I’m confused… there I’ve said it. Confused, because I’ve seen opinions about what will happen and what are the consequences and absolutely masses of information on what needs to be done….plus we are all experiencing price hikes… and surcharges on plane usage, like an increase in fares is going to stop people flying and help arrest Climate Change .. lots of money is being spent everywhere but very little factsWe talk about Global Warming and Climate Change as if we were talking about about defined absolutes that everybody agrees on.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) produced the reports that Stern and Governments use, so it is the official bible on the subject, even if many discredit it’s impartiality.
The Fourth (latest) IPCC report gives a range in the rise in the global average temperature by the year 2100 (90 years from now) of
1.8C .. best estimate for it’s lowest emissions scenario and
4.0C …best estimate for it’s highest emissions scenario
A mean increase of under 3.0C… so rounding figures that’s an increase of 0.03C a year for the next 100 years. Although not mentioned is the fact that during the last 25years (1975-2000) temp rise was 0.02C per year
And at this precise time the Temp in Liverpool is 9 degrees C and the temp in Jakarta is 34 degrees C. Big difference in temperature … and no one dies… People adapt and become inventive and make better use of resources in the process.
At this point I should mention that my views and observations are mine and perhaps not representative of Green Planet Environmental Ltd.
Hardly doom and gloom… agreed any rise is bad, but it causes people to change and no one really wants to, but surely the whole Climate Change frenzy is moving us down the wrong avenues and ignoring the real issues … Issues that if tackled in a sensible fashion would reduce CO2 emissions.
Personally I think, humanity has a miniscule effect on Climate Change and if we all dropped back into the 12thcentury, the noticeable difference would be zero. But that is a debate I have no desire to get into.
My concern is that the thrust of Climate Change control, is the west will still consume and pollute as we always and always will, while we tell 3rd world countries that they can’t have what we have, because the ‘consequences’ are too severe. (An increase of 0.03C a year for the next 100 years.)
Anyway, yesterday, a couple of things happened that gave me a ‘Eureka’ moment.
- I went to pay my Water Rates which are £630.00pa .. The nice lady pointed out that with a water meter installed my bills would be about £400.00pa…. ok I’m not saving any more water.., but that is not the point of a Eureka moment. A business or organisation can make a change , I get the same product and I save money for the same product.
- I listened to the MD of Puma talk about ditching the traditional shoe box and start selling trainers in eco-friendly bags. The cost is exactly the same to Puma and us.. but he stated the move will reduce the amount of paper used by the firm by a massive 8,500 tonnes (65pc per item)each year, saving 20 m megajoules of electricity, 1m l of water, 500,000 l of diesel used 275 tonnes of plastic plus chemicals that have to be processed to dispose of them safely.
What is irrefutable is that fact that we are using resources in a totally wasteful fashion.
We all know the mantra … Reduce, Reuse and Recycle.
Reuse, Recycle are all within our ability… and get heavily promoted at extraordinary cost added to us saving money in these economic times and it really is a no brainer.
But the biggy.. Reduce, that requires sacrifice? Or does it.
Puma did it by getting rid of the Shoe box. Click here
Why don’t all companies who make trainers or shoes do the same? It doesn’t affect the product.
NatureWorks ™ produce a nature-based biodegradable bottle. BIOTA is the first beverage company in the world to use it . Click here
Why don’t all companies who produce drinks in containers do the same? It doesn’t affect the product to us.
Kenaf, should be the fibre crop of the 21st century. It grows quickly, to a height of 12 ft plus in as little as 4 to 5 months. And U.S. D of A reports show that kenaf yield of 6 to 10 tons of dry fibre per acre per year are 3 to 5 times larger than the yield for Southern pine trees, which can take from 7 to 40 years to reach harvestable size. Click here
So why don’t all companies who buy or make a huge range of products from cardboard, paper, plywood sheets to oil spill powder, insist on kenaf , how many trees would we save alone? How many jobs in poor countries would we create? And it doesn’t affect the product to us.
Everyone’s favourite is the Supermarket packaging, if they are set on not reducing packaging why don’t they go the M&S route, and why put eggs in plastic boxes rather than cardboard?
There are lots of other examples, but my Eureka moment is that like we as adults we wouldn’t give children food that will ultimately kill them .. err… ok bad example WE as a planet REQUIRE manufacturers to look after us. And protect us from ourselves and our planet, like Puma have, by providing us our Coke Cola or whatever in the most environmentally friendly way.
I would not mind paying a few pennies more for my drink or paperback book if that is what it takes to avoid polluting the planet and there will be a CO2 saving for those who want to label it that way
Reduce should be the buzz word rather than Climate Change