Climate change

[Aggy35]

Do you consider enviroment when making everyday decisions?
I am currently pregnant and the amount of single use items, stuff that is not needed etc being suggested to me is staggering.Are people really not aware ?

Do you consider enviroment when making everyday decisions?

Yes. Have always done so and it’s a constant process of improving as new green alternatives become available.

Yes I am aware. But op, you say you are pregnant. Would you have not ttc for environmental reasons? How would you feel if someone said you can't have a child because of climate change?

It's similar for others in terms of livelihoods. So we just play the blame game with India and China etc.

Huge changes to how we live are necessary. And more than just a bit of recycling and stopping using single use plastics.

It's frightening.

But people in China need jobs manufacturing plastic rubbish. It's hard.
Imagine if the government banned the import of pointless plastic toys. That would make a difference. Although who decides what's pointless? It's impossible

Teaandakitkat good points.

Re it being the West’s fault for China’s emissions, presumably all western countries would have to stop buying plastic stuff from China, not just Britain.
Or is Britain the worst offender?

@Andante57 the UK is about average by global standards. The worst offenders are those that have high heat demand, generally those in the higher northern latitudes with long cold winters, so Russia, USA, Canada, Mongolia etc. Or countries with large manufacturing output, Taiwan, South Korea, China. Particularly when those countries generate a high portion of their power and heat demand by burning coal.

Each gram of co2 saved helps

So even if it's only the British , that still a lot of co2 saved

implicit in sone of the questions is how to ensure we get food, clothing , some joy in our lives if we can't rely on getting paid to make and sell stuff

That needs to be fixed by then over in Glasgow

Daftasabroom thank you for answering my question.

@Andante57 I posted up thread about EPDs, Volvo are ahead of the game: www.polestar.com/uk/sustainability/transparency/
These need to be a significant factor in our purchasing decisions. Kia and Hyundai make some fantastic electric vehicles but 40% of South Korea's is from coal.

I think we need a simple traffic light system for all consumer goods.

If you want to see what some big business is doing check out some of these: www.tatasteeleurope.com/construction/download-centre/environmental-product-declarations

I do get frustrated when people say big business isn't doing anything, the majority of big businesses have roadmaps to net zero.

A really scary statistic is that almost 6% of emissions are from fugitive emissions - leaks and flaring of natural gas (methane).

Another thing you can do if you have any outdoor space, is cover the ground with plants, as much as possible. Even cracks in concrete can support some lovely succulents and herbs such as thyme and oregano.

Each plant directly cools the planet, by absorbing heat when it transpires.

1. It takes about 600j of latent heat for a plant to turn 1g of water into vapour.
2. This water vapour travels into the sky and releases that heat energy, mostly into space.
3. The water vapour also forms clouds which help to cool the planet, by shading it.

Feel the ground on a hot sunny day. The ground under a plant will be much cooler than bare concrete. Not just because it's shaded. Reducing co2 needs to happen, but getting plants into the ground can buy us some time.

@WhatIsGinLiqueurAnyway I don't agree that getting plants into the ground can buy us time. It absolutely is a great thing to do but not burning fossil fuels is 10000% more effective.

@WhatIsGinLiqueurAnyway

Another thing you can do if you have any outdoor space, is cover the ground with plants, as much as possible. Even cracks in concrete can support some lovely succulents and herbs such as thyme and oregano.

Each plant directly cools the planet, by absorbing heat when it transpires.

1. It takes about 600j of latent heat for a plant to turn 1g of water into vapour.
2. This water vapour travels into the sky and releases that heat energy, mostly into space.
3. The water vapour also forms clouds which help to cool the planet, by shading it.

Feel the ground on a hot sunny day. The ground under a plant will be much cooler than bare concrete. Not just because it's shaded. Reducing co2 needs to happen, but getting plants into the ground can buy us some time.

You do know that water vapour is a greenhouse gas? Also, plants are beneficial because they are carbon absorbers/sinks. The shading and cooling effect is minimal compared to other factors, but I do agree that planting trees in inner cities would help.

I understand that Water vapour is only a greenhouse gas when it's emitted into the dry part of the atmosphere... plane vapour trails

Perhaps I am just ignorant, but honestly how can we control water vapour if it is indeed a "greenhouse gas?" I learned about something called the water cycle in school. We are generally not manufacturing water through human activity. Water exists in one form or another and moves in between solid, liquid, and vapour.

At this rate we are going to be told to hold our breath and breathe only twice per hour. And never boil the kettle.

@lovefall I think that if we get to the stage where water vapour is our main concern then we will be into a winner. Ie there are much more important things to sort out, that are within our gift.

A bit like what Dale Vince is saying here - I think he's the owner of ecotricity :
www.facebook.com/100044530936479/posts/429692718525089/

Busy week last week.

We launched a Carbon Footprint calculator with the Express.

There’s plenty of them about of course. We’ve tried to create something more accessible - and focussed on just Energy, Tranport and Food - the big three things, roughly responsible for 80% of everyone’s footprint.

Missing bits are the share we each have from infrastructure carbon and from buying stuff (clothes, electronics stuff etc) - the first one of these we can’t do anything about anyway, the second one is more complex.

My view is tackle the 80% issues first, dont sweat the details till you have. Here’s the link to the calculator online;

www.ecotricity.co.uk/carbon-footprint-calculator

And here’s the Directors cut of the op ed - something always get’s chopped out, to fit the space no doubt. But it never looks or reads quite right to me..🙂

If you ask me - it’s all more complicated than it needs to be. This environment and climate stuff. We’re bombarded with competing advice, different names for the same things and language more complicated than it needs to be. It can be a bit daunting or just plain off putting.

And it misses the big picture.

We only need to tackle three things. How we power our homes, how we travel and what we eat. The vast majority of the carbon each of us is responsible for comes from just these three areas of life - 80% of the problem, the carbon, from three things. The rest is detail.

This is at the heart of our new, simple carbon footprint calculator - which we launched today with the Express. In a few minutes you can get a handle on how much carbon you release each year - your carbon footprint. We all have one, and this calculator will show you how that goes up or down depending on the choices you make.

And it is a choice. Not that we can all afford electric cars, or heat pumps (don’t get me started) I get that. Our government could make a big difference by taking tax (VAT) off of low carbon equipment, like solar panels, home insulation - all the stuff that can help us cut our energy bills and cut carbon. That would enable more people to make these choices. But some choices don’t need money.

Food for example is one of the biggest causes of carbon emissions globally - it’s driving the climate crisis - and the extinction of wildlife by the way. What you choose to put on your plate either causes that or it doesn’t. And it’s not about Food Miles - that’s a fiction, less than 1% of all carbon from food is related to that. It’s what you eat that matters not how far it travelled. It’s about eating less animals - and that should cost you less too. And make you healthier…

Just three things to look at, how we power our homes, how we travel and what we eat - choices we make every day. That’s the key.

@Indecisivelurcher as individuals Dale is pretty much spot on but as a society industrial emissions and commercial transport are equally important.

Of course we can't control water vapour. I was just pointing it out because the previous poster seemed to think water vapour cools the earth and didn't understand the greenhouse effect where gases, including water vapour, trap heat on the earth.

@Penny1810 I agree. Too often though the feeling of impotence stops people doing anything, when actually there is plenty we can get on with, as individuals and as a society. I like what he says : My view is tackle the 80% issues first, dont sweat the details till you have.

Its four things
-Travel
-Heating/home
-Food
-Consumption of manufactured goods

I posted this on an old thread but feel it would be better here. I'm so depressed about the whole thing. COP26 ought to be Conference of Pillocks!! I know I will get shot down for saying this but it feels too big now. It's like everything we do every day is so ingrained in us as a society ..the plastic tat, the petrol driven cars, everything is geared up around endlessly consuming and everyone has to change dramatically the way they live. We do what we can. I take the plastic bottles home ftom my work as they won't pay for a recycling contract. But we could no way afford an electric car so we have to keep our 20 year old car going. We haven't been on a plane for 15 years so hopefully that offsets it.
So we do what we can but really it's not enough and I wonder how this will all end, if it does and when. It's time to change but don't we always say this and then just plod along as we always have!

electric cars i'm of the impression are of little help as they are mainly manufactured using coal
financialpost.com/diane-francis/diane-francis-the-problem-with-electric-cars
then there is the issue of the mining of african nations for the necessary battery minerals which seems morally wrong.

The total lifetime emissions of electric vehicles are less than the total lifetime emissions of fossil fuel cars

The expectation is that the savings may be even more than anticipated as the cars are likely to have a longer life as they run cooler ( that's why Diesel engines last longer than petrol)

@bordermidgebite lookup Volvo Polestar EPD.

@fallfallfall it depends where a car, or anything else for that matter, is made. Different countries, even different regions have different energy mixes. Different regions also have different sensitivities, high water use probably isn't a big deal the west of the UK, it's a very big deal in California.

What happened to supermarkets incentivising the return of plastic bottles or cans? Something the US has been doing for years.

The balance according to a range of studies ftom various sources seems to be very much in the EV favour, even now when a number of improvements have been identified but not yet implemented

It's easy for people to be dismissive and come up with endless ah buts and what ifs

And if we have found a way to bypass these people 4decades ago it is likely we would be in a Better place now

The biggest victories always have near failure at their heart

@IsleofRum most should bee recycled by kerbside. Both aluminium used in cans and the PET used in bottles are actually very easy to recycle so there are markets opening up all the time so there shouldn't be a need to incentivise.

Creating markets for recyclates is one of the key factors in achieving a truly circular economy.