I don't include you in that comment by the way. I like you and your Blogs and I think you lot and I are the only sane ones on this planet. The people I have in mind are the sycophants we have at work.
The other day at work I was caught in a meeting to discuss how we can improve our company image. (Personally, I think the best way to improve our image is by closing down altogether; but I said nothing).
Somehow, the discussion turned into our company being seen as being environmentally friendly, planet loving, caring for our children's future ... and such similar platitudes to make one's heart melt and to see me rushing out the door. But it was a business meeting and I was trapped.
Colleagues talked about global warming, climate change, burning fossil fuels, green sustainable energy, harnessing wave, solar and wind power, wind turbines, and similar other things they had read about or seen on TV and they were repeating them like demented parrots.
I kept quiet ... but my mind was thinking in all different tangents at the same time. This is how it went:
If these guys are serious about saving the planet they will have to make big changes to their lives.
They will have to give up their company cars for a start and use bicycles to go to work, and to go to meetings in other towns and cities millions of miles away.
They will have to stop flying everywhere and going on holidays abroad at least twice a year.
They will have to save energy at home and turn down the heating or air-conditioning altogether. They will need to burn trees or coal to keep warm in winter ... oops fossil fuels!
They will have to stop eating ready meals wrapped in plastic which is only used once and then thrown away. And drinking from one-use cups and bottles.
They will have to cut down altogether on all non-essentials which waste energy to produce, to market, and to sell, and serve no purpose whatsoever. For example, the cosmetics industry making all sorts of facial paints, nail varnish, perfumes and so on ... for men as well as women. The fashion industry which encourages us to change clothings earlier than we need to and waste materials for no reason at all apart from vanity. The entertainments industry with all their productions of music, films, videos, computer games and so on. All these will have to stop if we are serious about waste and saving the planet.
All sports like car and motorbike racing, and indeed all sports altogether should be stopped. They encourage use of energy, they encourage travel, they encourage purchases of souvenirs and such like useless products which serve no purpose apart from making people happy. People should not be happy. Life is meant to be miserable so that, having saved the planet, the next generation can be equally miserable as us.
At this point my manager woke me up from my reverie by asking me for my views about encouraging industries such as ours to sponsor more wind farms and building more wind turbines both in open spaces, in farms, and also out at sea.
I hesitated ... gulped ... and then said, "I am concerned about building too many wind turbines everywhere in case as they all turn round together the earth might take off and fly to outer space!"
Maybe it was a stupid thing to say. He suggested, politely, we discuss it privately afterwards.
What do you think about this?
While it's right to care for God's green earth, there are so many people who just go absolutely bonkers about it to the extent, as you point out here, Victor, that our whole way of life would cease to exist as we know it. It's one thing to be responsible, and quite another to be a whacko.
ReplyDeleteBlessings, and stay away from those windmills! :)
It's all we hear about on TV and radio in the UK: save the planet. Don't use plastic. Don't do this. Don't do that. No one realises that all this talk is producing more hot air burning through the ozone layer - wherever that is!
DeleteGod bless you Martha.
I do not object to giving up some conveniences, we do waste too much, but significant world wide lifestyle changes will not change a thing, they may feel good, but a realistic solution will have to come from technological changes. If plants can convert co2 to oxygen, than perhaps we can develop technologies to do the same thing; plastics or a suitable substitution can be made to be biodegradable.
ReplyDeleteWe got into this mess by abusing our resources through technological advancement, we can resolve if the same way if that is the direction we encourage. If we think we can go back to subsistence living and resource conservation, I'll start as soon as everyone else does...and, NO CHEATING!!
Well said, JoeH. No cheating. It is always us that have to live and obey the rules. They keep telling us on TV that the seas and rivers are full of plastic. I throw away all plastic bottles and containers in which I buy food and other products in the re-cycling bin which is collected by the authorities. How does MY plastic end up in the sea?
DeleteGod bless.
Apparently, these huge windmill 'turbine engines' would literally, KILL all manner of bird species that came anywhere near them! This does NOT seem to be so 'eco-friendly'does it? Perhaps, IF 'windmills' were THE answer; they should be small ones that are 'attached' to a single home or a building -- like in the quaint 20th century pictures of windmills from The Netherlands??! However, unless you live on 'ever-windy plains' or 'prairies', or on 'high, windy mountain tops'; I doubt very much, that it would be enough to keep 'The internet' alive -- and 'HI-TECH' would become EXTINCT! Oh, the humanity!
ReplyDeleteI often wonder how much energy, (materials, electricity, transportation etc ...) goes into making and erecting these turbine engines compared to how much electricity we get from them. Overall; is there a plus in the equation in favour of these turbines?
DeleteGod bless you, Suzanne.
Sounds like the teacher caught you napping.
ReplyDeleteIt never ceases to amaze me that those at the top want the ones of the bottom to make climate changes in their lives.
Exactly, Susan. Speaking of bottoms; do you realise that cows, sheep and even humans create a lot of gas from their bottoms? Perhaps we should all carry bags, (not plastic ones), to collect and use all that gas. What a good idea! It just came to me from the top of my ... bottom.
DeleteGod bless.
I don;t see problems with windmills. We have some up in our hills. People say they are loud and noisy. I walked pass a house that had some close by and I didn't think they were noisy. As for killing birds, I never heard that before but I imagine some could get killed.
ReplyDeleteI did hear the bird story, Bill. Apparently, it is the low level hum the turbines create which disorient them and they tend to fall to the ground. Especially nocturnal birds like owls. Don't know if it is true.
DeleteGod bless.
Applauding from stage left. :)
ReplyDelete"Personally, I think the best way to improve our image is by closing down altogether; but I said nothing": THAT sure hit my funny bone, on account I used to feel the same way at my last job.
Sad, these lofty ideals are all well and good -- until they begin to impact one's lifestyle.
You can understand now, Mevely, why my sense of humour got me into trouble at work. I could not resist making the odd comment. Once a boss threatened that unless I were to attend a certain training course, (which I thought was a waste of time), I would never be promoted. I replied that if promotion in this firm relied on me attending the course then it was not worth being promoted. He fumed and banged his desk hard.
DeleteI did not go on the course - but did get promoted several times in senior positions.
God bless you.
I get tired of hearing about saving the planet! I try to do my part but don't think it really matters in the long run.
ReplyDeleteYou are right about it not mattering in the long run. I read somewhere that in 5 million years time the sun will run out of fuel and burnt out. We will have no sun and the earth will totally freeze over. So what is the point of saving the planet if it will freeze in 5 million years time?
DeleteGod bless, Happyone.
It's easy to talk about making (any type of) changes in your life, but SO hard to do.
ReplyDeleteIndeed ... I am told it is time to change my vest.
DeleteGod bless.
Man leaves trash wherever he goes...even on Mount Everest!
ReplyDeleteSo I hear they have cleaned it up and brought it off the mountain.
Where did they put it? In a landfill? In the ocean with the plastic?
That's like sweeping the dust under the carpet...you can't see it so problem solved.
I must go now. I have to vacuum under my rug...I mean I have to vacuum my rug. Okay where do I put the dirt when I clean out the vacuum cleaner bag...be nice :)
God Bless Victor...he keeps us laughing 😀😁😂😇😹😸
I agree, Jan. I cannot understand why people leave trash on top of Mount Everest. Have they not got trash bins in their homes and towns. Why go all the way up a mountain to leave one's trash? It's the same in the UK with Mount Snowdon and Ben Nevis. I remember years ago when I was young I went up Snowdon with friends. Half-way up I got tired and sat down. I told my friends I'd wait for them to go up and then meet me again on their way down. As they moved a way a helicopter flew above and a voice boomed: "Please take your trash home. Don't leave him there!"
DeleteGod bless.
Thank you Victor😁
ReplyDeleteGod bless, Regina.
Delete