Normally in a recession or in tough economic circumstances like the ones we are currently in, one of the first things to go out the window are our environmentally friendly, eco-friendly, green credentials. In normal times, people are prepared to pay that bit extra because it is for the environment and will factor in how environmentally friendly a company is when choosing whether or not to use it. Then, when a recession comes along, all of that is abandoned, and the cheapest, most cost effective company is used instead. People suddenly forget about doing their bit for the environment and only care about making sure the pennies can be stretched as far as possible.
However, in this recession and in the subsequent tough economic times, the environment does indeed still seem to be up there. Maybe it’s because people have grasped just how serious the environmental situation is. Maybe the last two winters being extremely harsh, with snow and ice not seen in the UK for many years, brought it home to people. It is worth noting that there were major fuel protests in the year 2000 over the price of fuel, and petrol then was around 75p per litre. It is now around £1.30 per litre, and despite the recent debate in Parliament on the price of fuel, and despite the occasional grumblings and mutterings, people seem to have got on with it, tolerated it and accepted it. Despite people being out of work, unable to get around, there hasn’t been that major outcry over fuel, and it hasn’t been brought down, partly because the tax is needed to bring some much needed cash into the treasury’s coffers, and partly because the government knows that the environmental lobby would be up in arms. At one point the government wouldn’t have worried too much about upsetting the environmental lobby. But they recognise the strength of the green movement now. It might have taken 21 years since the 1989 European elections for the Green Party to make a break through, but last year, 2010, despite the economic conditions which dominated the General Election, the Green Party won their first seat at Westminster with Caroline Lucas becoming an MP.
A quick browse of Google shows that many companies, including ones that perhaps you wouldn’t expect, are parading their environmentally friendly credentials to the UK. Put recycling Leicester into Google and you get a skip hire company coming up on page 1 beneath the local government sites. They say they are committed to recycling everything possible from their skips o reduce landfill waste, whereas normally you would just expect a skip hire company to send the waste in their skips straight to landfill. If the recession carries on it is hard to say how long being green will remain a priority, but at the moment it still seems to be very much in people’s mind. How the winter effects this one way or another will be very interesting.
However, in this recession and in the subsequent tough economic times, the environment does indeed still seem to be up there. Maybe it’s because people have grasped just how serious the environmental situation is. Maybe the last two winters being extremely harsh, with snow and ice not seen in the UK for many years, brought it home to people. It is worth noting that there were major fuel protests in the year 2000 over the price of fuel, and petrol then was around 75p per litre. It is now around £1.30 per litre, and despite the recent debate in Parliament on the price of fuel, and despite the occasional grumblings and mutterings, people seem to have got on with it, tolerated it and accepted it. Despite people being out of work, unable to get around, there hasn’t been that major outcry over fuel, and it hasn’t been brought down, partly because the tax is needed to bring some much needed cash into the treasury’s coffers, and partly because the government knows that the environmental lobby would be up in arms. At one point the government wouldn’t have worried too much about upsetting the environmental lobby. But they recognise the strength of the green movement now. It might have taken 21 years since the 1989 European elections for the Green Party to make a break through, but last year, 2010, despite the economic conditions which dominated the General Election, the Green Party won their first seat at Westminster with Caroline Lucas becoming an MP.
A quick browse of Google shows that many companies, including ones that perhaps you wouldn’t expect, are parading their environmentally friendly credentials to the UK. Put recycling Leicester into Google and you get a skip hire company coming up on page 1 beneath the local government sites. They say they are committed to recycling everything possible from their skips o reduce landfill waste, whereas normally you would just expect a skip hire company to send the waste in their skips straight to landfill. If the recession carries on it is hard to say how long being green will remain a priority, but at the moment it still seems to be very much in people’s mind. How the winter effects this one way or another will be very interesting.
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