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

I really don't think there's much difference I can make
My kids don't know much, I think it's best one of them doesn't she's really sensitive and I can see her getting in a complete state over it.

I don't do as much as I should. I have very young children and just don't have the capacity to be doing more. Really I think the government needs to be legislating for change because unless I'm forced to do more then I probably won't.

I have to thank my daughter (17) for waking me up to climate change. She told me years ago she was worried about the sea and how corals were dying due to warming. She has repeatedly told me that she won't have children, because what's the point? She'll only be adding to the problem of over population, over consumption and what kind of future would her children have anyway on this planet? This breaks my heart. It makes me feel so awful when I think about my own greed, over consumption, waste and carelessness.

I often think of my grand parents. They would shop once a week, simple ingredients and make meals. The Sunday roast was the only meat bought and was made to last until Wednesday. There were no super markets, not a lot of plastic.. I remember my nan keeping the paper bags for me to draw on... And envelopes.

So this is kind of how I live now. Ive been vegan for 9 weeks and love it, buy seasonal and local food. I've stopped buying new clothes. I walk whenever possible rather than drive.
I put an extra layer on rather than the heating.

Really anything I can do I will.

There seems to be a lot of shouting and not enough doing. Recently I was visiting one of the smarter parts of London and there were Climate Change protesters standing in the traffic waving banners and preventing the traffic from moving on. Probably due to the area of London it was, there were a lot of gas guzzling supercars stuck in standing traffic, emitting even more fumes into the air, because of the protestors blocking their journeys. Protests like that don’t make sense to me.

For our part as a family, we are making small steps but i hope they contribute positively. All of our rubbish gets divided up for recycling, we make our own compost, we walk or use the train rather than the car wherever possible, and we put on extra jumpers rather than heating the house to furnace temperatures.

When I was growing up the climate crisis was Acid Rain. It does baffle me that 30 years on from acid rain, as a planet we haven’t made the vital steps that we needed to, even back then.

I've noticed how the weather is changing. Temperatures are higher, extremes are more extreme and unpredictable turns ate more common. I try and do my bit to help but life gets in the way.

I worry that it is probably too late to make any significant changes.
I do try and do our bit as much as possible though. We very rarely fly (once in three years), try to limit car journeys, use reusable packaging etc.

Please avoid Octopus energy.

They somehow illegally got my name and number and have been spamming me with cold calls for the past couple of weeks.

I'm on the TPS list and have asked to be removed but still the spam continues. If they act illegally like this, why would you engage with them?

I think the climate emergency is just like the boy who cried wolf. Over and over. Look up the history of the climate emergency. UN, scientists, experts and various activists have said...

1968- we have until 2000 to save the planet
2006- ten years to save the planet, so until 2016
2008- seven years to save the planet so until 2015
2017- experts say we have three years to save the planet so until 2020
2020- experts now say we have a decade to save the planet until 2030, although some activists, are also starting to say we actually have until 2050 to save the planet.

It’s the longest running “emergency” I’ve ever witnessed. I think it’s to the point of scaremongering because we have children convinced there won’t be a planet when they grow up (so why go to school?)

My biggest concern - that it's too little too late and in spite of our efforts now, it's just going to get worse. In our house we recycle everything we can, give old clothes and toys to charity shops, walk and use public transport whenever feasible.
DC2 (5) is not paticularly aware of it, but DC1 (12) is and it really concerns them.

A bit of good news at least. I just got a mail from Sainsburys:

*We want to help build a world where we can live well today and well into the future.

We will:

Reduce our greenhouse gas emissions to Net Zero and increase the use of renewable energy

Halve the 120,000 tonnes of plastic packaging we use by 2025 and then go further

Increase the use of recycling in our own operations and make it easier for customers to recycle

Cut food waste by 50% by 2030

Ensure our impact is net positive for biodiversity

Drive towards water neutral by 2040

Develop and deliver healthy and sustainable diets for all*

For more information on our sustainability commitments visit:

about.sainsburys.co.uk/netzero

Truthfully I don't know much about climate change, I research it when I can and try and ensure myself and my children do our bit to help. I do think it's a bit too late for everyone to start taking an interest in climate change as the damage is already done but I try and help regardless in any way I can.

This issue scares me. I worry for my child's future.

We do small things at home, but I'm aware that bigger action is needed.
We recycle, meal plan (zero food waste), have drastically reduced the chemicals we use at home, fly rarely, have stopped buying clothes and fripperies out of boredom, shop locally.
But I should do more. How is my child going to know that I care about her future if I don't pay attention to the climate emergency?

I’m very concerned about the climate emergency.
I’m fortunate in that I have solar panels on the home I am currently living in. I am (very) slowly building a carbon neutral house that will principally use solar and wind energy. The last time I flew was a workshop I had to attend for my work in 2009. I work from home.
On a smaller scale I grow much of my own fruit and veg and try to buy local. I tend not to buy many new clothes and much prefer making my own on rummaging in second hand shops, it saves money and reuses some lovely stuff. Transport can be tricky, in an area with minimal public transport so a car is needed to get to say the doctors or the nearest town/village. I recycle whatever I can and try to avoid buying plastic products.
But I am very lucky and so many people do not have a space or time to grow veg, or the money to buy local produce or have solar panels etc. So I think that the issue of climate change needs to be tackled by serious government policies that help and encourage people to reduce their carbon footprint. Individuals can help but the pressure needs to be laid on government, industry and retail practices. Government policies should also target large wasteful businesses, the fashion industry for instance, or Coca cola who refuse to abandon their single use plastic bottles.
I don't have children but I want to leave this world in a better state than it is currently in.

It terrifies me, to the point where I try not to think about it too much.

I try to do what I can - have cut single use plastic to the point where it's really rare in our house, turned down the thermostat and am buying mine and my children's clothing (though not underwear!) second hand - eBay is great for this.

My 1 year old is too young, but 4 year old is aware of what we do and why it's important. I worry so much for their future.

Until Governments think longer than their short elected term in office and in such an isolationist manner then we won’t get anywhere with climate change in the time-critical manner we need to. Mankind hasn’t advanced enough to work together, big countries and small, rich and poor, to work on this global catastrophe that is surely coming. If some young people like Greta can see it then why can’t everyone? Well with the President of the worlds “most powerful nation” being a climate change denier there’s no powerful leadership for nations.
However I think we need more education to educate people to the emergency as so many of my adult children and their friends do little or nothing! They don’t see either the scale of the issue or the urgency unfortunately.
Although we recycle, reuse, grow some veg, avoid red meat and buy second hand where possible, it seems almost futile against the scale of the problem but “every little helps”. I can only hope that Mankind comes to its senses in time

I'm 65 and my partner is 72 and we've both been climate activists for 40-50 years.
He's also a physicist and has worked in the field for 40 years.
Sorry to tell you that in all likelihood, it's too late.
Do what you can, but don't expect to be able to turn the tide, and buckle up because none of it's going to get better anytime soon.
Take care of your loved ones. And apologise to the children.

I had an epiphany of sorts around a year ago. I think before then I had been in denial to an extent, not a climate denier, but in denial about how quickly the earth was being destroyed, I felt maybe the effects would be felt in thousands of years, not now. Inspired by a friend I started to open my eyes and ears to climate change and the imminent horrors. It was uncomfortable, both with guilt of my own decisions, but concern and wanting to campaign to bring awareness.
With children, it feels more urgent. My children’s school are amazing and speak openly and honestly to them about the earth and what we can do. The climate strikes have been inspiring for my two. As a family we have made major changes, major meat reduction (none now for me), ditches our car and my general consumption of plastic tar toys, brand new clothes etc. We are far, far from perfect and there is tonnes more I could do.

I would hope that as big companies and industries make changes then this will naturally trickle down to consumers. I think Greta Thunberg and Extinction Rebellion have been excellent at campaigning and I’d like to build my confidence to help raise awareness also.

Mum of two

I do worry that it's too late to make significant enough changes to help the future of the planet. We do recycle and don't waste food, don't buy unnecessary things, walk rather than use car etc but I do wonder how much of a difference it can make when so many people do nothing to help.
My DC are aware of the issues and we do discuss the environment but try not to be too pessimistic as they still have to enjoy being kids. It's a hard balance.

We do a few things like not flying, using a green energy supplier and reusing things as much as possible, but I'm aware it's futile without big government interventions, as others have said upthread.

So I think the biggest thing we can do is to write to politicians and businesses, urging them to do more, and show up to protests and demonstrations, if you can. Politicians and businesses are a pretty cowardly lot, who are mostly led by what they think people - voters or customers - want. The more they hear from us that we want them to act, the more they will feel the pressure to do something about the climate crisis.

I've started with the supermarket I shop at, asking what they plan to do to cut their carbon footprint, and I've written to the chancellor about the plan to cut air passenger tax. A drop in the ocean, but if others are doing it too, it will increase pressure on them to act.

How aware are your children of the Climate Emergency?

They are very aware, and we have made some real changes at home, so we feel like we are 'doing our bit' Their school have done lessons on climate change, in a constructive, non-apocalyptic way. The Australian fires made my children very aware of how the climate change have affected this country.

How do you talk to them about it?

I try not to panic them about it, we are trying to make amends for all of the plastic in our oceans, pollution in the skies and changing in global temperature, I don't know enough about it, but an trying to find unbiased information.

Do you think schools are doing enough to educate children on the Climate Emergency?

My children's school yes, but not sure about other schools and what is on the curriculum.

We tried to avoid buying a second car when DH needed to get to his new teacher training placement. Instead we bought an electric bike to get him to the train station. We felt wonderful for taking a positive step towards tackling the monstrous mess we find ourselves in, but sadly this didn't last long. The train was cancelled over and over again and DH was told if he was late one more time, he was out! I'm not exaggerating. So with attitudes like this on top of the monumental f**k up that is public transport, we have had no choice but to buy another car.

This is one of the million reasons we are screwed.

before I spend time and use server energy on this - which stores are on your list please?

🤣

My daughter is very aware and ways to reduce our impact on the environment, plus discussions on current events such as the fires are talked about lots. But I also try to ensure that she doesn’t see climate change as an us (humans) and them (the natural world) battle because I feel like so much of the rhetoric is setting it up like that, from both sides and actually it is okay for humans to have species appropriate needs and desires too. We need to be talking about the universal benefits of reducing the impact of our carbon footprints, pollution and general plundering of resources. And I think a lot of that centres on actually discussing ‘what if we slow down temperature rises?’ - what will the world be like, what brave new world will we all live in.

The lack of action or even acknowledgement of the problem from the people who are actually in a position to do something about it is infuriating and terrifying in equal measure. I worry that our part of the world will be underwater in my lifetime. Before that we can look forward to long forgotten diseases returning and food and water shortages.

I have been veggie for nearly 30 years, vegan for the last 5, I use reusable straws, foodwrap and carrier bags, compost my food waste and grow veg, buy mostly second hand, use a green energy supplier (not octopus), fly probably twice every 5 years and walk or take the train regularly but its all such a teeny tiny drop in the ocean as to be insignificant. Even if we all made the same small changes it still wouldn't be enough, we're all fucked until the powers that be actually implement proper policies

Completely agree with previous posters that we are all screwed unless governments take proper action to avert the worst case scenario. It may well already be too late. But talking about making little changes just shifts the focus from governments and businesses to consumers. It's a brilliant distraction, and most people now believe if we all recycle and have meatless Mondays it will probably all be fine