Brentwood School - Brentwoodian 2020

8 Climate Change We’ve been in a strange time, there is no doubt about that, however there is always doubt over whether we are doing enough to prevent or rather reverse climate change. The issue of climate change has somewhat died down but with protests in London by Extinction Rebellion on the week of the 2nd September for 10 days and more planned in December awareness of it is back at the forefront of many people’s minds. Extinction Rebellion’s approach to climate change is controversial with the protests potentially adding more to the effects of climate change than actually aiding the cause. With officers needed to control the protests and many protesters having to travel to London to join in the protests there are questions over the amount of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere through all the vehicles involved. Yet the Writers Rebel as the recent protests were named, highlighted the lack of responsibility many governments and agencies take over their use of plastics and their funding of fossil fuel companies. So what can we do that is a failsafe way to ensure we are not adding to climate change? In short, there is no failsafe way but that doesn’t mean we can’t try . If every newspaper were to be recycled 250 million trees could be saved each year, and whilst toilet paper is a luxury most of us can't live without, 27000 trees are cut down on a daily basis to provide these rolls. With so many things going digital one of the easiest swaps is to switch from paper to the screen. Whilst a screen cannot be used in the toilet scenario we can reduce what we use. Do we really need to use handfuls of it each time we go? Recycling is good but reducing is better. Think before you buy- is there an option which has a more environmentally friendly option? Another easy way to cut down on our impact is to cut out meat as much as possible. Now, the use of the word “easy” here may not be so applicable for some but the meat industry contributes 13 -18% of human greenhouse-emissions with lamb, beef and pork creating 78.3 kg of carbon dioxide per consumed product. Now meat can be a necessity for some lives and part of culture but for those living in first-world countries cutting down meat isn’t a big deal, especially when there are so many alternative sources of protein in today’s markets. So back to the question of how much should we be doing? The answer is whatever we can. If there is a more eco-friendly option, take it because every decision counts and in a time when investment in green technologies is falling and options are more scarce the world needs to be aware of every little thing it does or we risk losing our world. After all at our current rate by 2050 London will feel like Barcelona and likely be flooded. By Charlie Stanbrook How much should we be doing?