I said elsewhere I hope Greta Thunberg does have corporate support behind her. They have the motivation (greed - yes, greed and corporate hubris) and it will not be the like of the UN or individual countries that will make determined efforts to hold climate change at least to minimal numbers.
It will only happen when,
The like of Ikea realise there are VAST amounts of money to be made from selling cheap solar panels
The likes of Renault want to step up as THE European manufacturer of electric cars and thumb their noses at the Germans.
The likes of EDF realise there is a fortune to be made from selling light switches that turn off automatically as we leave the room
The likes of … (who knows) realises covering the Sarah desert in solar panels will provide energy for the world and will earn billions in the process.
The likes of … (who knows) builds wind farms off the east coast of the US and makes a fortune
The likes of … installs and leases 3d printing in every community so that suddenly manufacturing goes small and local
The likes of Norman Foster realises that there are billions to be made from new types of housing - that rise with tides, that are eco, that stay cool underground.
In 2017 I bought a set of outside Christmas lights (10 metres long with 120 lights) powered by a tiny solar panel not much bigger than a beer mat.
It stood, little black face tilted bravely upwards and unblinking, on a plastic spike in the lawn, and needed no instruction or maintenance.
It soaked up the feeble winter sun by day and, on the no-cost proceeds, the lights flashed merrily on a tree in the garden from dusk till dawn (clever little thing knew the time, it seems).
It’s now sleeping in its little cardboard box waiting for another duty call mid-December. Aaaah!
Part of our plans to renovate the house we are buying is to add solar PV and solar thermal panels (provided the mairie agrees).
We had solar thermal panels in Scotland and they worked a treat providing more hot water than we could use in the guesthouse.
Most governments support (via grants or taxes) efforts to reduce fossil fuels.
And I am planting trees… garden is way big enough.
Yes indeed it is. We all can do something.
Even just buying LED lights once the old bulbs die… or turning the engine off when parked…
We have budgeted for solar panels and perhaps heat exchanger, but hope there are some incentives available in France - just as they were in Scotland.
I so agree with the comments and suggestions above. We each are responsible for doing what we can AS INDIVIDUALS rather than waiting around for politicians to do it for us.
So long as we sit around waiting for others to “solve” this, we remain powerless and depressed. The moment we say “this is what I can do” we take back power and it snowballs.
Even the smallest of things.
We no longer buy water in plastic bottles and look with horror on those in our local town wheeling out their supermarket trolleys filled to the brim with plastic wrapped water.
Our next car will be electric.
We installed electric underfloor heating 10 years ago for the day when solar panels would be affordable for us. With Ikea entering the market, that day is nearly there.
We no longer buy synthetic materials (clothes etc) because of the damage they do.
We avoid like the plague products like micellar water.
We would never go on a cruise.
We plant trees. So far over 70, some fruit but mainly woodland trees. We will plant more.
We have four water butts and an underground water tank. We will install more.
We replace each burnt out lightbulb with an LED bulb.
Wherever possible we buy local produce (here I struggle and long for the day when avocados, ginger, turmeric and coconuts are grown in France. Ah! I think I’ve just wished for global warming!)
We are now questioning when/how we travel, especially as we’re fortunate enough to be within reach of the TGV out of Bordeaux.
These are only tiny steps, but they are a start.
You are quite right, I was being facetious and a bit disingenuous people do forget they are just France though
Actually I grow ginger in my house very successfully, we eat a lot of it I should think turmeric and galangal would work too. They grow avocadoes in southern Spain; I don’t know where the nearest coconuts might be,
Really great initiative. I find it interesting that the UK is talking about “citizen assemblies” (see Thunberg thread) when there are already so many small initiatives like this that just need actioning. Food waste in Paris to compost
I buy the rhizomes in Grand frais for eating and when they sprout, as some inevitably do, I put them in compost with a bit of sand, not too deep, in a bucket, and then water the plant when I think about it, I just put it somewhere warm with good light and no draughts eg a bathroom and don’t let it dry out. When I want some ginger I just chop off a bit of the rhizome. Very unscientific but this is what I saw my mother doing, she was born SE Asia like most of my French family.
Thanks for the info. Ours tend to sprout anyway as I buy very large pieces in large quantities and they sit in a cupboard in the dark. I’d often wondered, and thought about putting them in sand. This would be brilliant.
all departements just like eg the Gers or the Bas-Rhin or the Alpes-Maritimes.
people do forget they are just France though