Toffee-nerd
Player Valuation: £20m
I dont think people understand what the aim of the climate strikes is. They're drawing attention to an issue that needs actual leadership on an international scale. It's all well and good putting targets out there with the Paris agreement etc but what's the vehicle that we use to reach those targets? Governmental policy.
We the end consumers of "stuff" can make our small changes, sure they add up if everyone does them, but fundamentally governments need to start putting environmentally responsible policies forward and getting them implemented. Renewable Energy generation, pushing targets onto manufacturers and big business, changing the way those targets are adhered to.
On a personal level working in aus, in a role that has implications on the direction of where this medium sized business goes from an environmental perspective has really highlighted the true lack of state and federal direction to me. We as a business have implemented things you would consider basic from an environmental stand point: cardboard recycling, energy tracking and reduction projects, vehicle fuel reduction projects, replacing interstate trips with video calls where possible, solar power generation etc The issue is there is absolutely zero incentive to do these things, we looked at using plant based packaging, a circular economy with local customers but the costs are prohibitive. We would lose money per unit and there is only so much you can do without incurring additional costs and putting the business in a position that isnt viable.
This is where governments need to change policy and be firm on implemeting that policy. Take waste recycling in australia as an example, there are few plants domestically that can process recyclable materials - plastic packaging being one example. People do what they think is the right thing, segregate their waste for recycling curbside. Waste is collected every fortnight and they think job done, I've done a small bit meaningful thing, been responsible with my waste segregation. But where does that stuff go? Up until about a year ago it was getting shipped to south east Asia, huge additional CO2 emissions to transport the stuff for reprocessing. The vast majority of it then ending up either as land fill or being burnt for fuel, again more emissions. So instead of taking ownership of the problem and putting infrastructure in place, tackling the root cause of why the chuff is everything packaged using plastic, the government policy was to send it overseas and forget about it. It's completely irresponsible and this is the sort of issue that needs to change at government level. Nevermind opening up new coal power stations in a nation that has the biggest availability of renewable power generation.
These protests are about raising these issue, getting people to talk and think about these sorts of things which then puts the chumps in charge under pressure. We can all do these small changes but they're pointless if the infrastructure and commitment isnt there to get things moving on a much bigger scale. China, India etc have to be reined in, we cannot keep allowing huge volumes of fossil fuels to be burnt, plastic to be generated all while we race to the bottom on cost of goods sold. The USA goes through 20million barrels of oil per day, 20 million. One country. We are in a disgusting mess imo.
We the end consumers of "stuff" can make our small changes, sure they add up if everyone does them, but fundamentally governments need to start putting environmentally responsible policies forward and getting them implemented. Renewable Energy generation, pushing targets onto manufacturers and big business, changing the way those targets are adhered to.
On a personal level working in aus, in a role that has implications on the direction of where this medium sized business goes from an environmental perspective has really highlighted the true lack of state and federal direction to me. We as a business have implemented things you would consider basic from an environmental stand point: cardboard recycling, energy tracking and reduction projects, vehicle fuel reduction projects, replacing interstate trips with video calls where possible, solar power generation etc The issue is there is absolutely zero incentive to do these things, we looked at using plant based packaging, a circular economy with local customers but the costs are prohibitive. We would lose money per unit and there is only so much you can do without incurring additional costs and putting the business in a position that isnt viable.
This is where governments need to change policy and be firm on implemeting that policy. Take waste recycling in australia as an example, there are few plants domestically that can process recyclable materials - plastic packaging being one example. People do what they think is the right thing, segregate their waste for recycling curbside. Waste is collected every fortnight and they think job done, I've done a small bit meaningful thing, been responsible with my waste segregation. But where does that stuff go? Up until about a year ago it was getting shipped to south east Asia, huge additional CO2 emissions to transport the stuff for reprocessing. The vast majority of it then ending up either as land fill or being burnt for fuel, again more emissions. So instead of taking ownership of the problem and putting infrastructure in place, tackling the root cause of why the chuff is everything packaged using plastic, the government policy was to send it overseas and forget about it. It's completely irresponsible and this is the sort of issue that needs to change at government level. Nevermind opening up new coal power stations in a nation that has the biggest availability of renewable power generation.
These protests are about raising these issue, getting people to talk and think about these sorts of things which then puts the chumps in charge under pressure. We can all do these small changes but they're pointless if the infrastructure and commitment isnt there to get things moving on a much bigger scale. China, India etc have to be reined in, we cannot keep allowing huge volumes of fossil fuels to be burnt, plastic to be generated all while we race to the bottom on cost of goods sold. The USA goes through 20million barrels of oil per day, 20 million. One country. We are in a disgusting mess imo.
