Cycling UK Forum

Has anyone got any idea why so many young people seem to be so environmentally unaware? By young I mean anyone 30 or under. They never switch the lights off, turning down the central heating and putting on a jumper never occurs to them and they seem, like quite a few cyclists, to be addicted to foreign travel and cheap flights.
I find this quite strange given the publicity given to environmental issues these days.
Darning a sock would strike them as something out of Dickens.
jonty

Personally I find the worse offenders to be the middle aged up.

Their problem is they *know* what's bad but think it doesn't apply to them. As a general rule I find the young to be fairly aware.

I would say that the young are much more environmentally aware than the previous generations. Unfortunately they have been bought up by less aware parents and grandparents who have spoiled them to the extent that they need these trappings of modern life more than the parents who failed to pass on the needed skills.

They are headed in the right direction but from a much worse starting point.
The apogee of pollution, I hope.

Jonty wrote: They never switch the lights off, turning down the central heating and putting on a jumper never occurs to them and they seem, like quite a few cyclists, to be addicted to foreign travel and cheap flights.

sadly, that sort are well represented in all age groups.

Hey, I'm under 30 and I tend to keep things until they expire, be green and all that.

To answer your question, how can young people hope to be green when they're being targeted (much like their parents) to constantly upgrade their phone, computer, TV and so on?. Such is the pressure to buy these things that it takes a true individualist to turn his/her back on the upgrade cycle, which of course ends in being a social outcast amongst your peers, the ultimate punishment for most at our age.

At any rate, turning lights off and the heating down amounts to nothing compared to buying new electrical goods (producing goods consumes a huge amount of resources).

Nicely said Freddie. It's not just younger people we're talking about with this. It's just the natural behaviour of the consumer society. To overcome these tendancies requires considerable effort and awareness, something that runs counter to the mindset that consumer culture fosters on us.

Freddie wrote:At any rate, turning lights off and the heating down amounts to nothing

you've got a point about the lights (but why have them on in rooms you're not in?), but heating makes an enormous contribution to CO2 emmissions. a couple of good woolies and you can be comfy at 16c. no cost, no hardship, just doing ya'bit

I was walking along part of the C2C east of Keswick having been walking on the hills (I am a two-timer) and saw two youngish mountainbikers struggling up an easy hill. Soon after I found Red Bull and Lucozade containers - utter vandals and wimps as well as you dont need booster food unless you are ill or a wimp. Then more wrappers.

hubgearfreak wrote:

Freddie wrote:At any rate, turning lights off and the heating down amounts to nothing

you've got a point about the lights (but why have them on in rooms you're not in?), but heating makes an enormous contribution to CO2 emmissions. a couple of good woolies and you can be comfy at 16c. no cost, no hardship, just doing ya'bit

I'm not saying that one shouldn't do these things, but they certainly don't offset the product replacement cycle most people subscribe to/are stuck in. I think, in fact, they are a bit of a smoke screen to distract from such issues.

"turn the lights off" to my 14 year old niece..." whats the point, china has all its on " ...... Dont blame the parents meric, or grand parents , the youngsters are taught that the "3rd" world has all the coal power stations etc ... the " why should we bother" culture amongst the young is taking over....

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.

Freddie wrote:I think, in fact, they are a bit of a smoke screen to distract from such issues.

CO2 is a smoke screen? do you really think that?

I read it as him saying that "turning the lights off " was a bit of a distraction to make us think that we are doing something about the CO2, when in actual fact the real creation of CO2 was by big industry making all our new toys.

My answer is, obviously, dont create the CO2 in either of the ways.

eileithyia wrote: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've never understood the need for lights on the motorway network (not a fan of street lights in general). All road users on motorways have lights fitted, so why flood light them as well?

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?