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Original poster

Climate change - is this a wakeup call?

192 replies

Tulipomania · 07/08/2021 07:58

Seeing the wildfires in Greece and Turkey.

The extreme heatwave we had here in the UK. Floods in central London.

Flooding in China. More extreme heatwaves in the US.

Is anyone else as worried as I am for the future of our kids, or are we just going to carry on ignoring the warning signs until it is too late?

OP posts:
BeetleyCarapace · 08/08/2021 12:59

My next car will be electric but I’m eking out the life of my current one first, since it’s already been manufactured and everything. By the time it’s time for a new one I’m hoping they’ll have sorted solid-state batteries, and the cobalt thing.

HasaDigaEebowai · 09/08/2021 08:02

Hopefully the numerous climate change threads over the weekend are indicative of the fact that people are starting to wake up. The report today might get more thinking

workwoes123 · 09/08/2021 09:30

Live coverage of the report launch is on Youtube now.

AlaskaThunderfuckHiiiiiiiii · 09/08/2021 09:37

I do what I can, I recycle, have meat free nights, don’t fly as don’t like it anyway and only have the heating on in winter and my house is well insulated. I know people who put the heating on when the rain came after the heat wave! I was a bit perplexed as it still wasn’t cold enough to have heating on and my house was still hot from the retained heat.

My only downside is my reliance on my car, I live rurally so no where near school, shops, doctor etc and I work in community nursing covering that wide rural area so need my car. Fortunately it’s a new 1.2 engine so small. I won’t be changing to electric any time soon as have no driveway and have to park it out on the street and my house is set far back off the road so only way of charging would be running cables out on to the street which is a hazard. My own opinion as well is that electric/battery cars will be the next diesel so am hoping leaps are taken for other forms

HasaDigaEebowai · 09/08/2021 10:24

My own opinion as well is that electric/battery cars will be the next diesel so am hoping leaps are taken for other forms
There’s very little genuine indication that this will be the case. Its a bit like Betamax and VHS. All the investment is now in ev.

heldinadream · 09/08/2021 10:41

Watching the IPCC report launch now. Finally truth being told clearly, loudly - and paid attention to, not just wittering into the ether - the measures that need to be taken will not be popular. But maybe, just maybe, there begins to be both consensus, listening, and some political will plus understanding by the public.
We'll see. I'm not hugely optimistic (or optimistic at all really).

AlaskaThunderfuckHiiiiiiiii · 09/08/2021 10:49

@HasaDigaEebowai that’s my point though, we were all encouraged to go out and buy diesel cars due to them being better for the environment until they weren’t

TwoLeftSocksWithHoles · 09/08/2021 11:15

... and I don't belive there is a comprehensive stragey yet for dealing with all the exhausted batteries that will be appearing in a few years time...

Perhaps whilst one problem is reduced a new one is created?

AlaskaThunderfuckHiiiiiiiii · 09/08/2021 11:29

@TwoLeftSocksWithHoles not to mention the price of replacing any batteries that go wrong it will cost drivers £1,000s to replace

HasaDigaEebowai · 09/08/2021 11:57

and I don't belive there is a comprehensive stragey yet for dealing with all the exhausted batteries that will be appearing in a few years time

They can be recycled pretty effectively to make new batteries and they can also be reused for quite some time after being used in an ev to act as a powerbank for solar generated electricity.

TwoLeftSocksWithHoles · 09/08/2021 12:12

@hasadigaeebowai

Small numbers may be but i'm not convinced that they can deal with the thousands and thousands that will become defunct in 10 years time.
But they've got a few years to work on that.🤞

HasaDigaEebowai · 09/08/2021 13:04

and the batteries should last longer than 10 years so hopefully even longer.

therocinante · 09/08/2021 13:32

It'd be good if mumsnet would collate all the things you can do to reduce your own carbon footprint into one place, with sections depending on how easy or hard they are, and keep them pinned.

Some people see "have fewer children and don't go on holiday abroad" and go, well that's too much, I won't bother (which is a shame, because they're big ones).

But there are tons and tons of things, like those mentioned in this thread, that people can do easily or cheaply or for free that will make a difference if we all do them:

  • moving pension pots to green investments
  • going refillable or reusable on just one thing is better than nothing ... if nappies seems daunting, switch to a ecofriendly refillable washing tablet or commit to getting a milkman instead of buying from the supermarket
  • one day meat-free a week, or two, or three. Should be relatively easy (and cheaper) for most people - those with EDs/food issues not included, of course, as I understand restrictions can be difficult. But the average family can easily have a porridge breakfast, non-meat salad or sandwich for lunch and a 3-bean chilli or veggie pasta or whatever for tea one day a week. That's a start, if nothing else. Make it a thing.
  • Ask your children's schools to have e.g. a meat-free day a week, set up a uniform exchange to discourage buying new, start a walking bus for primary kids to reduce car drop offs etc
  • apply for a Green Homes Grant and get yourself insultation or draught proofing etc - still a bit of a faff to do/find eligible installers, but could help you improve your energy efficiency
  • switch to a green tariff for utilities - surprisingly easy and quick to do
  • don't buy from Amazon and buy locally (and not by post) where you can. Again, mobility needs etc might require flexibility here, but there are shades of commitment to it that will still help - only buy from UK sellers to avoid things being shipped from China, for example.

I know I'm mostly preaching to the choir in this thread, but if every single person on mumsnet did a few of these, that's a big collection of people. They tell their friends and family and encourage one of these things, and you create shifts in public perception - we need people to see 'I don't eat meat every day' as a compeltely normal and expected thing and 'I eat meat every day' as something excessive (which it is!), for example. It needs to become part of our daily lives because then it becomes big enough to drive change. Look at the explosion in vegan stuff available in shops - changing consumer behaviour influences what industries do, eventually.

Mumsnet is a direct link to a huge amount of 'average' people. It can certainly be used to raise awareness - threads get missed, but a pinned post or particular section would be amazing. A Google Doc or similar where people can add their own suggestions would be brilliant.

Original poster
Tulipomania · 09/08/2021 19:50

Rather than switch to a meat-free day, we ONLY eat meat at weekends.

And then only once a day.

OP posts:
floortx · 10/08/2021 13:26

@therocinante Thank you for the list. I do some of those things already like switching to a green pension pot, using Ecotricity for renewable electricity (they generate some of their own from their wind farms and have green gas mills), trying not to eat meat every day.

I'm trying to buy less and not waste anything.

It's not much but we have to try. I'm wondering if the most important action is lobbying MPs, governments and companies?

HappyWinter · 10/08/2021 14:00

Inspired by this thread and others, I've started this thread for sharing ideas:

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/_chat/4319399-If-you-are-taking-actions-to-reduce-climate-change-thread-to-share-ideas

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