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spurtle
24-Jan-08, 19:15
The biggest impact that can be made in a short time, on reducing emissions is just that - reduce our use of heating/cars/gizmos etc..
Big business and government are doing very little towards this, and could be taking a lead that others would follow.
Tesco - tiddley little windmills on the roof to power the tills (sometimes) - stiflingly hot inside - staff in shirt sleeves - 25 televisions all on at once on the back wall all day - come on! What is that all about?
Went into an office in Wick today - secretary sitting in a sleeveless blouse! What is wrong with turning the temp down a couple of degrees and wearing some clothes instead.
It is not some basic human right to be able to dress indoors as if it were high summer on the coldest day in January - are we all nuts????!.

In fact the Tesco example is a pretty good cipher for the whole nonsensical windfarm thing - make a token effort to show how "green" you are, but ignore the fact that we in the west are just using TOO MUCH energy.

Rheghead
24-Jan-08, 19:31
I have got to agree with pretty much everything you have said.

Dog-eared
24-Jan-08, 19:53
Absolutely.

NickInTheNorth
24-Jan-08, 19:57
Totally agree.

And the really stupid thing is that we can all make a huge difference with very minor changes.

Use low energy bulbs
Switch off lights when leaving a room
Turn the TV off rather than leave on standby

Dusty
24-Jan-08, 20:00
No argument from me there.

Sounds suspiciously like common sense though, don't know how that will go down in today's modern world. [lol]

rupert
24-Jan-08, 21:28
Hear, hear Spurtle! Have you noticed whenever you see pictures on the TV of the city of London, or Glasgow or whereever all the lights blazing in these skyscrapers all night long? Its total madness.

Riffman
24-Jan-08, 21:40
I try to reduce my energy useage as much as possible, I can't afford to waste it, its expensive!!!!

spurtle
24-Jan-08, 21:46
The problem for us little folk is that our wee efforts seem so pointless compared with the profligacy of big enterprise/government etc - They should be made to take a lead, or no=one is going to see why they should contribute their tuppence halfpenny. There are huge differences that could be made, but there seems no political will to do it.
Look at HC's headquarters in Inverness for a start. Just feel the heat. All Government offices should be made to keep their temperature below a certain level -

Trying to find ever more pointless ways of generating electricity only increases consumption by giving peope the false sense of having achieved something by sticking a solar panel on the roof, or a windmill on the hill - It is like adding more carriageways to a motorway - you just get more cars

JAWS
25-Jan-08, 05:07
Ah, the good old days, how well I remember them! One coal fire to heat the living room and nowhere else in the house. Water pipes freezing up and bursting in winter. A hot water bottle used to warm at least part of a freezing cold bed in a freezing cold bedroom. Frost and loads of condensation on the inside of bedroom windows. Getting out of bed in a still freezing cold bedroom.

I dread to think how many people either died or ended up with serious illnesses caused by living in cold damp houses every winter. Add to that the fact that all you aware doing was storing up long term health problems for later in life with various muscle and joint problems. It was no coincidence that Doctors were in the habit of prescribing, for those who could afford it, wintering in the Mediterranean Countries.

But who cares about that? Come on folks, who needs central heating, turn all off and experience the "Good Old Days" first hand! But remember, you have to do it all winter, whatever the weather is like.

ywindythesecond
25-Jan-08, 09:19
Ah, the good old days, how well I remember them! One coal fire to heat the living room and nowhere else in the house. Water pipes freezing up and bursting in winter. A hot water bottle used to warm at least part of a freezing cold bed in a freezing cold bedroom. Frost and loads of condensation on the inside of bedroom windows. Getting out of bed in a still freezing cold bedroom.

I dread to think how many people either died or ended up with serious illnesses caused by living in cold damp houses every winter. Add to that the fact that all you aware doing was storing up long term health problems for later in life with various muscle and joint problems. It was no coincidence that Doctors were in the habit of prescribing, for those who could afford it, wintering in the Mediterranean Countries.

But who cares about that? Come on folks, who needs central heating, turn all off and experience the "Good Old Days" first hand! But remember, you have to do it all winter, whatever the weather is like.

That is not a fair point Jaws. Spurtle is not advocating a return to the old days when there was almost no provision for energy conservation. I remember well the one fire in the living room and beds so cold you were scared to get into them. In those days most of the heat from the fire was simply lost. Spurtle is just saying, use your energy better, and dont waste it.

Green_not_greed
25-Jan-08, 11:19
I completely agree - turn it down or turn it off, dress for the north of Scotland and not Florrida....


Ah, the good old days, how well I remember them! One coal fire to heat the living room and nowhere else in the house.

[Said in best Yorkshire accent]....
A coal fire? You were lucky - there were 156 of us huddling round a candle........

spurtle
25-Jan-08, 18:07
That is not a fair point Jaws. Spurtle is not advocating a return to the old days when there was almost no provision for energy conservation. I remember well the one fire in the living room and beds so cold you were scared to get into them. In those days most of the heat from the fire was simply lost. Spurtle is just saying, use your energy better, and dont waste it.

Thank you ywindy,
I am simply pointing out that we take a secure power supply very much for granted, as we do with our cheap food supply. Whether anyone likes it or not, that is all going to come to a grinding halt if we continue as we are, wasting the world's resources. I have lived among some of the poorest people on the globe, where every grain and every scrap of heating material is precious.
We heat and eat too much and we waste or throw away another pile as if there were no tomorrow.
Well, tomorrow will not thank us for today unless we get out act together and use what we have more responsibly.