Lighter Later campaign to shift the clocks forwards giving us an extra hour of daylight in the evenings - What do you think?

[JustineMumsnet]

What do we think of this campaign to move the clocks forward by an hour all year round?

10:10 LAUNCHES "LIGHTER LATER" CAMPAIGN

On the day of the spring clock change 10:10 is launching the Lighter Later campaign to brighten the nation's days, simply by changing the clocks so we are awake when the sun is out.

10:10 is proposing we shift our clocks to give us one extra hour of daylight in the evenings, all year round. In other words, the UK would shift to GMT+1 in the winter and GMT+2 in spring/summer.

If this was implemented the entire country would, overnight, be one step closer to a 10% reduction in its carbon emissions, as well as happier, healthier and better off. This is a great example of how action on climate change need not be negative, long-term or overly complicated, but rather simple, common-sensical and with multiple benefits.

Franny Armstrong, 10:10 founder and director of the climate change blockbuster The Age Of Stupid said

"Hands up who doesn't want our country to be safer, lighter, more prosperous and with less pollution? And who doesn't want to save money on their electricity bills without lifting a finger?"

This simple change would save almost half-a-million tonnes of CO2 each year1. That's equivalent to taking 185,000 cars off the road permanently.

But, as with so many of the simple behavioural changes 10:10 is recommending to people and organisations, this policy initiative has many benefits beyond the environment.

• Road Safety This policy could save over 100 fatalities on the nation's roads each year.

• Energy bills Consumers and businesses would use less energy thus saving money!

• Tourism & jobs It is estimated that, as a result of the measures proposed by the Lighter Later campaign, 60,000-80,000 jobs will be created through increased leisure & tourism, bringing an extra £2.5-3.5 billion into the economy each year.

• Prevent accidents. More daylight could prevent an estimated 1,000 serious injuries every year.

• Crime Lighter evening would reduce crime and fear of crime.

• Health. More daylight means more time for sports and outdoor activities.

These knock-on benefits mean that lighter evenings are now a more attractive prospect than ever. And people have finally started to take notice. From tourism trade bodies to road safety campaigners, and from sporting organisations to serving Government ministers, a new movement for lighter evenings is growing day by day.

10:10 is calling on individuals, businesses and organisations alike to add their voices to the call for lighter evenings all year round by visiting www.lighterlater.org

Article about it here.

But what about the energy saving aspect Habbs?

[I like Scotland btw!]

But habb I didn't bring in the poll tax! Nor did 'the English' any more than 'Muslims' carried out the 7/7 bombings. It was Thatcher's government and it was widely hated by all. In fact it was English people rioting about it which contributed to its scrapping. No no no. Don't thank us. Not necessary.

It's old fashioned prejudice against an entire nation that you are defending.

But it's OK as it's only the English.

BTW I also love Scotland. I still have family there and visit regularly.

The anti English prejudice really can ruin things though. It's so embarrassing and parochial. They need to stop it now.

I'm English, spider, and I was in England for the poll tax. I'm hardly going to be anti-English, am I? All I'm saying is that you can't use your own personal baggage as an argument for a general swipe at the Scots, and then deny the Scots their own baggage issues. I have no baggage - I may well think it's nonsense on both sides, but it's the logic of your argument I'm disputing.

po, I'm not overly convinced, tbh - people are fairly profligate in their energy use anyway, and it's a side issue for most people in this campaign. I just don't see this as an MN campaign.

Some people here are just so...obdurate.

Of course there won't be any more daylight, but there will be more usable daylight. If the average person rises at 7am and goes to sleep at 10:30, then with the proposed changes there will be more daylight during the time when people are awake and active than asleep.

The whole going to school in morning / evening in light / dark is a bit irrelevant - it's probably about 50% of the school age would benefit from such a change

Surely Scotland can have a referendum and choose not to accept the proposed changes if they want. That's their prerogative, NOT to veto any decision made by the British parliament.

At the end of the day, farming is not as big an industry as it has been in the past, and to some extent, surely much of the farming routines are dictated by daylight anyway, rather than the arbitrary impact of time. Someone said that farming would be impossible if these changes came into play. Surely if farmers can cope in the dead of winter (Dec 21st and around then) then it's not going to make it impossible if we shift to GMT+1 in winter. As previously said - no more daylight is made or lost, it's just moved to fit in with the majority of peoples' routines. Any daylight the farmers lose in the morning, they'd regain in the evening, and as I very much doubt that farmers knock off at 3pm in winter, then surely an hour of daylight at the end of the day would still be beneficial, even if not as much as an hour at the beginning.

Personally, it gets my vote. I'd love to have more daylight in the evenings, when I can actually spend my time as I want, rather than stuck in the routine dictated by the common work hours of 9-5:30.

It would be interesting for people in the Borders., many of whom work/go to school on one side but live on the other - changing your watch twice a day, every day?

English people can be just as racist to Scots though.

"I'd love to have more daylight in the evenings, when I can actually spend my time as I want, rather than stuck in the routine dictated by the common work hours of 9-5:30."

So instead of fixing the actual problem (routine dictated by common work hours) we should start pissing about with the time and just making things inconvenient and rigid but with the sun rising later?

"Surely Scotland can have a referendum and choose not to accept the proposed changes if they want. That's their prerogative, NOT to veto any decision made by the British parliament."

Do you know anything at all about devolution? In fact, why am I asking? you are utterly ignorant. It's embarrassing.

Let's just work less. Hooray!

I totally disagree with this. Firstly, it would still be pitch black after 9am in the middle of winter and I find it hard enough to get out of bed as it is without it being pitch black most of the morning!

Also, i can't imagine it giving children loads of opportunity to play outside after school, in winter it will still get dark at 5pm if not earlier in mid winter. And also the weather in mid winter will still be the same as it always is, ie possibly pouring rain, blizzard, ice etc etc and like another poster said this is generally why children don't play outside as much in the winter, regardless of how dark it is, its just a fact of life - its called winter!

I can't see how it will save electricity either, you will just have to have your lights on more in the morning rather than in the afternoons. And children may come out of school in the light but they will be going in in the dark, its just swings and roundabouts, there is nothing to be gained here.

I really do not see that there is a big problem with things the way they are.

If you have a real problem with it being darker in the winter then you need to think about moving to Spain or something in my opinion because Britain is what it is, you can't change it!

like Iklboo says, october will still be october, november will still be november etc. changing the clocks will not mean that we will all be sitting out in the garden after work drinking sangria in november!

Anyway, I personally quite like the dark evenings in the winter and cosying up in front of the fire with the curtains closed and wind holwing outside. And what about at Christmas, its nice when it gets dark early and we can see all the nice lights and decorations. If we change the clocks we will all have to have our fairy lights on in the mornings!

I suppose we are not really meant to have fairy lights at Christmas in order to save the environment though

Fairy lights could be LEDS. And a drop in the ocean when you consider all office buildings are left with lights on all night every night. But it is SO boring talking about the environment I know.

Spidermama - if you like your evenings lighter, why don't you move back to Scotland?

It's not bori9ng to talk about the environment, po, but yoru example of office lights is much better than campaigning to change time settings - why not campaign for people to switch the damn lights off when NoOne is In the Building?

Actually spidermama good on you for being honest about your baggage. You were unlucky. I've worked with lots of English people (in Scotland) and they have not come up against any issues with being English and living here. Maybe it just depends where you are.

On the other side, as Habbibu says, we do have some baggage of our own - and if you have ever been Scottish and lived or worked in London for e.g. then you will probably have your own tales to tell of anti-Scottish nonsense.

I love the comment about a referendum for Scotland, yeah, that's right, we get to vote in those all the time when we don't like a piece of legislation.

Well there is www.wearewhatwedo.org/actions/view/21/this Habbs. But people don't seem to take much notice. And I don't think they'll take much notice of this either. We could do both and save more energy or we could do neither. And I wish there was a campaign to get rid of blasted tumble driers actually. I hate the sodding things.
We are going to have to find ways to reduce our energy consumption. But every time an idea is suggested, people say 'that is inconvenient' No one wants to make changes to their lives. I know our lives are difficult enough [though not compared to most of the world] but many forget in our children's lifetimes things will have to change. And by then it may be too late. So I'm afraid I want much more change and much more drastic energy reduction right now.

Yes, I agree. Why can't we campaign for dark offices at night before we start on something that will inconvenience and depress a large minority of the population?

When are MNHQ coming back on this?

Po, if you are in favour of this one and anti- tumble driers, I suggest you never move to Scotland.

A house full of wet washing on a sodden January day. Think of the Curse of the Wonkers, is all I say.

(I know I know I know they are the devil's work though)

Why don't all new builds have solar panels installed for hot water at least? New housing could be made so much greener, but no one gives a fuck. And I find that utterly, utterly depressing.

LOL ME.

When I lived in a flat it was a problem. But now we have stairs and I hang everything on a pulley hanger above the stairs on the ceiling. Dries quite quick. And an outside line for windy days.

But another thing that annoys me is dishwashers and I have one. It is the drying cycle that is the most energy consuming - and I really don't see why we need our plates to be dried by so much hot air. There should be dishwasher cycles that set to wash only.

YYY to that, Po. It is very depressing. I think in Belfast there is a scheme of social housing being built though with central heating only as an occasional backup - so energy efficient that it doesn't need it, apparently. here

Looks good ME. The govt could be making that kind of thing compulsory for new builds. I'd find it laughable that they don't if I weren't so depressed by it.

Yes please, love it.

I don't really care much which way they do it but I do wish they would stop the twice a year clock changes. It's so hard to adapt to and remember and so on.

I also think school days should be more European full stop - and working hours.

IHow about a compromise?

Put clocks back at the end of November and then move them forward at the end of February? It is quite a lot lighter in the morning by end of Feb, and after enduring a long dark winter I'd love to have some of that daylight at the end of my day.