In my opinion, if you regard Greta Thunberg as hypocritical then it might be worth looking at where that thought has come from and whose agenda it serves. A lot of hate has been directed towards her by people looking to deflect hate away from themselves. I find it very sad that they've been able to do this.
If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
if you live in the UK, bananas arrive in boats, I am not smug, try to do my bit, as much as is practical. Greta Thunberg herself says she had issues with mental health. Her Father said she latched on to various projects. Ranting at people does no good.Flying around the planet lecturing people, on their carbon footprint same as Harry and Megan is guaranteed to get peoples' backs up.
I voted yes although it’s not a word I would routinely apply to myself. I just hope I am doing my bit. If we all do something it will make a difference. How much you do is up to you.
And yes I am in a position where I have the time and for some choices the money to do so. But I have also some of these from when I was much younger, busier and hard-up.
I do have a car, we do have and use our central heating.
Having read the posts so far, I decide that I would nail my colours to the mast
I have always gardened organically (my parents did for as long as I can remember - so it was just the normal way for me). We compost and are actively trying to reduce our use of plastic in the garden - biggest challenge at the moment is potting compost. We try to garden in as wildlife friendly a way as possible. We try to minimise our footprint by recycling as much as possible and reusing plastic as many times as we can and avoiding it where it is possible to do so (we are not obsessive about this and could do more, we do what we easily can) We eat British fruit and veg seasonally and if we do buy non-Uk it’s fruit/veg which is in season in the country of origin if possible and arrives by sea. I don’t use kitchen foil, paper towels or freezer bags and we try to minimise (unwanted) leftovers and food waste. We buy A rated appliances re energy use and have a 100%green energy supplier for our electricity, have low energy bulbs and are careful not to leave lights etc on unnecessarily We are careful with our use of tap water (none for the garden unless it’s washing up water, rainwater for washing the car and watering the garden)
I support Friends of the Earth, regularly sign petitions and have attended protests. I am also a member of Earthwatchers which is a charity undertaking public science projects aimed at collecting information on environmental changes and challenges in the UK
I do not lecture anyone who chooses not to do the things I do but ai do hope everyone does something.
If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.”—Marcus Tullius Cicero East facing, top of a hill clay-loam, cultivated for centuries (7 years by me). Birmingham
Greta Thunberg is one of the least hypocritical activists. There are plenty of people who claim to be 'green' and do whatever they like, certainly. She's not one of them. Perfect should not be the enemy of good. No one can be perfect and it's not reasonable to say 'until there's a perfect example I'm not going to budge at all'.
Sadly, that's not the case. There are lots of people who do think about it and try to make changes to help. There are also lots who don't. 'We' probably do - as in people who are gardeners and who mostly therefore are connected to the natural world to some degree and are conscious of the issue. There are vast numbers of people who really couldn't care less and who consume as much as they can as fast as they can because they can.
When I said "we" I was referring to us Forum members. I totally agree that many don't give a toss. I've been in parts of Asia where the standard way to get rid of rubbish was to chuck it in the river and let it " vanish"
Some celebrities use their fame and status to raise money for Children In Need. They are widely applauded despite having more spare money than the entire amount raised. Some celebrities spend all their time asking why children are in need when we have so much stuff to go around and point out the government policies that are causing children to be expoited. They are called hypocrites for not giving up all their own money if they feel that way.
Greta turns up to a climate conference and tells world leaders that she shouldn't be there and it's a terrible reflection on them that she is. She makes more impact at that conference than all the leaders who turned up in private planes with a massive entourage and stay in luxury hotels for a week to discuss setting some lowball targets that they have no intention of achieving and yet Greta is the one who receives the criticism. If your favoured news outlet says things like 'Greta wants to stop you going on holiday but jets around the world all the time. And by the way she's mental' then you might need to start asking yourself some questions about what you read.
If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
Greta Thunberg herself says she had issues with mental health. Her Father said she latched on to various projects. Ranting at people does no good.Flying around the planet lecturing people, on their carbon footprint .... is guaranteed to get peoples' backs up.
This makes me very sad. Apart from the discriminatory tone regarding someone who has autism, it is wrong. "Citigroup in October said that flight shaming is a real threat to the airline industry and that the cost of carbon offset programs — such as planting trees— could cut industry profits by 44% by 2025." Which is why there is so much nasty commentary, trying to discredit her position. It's a sign that some people are listening and some business is scared.
As WE said, you need to look more carefully at the sources of the 'information'. There are many vested interests in keeping us hooked on our consumer habits.
The positive side to it is that some airlines are taking the need to address carbon emissions far more seriously now, because they don't want school strikers to grow up into business people who don't use planes.
Gardening on the edge of Exmoor, in Devon
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
As in all things there are good and bad ways of working if you want to get the support of people. David Attenborough didn't preach in any of his programmes but just look at the effect he had. There are others however who could be described as almost fanatical about their way being the only way. One presenter went as far as saying that all gardens should be left to be completely wild, which doesn't take the reality of people's requirements into account at all.
We are all entitled to our opinions, that is what they are, opinions, I have listen to Greta Thunburg, herself, yes, on TV. I dont' discriminate against autism, or any other mental illness. That was a statement of fact. I have 2 sons with severe mental problems, severe depression and one has rapid cycling bi-polar, I have had many middle of the night phone calls threatening suicde, and witnessed him running into a road and trying to jump out of my car while driving, because of treatment received at Job centres and the like. I married a bloke with severe mental problems and phobias, so bad that for years he didn't leave the house. I have nursed people who have commited crimes, said God told them to do it.Yes, KT53, some people would shoot others for having a motor mower (yes, I have a push qualcast,thanks) Carol Klein thinks all lawns should be banned
This makes me very sad. Apart from the discriminatory tone regarding someone who has autism, it is wrong. "Citigroup in October said that flight shaming is a real threat to the airline industry and that the cost of carbon offset programs — such as planting trees— could cut industry profits by 44% by 2025." Which is why there is so much nasty commentary, trying to discredit her position. It's a sign that some people are listening and some business is scared.
The airline business is one of the most competitive of all businesses. If you aggregate all airlines in the history of commercial flying, their financial result is a loss (more airlines go bankrupt/lose money than make money throughout history). The fact that carbon offsets, which cost for average European flight less than a beer in a decent pub, would cut their profits by 44% says something, doesn't it? I am not saying carbon offsets shouldn't be part of the ticket prices. Just that it's about customers too, we all know how price-sensitive people are when it comes to air tickets.
so let's say we all stop flying. Tourism is the biggest industry on the planet. What about all the Greek islands , for example,which rely on tourism? What about entire countries which rely on Tourism? I'm sure London or Florida would survive but would countries like The Gambia or Cambodia ? or is an entire nation going bust a price worth paying? What about places like the Galapagos Islands etc where tourism funds conservation work, do we just let the poachers move in and kill the last elephants and rhinos because poor African countries have lost " the tourist dollar"?
Posts
I do have a car, we do have and use our central heating.
I have always gardened organically (my parents did for as long as I can remember - so it was just the normal way for me). We compost and are actively trying to reduce our use of plastic in the garden - biggest challenge at the moment is potting compost. We try to garden in as wildlife friendly a way as possible.
We try to minimise our footprint by recycling as much as possible and reusing plastic as many times as we can and avoiding it where it is possible to do so (we are not obsessive about this and could do more, we do what we easily can)
We eat British fruit and veg seasonally and if we do buy non-Uk it’s fruit/veg which is in season in the country of origin if possible and arrives by sea.
I don’t use kitchen foil, paper towels or freezer bags and we try to minimise (unwanted) leftovers and food waste.
We buy A rated appliances re energy use and have a 100%green energy supplier for our electricity, have low energy bulbs and are careful not to leave lights etc on unnecessarily
We are careful with our use of tap water (none for the garden unless it’s washing up water, rainwater for washing the car and watering the garden)
I do not lecture anyone who chooses not to do the things I do but ai do hope everyone does something.
East facing, top of a hill clay-loam, cultivated for centuries (7 years by me). Birmingham
As WE said, you need to look more carefully at the sources of the 'information'. There are many vested interests in keeping us hooked on our consumer habits.
The positive side to it is that some airlines are taking the need to address carbon emissions far more seriously now, because they don't want school strikers to grow up into business people who don't use planes.
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
I am not saying carbon offsets shouldn't be part of the ticket prices. Just that it's about customers too, we all know how price-sensitive people are when it comes to air tickets.
Tourism is the biggest industry on the planet. What about all the Greek islands , for example,which rely on tourism? What about entire countries which rely on Tourism? I'm sure London or Florida would survive but would countries like The Gambia or Cambodia ? or is an entire nation going bust a price worth paying?
What about places like the Galapagos Islands etc where tourism funds conservation work, do we just let the poachers move in and kill the last elephants and rhinos because poor African countries have lost " the tourist dollar"?