Going green for Christmas no longer makes you Scrooge
Bah humbug!
Cycling gives you an interesting perspective on how people feel about climate change. Am I imagining that more folks driving Porches, Bentleys and the rest are beginning to feel a little more shifty about what they are doing to the environment?
On a bike one often makes eye contact with drivers – these days I find that some drivers in the higher range gas-guzzling barouches are averting their eyes.
On the other hand there have always been those who look shifty in such vehicles. There’s always a slight suspicion that anyone who could splash out in excess of £50,000 for a car must have made the money by questionable means – drug dealing or white collar crime of some sort.
My renewed interest in these drivers may be a consequence of spending the last couple of weeks in Brazil and at the Copenhagen climate Change summit.
I’m suddenly actively looking for one of those domestic waste bins that are divided into colour-coded individual quadrants to make recycling easier.
Each quadrant can be separately removed from the bin – paper, plastic, glass, organic etc. Anyone know where you can find such a thing? I’ve seen them all over Portugal and in a few US hotels, and UK hospitals, but never in a UK home.
The most powerful sense I have is that Britain lags desperately in personal behaviour, particularly on recycling and alternative clean energy.
I have some solar panels, but it was a heck of a business getting hold of them and getting them fitted – and I’ve worked out that I will have to live to 87 before the panels pay for themselves and their installation!
Finally, are we finally seeing the retreat of the Christmas card? Every thump of the odd-sized envelope on the mat this year seems to feel like an anti-environmental act.
My own prejudice, having sent a few in the past, is to restrict them to nearest and dearest. I have started to enjoy what I once dreaded – the email card.
Must make me sound like Scrooge. This character I actually WILL be this Christmas – for one night only (20 December) – in Sandi Toksvig’s panto at the Royal Festival Hall (charitable proceeds to New Horizon – the young homeless project of which I am chair).
I am playing opposite the great Dane and Ronnie Corbett – I am learning my lines, and ensuring I go by bike.
UPDATE: 15.13
Wow – well LucyTweeting has fixed my recycling bin requirements and I promise not to bored you with too many requests. But as of next week I shall be equipped with exactly what I was after.
The winning bin was this one: http://www.homerecycling.co.uk/catalogue.php?product_id=222
Thank you.
JS