Anything is possible
As I was walking to work in Tokyo this morning, I saw a 50 - 60 year old on a razorback scooter - you know, a push-along silver one - usually very popular here with 5 - 6 year olds. It struck me forcibly that anything is possible.
The 'global freeze' has reached us here in Toyko this week. Over half the northern hemisphere temperatures have fallen to record lows, and it is almost -30C in Moscow. But I'm feeling really mean with the heating, turning it off as soon as we leave a room and shrieking at my 9 year old daughter for using lashings of hot water to wash her hair. I'm on an energy-saving-crusade. Being a child in the 70's oil crisis, I'm keen to get my kids used to using less energy.
The sudden freaky cold spell, recent scientific reports and the approaching of Kyoto Protocol deadlines have finally brought Blair, then Bush to begin to engage in a dialogue about CO2 + climate change and alternative energy. (Better late than never!) But will this result in significant steps towards educating the public and industry about the need to reduce energy demand? Anything is possible. And, as I tell my kids, they'll be lucky to have enough energy to have the living room warm and cosy in winter and a hot shower every day in future. (Although if you're 9 years old, you're probably happy not having a shower every day.)
Windpower in Gurwat, India
Unlike some, on my Fair Trade travels, I'm happy at the sight and sound of wind turbines. Clever farmers are using cow slurry (dung and urine) to create bio-gas as fuel to cook with in India; in Peru local indigenous people are already talking about harnessing wave power near Lake Titicaca to provide at least one solitary light bulb in each home, so kids can do their homework and mums finish their chores after it gets dark. So surely we in the developed world can do a bit more?
Japanese salarymen now take their batteries for recycling every Thursday and take their own carrier bags to the organic food shop in our neighbourhood - a sight which would have been unimaginable 15 years ago. So things are changing a bit. Another sign that proves to me that, even though we are 'creatures of habit', the human race is programmed to be creative especially when faced with the serious stuff of long term survival. Why not join me in the energy-saving-crusade, shriek at someone you love, and push your governments to engage in taking serious steps to reduce CO2?
Anything is possible.
Highlight of the day: the man on the scooter - wish I'd asked his name!