General Chat

Is anyone else fed up with the rabbiting on about how 'we' can stop global warming??
On the radio now it's being dicusssed. One bloke is asking 'Do you expect us to go back to the stone age?', the other is saying 'Just omitting one business short haul flight will make a difference'.
Who are they talking to? I have never taken a 'business' short haul flight in my life!!
Tried to do the Google carbon footprint this morning and it couldn't calculate my carbon footprint - could that be because it's so low???
Don't have a car, dishwasher, or tumble drier. Very rarely fly. Know my legs are for walking and while I can I will. Yet I still manage to live in the 21st century!!!

maggie *steps off moaning box* :o)

My personal belief is until everyone in the world does their bit nothing can be halted... slowed maybe, but not stopped.

Evolution is as certain as death and change... this is just another step to go with the past millions of years.

No, I think all countries especially USA and China should wake up and make a difference before we damage the Earth for generations to come.

I'll believe it when a Polar Bear knocks on my door and asks for some ice!!!!

I think it is all rubbish and a money making scam!

Lindy xxx

Surely the planet is adapting with regards to the ozone layer... we are running out of fuel, so the weather is getting warmer... a saving on heating... surely. (I know its a complex subject, but I'm not good at debating)

Growing more plants will help, but we seem hell bent to irradicate plant life... from tropical rain forests to covering out driveways in concrete...

I dont know enough on the subject to give valid input. But I recycle where I can and have 6 recycling boxes stacked one on top of the other I recycle paper, card, plastics, tin, Textiles and glass.

Also but where I live without choice I also recycle food as we are not allowed to put it in the bin.

I use low energy bulbs and grow my own veg (as well as buying it when im out of season).

But we also own two cars a small town one and a large one OH drives when on the rd and abroad. I think if we can all do out bit in our own way it all helps - but some things cant be helped - if he has to do 400 miles in a day he will do it in a luxury car thats built for that and not in my little pootle.

Countries, yes Squirrel, and I agree each person can contribute their little bit, but more use would be done by big firms doing their bit first, and the Government doing their bit by making public transport affordable and linked!!
I can't go anywhere on a Sunday as there are very few buses and I refuse to pay rail prices eg Winchester to Petersfield bus fare £4.50 return. Train fare £13 single, £19 return!! Almost makes me want to go out and buy a car!!
When they go on about what you can do, it is totally irrelevent to me - always has been, and I'm sure I'm not the only one and why the hell should I put myself out when the 'powers that be' go their own merry way!!

Aha Maddie, but if we had an affordable reliable 'go everywhere' public transport system, people could get by without cars!! :o)

I totally agree with recycling, it's a very worthwhile practice. It will not necessarily help much with changing the planet in the near future... only long term, so well worth it. I don't see how it will help the ozone layer initially other practices need to be addressed first.

Maggie, you're right. We should do our bit where we can but big business has a lot to answer for and this needs to be addressed.

Hi Tuna :-)
I hate to tell you this but there's a theory that global warming will make the UK colder. I think it is to do with the melted icecaps causing a disruption to the gulf stream which keeps us warm. We are on a parallel to Moscow and New York which are bitterly cold in winter but the gulf stream keeps us warm. When the gulf stream moves, we will become as cold as they are in winter. I'm no expert either so stand to be corrected :-)

Oh dear... I did say I was a useless debater..

I know that 20 years ago when I worked outside, winters were far harsher than they are now so something is changing.

We will adapt.. and the future generations won't actually be able to appreciate how it is for us now, as we can't really appreciate the life of the caveman.

I was just warning you Tuna so you didn't go out and buy all those bikini's so soon. Make a room in your drawer for thermal underwear lol

Yes it is warmer in the winters than it use to be 20 years ago. I wonder how long it will last?

Recycling is fine if the lorry comes to the door. We don't have a glass/bottle collection, so people have to drive their cars to the nearest bottle bank - thus creating more unecessary pollution and negating the energy saved by recycling.
Then there are the awkward Bu**ers like me who don't own a car and am certainly not going to walk 2 miles with empty bottles either after a days work or at the weekend!!! I occasionally store them for my daughter to take to the dump, but usually end up putting them in the bin because glass lying around the house/garden is a wee bit dangerous!!

Maggie I lived nd worked in London for over 20 years (without a car) before I moved to the West Country.

I still use a bus most days to get to work I pay for an annual ticket. My bus ticket for less than four miles costs more than when I worked in London and had a zone 1 - 4 travelcard for busses trains and tubes.

I have a choice of two buses and the stops are a ten min walk apart so I have to make a choice - bus that runs twice an hour but is direct - or a bus that is supposed to be every 15 mins but goes miles out of my way to get to the same destination.

Driving is more and more appealing although my bus pass runs till Nov so will use it at least till then.

is it really all changing because of man??? or is it just that man speeds the process up?

Think about it the earth has had hot/humid jungle and cold/ice age weather in past long before airplanes, fridges car exhausts and aerosols etc.

Just a thought!!!!!

Maggie, where I live we have a bin for rubbish and a bin for recycling.

Something like that would probably suit you better.

They don't do more pickups than usual - they pick up the rubbish bin every 2 weeks and the recycling bin on alternative weeks so it doesn't use extra petrol,

The thing is.....we (as humans) have a vested interest in slowing down global warming.

If we are speeding up the process, it is already having an effect on countries around the world including our own. There have been droughts in some countries and floods in ours.

And what about our children?

UHUH Im like SRS my recycling is collected weekly but my Bin only fortnightly and the lid has to shut - if it dosent they throw the top bag at your house and only take the rest.

Bt we have to sort out recycing even though we only have a black box. I had to pay out my own money for the stackable boxes we have.

Squirrel I agree but everyone seems to think earth is warming because of what we are doing to harm it, rather than seeing it as a natural progess that we aren't helping.

I have a fortnightly rubbish collection and recycling collection, but it doesn't include glass - however it does in nearby towns served by a different council.
I'm not prepared to have glass hanging around the house or garden waiting for a favour from someone though.

I also agree it's a natural proces - as is coastal erosion. The coast has never been static, Dunwich all but disappeared 200 years ago - it's just that society nowadays seems to think it should be able to control Mother Nature!!