THE WAY THINGS ARE
For those who can’t afford hours of expensive aircon, the heat is hell. Are you a ticking pollution time bomb adding to climate crime? Mediterranean summers are becoming intolerable. Fires on Greek islands have proved what predictors have been saying, that if this heat exacerbates, holiday makers won’t travel.
Politicians speak of change and generally, climate management is left to them. Some individuals delay necessary action as long as possible, expecting others to make sacrifices for them. We know families that put out recycling and dustbins on the appropriate nights. We also know those who take binbags full of everything and dump them in someone else’s bin, not wanting a smelly bin in their yard. Or those with spotless homes who dump dribbling bags that stain the pavement on the far side of the road attracting flies, any day that suits them.
The dog walkers, meticulous in their own environs, who don’t pick up dog poo and bring their canines to defecate in grass where small children sometimes play. The zealous housewife who floods her pavement several times a week with enough water to quench the thirst of a small African village. As water in our dams evaporates in this heat why is wanton waste allowed, why not fine these wasters?
If the heat period expands its present time limit, each year water will be in shorter supply. Why should the tax payer pay for desalination if savings can be made by making the careless accountable? And do you need all the pretty aromatic sprays and liquids you overuse to make a home smell clean when the recipient of your excess is a heating, poisoned, plastic-ridden ocean?
Of course, you have standards but, do you use more dish liquid than necessary and let tap water run full flow? Do you shower for longer than necessary, wallowing in pleasure as water runs down the drain? Do you use too much chlorine or strong toilet cleaners more often than necessary, lavish oil-based water softener onto your wash, chemicals to clean your kettle when a shot of vinegar does the trick? Do you drive around the block when a five minute walk would suffice?
Traffic noise on my street isn’t a mere nuisance; it’s way above the bearable, average 53dB (decibels), and some souped up engines exaggerate volume. Constant exposure to loud noise is proven to cause mental and physical health deterioration while vehicle and dust pollution add to those real threats.
How much food do you waste? Even clothing waste is now under scrutiny. Over plentiful, deceptive decades we have learned a throw-away mentality, and re-learning how to mend, recycle, save and make do for the sake of future generations will demand patience and selflessness, now. Summer gave us Covid relief but intense warmth doesn’t kill all the nasty viruses and bugs. We have had an alert about dangerous mosquitoes coming to our shores to sample the local human cuisine. Most fungi are a fleeting presence in our lives they prefer colder temps, but that could change. Some, such as Candida auris resistant to nearly all antifungal drugs, may adapt better than us to climate change and is already causing extreme concern in hospitals and care homes. Overworked, understaffed care workers and nurses can cut corners. A friend complained that her invalid mother who never had a bed sore when the family had her care, came out of hospital with painful bed sores.
At times the places we hope will save us can kill us. Pregnant women used to accept the word of doctors as to what they and their unborn needed. Then Thalidomide appeared with all its hideous consequences clouding absolute trust with suspicion and doubt. Social media dis-and misinformation has made parents wary of their children receiving disease preventative jabs. Measles is worse in adults than children.
What else may our boiling frog mentality bring on us if we don’t face the fact that we each need to change bad habits? Forecasts say that by 2060, these hot years will be defined as ‘cool’. Jump, while you can!
