attack? Was it planned? After all they held up an ELECTRIC Tube train and an MP’s bus. It was ELECTRIC. More recently they they caused havoc in a council meeting.

What did thy stop? A discussion on what to do about climate change and how much money they were going to put aside for it.

The question about them is? Are they trying to stop people who are trying to stop climate change?

The children that did marches?

Great idea taking them out of school. Why aren’t they having lessons on what they as individuals do to help. Do those young children say “I am giving up my plastic logo lunchbox and my ipad/games console/phone if they have them? Or at the very least, not demand the latest model. Are they going to walk places instead of riding everywhere in the car? Do they really know what its all about?

What can we do?

We could use our super power. Our Buying Power. Stop buying drinks in plastic bottles.

Don’t put vegetables in plastic bags. A very good reason for that, apart from stopping the rise in plastic, is that vegetables and fruit left in plastic, go off quicker. I discovered that storing things in glass bowls in the fridge, made them last longer. I chop up salad, not leaves and store it in a glass bowl with a lid and it stays fresh and crispy for up to 4 days. Plastic doesn’t do that.

Start swapping your things you use for more eco friendly versions, helping you as there as less chemicals to go in your skin and helping the planet too.

Do you recall all the hullabaloo about Hydrogenated Fats? Once people realised how bad they were they voted for manufacturers to remove it by refusing to buy products that had it in. Amazing how fast it was removed. It was a cheap filler product, so increased their profits and they didn’t care about their customers health. Is that the right thing to do?

Seems to me that more and more companies are being found out about the disgraceful ways they treat and create our food, with no care whatsoever for the customer.

Does any of  this seem right to you?

Me neither.

Conclusion.

Governments could solve the problems easily. Give companies 6 months to change to more eco friendly products or be shut down. Or if that seems harsh, put a hefty tax on all plastic. I guarantee they will find an alternative.

Wipes could be banned, any that are not truly biodegradable. Again, manufacturers will soon change.

They could bring down the price of electric cars to encourage more people to buy them, rather than buying petrol or diesel cars.

There are companies that use waste plastic for repairing roads. It may be more expensive to start with but in the long run will last much longer and therefore be more cost effective. Plus it will be using some of the mountains of plastic waste that just keeps right on growing.

We are all trying to help, recycling, re using bags, using public transport, walking more, many growing food etc. So now it’s time for Governments to step up and STOP talking about climate change and start putting measures in place. Stop cutting down trees, try reusing office blocks and shops that have stood empty for years to turn into homes.

Time also for councils and governments to stop flying off everywhere to talk about climate change and use technology that’s readily available to have their meetings via video links just as businesses do.

This is my opinion. What do you think?

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Questions and comments welcome.