So why do we lie? That’s a good question. There are many reasons to why we lie to ourselves and to others, mainly to save someone from the truth, to make ourselves feel that little bit better or just to be plain mean.
In the question to why we lie about our futures sustainability, it must be to make ourselves feel better! We put the idea into our heads that by doing something good we are saving the planet but then go out and do something just as bad that will ruin the planet. However why do we carry on doing it?
Our culture has become a consumer one, where we have to have the latest technology and we want to have the luxuries of going on holiday etc. By doing this, it’s making everything worse and ruining our planets future sustainability.
Would you rather drive (or drive in the future) a Ford/Renault car or an Audi/Mercedes/BMW?
ese types of cars, is due to the brand name and just in general a much more nicer and better associated car brand. So these aren’t really the right reasons to why I want to drive these types of cars. I know my choice should be the more environmental and economically friendly car. I have recently just passed my driving test and been insured on my step mums car. As you may not be able to see from the picture, it’s actually a very small car. My dad was saying the other day, that when they first brought the car 4 years ago, they could put £20 in to fill up the whole tank! Now it’s nearly £40!!!! When speaking to a woman at work, she has a BMW, and to fill up her tank, it costs her £80 about every two weeks!!! This is not very sustainable or even environmental friendly, as bigger more expensive cars costs more to run but what is the actual difference of a car these days? The name and brand and how fast it goes? But why it is that people want a fast car when the average speeds on roads are 30mph and even on motorways its 70mph. What’s the point of having a car that can go up to 200mph? (You would just either get a lot of speeding tickets or never even drive the car that fast!)
But it’s the consumer culture we have all look for and want and the thought to compete with your friends and neighbours to have the best looking car out on the driveway. We WANT things, not nesaccarily NEED them. It’s a WANT to look the best and be the best, but by doing this, it’s making our planet worse and I don’t think many people think about it when they do end up buying a car.
Would you honestly rather live in a small flat in a city centre or a bigger house, with more space, perhaps in the country?
I think if I had the choice and of course the money, I would choose both in order to have the best of both worlds. This is the new culture of many people are now getting a “holiday home” either abroad or in the country as an escape from city life. However I know that this isn’t sustainable as it uses up even more resources and land space. If you have a “holiday home”, you use up much more water, gas and electricity to keep it up and running and half the time you either rent it out, or it’s left sitting there, waiting for you to come and visit!
I know the real reason to why I want the best of both and this is because of the fact that you get the status of having two properties and having the luxury of having a “holiday home.” Its again having the status and the consumer culture we have all learnt to have and want.
Would you go as far as swap your new smart phone for the cheapest handset in Tescos?
I would never swap my smart phone for a Nokia 3310 (which was my very first phone!!) as on my smart phone, I can get the internet on it, applications, take pictures and videos, where only the nokia would be able to send and receive phone calls and texts. In this more modern technology a nokia wouldn’t be “cool” to have. People want a phone with all the gadgets on it, at the touch of a button to be in touch all the time. My blackberry for example, send me notifications when someone comments on my face book or twitter, can send blackberry messages, as well as receiving texts and phone calls. So as people like to say, I’m always connected now with everything due to my phone doing it all for me! Even when my blackberry broke I felt so lost and out of the loop and the phone i did have wasn’t exactly a rubbish one at that, it’s just because i wanted my blackberry back for the face book, twitter and blackberry messenger that my replacement phone didn’t have! Therefore I’m a pure example of lying about how sustainable i am, when all i have with me at all times is my blackberry phone!!!
Would you prefer your next holiday to be in Norfolk or Wales or do you fancy a trip to Thailand/South Africa/California/Greece?
My dream holiday would be America, just because I have seen it in films and that I have never been there before. (So I shall be very excited when/if going to Las Vegas next year!) So of course I would like to travel around the world and see all of the different countries, (not because I’m a geographer and that it would interest me!) it’s just that it’s nice to have the choice of going and seeing different places. However, I know getting to these places does mean we pollute the atmosphere even further, which does contribute to climate change, which does mean making our sustainability for future generations questionable. Obviously many people do tend to go on holiday to get away and this means that people also tend to spend, spend and spend! They also waste a lot of resources such as water, electricity and gas, as many people when going away, tend to have to drink bottle water, drink TONS of fizzy, have the air conditioning on full blast ALL THE TIME even if they aren’t in the room and just waste everything when going away. As people believe that if they are paying/paid for it, they should be able to use it freely.
My dream holiday would be America, just because I have seen it in films and that I have never been there before. (So I shall be very excited when/if going to Las Vegas next year!) So of course I would like to travel around the world and see all of the different countries, (not because I’m a geographer and that it would interest me!) it’s just that it’s nice to have the choice of going and seeing different places. However, I know getting to these places does mean we pollute the atmosphere even further, which does contribute to climate change, which does mean making our sustainability for future generations questionable. Obviously many people do tend to go on holiday to get away and this means that people also tend to spend, spend and spend! They also waste a lot of resources such as water, electricity and gas, as many people when going away, tend to have to drink bottle water, drink TONS of fizzy, have the air conditioning on full blast ALL THE TIME even if they aren’t in the room and just waste everything when going away. As people believe that if they are paying/paid for it, they should be able to use it freely.
I mean I’m not one to judge, as when I have gone on holiday, my family has the air con on all the time, drinks more bottle water and fizzy due to it being warmer and because its available and just in general seem to use and waste more resources when going away.
This is due to the fact that “package inclusive holidays” are now far much cheaper and popular as people only need to pay one sum and then that’s it! So people go away and just drink and eat because they have more than likely already have paid for it!
Would you give up shopping for clothes for a year?
Well unlike some people who go out and shop every weekend, I generally don’t shop a lot, clothes wise anyway. This is due to lack of wanting to go clothes shopping however I then do think about how much clothes I do have compared to others and it’s not a lot. My flat mate has the bog standard university wardrobes and then on the first day, her parents went and brought her a free standing, pop up wardrobes. (and it’s not exactly a small one to say the least!) I do tend to go shopping when I generally do need clothes because of one reason or another! Many people do go WAY overboard with their clothes (e.g. shopping every weekend, you know who you are!!!) and I have noticed it more being at university, however to give it up for a year, is probably a no go! I’d know if it’s something I can’t have, I’d want to do it more and I personally don’t think that my shopping habits are that bad! I mean ask my flat mates and anyone else I go shopping with, I don’t tend to buy clothes when I do and when I do buy them, it’s because I have generally got the need for them, e.g. I needed some new tights as I have made holes in the pair I have, as I have worn them too many times, they have completely worn out! To answer the question to give it up completely for a year, I wouldn’t be able to.
http://www.simplesteps.org/how-tos/how-green-your-wardrobe these simple steps are a good way to become more sustainable in how to shop. Most of these are simple and cost effective for us to use and practice! This is much better for the environment and our pockets! The article mentions swapping clothes, repairing them, wash them out to dry rather than tumble drying them, shop in vintage stores and donate or recycle clothes. So maybe I think instead of throwing away worn out clothes was to repair them or to be creative and make them into something else!
Would you stop eating bananas, oranges and out of season fruit?
To begin with I don’t like oranges, so I don’t eat them anyway and bananas are probably one of the only fruits I do eat and like!! I’m not a very big fruit fan as I only do eat grapes, apples, bananas and strawberries, the rest I’m not a massive fan of at all! If I really wanted too and at long period of times I don’t actually eat fruit, I could probably stop for good. But due to the goodness of fruit, I feel that I have to eat it because you are supposed to have 5 a day portions of fruit and vegetables, so obviously they would count towards it!
However these articles both mention that it’s not sustainable to buy out of season fruit, due to the amount of effort and energy it has been made/travelled in is higher and at a more severe cost than actually buying it from the local supermarkets. However, because of our culture and shops laying out the marvellous displays of fruit and vegetables, we have grown to buying it and wanting it there every time we go shopping! This would mean that we would have to change the way we think completely and this would and will be the biggest thing to tackle with the public’s way of thinking and trying to change it.
Are you so naive and innocent that you think wind farms, tidal power and solar energy can possibly supply our needs in the future?
On my first thought, I think I probably am naïve and innocent to think that wind farms etc. will possibly supply our needs in the future, however if I think about it more logically, there isn’t enough solar power to really supply our needs, as the recent solar powers isn’t enough to help be the main contributor to our power today, even though we have a very modern and state of the art equipment and technology.
Is there any hope or are we all too selfish, ignorant and lazy to change?
I suppose all we can do is hope that people will begin to get the message that we need to change our ways, however we have become lazy in some places and ignorant to change our habits. I mean we buy the latest thing because of the Media’s input into our lives. There are messages EVERYWHERE about everything, on the radio, billboards, adverts are everywhere telling us to buy things, plus celebrities that put their name with a product make us want it even more (for some strange reason!) because we want to be the best of the best, with all of the latest things in life!
I suppose all we can do is hope that people will begin to get the message that we need to change our ways, however we have become lazy in some places and ignorant to change our habits. I mean we buy the latest thing because of the Media’s input into our lives. There are messages EVERYWHERE about everything, on the radio, billboards, adverts are everywhere telling us to buy things, plus celebrities that put their name with a product make us want it even more (for some strange reason!) because we want to be the best of the best, with all of the latest things in life!
How are we going to change behaviour or should we admit defeat now?
“This is a story about a world obsessed with stuff. It’s about a story about a system in crisis. We’re trashing the planet. We’re trashing each other and we’re not even having fun!” (Story of stuff) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Se12y9hSOM0 This is the first sentence in each story of stuff videos that you can find on you tube. Each clip focuses on one thing for example, bottle water, cosmetics and many more. These short stories show us a good insight into what we are doing with ourselves and to the environment. Bottle water is highly expensive however we drink it like there’s no tomorrow, because of companies and the media saying that tap water isn’t healthy! This is because we are bombarded with this information, we tend to go ahead and still buy bottle water as we think it’s the right thing to do. The clip then goes on to mention things we can do to change our ways of living and this is simply to drink tap water and if everyone was able to do this, the water bottle factories would stop selling, which means over time they would either have to stop selling or cut down on how much they produce because there is lack of demand for it. This would then stop the emissions of cutting down trees; making the plastic for the bottles and saving space in our land fill sites.
Just these simple changes in our lifestyles would help save our planet, however how would we change our behaviour?
I think if we would show people their own future, on how we’re acting now is going to affect them in later years, people would change their behaviour, but as we haven’t got the ability to do that, it’s going to be hard to change their look, behaviour and attitudes in later life. We shouldn’t admit defeat yet, as I believe there are people that are currently looking for the answer to all of our questions about our futures sustainability.
