'How green are you?' poll results/discussion

Doom_and_Gloom

bumpoowee wrote: »

Unless something is really detrimental to the environment, I no longer care about whether it is green or not and work entirely on price.

I did use to buy into the whole green thing, but it's turned into a pathetic joke to raise taxes and make things even more expensive. The day the real problem - overpopulation - begins to be addressed, I will start taking the green agenda seriously again. Until then I couldn't care less.

You forget that people really caring about the environment as a family of 6 could and usually do less damage to the earth than a family of 4 that don't care. It's a reality that people need to realise. Yes the government have put up taxes because of environmental reasons but that does not mean you should just not care because you think they should be looking at other things :rolleyes:. If you think that environment needs help then help it! Don't just sit there and say "it's not my problem until the government change..." life does not work like that.

I do think the world is overpopulated but I personally believe it is worse than it should be due to the selfishness of people wanting their own children, using IVF, surrogacy etc, instead of adopting/fostering children that really do need a family. It's saddening that people are so set on having a biological child that they disregard those out there just because they are not in their biological pool. I'm only 20, have no children of my own and would be perfectly okay to adopt and/or foster if I can't have children for any reason myself (I hopefully will even if I do have children of my own).

teddyco

Global warming is one of the greatest myth's of the 21st Century and one day we will discover it and move on to some other fear-mongering epidemic to help governments fill their coffers with your money through higher taxation.

ceridwen

Doom_and_Gloom wrote: »

You forget that people really caring about the environment as a family of 6 could and usually do less damage to the earth than a family of 4 that don't care. It's a reality that people need to realise. Yes the government have put up taxes because of environmental reasons but that does not mean you should just not care because you think they should be looking at other things :rolleyes:. If you think that environment needs help then help it! Don't just sit there and say "it's not my problem until the government change..." life does not work like that.

I do think the world is overpopulated but I personally believe it is worse than it should be due to the selfishness of people wanting their own children, using IVF, surrogacy etc, instead of adopting/fostering children that really do need a family. It's saddening that people are so set on having a biological child that they disregard those out there just because they are not in their biological pool. I'm only 20, have no children of my own and would be perfectly okay to adopt and/or foster if I can't have children for any reason myself (I hopefully will even if I do have children of my own).

I've had the "my family pollute less than other families - even though they are bigger" argument thrown at me numerous times. They are simply missing the point/s:

a. They have produced more "bodies" and those "bodies" need food/clothing/shelter of their own once they reach adulthood/etc. It is basically the sheer volume of people on the planet that is the problem.

b. No-one can answer for what their children will do once they reach adulthood - its simply not adequate to say "They will be a Greenie - like me" - they may very well not be. Quite apart from that uncomfortable fact that no matter how "green" the child is in other respects - the adult version will need a home to live in/food to eat and water.

meanastheycome

teddyco wrote: »

Global warming is one of the greatest myth's of the 21st Century and one day we will discover it and move on to some other fear-mongering epidemic to help governments fill their coffers with your money through higher taxation.

I could not agree with you more.This is a " tax the fools hype "that the fools believe.
This planet has been changing for millions of years through nature and will continue
to do so for millions more whether humans are here or not.
The small pitiful "green things" we do will make no difference at all.

bumpoowee

Doom_and_Gloom wrote: »

You forget that people really caring about the environment as a family of 6 could and usually do less damage to the earth than a family of 4 that don't care. It's a reality that people need to realise. Yes the government have put up taxes because of environmental reasons but that does not mean you should just not care because you think they should be looking at other things :rolleyes:. If you think that environment needs help then help it! Don't just sit there and say "it's not my problem until the government change..." life does not work like that.

I do think the world is overpopulated but I personally believe it is worse than it should be due to the selfishness of people wanting their own children, using IVF, surrogacy etc, instead of adopting/fostering children that really do need a family. It's saddening that people are so set on having a biological child that they disregard those out there just because they are not in their biological pool. I'm only 20, have no children of my own and would be perfectly okay to adopt and/or foster if I can't have children for any reason myself (I hopefully will even if I do have children of my own).

Completely disagree. Nomatter what a family with 2 kids does they are always more responsible than a family who already have 2 or more kids and tries for more.

Arguably our current lifestyles are sustainable indefinitely - it is merely a question of the energy used to run these lifestyles. Currently this is unsustainably sourced and I very much support moving to renewable energy - it is just common sense, regardless of 'global warming' arguments. The only thing not currently sustainable is population growth. No matter how 'green' a person is, if they have more than 2 kids (with a partner) on purpose (ie a single child then twins is forgivable) they are selfish, irresponsible and jeapordising the future, and have no right to lecture anyone else.

Coveredinbees!!!!

see below.

jud!th

teddyco wrote: »

Global warming is one of the greatest myth's of the 21st Century and one day we will discover it and move on to some other fear-mongering epidemic to help governments fill their coffers with your money through higher taxation.

I challenge you to find any evidence that it is a myth that is not funded by those with a selfish financial interest in it not being true.

Oh, hold on, you have a selfish financial interest in it not being true, so you probably won't bother to look.

DKLS

Thats the problem with these type of threads, as there is a huge split between those who dont believe/couldnt give a fig and the fervent tree huggers.

I was once a tree hugger and did everything in my power to be green, but one day re-discovered by "Gecko" ethos and now really couldnt care less.

cw18

Option 2 for me. I'd love to be able to say I only buy green/free range/organic produce, but finances would be seriously over-stretched if I did so But I have changed my cleaning products (washing powder, washing up liquid, toilet cleaner and surface cleaner) to environmentally versions though - and for the amounts I use I can afford to leave these on my shopping lists.

But being green is more than just what we buy......

I'm trying to hold my gas, electricity and water useage down - and not just 'cos all three are on meters so this saves money too, though this is a brilliant side effect

I also recycle everything I can. We have a brown bin for margarine tubs, yoghurt pots, plastic milk containers, glass jars and all tins and cans. There are still several houses around me who don't seem to use this bin, but it could be I don't notice as they don't put it out for every (fortnightly) collection - something that's possible as mine only goes out every 6 or 8 weeks, and then rarely more than half full A lot of my marge tubs don't end up in there for quite a while, as I use the 500g ones to freeze portions of meals until they finally crack on me. My glass jars (with screw on metal lids) are also retained, ready for the next session of chutney/pickle/jam making.

We have a starch sack for papers and magazines, which has recently been changed to include yellow paged phone books (so the stack I had waiting for a 'home' have now gone) and envelopes without windows.

Plain brown cardboard can go into our 'garden waste only' bin, but I collect all other cardboard up and once every few months I take it to the main cardboard collection point at the local tip (being sure not to make a special run out to get rid it - I combine it with a trip to the next town as the tip is half-way there)

I'm hoping to start growing (at least some) of my own fruit and veg next year, so I guess that's another step in the 'green' direction

And my annual mileage in the car has dropped, as I now think twice about whether I really need to go wherever - and whether I can walk it instead. Though I do admit this is at least in part due to trying to reduce my use of petrol (again to save money)

shirlgirl2004

I am clearly an evil person because I have 4 children. My eldest 2 are in their 20s and are pretty green. Neither drives a car and buy minimal clothes etc (althought heir clothes are not "green".

The youngest 2 well who knows how green they'll be but they already save their rubbish to recycle when they get home.

We buy mainly organic food and some organic clothing (used cloth nappies & wipes).Our toiletries and general cleaning products are primarily earth friendly but we don't use that many anyway. It's amazing what water can clean without adding anything. We reduce, reuse and recycle as much as possible but we live in a large house that uses a lot of power to heat etc. We had solar panles which broke down and I have to confess we didn't get them repaired because they were pretty ineffective and we weren't convinecd they made much difference.

I guess we're just an average family.