Counting On … – Page 57

Counting on … day 1.211

8th November 2023

Repairability and maintainability of things we buy and own is an important part of sustainability. I have previously commented on repairing and mending things around the home – https://greentau.org/tag/repairs/ – and on regular bike maintenance – https://greentau.org/2022/09/03/counting-on-day-298/ Maintenance also includes regularly cleaning shoes, re waterproofing coats, emptying and cleaning vacuum cleaners, servicing boilers etc.

Maintenance may also include reviewing our lives, our daily habits, to check that they still align with our faith values.

Counting on … day 1.210

7th November 2023

Green Christian coined the nemonic LOAF ( locally , organise, animal friendly, fairly traded) to help us make better choices when buying food. I was wondering if we need a similar nemonic for other purchasing choices.
For example SURE –

Sustainably produced;

Useful (ie something we need rather than a gimmick);

the Rs – can it be repaired, reused, and can it (finally) be recycled; and

Ethically produced by people earning the real living wage, where taxes are paid and exploitative advertising avoided.

Make SURE before you buy!

For further thoughts – https://greentau.org/2022/07/12/eco-tips-stuff/

Counting on … day 1.209

6th November 2023

Christmas is now lurking round the corner. The Shops have finished with Halloween and whilst there is still Black Friday to go, that too can be tied into buying for Christmas. But how about ‘not buying’ for Christmas?

The autumnal leaves are turning into a wide range of colours from lime yellow to brassy red. I have been collecting some of them – ones that have a particularly attractive shape or colour – and am flattening them between the pages of a heavy book. Next month, when it’s actually Christmas I will thread them together with thread to make garlands.

For more ideas see https://greentau.org/2022/11/24/eco-tips-christmas/

Counting on … day 1.208

3rd November 2023

Another industry highly dependent on energy is the steel industry. Traditionally that has come from coal, but electric furnaces are providing a less environmentally damaging alternative, producing what is termed ‘green steel’. Providing investment to enable British based steel plants to switch is becoming an election issue. The Guardian reported that “Labour is promising to invest £3bn in smoothing the green transition should it win power at the next election. This is substantially more than the offers made by Mr Sunak’s government to Tata Steel and the Chinese Jingye Group, the respective owners of the Port Talbot works and British Steel. As Sir Keir pointed out, with the right kind of backing and vision from Westminster, domestic steel production can become a crucial component in meeting Britain’s clean power targets. That, in turn, will help protect good, well-paid jobs in regions that desperately need them. Britain is set to require more, not less, steel as it builds net zero machinery and infrastructure at pace. That can be a catalyst for industry renewal, if a committed government shows the drive and imagination to make it so. New public procurement rules, for example, could ensure the use of clean British steel in the manufacture of wind turbines, rather than reliance on imports from abroad.” https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/oct/24/the-guardian-view-on-labour-and-the-steel-industry-how-to-forge-a-better-future?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

Nothing is straight forward. To add to this story, it seems that switching to electric furnaces has to further knock on effects. First the furnace needs fewer people to operate it, so the switch comes with redundancies. We should be aspiring to a just transition to net zero which means we should be looking to create jobs for those facing redundancy. This could involve reskilling people for work in the green sector eg building and installing wind turbines, heat pumps, solar panels, etc. Second – and which is a positive really – electric furnaces don’t produce steel from iron ore but by recycling steel and iron.

Counting on … day 1.207

2nd November 2023

It is not just individuals that are trying to make the shift to net zero, but businesses too. And they likewise find the lack of government support and direction frustrating.

Last week the Guardian reported that, “Miles Roberts, the company’s chief executive, said British government decarbonisation policy has lacked the clarity of European rivals, meaning DS Smith[ a FTSE 100 paper packaging company] has moved ahead with a €90m (£78m) investment in a paper mill in Rouen, northern France …Roberts said: “If you are committed to carbon neutral, and it is far more attractive to invest in those solutions elsewhere, what you’ll see is manufacturing decline in the UK.” https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/oct/22/uk-must-offer-businesses-certainty-over-green-energy-says-boss-of-ftse-100-firm?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

Counting on … day 1.206

1st November 2023

The following commentary comes from the publishers of Positive News.

“It’s really pretty simple. If we want to keep the climate stable, we have to ring in some big changes, both societal and personal. Progress is slow on the former. But while governments dither, there are signs that ordinary folk are embracing lifestyle choices that slash emissions.

“A Europe-wide survey this week found that young people are leading the way when it comes to planet-friendly living. Younger people are more likely than other age groups to buy secondhand clobber, cut down on meat and ditch smut-belching cars. Perhaps unsurprisingly, they are also more likely to support pro-climate policies. It chimes with separate research by the UK government, which showed that meat is slipping off menus, although the cost of living crisis may also have something to do with that.”

Counting on …day 1.205

31st October 2023

Each year Ethical Consumer produces a report on the government’s progress in transitioning to net zero. It useful not just for the government, bit for consumers too. It is sponsored by the Ecology Building Society: “Consumers need reliable information to be able to make informed choices and authoritative data can shape priorities and guide actions for businesses and government at all levels. We sponsor this report because the information it contains gives consumers more power to make better choices- by voting with their feet, their wallets or at the ballot box”.

Do read the report – Closing the Gap 2023 – and be one of the many consumers using their spending and voting power to achieve net zero.

https://www.ethicalconsumer.org/sites/default/files/inline-files/climate gap 2023 report 12-10.pdf

Counting on … day 1.204

30th October 2023

Next year will be an election year and already people and organisations are thinking about what policies we want and need from a new government. Here are thoughts from the National Trust: “The next general election will have a profound impact on all our futures. Nature and our climate are facing an emergency. The Trust has a long history of contributing to the challenges of the day: from the need for green spaces for Victorian city dwellers, to the post-war dissolution of country houses and collections, to the over-development of Britain’s coastline. This means acting as partner, friend and critic to governments, while never straying into party politics.
“The legal commitments to reach net zero by 2050 and reverse the decline of nature by 2030, require concerted action and we are looking for the policies to match.”

In particular they pick out cleaning our rivers and protecting them rom further pollution; building up a workforce and retrofitting all our pre 1920 buildings with insulation to maintain comfortable internal temperatures whilst reducing energy costs; and re greening the UK so that everyone is within a 15 minute walk of a green space.

https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/services/media/national-trust-issues-critical-manifesto-asks-to-protect-nature-and-heritage-for-everyone

Counting on …. Day 1.203

27th October 2023

Getting to net zero is highly dependent on positive action from governments, which makes the intransigence of our UK government so devastating. There is a group of organisations who comprise Fossil Free Politics, and assert,

“We can no longer afford to let the fossil fuel industry undermine our democracy as we try and halt climate chaos, fix our energy system, and protect people and planet. To tackle the climate emergency, and ensure that climate policy is conducted entirely in the public interest, we must cut fossil fuel interests out of politics, similar to existing restrictions on the tobacco industry. Before it’s too late.”

They recently produced a report on the fossil fuel industry’s sustained lobbying effort to undermine the windfall tax.

A summary of their report can be found here: https://www.desmog.com/2023/10/24/revealed-the-oil-and-gas-lobbying-campaign-to-water-down-windfall-tax/?link_id=1&can_id=b3ac032d15be52a96ddf5454b675707f&source=email-breaking-how-opaque-groups-and-privileged-access-allowed-the-fossil-fuel-industry-to-derail-the-windfall-tax-new-research&email_referrer=email_2089151&email_subject=breaking-how-opaque-groups-and-privileged-access-allowed-the-fossil-fuel-industry-to-derail-the-windfall-tax-new-research

Counting on … day 1.202

26th October 2023

It is good to be reminded that the need to cut our use of fossil fuels is still pressing and urgent!

The Imagine newsletter reported on the IEA’s update of its report, Net Zero by 2050: A Roadmap for the Global Energy Sector. The report concludes that by 2030:

– fossil fuel demand must fall 25%

– the energy efficiency of homes, vehicles and other appliances must double

– methane emissions from the oil and gas sector must fall 75%

– and renewable energy capacity must triple and replace coal, oil and as at a rapid pace!