Green is the new black - Wednesday 26 August 2009
If the earth was a human being, we should consider it frail and, for arguments sake, probably about 20 years old, with a bad cough, high blood pressure and a fair dose of anxiety keeping its mental status on high alert. It would need a strict regime of medication and would possibly have a walking stick. Basic hygiene duties would be considered difficult and assistance would be needed. All in all, he/she is not in really great shape! The good thing is however, regaining health really isn't a difficult task. Lots of care and attention will be required but the prognosis is surprisingly good!
Please don't misunderstand what you're reading. This isn't the beginning of a hippy manifesto and neither is it a 'call-to-branches' for the tree hugging masses. From an environmental perspective, it's a simple illustration of the state of play at the moment with a bit of optimism thrown in for good measure.
We're a strange species, we humans! Intrinsically, and for the most part, we do actually care about each other and the environment. The state of the planet just hasn't been atop of our very full agenda's over the past millennia or so. Now, it's not that we don't mean well - because most of us do! It's just that there are a lot of things that we, the dutiful and well-meaning masses, really can't change. We can't develop and produce clean living cars that don't use fossil fuels. We can't run our homes on hydrogen fuel cells and neither can we fly without using up heavily polluting fossil fuels. But we do 'do our bit'. We separate and recycle as much as we possibly can. We buy organic where at all possible (and affordable!) and a lot of us would much rather stop using cars in favour of a highly efficient, value for money public transport system. (But that's simply not much of an option!)
Having said all that, up until recently, it wasn't very 'cool' to do much in the way of saving the planet. Fighting the green fight was the reserve of the aforementioned tree-huggers and cardigan sporting, bespectacled scientific boffins who have the charisma of a sea urchin. Coupled with the fact that many of us are engaged in a continual quest to keep-up-with-the-Jones's; matching or beating the 4x4 in the driveway and flying away to the farthest, most exotic places around the globe, means that our time and attention span tends to be fully committed elsewhere. The war on green house gasses, the attempts to win over our green hearts and minds, simply didn't stand much of a chance with most of us.
Now if we talk about 'energy alternatives', solar panels and the like, early prototypes were quite technical and therefore difficult to understand, rather ugly to look at and cost a small fortune to purchase. But, now that marketing machines are behind the cause, the technologies are accessible, understandable, cost effective and (although this really is off the main point!) they look great. Solar panels are aesthetically sleek and minimalist, fitting in with our desires of today, and simply no longer cost the earth or our bank balances. Geo-thermal heat pumps are completely hidden and are, quite simply, out of sight, out of mind. The aesthetic jury is still out over wind-turbines but there's no getting away from their place in our society - they produce free electricity and I needn't comment on the price of the national grid these days!
There is no doubt about it, green energy sources will be the new 'must have' for any homeowner - and quite rightly so. It's a possession that should be considered stylish. It's something that should say a lot about who you are and, essentially, what you are all about. It's something that should be the envy of many and something the 'Jones's' should want on their street. Why? Because, fundamentally, if we don't care about the planet and the effects our lifestyle is having on it, then who else will.
The Renovation and Self Build Show -
