Environmental Awareness and the Young

[kwackers]

but the government of whatever political colour is increasing taxes such as fuel duty and talking of raising energy bills to develop green forms of energy and insulting our intelligence by using the green excuse when we all know it's purely to raise more revenue.

Revenue has to come from somewhere. If not taxing stuff that's bad - where would you suggest it comes from?

[meic]

As a Russian president said in the 1960s "That aircraft carrier Britain" referring to how insignificant our island is globally.
It grieves me that UK motorists are being taxed off the roads under the supposed green banner when countries like China, India and the USA carry on regardless.
I believe that we should be making efforts to reduce our energy useage but the government of whatever political colour is increasing taxes such as fuel duty and talking of raising energy bills to develop green forms of energy and insulting our intelligence by using the green excuse when we all know it's purely to raise more revenue.
Back to topic, when one of my sons was living in a student house a few years ago, it was hot inside in the winter, when he and his friends were asked why have the heating on so high, the reply was there's no thermostat and were paying rent for the house all bills included so why should we be cold?

Well this seems to be an example of neither generation being environmentally aware.

[hubgearfreak]

the government of whatever political colour is increasing taxes such as fuel duty and talking of raising energy bills to develop green forms of energy and insulting our intelligence by using the green excuse when we all know it's purely to raise more revenue.

utter twaddle. when unleaded fuel was introduced there was a big wait for people to switch over out of altruism. nothing happened. 2p/l differential soon saw to that
there's been enough comments about disposable carrier bags..and nothing changes. ireland introduces 10eurocent tax on them and their consumption is down 97%

the most (only) effective way of changing people's behaviour is through market based instruments. the money doesn't get destroyed at the other end, it goes to schools, hospitals, arabian wars - whatever the electorate wants general taxation to go on. perhaps you're happier with the situation whereby those that earn money or create wealth subsidise polluters, but i'm not

[Punk_shore]

Being "green" is a personal thing. A few years ago, when taking some aluminium saucepans to a charity shop, I was told that I should have taken them to the scrap merchant.
I have reasonable household recycling facilities, but get annoyed when visitors refuse to use them. What happens to all the recyclables I collect I dread to think - probably most of them are exported to the third world. My own view is that Britain will become a third world country unless we can sort out how to recycle materials ourselves.

[Jonty]

Darn socks????????????????????????????//
Modern socks are made of cotton/nylon mixes and are not exactly conducive to being darned!
The price of some modern socks and undies it is cheaper though maybe not more environmentally aware to buy and throw each time they are used rather than wash them.

All this upgrading your furniture constantly and modern fitted everything is not environmentally aware, what about re-cycling and buying refurbished white goods.

If we were truly environmentally aware why do we need street lights on from midnight to 5am, at least many of the motorways around here are now switching off.

I take the point about darning socks. My wife doesn't even do it and she's from Yorkshire.
jonty

[wrangler_rover]

I realise revenue has to come from somewhere and taxing essentials isn't popular, but here's a novel concept and I'm sure that it is practiced by many households on a not such grand scale:

Reduce your expenditure, there are some areas where savings could be made straight away:
Foreign Aid, was it necessary to give £650 million to Pakistan, that's like a family who can't afford a hoilday subsidising their rich relations who enjoy foreign hoildays.
Reduce our contributions to the EU, or better still get out and don't underwrite lame duck Euro economies like Portugal.
Withdraw from Libya & Afghanistan.
I could go on.
By the way, I read the Daily Express not the Daily Mail.

[Jonty]

I realise revenue has to come from somewhere and taxing essentials isn't popular, but here's a novel concept and I'm sure that it is practiced by many households on a not such grand scale:

Reduce your expenditure, there are some areas where savings could be made straight away:
Foreign Aid, was it necessary to give £650 million to Pakistan, that's like a family who can't afford a hoilday subsidising their rich relations who enjoy foreign hoildays.
Reduce our contributions to the EU, or better still get out and don't underwrite lame duck Euro economies like Portugal.
Withdraw from Libya & Afghanistan.
I could go on.
By the way, I read the Daily Express not the Daily Mail.

Reduce the number of MPs by a third, have an elected "House of Lords" with only 100 members, nationalise all houses bought my MPs using public money, all people on long-term benefits to be put on a fitness programme and bring in the harvest rather than employing foreigners, students required to take summer jobs bringing in the harvest etc.
I read the Times and Guardian.
jonty

[meic]

All small change compared to Trident and a couple of Battleships.

However this thead is about environmental awareness and you are discussing ways for the government to cut spending inorder to cut the tax on fuel, so that you can burn more of it.

Another victory for the side of the youth I would say.

[NUKe]

Darning a sock would strike them as something out of Dickens.
jonty

when was the lastitime you darned a pair of Socks. ?

[jan19]

when was the lastitime you darned a pair of Socks.

?

My mother in law used to sew nametags into both her boys' school socks. She thought me a very unfit mother when I didn't do the same for my girls. But I probably lost more socks than she ever did (although my youngest never bothered with losing things like socks, she preferred to lose coats and the like...)

Jan

[Flinders]

I still darn clothes- a sad case, I know....

I think these things go in phases. When I was a kid every time the electricity bill came dad would pull us up about waste, howling 'there are lights burning all over this house' if he went into a room when there was a light on but you'd just gone out for a second.....then it would wear off gradually until the next bill came.

Maybe automatic payments of bills doesn't help!

[hubgearfreak]

this thead is about environmental awareness and you are discussing ways for the government to cut spending inorder to cut the tax on fuel, so that you can burn more of it.

yes, silly aren't they

[AlanD]

I think that awareness really strikes home when the utility bills have their names on them, not their parents.

[Jonty]

I live in a modest 5 bed-roomed house and when my 2 children lived at home I could have employed someone full-time to go round continually switching off the lights.
jonty

[kwackers]

I live in a modest 5 bed-roomed house and when my 2 children lived at home I could have employed someone full-time to go round continually switching off the lights.
jonty

Hilarious.

Only Jonty could run the terms "modest' and "five bedroomed" together with a straight face.