Earth Hour this Saturday

[Jo7]

Hey peeps

Just saw this article in the Guardian about the WWF Earth Hour this Saturday.

This year an astronaut from the International Space Station will be sharing photos of earth and providing live commentary on the event, pretty cool I reckon but then I love anything to do with the ISS

Will any of you be switching off? Are you bothered about reducing your own carbon emissions? What things do you do to try and help the environment in your everyday lives? Or maybe you think it's all a bit futile?

I try to recycle everything I can at home and turn the tap off while I'm brushing my teeth

[plugitin]

I'll try to switch off... unless I'm in a dark room and needing light!

I do try and reduce my carbon footprint as much as possible; turning off plug sockets/gadgets when not in use, turning off lights, recycling as much as possible, taking the train instead of the plane to as many places as I can, eating less meat, eating locally sourced produce and from markets because they're less bothered about everything looking uniform, reworking clothes/wearing them until their worn out, taking bags shopping with me... but I do miss being in Germany where everything was a lot more environmentally friendly - we still have a long way to go!

I do get the impression it's all a bit futile though because no-one else seems to care so I wonder why I should. I know some things are lifestyle choices, e.g. taking the train from manchester to frankfurt instead of flying but I get so much stick for it, I do wonder why I bother! I seem to find that when it comes to the environment, no-one wants to live and let live, it's either competitive who can do their best or taking the mickey out of people who are trying to do something.

[**helen**]

and turn the tap off while I'm brushing my teeth

While I tend to agree that we should all try and do our bit to save water, it's unfortunate that the biggest problem is probably this:

South East Water is already losing 96m litres a day through leaky pipes. Others have a worse record. But those companies are run to make a profit, and will usually do the minimum necessary to meet the targets set by the government ? targets which, in many cases, are now higher than they were five years ago. In other words, the regulator Ofwat is allowing some water companies to leak more water from their pipes, including ones in areas at high risk of a drought.

Taken from - http://www.guardian.co.uk/environmen...ies-save-water

[Indrid Cold]

I don't think I'll do it. I do take care generally but I won't just turn off lights I'd find helpful to make a point.

[Fiend_85]

I'm not wasteful, but most of the reason is because it costs so much not to be efficient. But like Helen said, most of the issues come from industry. Not just leaky pipes, or industry level CO2 emissions, just the attitude you get at work from knowing you're not paying for it. "Why do I need to make sure the air-con is off, it's not my bill?" sort of thing.

[Slartibartfast]

Pointless symbolism IMHO