Lindsay D
I despair at the state of the world and the lack of political will to rectify it. I believe this issue is too important to be left to politicians who are led by big business and want to empower myself
Location Truro, Cornwall
Activity
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Lindsay D made a comment
The city i live in is small and doesn’t have a formalised green corridor, but it has areas where there is no traffic and plant borders which link green areas. I think if these can be more formally recognised and not over-managed they can provide biodiversity corridors
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@ViolaO I think that’s a very important point. However, it is difficult to define and identify local, certainly here in the UK. Also, climate change is affecting what flourishes and what struggles. For me the most crucial issue is whether planting supports biodiversity, so pollinators and other insects, birds etc and does not require chemical inputs.
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Lindsay D replied to Yani Dharmendrakumar
That is really interesting. I did not know about the kelp paddies. I wish people appreciated kelp more. Earlier this summer there was a lot of kelp and other seaweeds off the beach at Weymouth, UK, and the holiday makers were wingeing like crazy. To their credit tbe town council refused to move it.
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Lindsay D made a comment
Temperate rainforest woodland, of which there are remnants on the AtLantic coast of the West Country.
Threats - climate change; human damage by not keeping to designated paths, inappropriate clearing of dead trees, on which many species depend; invasive species eg knotweed and balsam; trying to ‘ manage’ this self-sustainaning ecosystem.Species...
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I would say the most significant threat to pollinators is loss of habitat and foraging opportunities, due to land use change, use of agrochemicals, mono - cultures, climate change and sheer ignorance of their importance. Agrochemical companies are powerful and influence governments disproportionately. The UK govT has been remarkably resistance to banning...
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Lindsay D made a comment
I believe it is our moral responsibility to stop exploiting the planet. I know there are qhuge economic benefits and that is the only thing that will convince most governments, certainly the Uk Govt. However, if we continue to place economics at the heart of everything there is no long term hope of saving nature. It Is humanity’s assumption of superiority...
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Lindsay D replied to Dara Mac Donnell
Brilliantly put!
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Lindsay D made a comment
Hello, I’m Lindsay from Cornwall UK. I believe that nature has n intrinsic right to existence and I loathe the arrogance of humans who put their own needs first. I hate the term ecosystem services but if it gets us to protecting nature I can live with it. I am involved in making a plan for biodiversity in my local area. (Has anyone else done this?)...
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Lindsay D made a comment
I have just read that the UK govt is due to have its second reading of a Microfibre Bill, calling for manufacturers to install filters in all new washing machines to prevent microfibres from escaping into the environment www.mcsuk.org/what-you-can-do/campaigns/stop-ocean-threads
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Lindsay D made a comment
I am thinking that the water flea experiment doesn’t really mean that much - it is in lab conditions and, I assume, these are not long living creatures. Also, they don’t have a lot of fat and my understanding is that plastics accumulate in fatty tissue, something that whales have in abundance. Post mortems done on dead cetaceans who have beached in the UK...
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Lindsay D replied to Michael Bath
@MichaelBath we’ve got one in the UK too!
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@TanjadeBie brilliant initiative.
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During the pandemic when people started wearing disposable masks, although there were plenty of cotton ones around, our local hospital started working with a company to recycle them and make them into litter pickers that fold down for ease of carrying. I thought that was such an innovative idea. I couldn’t believe how casually people disposed of plastic...
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Oh nuclear testing as just so lacking in any precautions. Psvific islanders and troops exposed so cavalierly and callously!Just told not to look!
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Lindsay D replied to Michael Bath
@MichaelBath I loath plastic water bottles. As you say, it is just totally irrational. And people leave them in hot cars and, as the plastic heats, chemicals migrate into the water and are then ingested. I believe the Californian government is trying to stop nestle completely dehydrating a river valley just for bottled water.
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Lindsay D replied to Michael Bath
@johnwakenshaw that is a sad truth about the UK
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I hope that the sublethal effects of this exposure have been Minimised thanks to the campaign. I think there are examples of chronic exposure resulting in death around the world. People exposed to radiation following ‘accidents’ at nuclear power stations can, over the intervening years develope cancers, chronic and lethal lung conditions. Also exposure to...
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Lindsay D made a comment
About 25 years ago Greenpeace started campaigning on PVC in the environment and pointing out the human health and ecological risks, citing chlorine as a very toxic substance. Research revealed that PVC is omnipresent in everyday goods but, more alarmingly, is also present in human breast milk and placentae. Thus even unborn babies are being exposed at the most...
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I can see that the situation is slowly reversing. There are an increasing number of small growing projects - known as Community Supported Agriculture, where people either share money to grow food, or provide the labour themselves. It is niche at the moment but appears to be growing. If this becomes the new norm then we may then move to a more localised,...
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Lindsay D made a comment
Our food system is quite complicated and not easy to change on a societal level. The food industry has many vested interests within it and the many competing uses for land places additional pressure. Intensive animal farming involves many players, who are keen to maintain the status quo. They refute animal welfare concerns and hide the huge amount of...
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Lindsay D made a comment
There are alternative treatments and preventatives for malaria, plus is it a disease of poverty so increasing people’s standard of living would be useful. My guess is that the chemical companies are exerting too much power and blocking legislation to ban this stuff. It is basically corruption on an industrial scale
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Lindsay D made a comment
It is easier to just post pictures and forget about the app.
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Lindsay D replied to Jennifer C
@JenniferC i think the bigger cities are getting the idea. Not sure if it is to do with elected mayors and being more progressive. In Truro people still winge about ‘weeds’ coming through on pavements. Apparently that is dangerous for some reason I am unable to fathom！
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Lindsay D replied to john wakenshaw
I suppose e create a demand.
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Lindsay D replied to Belinda Walker
I actually bought a bamboo sonic one. Doesn’t need charging nearly so often as another famous brand.
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Lindsay D replied to Michael Bath
@MichaelBath yes. I think it is easy to forget that there is nothing manufactured that doesn’t have carbon embedded. That is why I thought the rush for electric cars a bit dubious.
Keeping a small petrol hatchback on the road results in less emissions and mining of rare Earth metals than buying an EV. I would say though that building a conventional power... -
Lindsay D made a comment
I became a vegetarian msny years ago for animal welfare reasons. Iam now transitioning to veganism for animal welfare and planetary welfare. I have solar panels but they don’t generate a lot. In retrospect I would have been better off spending my money on insulation. I have solid walls so not that efficient. I have plenty of loft insulation though and well...
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@MichaelBath but don’t we just export our emissions to China. The UK has very little left in the way of manufacturing. Most good are imported from China.
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Lindsay D made a comment
I don’t know if we are supposed to be posting in here as I can’t find a ‘discussion prompt'，also, I can’t do the links so iam probably doing all this wrong but I don’t know who to ask.
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Lindsay D made a comment
I have chosen the polar bear sample from Prager ‘University’. I looked up Prager and saw the post, and also watched part of an interview with the scientist who had made the claim, Susan Crockford, who’s credentials are very vague but she has written a lot of non scientific children’s books on polar bears. What struck me in the interview was that the...
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Oh yes there were demos on Saturday.
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@BelindaWalker YES so true. Stop the primacy of the car and make towns walkable and cyclable and improve public transport. People’s health would also improve and it would help the local economy and reduce social isolation.
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Lindsay D replied to Michael Bath
@MichaelBath yes but the African babies won’t consume as much. Tne high birth rates in SOME African and Asian countries are ultimately the fault if the World Bank and IMF and the major world banks, who insisted that the countries who had borrowed from them when they had loads of money and wanted something to do with it, forced them into repayments they...
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Lindsay D replied to Joanne Saltfleet
I have seen a couple bumble bees on the wing, presumably newly emerging queens. There is insufficient food source for them yet though.
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Lindsay D made a comment
I like the way that the connections are being made here. We don’t get that many extreme weather events in the uk but they are on the increase. If a politician is interviewed and asked if they think a particular say flood is associated with climate change they always deny it. The last couple of summers max temperature records have been broken on consecutive...
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Lindsay D made a comment
H
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Lindsay D replied to Michael Bath
Yes it is what the individuals consume. A baby born in the US will, on average, over her lifetime consume much more than a baby born in Africa. Europe isn’t far behind. Additionally babies born into wealthy families will consume more. It is about equality as well as population size. One of the scariest things I heard is that white fundamentalist Christians...
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Lindsay D made a comment
The. poorest in all countries, whether developed or not, have generally done the least to cause climate change but they will suffer the most. The inequality in the system of governance in most countries is staggering but we have grown accustomed to it. My understanding from reading Melanie Klein is that there are rich industrialists who are actually...
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Lindsay D replied to Jennifer C
Where do you live Jenny?
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@johnwakenshaw I agree governments must act and fast and follow it up with proper safeguards eg our local authority (Cornwall) has a carbon reduction plan ( although they have admitted they can’t reach their net zero by 2030 target). However, the developments they permit seldom have onsite renewables, not built to passivaus, or similar, standards and they...
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I am so glad this is catching on,
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Lindsay D made a comment
We have a peregrine on the cathedral tht pucks off the pigeons. I see this as proof of us invading their territory. People complain bitterly about the herring gulls but we have invaded their territory and, to be honest, without them the pavements would be full of pasty bits that people drop whilst shoving them into their gobs whilst strolling along the...
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Yes us to. I am trying to start a project called Edible Urban Islands, just a fancy name for a few beds growing vegetables and fruit
really. The plan being that we plant and grow organically and people share the proceeds. We started last year and we’re hit by a huge drought so watering was an issue. We have now tried winter planting. Of course the ground is... -
Lindsay D made a comment
It is very hard to get community buy in. People get really keen and then reality sets in.
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Lindsay D made a comment
I think land sharing is the only way to go. My fear about land sparing is that agriculture will intensify even more with terrible consequences for animal welfare and the environment. Also the example of the Masai Mara shows how unjust it it. Ejecting people from the land they have sustainably lived on for centuries is just wrong. I am not too keen on tne...
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Lindsay D replied to Flora Minnée
@FloraMinnée I think communtuy farms and gardens are the way to go. They are beneficial for biodiversity, human health and well-being and social inclusion.
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Lindsay D replied to Flora Minnée
@FloraMinnée on a less dramatic scale we have many examples in Cornwall of plants ‘acquired’ by Victorian plant hunters, probably with the profits of slavery, that have become invasive or semi invasive, eg the rhododendron, Indian Balsam, gunera. They are not doing huge damage but rhododendron spreads and acidifies the soil and supports very little insect...
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Lindsay D made a comment
On a local level, in the UK our hedgehog population has declined alarmingly. This can be put down to building developments, including roads, but, also, gardening habits. Hedgehogs can thrive in gardens where there is cover and food but British gardeners have become obsessed with neatness and minimum effort, so we have paved patios, wooden decking, artificial...
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Lindsay D made a comment
This is a huge dilemma and, as usual, it is those living on the edge who suffer most. I can’t actually condone wild native animals being killed by locals protecting crops but I can totally understand it. But the traditional herders etc are not the main threat to wildlife. There are many interests exploiting wildlife ( including the British royal family in...
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Lindsay D made a comment
Re the shifting baseline, this is really pertinent. We lower our standards with each generation. I recognise it in myself, when I get excited about a few bees in the garden, forgetting that as a child I remember so many bees on our lavender bushes that my dad had to make me a separate path to the house as I wrongly believed they could sting me is I walked...
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Lindsay D made a comment
I think it is vexatious to say he hates them and arrogant to tell the rest of us to share his emotion, I am sure that pandas, left to their own devices, without pressures on their habitat or food source, would do very nicely. They tread lightly on the earth and eat a diet of bamboo, which I believe is quick growing and doesn’t need much to grow. I assume...
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Lindsay D replied to Michael Bath
I think native people hold a wealth of knowledge. Sadly European settlers were just to stupid and narrow-minded to notice. We are all suffering for that now.
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Lindsay D replied to Bob Barker
Fungi could probably save the world but I doubt if we will give them a chance.
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Lindsay D made a comment
I believe that nature has intrinsic value and the reason we are in the mess that are in is that we have been arrogant enough to consider ourselves to be above and separate from nature. All the major religions preach dominion over, which is just so damaging and ridiculously arrogant and chauvinistic. But ecosystem services, a term I hate, is not factored into...
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Lindsay D replied to Kathleen Walker
@KathleenWalker I love these projects. I think urban living can be so sustainable done in the right way. Ithink we need a combination of active communities and a forward thinking council/ assembly. Sadly, most council leadership lacks imagination and central government is too controlling. The biodiversity in urban areas can be so much better than in...
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Lindsay D replied to Sarvenaz Peykan
I remember years ago a friend of mine telling me how beautiful Tehran was. How heartbreaking to see it ruined by terrible vandalism. Until we loose the love of money and have a proper currency we will face these terrible dilemmas. All money is based on debt anyway.
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Lindsay D replied to Bob Barker
But there is a huge difference in tne impact of different nationalities. I can’t remember the figures, but I know that a child born in tne States will consume a huge amount more during their lifetime than a child born in rural Africa. Our western capitalist culture is geared up to consumption and waste, a huge amount is spent on telling us we really need the...
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Thanks to the National Planning Policy Framework there is presumption in favour of the developer,even when they fail to supply affordable small properties and concentrate on lucrative large homes, many of which will become investments. The lack of vision of, and to be fair, freedom of the planning authority to control developers, has resulted in huge pressure...
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Lindsay D made a comment
I have lived in the small city of Truro in Cornwall for about 40 years. During that time the population hasn’t grown that much, though that of Cornwall has doubled. Truro, a former market town, is the commercial centre with banks and other finacial institutions and large retail moved in en masse in the 80s and 90s, this changing the character of the town. ...
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Thank you. I hve now posted something different. How horrendous to hVe a development designed for second home owners, although I am inclined to think it is bett then buying up fisherman’s cottages.
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Lindsay D made a comment
I have no idea if my submission is on packet or not. I tried to add a picture but it didn’t take me to my album. I have tried to get back in but can’t. Neither can I see anyone else’s. I am looking at land use pressures in Cornwall.
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Lindsay D made a comment
As a resident of the UK I am not suffering the worst effects of environmental degradation, despite the fact that we started the Industrial Revolution and are still major emitters and consumers and our economy is predicated on economic growth. Cornwall, where I live has a beautiful coastline and interior and is increasingly used as the rich man’s playground. ...
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That sound horrendous Kathleen. I had no idea that afire could keep going quietly despite the amount of rain we have had this winter.
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My god, that just sounds horrific. You have really done your research.
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Stratospheric CO2 levels, atmospheric pollution eg NO2 and particulates, insect populations.
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Lindsay D made a comment
Hello. I am from Cornwall, UK and, via my local town council, i am involved in a carbon reduction plan and a community emergency plan. My main concern is biodiversity loss. I hate that we are robbing nature of space. I totally despair of the UK Government, which is totally incapable of grasping the principles of sustainability. We clearly need a huge change...
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Lindsay D made a comment
Hello. I live in Truro, Cornwall, Uk. Cornwall is experiencing huge developmental pressures and planning laws in the UK are very centralised and favour the developer. I am a city councillor. Sadly the city council is only a consultee in planning and often ignored. We have 3 major edge of town developments either in progress or about to start. The...
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So sad and immoral. Economic arguments always win over nature. I might have hoped for better in Scotland. In England if you contribute to the Tory party you get preferential treatment. In Cornwall the unitary authority has a range of excellent green policies and a Carbon Reduction Plan and they supposedly use the Doughnut economics decision making tool but,...
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I think this is one of those real dilemmas. Humans bring in invasive species and then regret the loss of indigenous. We have a debate here about our large duck pond in park. . It used to be dredged regularly but, for various reasons, hasn’t been done for years. It is silted up and will have created its own ecosystem. Dredging is planned but problematic -...
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Lindsay D replied to Mik Wisniewski
@MikWisniewski cats have been domesticated by humans. In nature they would kill and eat. Playing would be a waste of energy.
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@MikWisniewski ok what I am saying is that humans do not have the right to trash nature. Rights are not the exclusive prerogative of the human race. We are wilfully destroying nature and we have to stop this, both because it is morally unacceptable and to save the planet.
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Lindsay D replied to Mik Wisniewski
I guess we have to start where we are. If rewilding is done sensibly and scientifically,with regard to the local conditions and nature led and I think it works. InCornwall there is a brilliant beaver reintroduction project. Two beavers have totally transformed their area, increased biodiversity and slowed down the river flow and the settlement down river has...
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Lindsay D made a comment
I so agree with all the brilliant speakers and I love Harriet’s passion. We do have a moral obligation here and I think we need a whole new ethos. It is our arrogance as a species and the greed of so many people that got us into this mess. We can only solve it and save nature and ourselves by a whole new outlook. A few weazly words from politicians and the...
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Lindsay D replied to Mik Wisniewski
Nature does not act unethically either. No creature practices cruelty against another for fun or skins another animal for a bag for vain idiot. Yes we have survival of the fitesst and that worked well until humans came along with their biblical delusions of dominion. We have totally upset the balance of nature so that we have extreme weather events on a...
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Lindsay D replied to Mik Wisniewski
Well said.
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Lindsay D made a comment
I believe we have a moral obligation to protect nature - wildlife has an inherent right to existence. Of course, if we fail to halt and reverse the destruction we will all suffer as we will loose the many services nature provides - food, materials, water management, carbon sequestration, etc not to mention our own health and well-being. I think we have to do...
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Interesting observation. People who think they have high stress jobs make their own stress and tend to boast about it. People with real responsibility, like train operators, just get in with it properly!
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Lindsay D made a comment
To be honest, I think saying there is more stress around now in the developed world is nonsense. I am pretty sure that living in Kabul is considerably more stressful than having to juggle a few emails and phone calls. Similarly, working from dawn to dusk just to make a living off the land or going down a mine in past centuries. In the industrialised world,...
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I imagine living off the land was a lot more stressful and necessitated full present awareness for existence. Modern stresses are of our own making and, somehow, being stressed is a talking point and makes people feel important. Until we accept this we don’t move on.
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Lindsay D made a comment
Using an iPad so no chance of being interactive. Weather in Truro, Cornwall Humid, mild, dull, no sun all day. This is pretty average here but it is unusually mild and has been for several days. We have had a fair amount of rain. Spring flowers coming out - they are usually early here but not this early. We rarely get frosts anymore and I doubt we will see...
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Lindsay D replied to Ian DRAPER
Well said @BillJackson
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Big corporations fund our right leaning governments. They profit from climate change and some of them are dumb enough to think they can escape it. No doubt Musk is already planning his post apololyptic paradise, and Branson too! Look at the greed and obscene power of the rich and you will find your answers.
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Lindsay D replied to Bill Jackson
We definitely need to abound the term 'new normal'. People who do not suffer the extremes e.g. Most people here in the U.K., have no idea of the conditions in other areas. I reckon that until Surrey is underwater they simply won't get it!!
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Lindsay D replied to Hollie Darby
I think it sounds perfectly believable. People early last century and late 1800s we’re predicting the problems of now. Look at John Ruskin！ The text is grammatical, which is more than you get from tne Sun or Mail. And there have been scientists through the centuries making amazing discoveries. A lot of them were silenced by the church. Had it not been for fear...
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Lindsay D made a comment
If you start changing the terminology now it will be chaotic. There are enough deniers out there already who will jump on that and enough people who simply don’t want to know who will seaze on it as proof that science is UNPROVEN!
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Lindsay D made a comment
Exctinctions inequality catastrophe
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Lindsay D replied to Debopama Das
Not everyone accepts man made climate change, lots don't care anyway, some people think you can't actually live without eating meat and MOST relevant of all - the huge food lobbies. The food produced globally is 'controlled' by a few big companies, which are not household names. They produce the 'inputs' of modern agriculture and they don't want change. They...
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@RoxaneS this is the crux. It is all very well western leaders pontificating, but they need to pledge Finance to aid a transition to more extensive, grass fed meet and regenerative agriculture, that all countries need to start practicing. Our intensive pig rearing in the UK is high energy, high waste and hideously cruel.
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Lindsay D made a comment
Hello - I'm Lindsay from Cornwall UK. I have been concerned about climate change and biodiversity loss for as long as I can remember. I gave up meat and fish years ago because of animal welfare concerns and I am now virtually plant based. I am very interested in the concept of community gardening.
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This is great. My only concern here is that we don't have time for small incremental changes. Food and energy production need to change radically if we are to keep below 2*C temp rise - and such a rise will anyway have huge impacts. In the main our 'leaders' are not showing great leadership or, indeed, understanding. In the U.K. our plan is heavily based on...
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Lindsay D made a comment
I am trying to contribute to local food systems and biological biodiversity in my community. Especially interested in community gardens.
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Lindsay D made a comment
Having read the comments I am wondering where the video by Thich Nhat Hahn is. I can't see it in the links?
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Lindsay D replied to Ann Vanderzwaag
I think being empathetic can be draining. . I find it hard to detach from some people's issues, but not everyone's, so I can appreciate how difficult it must be for you. I think it is getting a measure of detachment that is key but it's not easy.
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I'm waiting for one too. Bit like Waiting for Godot!!
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Lindsay D made a comment
I think nature has intrinsic value and we have a moral obligation. Thevreason we are in the terrible state we are now is that humans have assumed they are superior and, therefore, can exploit other species. I am afraid it winds me up when people suddenly start caring about the environment because they have just had a child. Implication being they don't care...
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Lindsay D replied to Susan Janssen Jouwsma
I'd plump for not green at all. I am old enough to remember protesting outside a shell garag e in the 90s when Ken Saro Wawa was executed by the Nigerian Government for actions against Shell, for totally decescrating parts of their tribal homelands. Shell did nothing to prevent his execution or clean up their hideous mess!!
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Lindsay D made a comment
The PDF looks very useful - I have only skimmed it but will go back to that. Thank you
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Lindsay D replied to Gavin Lindsay
@GavinLindsay I totally agree with both of you. I think Buddhist countries have lost their way but then The so called western countries are no better.
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No,hippies are nothing like zombies. Some officials on the other hand........
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Lindsay D replied to David R Freke
Hippies didn't fade when faced with stark reality. The spirit is still there in Envorinmemtal movements like Greenpeace and XR and animal and human rights movements. The establishment like to poke fun at them e.g. Johnson - though to be fair HE is a figure of fun to a lot of us. Sadly politicians court the wealthy and vice versa. They are totally unmindful...
