What would you ban tomorrow to address climate change / pollution?

[joggerbottom]

I would ban:

Glitter
Plastic sequins
Make up and cosmetics in plastic packaging
Toys that come with children's magazines and food boxes
Petrol vehicles
Clearing land for dairy / meat farming

I could go on but it would be a very long list!

Meat eating
Using cars for short journeys
Disposable nappies
Unnecessary plastic such as kinder egg toys, McDonald’s toys, plastic shrink wrap on some fruit and vegetables etc
Most plastic toys if I’m being totally honest. Maybe make it a rule that they have to be made using recyclable plastic?

None of this will happen.

Vatican need to stop their anti contraception stance which is obviously anti-women anyway but also anti-planet

I thought this happened in the 00's?

Instead everyone should get a carbon footprint limit.
For example People would need to decide whether they holiday in the next 10 years or have a child. If they do then they have to restrict everything: power use, water use, disposables use etc to keep in their limit. If they want another then they have to positively impact their carbon footprint.

As a childless person who lives off grid, grow most of our own veg, live rurally, avoid single use plastics (including a totally plastic free bathroom) I get to keep my long haul flights to see my friends and family who live all round the world and the 4x4 I need to actually leave the house.

I would regulate tree surgeons and tighten the restrictions on cutting trees.

And I will tax Aircraft fuel.

And I will tax Aircraft fuel.

Yes, so would I! Bloody outrageous that it isn't already.

As well as a house building programme, there should be a tree planting one (although I appreciate that actually the UK has more trees now than it's had since Neolithic times!). But we should commit to planting x number of trees per year as trees are the second best carbon sink there is (the ocean is the first).

Individually owned cars
Petrol/diesel cars all together
Flying for pleasure and I would strictly limit business flying and tarrif it into oblivion because there's not much need for it nowadays
Fossil fuel power stations
Large scale meat and dairy farming and I would heavily promote plant based eating
Importing food that's out of season or just doesn't grow here
Fast fashion
I would install central heating and properly insulate all homes in countries where that is appropriate
I would also stick solar panels on buildings and mini wind turbines everywhere I could so that people could generate a lot of their own electricity.
Clearing of rain forests and woodland and I would incentivise replanting.
I would get rid of tat like happy meal toys, kinder eggs, glitter etc.
I would ban cosmetics with microbeads in them
Single use plastic, unnecessary packaging, plastic coffee pods and the like, things like toothpaste and handcream tubes, the list is endless.
Then I would have to think of ways to curb rampant consumerism.

@CruCru , I'm referring to grouse moors and deer stalking estates, the management practices are not good for most of the wildlife that would naturally inhabit the hills and moors. Deer numbers and burning of heather stops the regeneration of trees that would naturally cover all of the highlands apart from the very tops. Gamekeepers still kill natural predators and at the moment a legal cull of mountain hares is causing a bit of an uproar.
All for a few weeks entertainment for mostly rich people who fly in and out.
You can see the difference where conservation bodies have put up deer fences, the beautiful mixed woodland that pops up by itself is more attractive that the desolate bare hills in my opinion.
I'm also seriously worried about absentee landlords buying up Scottish estates to hedge their bets against the effects of climate change in their own countries. I really feel some form of nationalisation of large rural land holdings will be needed to accommodate the needs of people and food production which will have to be moved out of flooded areas.
The sporting estate is a relatively recent cultural phenomenon and likes to say it provides rural employment but i think a mixed economy of forestry management, small scale food production and leisure activities could provide more.

I would hope not to have to compulsory purchase estates but would like the local community or the government to buy them everytime they come on the market (community buy outs are already happening). I would probably insist, using a tax regime, that a large proportion of the land was forested, preferably in mixed woodland, and that deer and sheep numbers were restricted.

crustycrab
Watch cowspiracy

Wasn't that debunked and the people that made it retracted some of the "data"/"statistics", and several of the participants in the video have claimed that they were misrepresented.

I completely agree, wiggly. These sort of estates are very detrimental to the Scottish countryside and, I think, to local well being in the long run. I would ban them completely. I would ban all private land ownership , if I'm honest. I think land resources should be in the hands of either the community or the state and should be managed for the benefit of all.

The sporting estate is a relatively recent cultural phenomenon and likes to say it provides rural employment but i think a mixed economy of forestry management, small scale food production and leisure activities could provide more. What food are you going to grow on the moors of Scotland?

I would ban all private land ownership

Lessstress - so people wouldn’t be allowed to own a garden?

I would ban all private land ownership

. Someone has to own it. So are you saying you want the government to own every house and garden in the country?

@derxa, have you heard of the Highland Clearances? a lot of the big estates formerly supported lots of small crofting townships (supplying a hell of a lot of beef on the hoof to the lowlands and England), and could again, providing a very useful amount of locally produced food. There are crofters today practicing regenerative agriculture ( with the goal of capturing and retaining soil carbon) and combining livestock with reforestation. Demand for crofts far outstrips supply. Nobodies likely to get rich doing it but it is perfectly feasible.

have you heard of the Highland Clearances?

It kind of feel like we are so completely and utterly fucked that nothing is enough.

@derxa short answer: the kind of food that is hairy, has four legs and eats grass.

Motor racing. Large engined cars
Air conditioning
Cars in city centres

The issue is that with any suggestion there will be people who say 'but what about...'
To make a significant difference there are people who will have to suffer. Being objective, a minority of people suffering to save the whole world is fine by me.
People know that reproduction is a biggie. That means some difficult conversations and decisions.

@berlinbabylon

Re: Honda Jazz for person with spinal issues. Yes, before I succumbed to the 4x4 height vehicle, I tried and better tried a myriad of standard vehicles with “comfortable seats” and high seating positions including a Ford Fusion, Ford B-Max, Ford C-Max, VW Golf Plus and many others. Alas, unless my next spinal operation makes me at least a foot and a half shorter no, none of these will work for me anymore. My health issues mean that the seat of my vehicle, and therefore the overall height of the vehicle and the door essentially needs to be at the right height for me to perch into the seat and then swivel my legs in without ducking my head or bending my back. Likewise, I need to be able to step away from the seat rather than stand up from it when exiting the car, or as my husband terms it, “slither out of the truck” because he likes to take the piss.

I would however like to point out to the 4X4 haters that mine is a 2 wheel drive version, that’s extremely economical, its emissions are less than that of most regular family cars, and I most certainly don’t leave the engine running when stationary, not even at traffic lights. If I could afford an Outland PHEV I would have one, and hybrids/EV’s are certainly on the list for next years purchase. They’re not all Diesel burning environment polluters that must be outlawed in favour of a choice of a Nissan Leaf or Renault Zoe

Cull everyone aged over 60. That includes myself.

Look, it doesn't matter what we ban, if the global population continues to increase then the planet is doomed.

Pretty much, yes. I think all land should be in public hands whether that means state or community ownership. I don't agree with people owning more than one property, either. I believe strongly in social housing and communal living.

pets