Firstly I would like to clarify that I am not green in either hue nor an environmentally. I don't recycle I know I should but I am just one man. I think a lot of people have the same mindset. We are just individuals and we want to make a difference but how much difference can one person make? The boffins of the government or environmental agencies would argue "you can make a difference" I doubt it mate.
We as a generation are supposed to want to save the world from constantly worsening green house gases and pollution. Our generation is supposed to be responsible for making sure our planet doesn't die off or global warming doesn't get so bad that the polar ice caps melt and we have world wide floods. Most importantly we are being held responsible for all those happening in the first place.
I think as consumers of all things non-recyclable we are victims as much as the rest of the world. The truth of the matter is no-one knew this was going to happen and it was already too late by the time we realised. So how's about stop saying "look at what you've/we've done" and start coming up with some actual solutions. At the moment we are seeing a lot of car manufacturers designing and producing 'electric' cars or hybrids. Yes we know that they don't use as much petrol/diesel but they do take energy from plug sockets which is usually created by nuclear reactors somewhere and from what I hear they're not too great for the environment either.
There are councils that make you separate your rubbish before they will take it away for you. That's a good step in the right direction, but why is it only the 'upper class' areas of the country that really get the full advantage of this luxury? Yes I am aware that they pay a bit (maybe a lot more) council tax than the 'lower class' areas but why not balance out the fees and make it a more balanced service across the country? Around where I live there are those plastic recycling boxes to put your paper or cans or bottles in but that is sparse when you look at it on a regional scale. Lets be honest, it's a fact that the more effort involved in recycling the less likely they are to actually do it. I don't, I never have, but as I said I'm just one man and it currently requires me to go out of my way to do so. And believe me I am just too lazy.
I think there are things we can all do to do "our bit", I mean switching things off at the plug when you're not using them really does conserve energy; You will not only saving yourself some money but you can say that you have reduced your carbon footprint, even if its only a little bit. There might be more but that's kind of it, unless you start walking or catching the bus instead of driving and recycling everything you ever use. Even so, on a global scale your impact would be miniscule and that is what I would like to address.
In the office where I work, up until recently we had these little rubbish bins usually located every second desk or so. They were taken with an e-mail announcement to say they were being replaced by recycling bins. Honestly I was a little bit chuffed, I thought that all the staff would be doing their bit without making any extra effort, and that’s never a bad thing is it? When these wonder-bins came in, I was more than a little bit disappointed. They turned out to be just big versions of the little bins they had just taken out. There aren’t separate ones for cans, paper, plastic cups etc just one for all your waste. The only difference is that they have see-through bags so you can see it all better. Can someone please tell me if there is point in spending money replacing bins so we can see out rubbish better, try as I might I can’t see it.
Ok so back to it, here we go government and environmental agencies - pay attention because this is what I propose;
Firstly the following needs to be made legislature so that it can be enforced and must be adhered to. All offices of a certain size (I will let you determine that) must achieve reduced energy waste by X% (again, I will let you determine the figure - I suggest 5% might be a good starting point) by 2015 or the company will be subject to a fine. Simple as that. And I know that you can forecast these sorts of figures because a post on our intranet at work said that if we all turned our computers off over the Christmas and New Year period we would save X amount of energy. Wow, that’s great but why don’t we all just turn off our computers anyway? If the easiest way for companies to save energy is to turn off the computers within it, then I believe we’re onto a winner. Within each company there will be disciplinary processes that could incorporate not turning off your computer, these offending members of staff would easily be clamped down because technically they are breaking the law.
If my idea came into fruition it would quickly and directly affect the entire county. And yes there would be thousands of people moaning about the inconvenience of turning off their computers every day (I’d moan if it wasn’t my idea) but who cares. With the slightest change to your daily routine you will literally be helping reduce energy consumption on a scale that will actually make a difference. I do appreciate that this kind of change can’t happen overnight but just think about how much energy the entire world would save if every office turned off every non-essential computer (we have a reporting computer that pulls some pretty important data through the night - we can let that one stay on).
So to Mr Government, if you have any better ideas, do share them because a promise to the EU to reduce carbon emissions means absolutely buggar all unless you start doing something about it.
We as a generation are supposed to want to save the world from constantly worsening green house gases and pollution. Our generation is supposed to be responsible for making sure our planet doesn't die off or global warming doesn't get so bad that the polar ice caps melt and we have world wide floods. Most importantly we are being held responsible for all those happening in the first place.
I think as consumers of all things non-recyclable we are victims as much as the rest of the world. The truth of the matter is no-one knew this was going to happen and it was already too late by the time we realised. So how's about stop saying "look at what you've/we've done" and start coming up with some actual solutions. At the moment we are seeing a lot of car manufacturers designing and producing 'electric' cars or hybrids. Yes we know that they don't use as much petrol/diesel but they do take energy from plug sockets which is usually created by nuclear reactors somewhere and from what I hear they're not too great for the environment either.
There are councils that make you separate your rubbish before they will take it away for you. That's a good step in the right direction, but why is it only the 'upper class' areas of the country that really get the full advantage of this luxury? Yes I am aware that they pay a bit (maybe a lot more) council tax than the 'lower class' areas but why not balance out the fees and make it a more balanced service across the country? Around where I live there are those plastic recycling boxes to put your paper or cans or bottles in but that is sparse when you look at it on a regional scale. Lets be honest, it's a fact that the more effort involved in recycling the less likely they are to actually do it. I don't, I never have, but as I said I'm just one man and it currently requires me to go out of my way to do so. And believe me I am just too lazy.
I think there are things we can all do to do "our bit", I mean switching things off at the plug when you're not using them really does conserve energy; You will not only saving yourself some money but you can say that you have reduced your carbon footprint, even if its only a little bit. There might be more but that's kind of it, unless you start walking or catching the bus instead of driving and recycling everything you ever use. Even so, on a global scale your impact would be miniscule and that is what I would like to address.
In the office where I work, up until recently we had these little rubbish bins usually located every second desk or so. They were taken with an e-mail announcement to say they were being replaced by recycling bins. Honestly I was a little bit chuffed, I thought that all the staff would be doing their bit without making any extra effort, and that’s never a bad thing is it? When these wonder-bins came in, I was more than a little bit disappointed. They turned out to be just big versions of the little bins they had just taken out. There aren’t separate ones for cans, paper, plastic cups etc just one for all your waste. The only difference is that they have see-through bags so you can see it all better. Can someone please tell me if there is point in spending money replacing bins so we can see out rubbish better, try as I might I can’t see it.
Ok so back to it, here we go government and environmental agencies - pay attention because this is what I propose;
Firstly the following needs to be made legislature so that it can be enforced and must be adhered to. All offices of a certain size (I will let you determine that) must achieve reduced energy waste by X% (again, I will let you determine the figure - I suggest 5% might be a good starting point) by 2015 or the company will be subject to a fine. Simple as that. And I know that you can forecast these sorts of figures because a post on our intranet at work said that if we all turned our computers off over the Christmas and New Year period we would save X amount of energy. Wow, that’s great but why don’t we all just turn off our computers anyway? If the easiest way for companies to save energy is to turn off the computers within it, then I believe we’re onto a winner. Within each company there will be disciplinary processes that could incorporate not turning off your computer, these offending members of staff would easily be clamped down because technically they are breaking the law.
If my idea came into fruition it would quickly and directly affect the entire county. And yes there would be thousands of people moaning about the inconvenience of turning off their computers every day (I’d moan if it wasn’t my idea) but who cares. With the slightest change to your daily routine you will literally be helping reduce energy consumption on a scale that will actually make a difference. I do appreciate that this kind of change can’t happen overnight but just think about how much energy the entire world would save if every office turned off every non-essential computer (we have a reporting computer that pulls some pretty important data through the night - we can let that one stay on).
So to Mr Government, if you have any better ideas, do share them because a promise to the EU to reduce carbon emissions means absolutely buggar all unless you start doing something about it.
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