Jason Gardner of LICC looks at what's happening to the environment
Perhaps the end really is nigh for the environment. Tory blue has turned to tory green, recycling adverts invade our screens, and in neighbourhoods all over Britain a crop of brightly coloured bins have appeared to help us 'filter' our own waste.
It seems the eco clamp down is on. But how far should we go in order to preserve our planet's future? Is there such a thing as being too green? What guide can we follow that truly let's us know that we, at least, our doing our bit?
Maybe it's time for David Miliband, Minister of the environment, to make like Moses and carve out some rules for eco friendly living.
Some could be fairly straightforward:
Thou shalt not put plastic wrappers in thine or thy neighbours brown organic waste bin.
Thou shalt swap old light bulbs for energy efficient ones.
Thou shalt make mulch out of old beans and cardboard, mulch is good.
Others though could exact a heavier toll on our lifestyle.
For instance how about:
Thou shalt not use nuclear power.
Current controversy over plans to bury Britain's 470,000 cubic metres of nuclear waste has put a big question mark over the proposal to build more power plants. If the waste remains radioactive for hundreds of thousands of years why keep storing up environmental damage for future generations?
And how about:
Thou shalt not live alone.
The increasing surge in male 'Bridget Jones's' - late thirty somethings and forty somethings who prefer to live alone means much green will vanish under concrete as housing demands rise. Not only that but a bloke living solo simply consumes more, a recent article in The Independent quoted that a 'one-person households consume 38 per cent more products, 42 percent more packaging, 55 per cent more electricity and 61 per cent more gas than their paired-up contemporaries.'
About time! I've long dispaired at the apparent lack of interest in the environment from christians, and the near hostility to any form of environmental movement in or outside of the church. We need to be at the front ot this movement, not grumping around the edges. The C of E initiatave is a start. Let's keep going.