9 thoughts on “An Inconvenient Truth”

  1. DITTO!!! Wouldn’t it be nice if our stupid prime minister started 2007 with some nice resolutions like the kyoto protocol!

  3. Don’t agree on that last point, hippy.

    The energy required to manufacture a 5w compact flouro (the smallest/dimmest I can find, any only just fits in certain housings) over a 25W bulb far exceeds the energy that a 25W bulb in the toilet will ever suck up over a 5W compact flouro. You don’t get much extra life in compact flouros over bulbs when they are switched on and off regularly – and I’ve not had to replace the bulb in my respective toilets in 5 years.

    Also why I feel hesitant calling plumbers to fix a small leak. I’d rather wait until several taps are leaking, or attempt (and fail, and have to call him out anyway!) to fix it myself. If I call them up for one leaking tap, that’s x_1 litres of water required in the mining and transport of fuel, and maintanance of the plumber’s vehicle (and all the other crap that comes associated with usage of said vehicle) to drive across town, vs x_2 litres of water lost down the drain.

  4. If that’s the case with fluoros (and it may be because I’ve not investigated) why do all the "green" sites suggest changing to those style bulbs?

    Also, I don’t recall having to change a fluoro tube – it would always be the starter that needed replacement whereas I have changed many incans. It might have something to do with the bulb/tube wattage or the regularity of the local power supply?

    What’s a plumber? 😉

    Perhaps you are right with the light thing but people should take a closer look at how they use energy.

    Another example I found today. Rail tickets are more expensive than air tickets from, get this, London to Manchester!!! This was on the front page of yesterday’s Independent..

    "Yesterday, Virgin Trains increased the standard open return on the London Euston/ Manchester Piccadilly route by 8.4 per cent to ?219. The company will point out that travellers who book far enough in advance and travel off-peak can find fares of ?25 return. But anyone who asks for a peak-time return between London and Manchester will be quoted ?219 return.

    Coincidentally this is exactly the going rate for a bargain Heathrow/New York round-trip, only without the free meals, drinks and entertainment; and the transatlantic flight happens to cover 20 times the distance."

    from:

    http://comment.independent.co.uk/commentators/article2121635.ece

    All the people interviewed basically said "oh trains are unreliable (which these days is total bullshit) and I think about the environment but, well, screw it!"

  5. exactly! Don’t try and be perfect. Just being consistently better is good.

    I used to be a real "Fuck cars/ride bikes/etc" but things change:

    Making a short film set in post-apocalyptic no-water times in an attempt to have say a thing about our current water shortage here (most places on the Murray Darling are on tight water restrictions). I’ve burnt about 150L of petrol just scouting out locations for it. Yay. 🙂 Go global warming! lol. And how many international flights do you think Al Gore has racked up just promoting his film and doing his free talks? Net result. Net result. Just so long as people still get to feel warm and fuzzy 🙂

  6. I mentioned the same thing about Al Gore’s flights to Mal during the movie. They showed a lot of footage of him boarding planes. Why wasn’t he using trains?

    I guess you can’t complain too much as the planes probably allow him to reach more people.

  7. Al Gore actually made a reference to the amount of flights he made and the fuel used etc. something about it being a waste of fuel and something something something, i would have to watch the movie again to remember

  9. I’d have to watch it again to answer you.

    Like I said above, I did notice his travel modes. Could it be said that using his chosen modes he gets to more people quicker, which in turn leads to more action as a population, offsetting his travel choices? Just a thought.

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