‘Refocus everyone on saving the environment - I agree wholeheartedly, but how? Hopefully Starmer’s concept of National British Energy will help lead the way. If he’s elected PM. Can’t see Liz Truss leading the way at the moment.
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I’ll do my bit by pointing to Labour’s Manifesto – their ‘Green Transformation’.
They’ll be a Conservative Party version published after their Conference in October no doubt.
I hear that Liz Truss had favoured bringing back foxhunting and will continue the badger cull – I hope not!
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Perhaps a good start would be a carbon footprint labeling system for everything that is commercially offered for sale. We have energy efficiency labels, and nutritional value labels, so why not carbon footprint labels.
We have to reduce the amount of things that we buy, and also the amount of ‘stuff’ that is thrown away.
We need to eat seasonally, and preferably locally produced food, and if not exactly local, then at least produced in France. I like Avocados, but I don’t buy them when the country of origin is Peru.
We are encouraged to buy electric vehicles, but what is the carbon footprint of manufacturing one compared to continuing to use the well maintained and perfectly sufficient car which we already have.
Do we really need that new mobile phone ? Will it actually make phone calls any better ? Does it matter if it sends a text message a couple of nanoseconds faster ? I bet the camera that has been consigned to the back of the cupboard still works just fine.
We have to stop being pressured into constantly buying new things. What we need to do is to re-use, re-purpose, re-cycle, and make buying a new thing the absolute last resort.
Happily, following this mantra is also good for one’s wallet.
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There’s a previous thread – ‘Doing your bit for the environment’ started by Porridge, a year ago, but I don’t know how to link to it….
Maybe it would useful to link another thread started by Geoff_Cox a year ago – ‘Climate/ecological breakdown’…
This one?
Found by using the Search icon on the Topic bar…
Yup, but don’t know the mechanics of linking it…there’s another one…my last post…
use the chain icon below the post you wish to link to and copy then paste the link to your post…
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Both threads mentioned by @Bonzocat are still relevant, sadly now even more so.
I applaud the cities/towns with free public transport, clean, efficient and less traffic. More pedestrian only areas would also be excellent.
Our little village closes Le Cour for evenings and Sundays during summer, so cafés and restos spread out under the trees and the atmosphere is so fun.
Here are some wonderful ideas for pedestrianised cities/towns:
I also think people should just stop flying. Take holidays by train. Enjoy the journey!
I agree with all that @Robert_Hodge has suggested but am worried because my iPhone 7 no longer is getting security updates from Apple, so may need a new phone. That, or two cans on a string.
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Or a reconditioned later iPhone model? 
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The cynic in me wonders if this is a deliberate ploy by Apple to encourage the purchase of a new phone to replace the current one which works perfectly well for the user’s needs.
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I don’t think so. All manufacturers hardware and software platforms evolve and the cost of testing patches for multiple configurations can rise exponentially over time. A line needs to be drawn at some stage and seven years seems reasonable. Plus, after having been running for that length of time it’s unlikely there’s an exposure that hasn’t been addressed. I read somewhere that Apple are guaranteeing X numbers of years patches for the new iPhone 14, I think X might be seven, so that’s probably corporate policy.
Cynicism has its uses when shopping 
. Research helps too
Seems that the EU is going to legislate that all mobile phones provide operating platform updates for at least 3 years and security updates for 5 years. The aim is to keep people using their older phones and reduce waste. Apple already provide the full deal for 5 years, so kudos to IOS.
You are not entirely wrong to be cynical about manufacturers but looking at it that way, we know that we could build cars/kettles/fridges/irons/toasters… that could last 20 years but a great business model needs repeat business.
On the other hand, I do have woolies that are now rocking 40 years old. No clothes horse, I.
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The thing is we don’t need to stop flying entirely. There’s a well worked out tax scheme - the frequent flyer levy - that I think everybody that has looked into it agrees would do the job. Basically, everybody is allowed 1 or 2 flights a year tax free - but then the more flights and distance you fly higher and higher tax kicks in, so most people are put off flying much. The odd billionaire, no doubt, would still fly off every week - but the huge sums they’d be paying would be used to clean up their mess.
This is a good model for green taxation - essentially the opposite approach to Macron’s fuel tax, which placed the burden mainly on the hard-pressed - and which the gilets jaunes revealed to be unworkable.
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I wonder what the difference is between a ‘ploy’ to get people to buy new phones and ‘corporate policy’ John?
Are you suggesting that corporate policy might alternatively be directed at getting people not to buy new phones?
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Yikes! All this does is encourage people to fly somewhere on holiday.
I know there is the argument that for some (sunnier) countries tourism is a large part of their economy but surely people would still go by other means? Business travel is still essential but increasingly less so.
I’m not sure but I fear that free market force is destroying this planet.
One major key element in saving the planet is clearly the greater production of clean electricity. In the UK there’s already a huge electric infrastructure. Nationalize it, expand it and ban fossil fuels. There are new technologies that can make good use of that infrastructure.
Old technology as well, heat pumps, been around for ages - is another example.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=px24dAKSFKA&t=178s
The USA should lead the way by electrifying everything, showing that it can replace fossil fuels, and be cheaper than. Then others could follow suit.
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Oh yes I agree - or rather it’s ‘free market’ ideology. This is the point of my previous reply to John - perhaps I should have been clearer. Corporate policy is always a collection of ploys to sell more products/services, since this is inherent in capitalist business models - as is the really damaging tendency to monopoly.
The fact that a corporate policy directed at selling less is inconceivable in the capitalist business world underlines the point that it is fundamentally incompatible with what we have to do for the environment.
But note 2 things:
- Small businesses are generally not ‘growth’ but ‘lifestyle’ businesses (this is the distinction used in the business development world - which sees the latter as a waste of time because it is (wrongly) focused on growth. Lifestyle businesses do decide to sell less frequently. They generally have no desire to grow into mega-corporations. They are usually integrated with their local community and environment, and are often socially useful.
- It is ‘free market ideology’ - not really free markets. It’s easy to expose the fact that big business does not really believe in free markets by suggesting the repeal of intellectual property rights - just watch them all turn into arch-market-regulators in an instant! In fact, unregulated markets are not possible - all markets take place within strict legal, cultural etc frameworks - that is not the issue. The on]y issue is who benefits from the market regulation.
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A quote from ‘How to Fix Climate Change’…
Flying is energy-intensive per minute, but not per mile. Per passenger-mile travelled, it requires approximately the same energy as driving in a car with a passenger. That said, reducing the number of flights taken is one of the most effective ways for individuals to reduce their energy footprints.
How to Fix Climate Change (A Sneaky Policy Guide) | The MIT Press Reader
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It’s ‘MEN’ who are destroying the planet – my pet subject. I’ve said it before somewhere else on SF, so I’ll say no more!