Get on your bike to save the planet

SAVING the planet shouldn’t be any big deal.

Forget about all those scientific terms and lingo about ‘carbon footprints’ and ‘sustainability’ for a moment. For when you look at it in the most fundamental way, the future of the planet essentially depends on how we live our daily lives. Not that that’s always easy.

Are we going to walk, or cycle, a lot more often rather than drive; are we going to save diminishing oil supplies by cutting down on home heating and are we going to get really serious about recycling? We could also do things that don’t cause any pain – like leaving the environment alone. However, as was recently referred to in an editorial in this newspaper, we Irish have a destructive urge, as is evidenced by the wholesale abuse of landscape during the so-called Celtic Tiger era.

Upwards of 2,000 acres in some of the most beautiful areas of Co Kerry, including the foothills of Mangerton Mountain outside Killarney, have been destroyed this spring/summer in illegal gorse fires.

Gorse burning is banned under the Wildlife Act between March 1 and August 31. However, the fires were to be seen in some areas up to mid-May. As yet, nobody has been arrested or brought to court.

So, all this stuff about the environment should not be that complicated after all. It’s basically about respecting the world around us, which we are not good at in Ireland.

Many of the experts we read, see and listen to on the media in relation to the environment are scientists who don’t always speak in plain language.

But, a welcome new book fills a gap in this area and attempts to explain what terms such as climate change and being green are all about. Going Green has been written by Tony O’Brien, a journalist with a lifetime interest in environmental matters and who, since the 1980s, has closely observed a growing awareness of the environment in Ire.land.

Most people now recycle in their homes, no longer ‘dumping’ their bottles, cans, newspapers, bulbs and batteries in the traditional way. Which is all great, but we cannot get away from the bigger picture and the fact that the world is under threat.

There’s work to be done to ensure we pass on the planet to future generations in a condition they can enjoy, just as we have been doing. This, says O’Brien, is the very definition of sustainability, to meet present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs.

Transport, a huge contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, is one of the many areas where we can improve. You could say we’re car-mad. The average car in Ireland travels a staggering 24,400km per year, which is 70% higher than Germany, 50% higher than Britain and 30% higher than the US. But, there are practical reasons for the high use of private transport here, including a scattered population, the proliferation of one-off houses in the countryside and poor public transport. How to reduce our use of the car is a major challenge.

“As with any such initiative, it could mean personal cash savings (especially for businesses) while at the same time there is the balancing knowledge that you are helping the environment, principally by cutting down on harmful emissions,” says O’Brien.

Another way would be to get back on the trusty bike again. Many people have availed of a tax break in the cycle-to-work scheme where can save up to 51% of a cost of a new bike.

The Government also seems to be moving, albeit slowly, towards providing more cycle lanes on our roads which, at present, are highly dangerous for cyclists who are shown scant regard by some drivers.

This easy-to-read book is a valuable addition to ever-increasing volume of information on the environment. It removes the mystique from many of the scientific terms that have become part of the vernacular but which are not always understood.

According to O’Brien, awareness is the key and people need to become watchdogs for the environment. Also, while there is a huge global focus, he says individual actions in our everyday life can make a real difference – recycling, not littering, eating home-grown or organic foods, opting for public transport and cutting down on energy usage, even switching to a wind-powered electricity source.

“The future will be different and it will be largely driven by the unhappy twins of energy needs and climate change. Both of these will loom large on the political and economic agenda in various fashions,” he concludes.

Going Green – The Irish Guide to Living a Greener Life, by Tony O’Brien is published by Liberties Press. Price, €11.99.