Talkback 81             January 2007

Talkback is a regular feature in laterlife.com run by journalist and author Helen Franks.    

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How to be grey and green

 

It’s that time of the year when we attempt to make resolutions. Mine is to be grey (well not really grey, I get it tinted) and green.

One of our daughters has given us a lecture on our ‘carbon imprint’, which she says is not that bad (i.e. we already recycle lots of things: paper, plastic, glass; we use public transport whenever we can), but could be improved. So we are switching off lights, using low-energy bulbs, reducing our central heating, not using the tumbler dryer, etc.

It’s the switching off lights and cutting down on the central heating that we find hard. We were children during the war, and got used to being careful about the Blackout, while central heating was something we’d never heard of. My bedroom was unheated when I was a child and whenever I found frost on the inside of the windows, I would ‘engrave’ pictures on them, much to my mother’s disapproval – they left streaks on the glass.

But then we experienced the ‘Never Had It So Good’ years – post-war luxury after wartime privation. And it was literally ‘all systems go’. We lit up hallways and stairs and, in our innocence (and ignorance), acquired all sorts of new appliances – washing machines, dishwashers, the said tumbler driers. We travelled by plane and car, giving up on the trains. The world was our oyster, and we hungered for all the advances that came our way.

 
A friend of mine says that our carbon emissions are minimal compared to China and India, both of which are experiencing their own ‘never had it so good’ years. But if the West doesn’t set an example, who will? And anyway, every little helps…

We at laterlife.com wish everyone a happy and greener new year.


 

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