Find out parents' thoughts on the Climate Emergency

[JustineBMumsnet]

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With a rise in extraordinary weather events around the world and activists like Greta Thunberg in the public eye, more people than ever before are engaging with and are worried about climate change. Following the launch of the “Portraits from the Precipice” campaign - which places art that inspires action on climate change on digital billboards across the country - we’d like to hear your thoughts on the Climate Emergency.

Here's what Octopus Energy – the green energy supplier behind Portraits from the Precipice – has to say: “With climate experts giving humanity 10 years to slow rising global temperatures, the time to take action for the planet is now. We all have a crucial role to play in combating the climate emergency.

Whether it be to switch to a renewable energy company, to buy an electric vehicle or even to just make small dietary changes or reduce the amount of plastic waste in your home… acknowledging the problem is just step one, we now need to act.”

Thinking of the Climate Emergency, what are your biggest concerns, if any, for yours and your children’s future? Are there any small things your family does to try and help? What would you recommend as being the most effective change people can make in helping the fight against Climate Change?

How aware are your children of the Climate Emergency? How do you talk to them about it? Do you think schools are doing enough to educate children on the Climate Emergency?

All who share their thoughts on the Climate Emergency on the thread below will be entered into a prize draw where one MNer will win a £300 voucher for the store of their choice (from a list and provided by Mumsnet). Octopus Energy will also donate £300 to a charity fighting climate change, of the winner’s choice.

Thanks and good luck!

MNHQ

Insight Terms and Conditions apply

My kids are well informed about climate change and we all try to do our bit. We all make a point of using metal straws and limiting plastic. I wish companies would reduce their single use plastic packaging.

Our small son is obsessed with fish and so we have been learning together about the amount of plastic in our oceans and seas. As we identify things around the house that we can change then we are gradually changing them, for example buying wooden toothbrushes and changing from plastic soap dispensers to old fashioned bars etc. It is wonderful how even very young children get that throwing out all this stuff is bad.

I now get the bus to and from work.

I work full time so that's two journeys a day which is cutting down on an extra car being on the road!

The ideas to help have been there a long time but we have have taken too long to listen and now the damage could be irreversible

I feel powerless. Everyone knows what is happening but the profit motive is the only logic of capitalism and for the poorer people being green is just a form of virtue signalling, because of extra costs it can involve. I want to travel in green ways, by bike. I walk a lot. But the air round here is awful because of all the vans delivering goods that people mostly don't even need and this in itself makes wailing and cycling more dangerous. We have canals, we have cargo bikes....must it take authoritarianism and an anti capitalist government to make anything meaningful happen? I feel angry that our children will see the end of so much because of systemic greed.

It's better late than never - I'm glad people (and governments!) are starting to take notice.

It's a terrifying prospect. Most may be blazay about it, but if you have children, you need to think how this will affect them, let alone THEIR children.

I think other larger countries need to tackle it like we are

My biggest frustration has already been mentioned upthread I'm sick of hearing people at work going on about not using straws or clingfilm but then telling all about a cheap flight they bagged for a weekend away and all the tat and clothes they bought for it.

I think the climate crisis is probably much more serious than we're facing up to - but it's really important not to give up hope. If we make small changes and large changes there may still be time. Ultimately we need to vote for governments which prioritise the climate emergency.

Sorry pressed send too soon. I'm concerned about the lack of genuine, honest information and companies jumping on the greenwash bandwagon just to sell stuff.

It's the plastic = bad: all other materials = good mentality that really winds me up. To state the bleeding obvious it's better to reuse the plastic you already have, than to send it to landfill, just so you can cart your shopping in designer cotton.

But individually we can all do more. I try hard not to waste any food, and have become more conscious of not buying anything that won't last.

I'm not prepared to give up foreign holidays completely, but I'm willing to fly far less frequently and to visit the uk and travel by train as alternatives.

Being greener doesn't have to be a sackcloth and ashes lifestyle, but cumulatively, if we all do what we can, we will leave the planet in a better state for our children.

I'm so worried - I try to talk to my daughter about in a way that doesn't terrify her, but it's hard!

We're making changes - a more plant based diet, no more flights, but to be honest I find some of the small day to day changes difficult with cost/time restrictions.

It's also hard not to feel that individual changes don't mean much in the face of government and big business apathy

As a family we have been deeply concerned by some of the impacts on the environment that we have seen in tv programmes, and the news such as made by the meat industry and the use of plastic, pollution etc and we are trying to do our bit. We have flown only once in 15 years, we mainly holiday in the uk and enjoy our wonderful countryside. At home we recycle, grow our own veg, eat a mainly plant based diet and have tried to buy less things or reuse wherever possible. We compost and do lots of envronmentally friendly things but they seem so small and I don’t know if it’s enough. That’s the worry, can we as individuals make a real difference.

I'm worried for my children with climate change. My little girl doesn't know much at the minute, but I'm sure she will learn!

I think it’s a bit like smoking - as in I will do something about it tomorrow or It won’t happen to me/ effect me. I think that things are getting to get whole before people start to realise it’s too late. The amount of times I empty my recycling scares me - I wonder where it goes and if it’s actually recycled.

i worry.i worry its too late.but id still like to keep trying and to instill for the kids to do so too.start them young.always get them to the recycling habit.i look at our full bins of recycling at the end of the week and feel sick that we once just chucked this stuff.so thankgoodness for the blue bins that came into all our lives.
we have a black and blue kitchen bin and make sure the children know what in what.and we have gone through cupbaord and the fridge aking them what goes in which bin when they are empty.and they still love chucking it into the blue bin at the bottom of the garden.
always try to make sure they turn lights and switches off.dont run taps etc.they wont get the reasons why yet but that doesnt matter at thsi point.its more putting the beahviours we as adults know will help into them early.so its just second nature as they grow up and then they too can learn why we do it.

Like many families, we are trying to do what we can - it may feel like a drop in the ocean, but every small change DOES make a difference.
My son (7) comes home talking about the work they are doing at school regarding climate change & it warms my heart to see the posters which he & his friends have made.
As a family - we holiday in the UK, recycle wherever we can, have stopped using single use plastic wherever possible & we're enjoying trying the alternatives - beeswax wraps instead of clingfilm, block shampoo/soap rather than bottles, etc.
Hopefully all this will be second nature to the next generation,.

What one can do, and what all should do
Vote for politicians who get the scale of the catastrophe coming and prioritise action on this above all else
Start living simply and find meaning in that. Do away with consumerism, stop flying, start biking
Switch electricity supplier to a truly green one. I have installed solar panels on our house
Buy organic and in season, eat mostly plants
Care for nature, plant (organic) flowers for the bees, let the grass grow. Realise how connected we are to other living beings, and that if we harm life, we harm ourselves

Id be voting for who makes my life easier, who priorities mental health above all else. After watching DP struggle for almost a decade with PTSD, mental health care is my priority.

Live simply? ive been bloody homeless, there no more simple living than that, no food, no water, no elec, no "stuff", im gunna enjoy "stuff"
We wont give up holidays and given we have pulled dd out at start of the term for QLD in a couple weeks, we dont have time to spend a couple days driving up.
Biking? nah, we rural, i wont ride over 20km to take dd to school and i wont make her do that either. A car is a necessity out here.
I cant switch to electricity, im on a payment plan, if i leave i have to pay bill out in full, i cant afford that.
I already have a limited diet due to texture and taste dislikes, i wont make my diet even less again, plus our one local shop organic and in season dont mean good quality. I also wont force any diet in dd or dp. Plus too much prep involved, i hate cooking and wont extend the time i need to be in kitchen
We tried having a garden, our soil dont take to it, too much upkeep and effort just to keep things alive
In our house we put our mental health first, we dont add stress or extra work by choice. Like it or not, for many other things top environment in our day to day lives

Stop 'experiencing' life. You don't fucking need to see the Great Wall of China or hot air balloon over the Serengeti. Google Image it and go take a stroll in your local woods.

LMAO im gunna go out on a limb here and say there is no comparison to an image on google v the real thing. No google image can match the thrill of a roller coaster

TBH I think it is ironic that a prize of £300 to spend on consumer goods is being offered for a discussion on the climate emergency.

Sums it all up really - we're all human - we all want to do something to make it better - but making an impact on this is quite limited for the individual. Whilst big business are happy shipping mangetout or whatever from Kenya and we are busily munching strawberries and blackberries year round from Spain etc etc Not sure how to persuade everyone that less is more and to Stop Consuming.

Offering £300 to spend on consumer goods to sustain the economic obsession with growth which is fueling climate change.
The irony of offering a cash prize in the face of the massive change in economic direction needed to stop our approaching mass extinction makes me weep with frustration and sadness. We are so fucked.

There is no climate change crisis
The Earths climate constantly changes between Icehouse and Greenhouse states all on its own. It did so hundreds of millions of years before humans existed and will continue to do so no matter what humans do to the atmosphere. We cannot stop or impact climate change in any noticeable way. A few degrees C over a thousand years is part of normal fluctuations. The same with rising or retreating sea levels. The same with erosion of coast lines. The same with bouts of extreme weather. It’s just our massive egos thinking we have any real impact.

The bigger concerns are plastic pollution, overpopulation and disease.

This will continue unless everyone or at least a larger quantity of people steps on board. I do worry about my childrens future and I am also educating students in work. I do my part at home. We recycle, we have reusable straws, i always take my own bags to the shops and will now only buy what food we need to reduce food wastage too. Little things make a big difference and my children are learning this way too. Adults are the role models so any younger generation will only have learnt the behaviours of elders.

Muppet little things do make a difference but until the government and policy makers stop sucking up and accepting funding ( bribes) from the fossil fuel oligarchs all the rest is fairly pointless. Until we stop voting these politicians into power.

Reusable straws and shopping bags just appease our guilt whilst industry is allowed to carry on not only unchallenged but promoted in the interests of global capitalism.

As for the poster who's argument is that the planet has always had natural climate change. I admire your large perspective....are you implying that we sit back, do nothing and follow the fate of the dinosaurs ? Are you completely denying, in the face of huge scientific proof, that human behaviour has played a part in the accelerating temperatures ?

We already do a lot of environment friends things naturally; semi veggie diets, don't buy much 'stuff', don't travel much etc.
Do think some companies are bandwagon jumpers though, e.g. McDonald's new paper straws, great in theory but they don't last the time it takes to finish your drink before turning to mush...

I talk to my DD about what we can do to address climate change and global pollution at our level. I constantly bang on about leaving lights on (we are in the process of switching to LED), she's been involved with our efforts to reduce our carbon footprint. For example, choosing UK holidays, we have not travelled by plane for 2.5 years now, shopping at the zero plastic shop, found all the drafty areas of the house and insulated them, fitted more energy efficient windows and doors. We keep the thermostat low in favour of jumpers etc. DD is involved in talks of all of this.