That’s all we hear in Climate change talk. We need cleaner energy, we no longer support oil, we want to get rid of coal and natural gas will run out in so and so years. We need renewable energy, we need it yesterday if the human race is going to survive, we need to use eco cars that run on electricity instead of petrol and we need light bulbs that will outlast our species by a million years.
What we really need is to stop. Stop right where we are and empty our pockets. Look at the contents of our trousers and bags. Look around our homes. Look at the energy consuming possessions we have around us. Look at ourselves and then take a long look at our parents and grandparents.
What did your grandfather do when he wanted to call his friend? If he was lucky he crossed the room and made the phone call on his landline. If he was not so lucky, he walked to the local phone box.
What would he have done if he wanted a loaf of bread? He would have walked to the nearest bakery and bought himself a loaf. What was growing in his own garden to eat?
What would he have done as a child to entertain himself? He would have met with friends and gone on adventures, played outside, got dirty, broke a leg, got into trouble and recovered.
How would our parents and grandfathers have gotten to school? A bus or bike or even walked, some of them miles at a time. It wasn’t that long ago when school was a privilege, not a right. Perhaps some people need reminding of that.
How did your parents open their shutters on their houses? How did they open their garage door? How did they open their gates onto their property? (He probably didn’t even have gates. It’s our modern scared society that makes us all have 6ft gates to guard our own piece of land) How much energy did he save by doing things himself.
How much of his own energy do you think he used to live a fulfilling life? How obese do you think the children were in their early years? It is all related, if we take and take and take energy from other sources and don’t use our own energy to do things, then what do you expect was going to happen? Bigger and bigger energy plants = bigger and bigger waist lines.
It’s all very well to say you don’t have time to do the things that your grandfathers may have done, but we do have time, we just prioritise in all the wrong ways, like reading this blog!
The world has to change and those at the top aren’t going to change it. It has to be done from the bottom up. Once enough people change, the power at the top will take notice, and inevitably, find a way to make money out of it.
If you want change, change.
Lights Out 