This week, I shall be mostly
wondering what I can do to help cut the carbon emissions.
There has been a spate of adverts on the TV lately, about turning down the thermostat, washing clothes at 5 degree less, only filling the kettle with enough water for one cup; all to do your bit to cut the fossil fuel bill.
My vote goes to the kid who's practicing for walking to and from school with mum instead of being driven there and back. Apart from the fact that it means one less 4x4 on the roads, it also will do the pair of them lots of good. Walking is in danger of becoming as medieval as witchcraft.
I walked to and from primary school, about a mile and a half each way, no matter what the weather, no matter what the time of year, although I remember we got let out early enough on winter afternoons to be home by dark. So did my brothers and my sister. When I got older I started cycling, until the college I was at was too far away for anything other than buses.
I could not imagine school without the journey each way, sometimes up and down the hill with the conker trees and the sweet shop in the hollow, sometimes through the fields by the pond with the sticklebacks, sometimes through the wood with the sandstone cave; if I had been denied those adventures I would have lost half of the enjoyment of my childhood.
OK, I appreciate that there are far more cars on the roads nowadays, and possibly far more predatory characters, but is it really the answer to all of humanities problems to hide them from our children? I'm not saying throw them in at the deep end and let them take the risks, God forbid, but I am worried that we have produced a generation accustomed to beng chauffered everywhere.
It can't be too good for the parents either, reduced to rat-running in order to fit their own lives in around the twice a day rush between school, home and shops. Hopefully mum is going to get fitter, healthier, and more adventurous.
I would love to be able to say that I am going to be walking to and from work for the next few weeks, but I can't. And I've already changed the thermostat setting, bought a smaller kettle, and changed all the lightbulbs to high-efficiency types. So what can I do to join in with everyone else? Simple, and pretty basic.
This year, I shall be wiping my arse in the dark to help do my bit for the environment.
There has been a spate of adverts on the TV lately, about turning down the thermostat, washing clothes at 5 degree less, only filling the kettle with enough water for one cup; all to do your bit to cut the fossil fuel bill.
My vote goes to the kid who's practicing for walking to and from school with mum instead of being driven there and back. Apart from the fact that it means one less 4x4 on the roads, it also will do the pair of them lots of good. Walking is in danger of becoming as medieval as witchcraft.
I walked to and from primary school, about a mile and a half each way, no matter what the weather, no matter what the time of year, although I remember we got let out early enough on winter afternoons to be home by dark. So did my brothers and my sister. When I got older I started cycling, until the college I was at was too far away for anything other than buses.
I could not imagine school without the journey each way, sometimes up and down the hill with the conker trees and the sweet shop in the hollow, sometimes through the fields by the pond with the sticklebacks, sometimes through the wood with the sandstone cave; if I had been denied those adventures I would have lost half of the enjoyment of my childhood.
OK, I appreciate that there are far more cars on the roads nowadays, and possibly far more predatory characters, but is it really the answer to all of humanities problems to hide them from our children? I'm not saying throw them in at the deep end and let them take the risks, God forbid, but I am worried that we have produced a generation accustomed to beng chauffered everywhere.
It can't be too good for the parents either, reduced to rat-running in order to fit their own lives in around the twice a day rush between school, home and shops. Hopefully mum is going to get fitter, healthier, and more adventurous.
I would love to be able to say that I am going to be walking to and from work for the next few weeks, but I can't. And I've already changed the thermostat setting, bought a smaller kettle, and changed all the lightbulbs to high-efficiency types. So what can I do to join in with everyone else? Simple, and pretty basic.
This year, I shall be wiping my arse in the dark to help do my bit for the environment.
posted by Sopwith-Camel | 7:13 pm
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home