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Saturday 17 August 2019

The accidental Green

Without ever having made any effort to be 'green' I find, somewhat to my chagrin, that I actually have an ecological footprint substantially smaller than Saint Greta's. It emerges that not only is her trans-Atlantic yacht made of carbon fibre, which costs ten tonnes of CO2 per tonne of yacht, and is wholly un-recyclable, but that in place of her single airfare, the boat's five crew will all fly home from the US. In addition, we can expect the BBC to fly out a full crew with a tonne of equipment to report on her arrival, and doubtless the same goes for many other mainstream networks. So all-in-all, Saint Greta's trip is incredibly CO2 heavy. I digress.

For a start, I like old buildings and old cars, prefer to repair and reuse than buy new, eschew air-conditioning, use wholly sustainable bulk local wood for heating and cooking and our electricity here is 84% renewable (a lot of hydro in there). My night-time house is a comfortable 18deg and in Winter only the kitchen and principal living room are over 20deg. For anything other than short local journeys I prefer to use the train, which allows me to do a host of interesting things other than stare at the road and twitch nervously at the stupidities of other road users. And in a couple of years all the oldie discounts will kick in.

For forty years, I've almost exclusively bought only good quality wool, leather, cotton, linen and in minute quantities (pocket squares and ties) silk clothing. It lasts a long time and I can wear it year after year. My shoes are all from good Northampton shoemakers and can be resoled - my oldest pair of Veldtshoen are now thirty years old, and my shoe repairer* told me sadly that they were on their last soles and heels - the welts would not take another stitching. So no microfibres or plastics, no Chinese shoes stuck together with glue that last only three months. Any phobias I had about the sewing box were dispelled long ago when I worked with an incrediby heterosexual ex-RN CPO who spent his lunch hours knitting golf-club covers.

I have long made my own pickles and bottled my own jam (the perfect Piccalilli has taken some years to master - the secret lies in not underdoing the salt in de-watering the raw veg overnight) have never bought what they call 'highly processed foods' which I always suspected were as bad for one as margarine and have long made use of whatever local, seasonal produce is in store. I've always made a point of buying nether Kenyan french beans nor the Spanish strawberries that arrive in the shops here when the snow still caps the landscape.

However, you're not looking at Saint Radders. Though LED lighting is fine for the barn and workshop, I won't have it in the house. And I'm told my internet use is also a carbon-heavy activity. But most of all, I've never, ever, actually tried to be green - it's all thoroughly accidental.

Sock-darning mushroom, turned in the workshop from a scrap of Beech firewood
*Original Cobblers, near Sidcup. Highly recommended. They also maintain the Household Cavalry's boots.

28 comments:

Stephen J said...

It is probably the most nauseating feature of the lefty Raedwald, that they are forever telling us what is right, even if it is wrong and ill thought through.

Thomas Malthus would be 253, were he still waving his placard.

DeeDee99 said...

Somehow I doubt the BBC will report on either the manufacturing of Saint Greta's boat, or how the return crew will be travelling to the USA. "Sadly" I'll never know, since I ignore the BBC these days.

The Beeb is going to get one helluva shock when it is finally forced to compete for customers with other broadcasters who don't have the benefit of a telly-tax and a large proportion of the population decline to pay up for its virtue-signalling propaganda.

Sackerson said...

We hear so much about Greta Thunberg, yet nothing of her kid brother Lesser Thunberg. What causes should he espouse?

Dave_G said...


Most people would be green(er) if they weren't actually railroaded into using less green solutions. We'd have cheaper, greener energy if we weren't forced to reject nuclear or fracked gas energy (by the greens), we'd have more naturally-derived products (leather, furs etc) if we weren't forced to reject nature (by the greens) etc.

Ironically it is the greens themselves that create the 'un-green' situation so that they can force their policies upon us to be greener...... errr.. I think.

St Greta is symptomatic of the illness that greenery has become - it is now the cancer that is destroying society, unseen, untreatable yet has vast resources poured into its research in an effort to find a 'cure' that seems always to be "10 years away" (or in our case, 12 years away).

Life (living it) itself doesn't require anything particularly un-green to achieve but we have been convinced to accept all the so-called conveniences of modern society that bring with them the problems we now face. Perhaps a global conflict to rid society of its excesses really IS necessary to 'save the planet' - for we seem to be headed towards one that, I suppose, the greens should be grateful for.

On a more positive note I can echo Raed's lifestyle choices as, I suspect, many of the older contributors on here already can too. This seems to be a modern diseaase that started, funnily enough, around the same time the greens came to light.

See the common thread? See what (who) we need to rid ourselves of to actually start to BE green again?

Sorry for the rant.

Sobers said...

Its one of my 'go to' comments when someone starts on their hind legs preaching about greenery - do you darn your socks? If you do then I'll listen, you're walking the walk. If not shut the f*ck up.

rapscallion said...

Just whose bright idea was it to go across the Atlantic in the Hurricane season to start with? Everybody with even half a brain (JPM anyone?), knows that you do not go across the Atlantic between June and December. A truism in sailing circles is "Right Ocean at the right time"

Moreover, the yacht she is going across the Atlantic is a racing yacht, so won't have any mod cons, and next to bugger all in the way of comfort features.
She'll just have to get used to "bucket and chuck it" Should she arrive in one piece, is she going to sail back again? I think we all know the answer to that question.

I hope the dozy little bitch is sick as a dog all the way across, my only regret is that their track will be too far south to be encountering any icebergs. How ironically delicious that would be? Failing that, being in the doldrums for a few weeks, and late enough to miss the eco fest she is supposed to be attending will do, though she'd probably be airlifted off in time to make that - but still incredibly bad publicity for the stupid cow.

It's always the same with these imbeciles, It's all "Me, me, me", all virtue signalling and nothing of any substance. All mouth and no effin trousers.

Dave_G said...


I tried finding the boat St Greta is traveling on using the various ship trackers available on line but the only one is her 'own' website that, for me, doesn't show the local weather conditions (sea state, wind strength etc) as I'd love to see (hope!) how she may be suffering.

My in-laws crossed the Atlantic on the Queen Mary this time of year and saw Force 11 winds/seas that made many of the passengers quite ill - on a ship that size! I harbour secret thoughts that she's not even onboard and that she was spirited off (to be returned before landfall USA) as I suspect she's far more of a wussy nature than the media let on.

Oh for a media exposure that collapses her support!


I do, however, harb

Smoking Scot said...

This dooda gives her vessel's location (if webmaster allows links).

https://www.windy.com/track-team-malizia-and-greta-on-their-journey-across-the-atlantic?46.332,-15.732,5

Smoking Scot said...

@ sackerson

The younger child has adhd as does the mother.

Only daddy has elected to do the whole trip, so Raedwald can kick in the carbon footprint of mum and sibling jetting over to join them.

Link if allowed.

https://www.tellerreport.com/life/--greta-thunberg-buch--the-life-of-a-family-gets-out-of-control-.BJrwGfUiN.html

Span Ows said...

My carbon footprint is yuuuuge becasue I fly a lot, more than most I suspect. Apart from that it would be tiny as I produce less than one bag (plastic haha) of non recyclable waste a fortnight.

Also like train and bus travel: time to observe but also to think! Darning socks no more though and the last pair of leather super-comfy resoleable (various times) heavy shoes also recently bit the dust.

I feel sorry for Greta, being used. Also this hurricane season is the 'slowest starting' for 15 years so they may run into a couple of biggies.

JPM said...

It's doing the rounds, but I wonder what you would say, if on hearing the news that Air Force One was aloft, someone from the environmental movement replied "planes sometimes crash"?

Sackerson said...

@Smoking Scot: I didn't know there was a kid brother! I was only joking. I've dealt with quite a few Aspergers kids so sympathise; but Greta also has that up-your-nose teenage smugness, hope she'll soon grow out it.

Anonymous said...

Very clever using a girl with "problems" as a spokesperson for this campaign. Any criticism of her and her views will come across as spiteful.
Jaded

JPM said...

Well, let's take a Girl Without Problems then, Carrie Symonds.

She's a senior adviser to Oceana:

https://oceana.org/what-we-do

Happy?

Oldrightie said...

Ha, ha, JPM, you're a spiteful, envious, nasty little piece of work and I claim my prize for spotting it! Add , by the way, banal, predictable and so very boring.

Span Ows said...

Followed that Oceana link and had a shock when I scrolled down: a book called "The Perfect Protein"..."Foreword by President Bill Clinton"...noooooo, now unfortunately I can't unsee an iamage of white 'protein' stains on dresses

JPM said...

Not at all, Old Rightie.

Carrie and Al are well-suited.

It was he, after all who initiated the Ultra Low Emission Zone in London, and proposed that it would be emissions-free by 2020.

He's not an "accidental" Green.

RAC Esq. said...

The use of a fancy yacht and jetting people round the world won't come cheap. I would like to see a detailed investigation as to where the funding originated from. If it's cash from organisations then the main doners to same no matter how many times removed. If it's free loans of equipment then who is doing the loaning and a monetary value put on that loan. Also writing a book or making a film about the propaganda fiasco is a dead giveaway for hiding where funding comes from.
Anyone got links to information like this?

JPM said...

Yes, RAC. Detailed investigations, into from where funding comes, are always very welcome.

Aren't they, Mr. Banks?

RAC Esq. said...

Well I'd guess it might be Some Other Really Obscure Source

Scrobs. said...

Aaaah, 'Veldtshoen'!

My dad was a convert from the sixties, and made me an offer I couldn't refuse by buying me a pair of 'City Veldtshoen', way back when!

They were the most comfortable and hard-wearing shoes I ever owned, and like yours, the welts just gave up in the end!

Who's Gitta Thunderbox anyway?

JPM said...

Soros donated thirty-two billion to the Open Society Foundations.

It publishes its accounts.

Soros is more than public as to his views and his intentions.

Now, about that Robert Mercer...

Dave_G said...


I suppose if someone donated 'billions' to the BNP and published the accounts that would be ok too?

JPM said...

There's nothing stopping anyone, Dave, as long as they follow the rules, as Soros did.

However OSF is a philanthropic charity, not a political party as far as I am aware. It would be quite closely regulated under the law, therefore.

RAC Esq. said...

Seems JPM is perfectly OK with the old nazi collaborator funding orgs that flood europe with migrants, probably smug enough to think it will never effect him.

Raedwald said...

Agree. He's the Only Remainer In The Village - and surrounded by Leavers whom he can rely on to protect him, thus allowing him to give full rein to his idiocy without consequence.

leila said...

Re Raedwald's comments on the yacht's carbon print, surely the same applies to these hideous wind turbines which overloaded recently in a bit of high weather causing the under reported rail chaos. They are non degradable, gears rust in the marine environment and they chop birds to pieces. The insanity of it all.

JPM said...

Hungary, as a whole, was a Nazi collaborator.

Soros was a child at that time.