Hello! Matt here, bringing you the last article from Green Scene. Sadly, after 2 years working in Ancoats and Miles Platting, the funding for the SCENE project is running out! We are hoping to get a similar project going again later in the year, based at Manchester Environmental Resource Centre Initiative, or MERCi, which is on Beswick St in Ancoats – keep your fingers crossed that some more funding can be found.
So, for the final page, I thought it would be nice to look at an idea that used to be commonplace, but has perhaps fallen out of fashion a bit – ‘Waste not, want not!’
My mother taught me this saying, and as I understand it, it was particularly relevant around WWII, and the rationing period after it. It seems not to be something that later generations are very familiar with. While we may not be living with a rationing system, or having to conserve resources because of a war effort, there are many more reasons to be clever with what we use and throw away than before.
The number of reasons stand at roughly 6,300,000,000. That is the approximate number of people sharing our planet at the moment, and that number increases every year by about 77,000,000! Estimates for the year 2050 are around 9,000,000,000! Now, as the Americans might say, ‘You do the math’. The life support systems of the planet are struggling to cope with 6 odd billion people already here, and that number will increase by around 50% in only 45 years. Whilst it may not be a very comfortable thing to think about, it is a problem we are all faced with, and all share responsibility for, because, unlike 50 years ago, people, especially in the West, are using more and more energy and materials, many of which are already running out. Also, unlike 50 years ago, we are now aware of this, and cannot pretend it is not happening.
So, in a way, its not so much a question about why be ‘green’ or environmental, it’s about making a moral and ethical decision. Is it right to use more than you really need, buy disposable products which don’t last and throw stuff away that could be re-used, when the world is running out of resources? When you know that it will mean that there is less for someone else?
Well, if you think not, there are loads of things you can do every day, by using less, encouraging others to think about what they use, asking companies to use less packaging, and to find out a bit about where products come from, and make smarter choices. It all helps us want for less, and other people too! So, some ideas for wasting not and wanting not, to add to the ones you may have already!
Buy fruit and veg that is in season, not stuff flown in from the other side of the world!
Turn off electrical appliances, ideally at the wall. TV’s left on standby use about £50 million worth of electricity in the UK every year!
Rent power tools or share them with neighbours if you are unlikely to use them often
Give someone a rose bush, instead of roses!
Hang clothes out to dry instead of using a tumble dryer
Put aluminium foil behind radiators to reflect heat.
Call free 0800 512012 to find your local Energy Efficiency Advice Centre – they can offer lots of free help and products to save you energy and money!
Matt
