Well, it’s been a gorgeous afternoon and I decided to do something I’ve been intending to do for some time, I took my camera and paid a local attraction a visit, in this case Haden Hill park. This is a local park in Old Hill, which includes Haden Hill House parts of which date from the Tudor period and also a newer nature reserve which is home to Pipistrell bats and Tawny Owls among other species.
Category Archives: Environment - Page 4
A few photos
Posted by Richard
on April 15, 2007
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Positive about the environment.
Posted by Richard
on April 12, 2007
3 comments
I stumbled across this story on BBC News Online. Now, I’ll admit to having Arnold Schwarzenegger as one of the people I hold in high regard and this story is another example of why. Among the qualities I admire about the Oak is his positive, energetic, approach to things and his refreshing candour.
He’s right, the environmental lobby does have an image problem. You have to stop telling people about what they’re going to lose and give them a positive picture. It’s a strange approach really, approaching what is a very positive mission (saving the planet) by focusing people on what they will lose, by trying to guilt trip them. You need to take an approach that will turn them on to what you’re trying to achieve, not off. He’s right, it’s time to make the environmental lobby sexy.
Ecological footprint
Posted by Richard
on October 24, 2006
1 comment
I found an interesting site that allows you to measure your ecological footprint against the average one for your country, it also give suggestions on what you can do about it.
Check out ecofoot.org.
Humanity and the Environment
Posted by Richard
on October 24, 2006
No comments
I was reading about our impact on the environment in todays times, it seems that humanity is exceeding the Earth’s ability to support us by 25%!
Each of us in the UK uses 2.2 hectares of resources to live, but the Earth can only renew 1.8 hectares. The article said there’s a strong possiblity of a large scale collapse of the eco system by the middle of this century.
Once again the point was made that the UK is quite a bad offender, though there are worse out there. This just makes the point about humanity’s need to get into tune with our environment. Benjamin Hoff said in the Te of Piglet that the environment would eventually turn on us, I’m reminded of the Taoist principle that when something reaches an extreme it become it’s opposite. Unfortunately, unles we get proactive very quickly, it’ll take an extreme event to make us change.
I can’t help feeling the the emphasis is on the average Joe/Jane to make the running on this one, in this case, the big corporations and government need to be driven by public demand. What’s needed is for the public to lead the way, it really is in our hands.
More on BBC News Online here.
Saving Energy
Posted by Richard
on October 23, 2006
No comments
I was looking at both the Times and the BBC today, it seems that the UK is the worst country for energy waste in Europe.
Now I looked through a few of the things they mention, and noted with dismay that our household is guilty of doing one or two of them, mostly leaving chargers plugged in and leaving lights on and devices in standby. I can see I’m going to have to make some effort in this area, it makes me wonder how often do we use energy wasting devices when there could be a manual alternative?
For example, rather than use the PC to keep my notes and personal diary, I use paper and pen. I also find this much more satisfying, which is strange given my technophile status. Where possible, I walk instead of firing up the car, again, it feels better and gets me some exercise.
I think we could do with applying a little Wu Wei to our use of resources, try to do as much with less. When you consider the enviromental impact of a PDA vs a notebook & paper diary, you start to wonder. It’s an interesting question, how many of our mod cons & gadgets could we honestly do without before it really affected us?
Terminating climate change
Posted by Richard
on August 1, 2006
1 comment
I read today that Tony Blair has broken ranks with the White House and cut a transatlantic deal with the state of California regarding emission reduction. Allegedly, Tony is not at all happy with George Bush’s approach to the issue of climate change.
I personally find this to be a welcome move, Governor Schwarzenegger seems to have a more positive approach to climate change. I hope it helps start the ball rolling on US emission reduction, and also helps establish Tony Blair as not being a poodle for the White House. I also hope this helps to move the White House to a more positive position on the issue of climate change.
I’m reminded of a sentiment from the author Iain M Banks on change in a political of social hedgemeony from his essay “A Few Notes on the Culture”:
“while the forces of repression need to win every time, the progressive elements need only triumph once”
Alternative energy sources
Posted by Richard
on May 18, 2006
2 comments
I was reading the Times newspaper the other day and I saw that Venezuela’s president had said that if there’s any action against Iran, then Middle England will have to stop using their cars. So, our over reliance on oil has now been used as a tool to threaten us with, I’d wondered how long it would take.
As much as it’s up to the government to develop alternative energy sources to oil, it’s up to the people to lead them. The government won’t shift until it’s forced to, which makes sense, in an “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” kind of way. But in this, there’s no choice but action, what’s needed is the people to lead the way, to try to stop using our cars without need and to try to stop wasting energy.
What’s amusing is the thought of the sheer panic that it would cause in the Treasury if everyone actually bought and used a bike!
