Sweden's Young Greta Thunberg

sisters3

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[MENTION=9875]cefe13[/MENTION] How proud are you of Sweden's young activist? She must be all over the news there.....I listened to her entire presentation, impressive. BRAVO Greta!!!

Edited to add - Mostly I turn OFF the nightly news because the "talking heads" and politicians make my head hurt but when she started speaking it grabbed my attention, how refreshing !!!!
 

cefe13

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@cefe13 How proud are you of Sweden's young activist? She must be all over the news there.....I listened to her entire presentation, impressive. BRAVO Greta!!!

Edited to add - Mostly I turn OFF the nightly news because the "talking heads" and politicians make my head hurt but when she started speaking it grabbed my attention, how refreshing !!!!

Yes, Greta has certainly gained world-wide attention! What she says is important since the climate threat as such is an important issue that we need to raise awareness of. However, I'm divided when it comes to the methods she (or perhaps people behind her) use.

She started with a one-person school strike, skipping school once a week to protest outside the Swedish parliament building. I'm totally against kids skipping school (and as school is compulsory, many schools in Sweden have forbidden their pupils to join in the school strikes that followed her one-person protest). On the other hand, going on strike was probably the only solution for her as she feels so strongly about the cause.

Another concern of mine is the sheer media attention (or even hype). Greta is an exceptional young woman, but she also happens to be the daughter of wellknown and well-connected people (her mum is one of Sweden's best known opera singers and her father is an actor). Although her agenda is good, to me it's slightly off-putting that the family published a book about their family situation with children who are not like most children at the time she hit the news. I don't know... there is a thin line between raising awareness and capitalising on attention. Another thing (which she most likely cannot do anything about herself) is that although she refuses to fly, the media circus that follows in her footsteps no doubt leads to an increase in travel and consumerism. Although one might argue that the end justifies the means, there is something about the way she is presented (by others, not by herself) that makes me think the media coverage will be interesting to look back upon in a decade or two. She is presented as the saviour our world needs, but is it reasonable to put that responsibility on the slim shoulders of this 16-year-old?! I do think she started her campaign herself but it would not have grown this big without people behind the scenes. Whether that is a good thing or not, I don't know.

Having said that, it's probably not surprising she comes from Sweden. Overall, people here are very much aware of climate issues and the importance of thinking about sustainability. For instance, many people here really try to avoid flying when there are other means of transport, meat consumption is going down, recycling of goods (clothes, furniture, etc) is growing, etc. Over the last deacde, national and local authorities have implemented strict agendas concerning sustainability for schools and other parts of the public sector. We have also had high taxes on gas for many years (here one US gallon is about USD 5,70) in order to minimise the use of cars.

So to answer your question, I would say most people here know that what she says is important (and it's great that she raises awareness) but the whole show around her meets with criticism.
 

helsonwheels

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Last week in our Canadian news, in Vancouver British Columbia, a 16yr old was protesting on climate change issues. Her and her big 15ish other teenagers decided NOT to have any children till Canada fixes climate change. I’ve worked for 20yrs with teens, I can guarantee you in them 15ish teenagers, there will be a few unwanted pregnancies. These so called protesters against climate change should look into countries like China and/or India where there is over a billion of population per country. That’s where climate change has to be fixed ASAP. You cannot have small populated countries like Canada or Sweden n others fix everybody’s issues. Not rocket science here, goes by volume, consumption etc.

All these electric cars out there, here in Canada we are so not ready or prepared for that. Not enough population. Whole 38million. There’s barely any stands you can stop n plug in your vehicle so you can continue your way. Where I live there’s only 3 stands “Tesla”. Plus electric or semi electric vehicles here is extremely expensive. I sure wouldn’t buy a vehicle starting at 50K and have to break my head “I need to plug it” just to go a vacation. When I cross the Great Lakes, there is no gas station for over 100 km. Imagine looking for a plug loll.. What I’m trying to say is most teens today have absolutely no clue what’s involved in their so call protest. They want to change the world n never worked a day in their life as they’re still in school. Whatever you’re protesting is not like putting a bandaid on n there it’s fixed... Whole big chain reaction that follows the protests. Ok that was my 2 cents...
 

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Last week in our Canadian news, in Vancouver British Columbia, a 16yr old was protesting on climate change issues. Her and her big 15ish other teenagers decided NOT to have any children till Canada fixes climate change. I’ve worked for 20yrs with teens, I can guarantee you in them 15ish teenagers, there will be a few unwanted pregnancies. These so called protesters against climate change should look into countries like China and/or India where there is over a billion of population per country. That’s where climate change has to be fixed ASAP. You cannot have small populated countries like Canada or Sweden n others fix everybody’s issues. Not rocket science here, goes by volume, consumption etc.

All these electric cars out there, here in Canada we are so not ready or prepared for that. Not enough population. Whole 38million. There’s barely any stands you can stop n plug in your vehicle so you can continue your way. Where I live there’s only 3 stands “Tesla”. Plus electric or semi electric vehicles here is extremely expensive. I sure wouldn’t buy a vehicle starting at 50K and have to break my head “I need to plug it” just to go a vacation. When I cross the Great Lakes, there is no gas station for over 100 km. Imagine looking for a plug loll.. What I’m trying to say is most teens today have absolutely no clue what’s involved in their so call protest. They want to change the world n never worked a day in their life as they’re still in school. Whatever you’re protesting is not like putting a bandaid on n there it’s fixed... Whole big chain reaction that follows the protests. Ok that was my 2 cents...

Agreed.... places like India and China have to get on board and fix a lot of their issues before anything will make a dent in the world issues. As for electric cars... I’m not sold on them being better.. still hitting the environment for the batteries they need to make for those cars.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 

helsonwheels

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Agreed.... places like India and China have to get on board and fix a lot of their issues before anything will make a dent in the world issues. As for electric cars... I’m not sold on them being better.. still hitting the environment for the batteries they need to make for those cars. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Driving and having all them batteries sitting behind you? Pfffft fat chance I’ll trust that. Lithium batteries are extremely expensive and still not recyclable. I saw not too long ago on tv you need a special technician to remove them batteries as you can’t. These are trained electrical technicians for them batteries or you will fry!!! Plus you need to “pay” more.. loll we are so not there yet. Some of them vehicles even blew up killing the people inside. Maybe in my next life they will have “space cars” flying like the Jetsons lolll
 

cefe13

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Yes, all countries need to get on board fighting the problems. However, some countries have high levels of emission because companies from other parts of the world have moved their production there, so rich countries have a moral obligation to take responsibility and not export problems. That is one reason this has to be a global discussion.

I'm dividend when it comes to electric vars. We wouldn't buy one now as you cannot drive very far with them, but on the other hand, the car industry of course need to sell electric cars to finance research and development of better electric cars.
 

cefe13

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Hm... I don't want to go into party politics on EBN, but in that video Tucker Carlson twice calls climate protests 'left-wing' and I think he also uses the word 'propaganda'. As free speech and civil protests are fundamental parts of democracy, I must say pulling the 'left-wing' card the way he does is pretty low.

In Europe, unless you are ultra-right, you wouldn't see environmental protests as left-wing propaganda - whether right, liberal, or left, we take environmental issues seriously. Then some of us may find the form certain protests take (school strikes) not ideal but that has nothing to do with party politics!
 

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I hate to say this but Americans are EXTREMELY lazy when it comes to the environment... most of them ACT like they care, but in reality very few take the time to make a personal difference. Personally I think that all of this starts at home, what is your mindset and how you raise your kids. I never recycled until I lived in Germany, it was impressive HOW much they recycled over there. I recycle everything that I can here in TN, but it's pathetic... most of my neighbors don't bother because you have to haul the trash yourself or pay a company to do it for you.
 

helsonwheels

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Hm... I don't want to go into party politics on EBN, but in that video Tucker Carlson twice calls climate protests 'left-wing' and I think he also uses the word 'propaganda'. As free speech and civil protests are fundamental parts of democracy, I must say pulling the 'left-wing' card the way he does is pretty low.

In Europe, unless you are ultra-right, you wouldn't see environmental protests as left-wing propaganda - whether right, liberal, or left, we take environmental issues seriously. Then some of us may find the form certain protests take (school strikes) not ideal but that has nothing to do with party politics!

We do take environmental issues seriously too as example California is all hands down into electric cars n a lot into other environmental problems out there. But there is “some” truth not all in this video. I’ve worked 20yrs with teens and what really gets to me is adults using children to do their protests. I’ve seen as young as 5yr old being interviewed why they are protesting n what they think. Young children talking like adults is basically what they hear their parents say. Young children don’t have an adult vocabulary. A teenager has no clue what real life is all about. You have to live and walk through it to understand. 3/4 of what’s on tv is all negative news. Positive news on tv? Wouldn’t be interesting and people wouldn’t bother watch the news anymore. Here in Canada if you working the oil field, in spring, there is no way you’re allowed to drive your massive trucks on any area as our land is all protected. Why most don’t work in the spring or early summer. Or there’s an area in Canada called The Great Bear Rainforest is a global treasure that covers 6.4 million hectares on British Columbia’s north and central coast. It’s the only area you will find “white bears.” Actually there’s a IMAX documentary on that area which I want to go see. Great way to visit remote areas you can go. Canada’s forest, waters, minerals, parks, most wildlife is all protected. But yes you’re right as free speech and civil protests are fundamental parts of democracy. We do need to speak our mind. :)
 

helsonwheels

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I hate to say this but Americans are EXTREMELY lazy when it comes to the environment... most of them ACT like they care, but in reality very few take the time to make a personal difference. Personally I think that all of this starts at home, what is your mindset and how you raise your kids. I never recycled until I lived in Germany, it was impressive HOW much they recycled over there. I recycle everything that I can here in TN, but it's pathetic... most of my neighbors don't bother because you have to haul the trash yourself or pay a company to do it for you.

California are good in making a difference but yes you need to have everyone on board. And yes definitely starts at home. Respect needs to be taught and drill at home.
 

cefe13

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I hate to say this but Americans are EXTREMELY lazy when it comes to the environment... most of them ACT like they care, but in reality very few take the time to make a personal difference. Personally I think that all of this starts at home, what is your mindset and how you raise your kids. I never recycled until I lived in Germany, it was impressive HOW much they recycled over there. I recycle everything that I can here in TN, but it's pathetic... most of my neighbors don't bother because you have to haul the trash yourself or pay a company to do it for you.

Exactly; recycling must be made easy. If you have to take your waste to a recycling centre it's a lot of work (especially if you are environmental-friendly and don't have a car). We share eight different garbage bins with other households (clear + dark glass, metal, plastic, paper, cardboard, food scraps, and whatever-cannot-be-recycled). Very convenient apart from the fact that we also need to have eight different containers in the kitchen to sort our garbage before taking it out.

Beer / soda cans and PET bottles we take to the food store for recycling (I'm sure there are such schemes in the US/Canada too?). When we buy bottles/cans, we pay a deposit and then we get that money back when recycling the items. Some 85% of all cans and bottles in Sweden are actually recycled so that system seems to work.
 

ddnene

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Exactly; recycling must be made easy. If you have to take your waste to a recycling centre it's a lot of work (especially if you are environmental-friendly and don't have a car). We share eight different garbage bins with other households (clear + dark glass, metal, plastic, paper, cardboard, food scraps, and whatever-cannot-be-recycled). Very convenient apart from the fact that we also need to have eight different containers in the kitchen to sort our garbage before taking it out.

Beer / soda cans and PET bottles we take to the food store for recycling (I'm sure there are such schemes in the US/Canada too?). When we buy bottles/cans, we pay a deposit and then we get that money back when recycling the items. Some 85% of all cans and bottles in Sweden are actually recycled so that system seems to work.

Years ago you could bring your glass bottles for recycling, but they don't have that here on the east coast (I did see it in Maine though...)

I honestly think the problem is that we just don't have the pollution issues that you see over in Europe or elsewhere... especially outsides of the cities in the rural areas. So it's almost like they don't want to worry about it, UNTIL it's too late and we become overpopulated over here.

I'm impressed with your system in Sweden... the only thing I don't recycle is food scraps. I've looked into composting, but I don't have a large yard for a garden. One day I will have wide open spaces, and NO neighbors... Lol
 
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sisters3

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Enjoyed reading all of the posts here...learned a ton.
 

cefe13

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...I honestly think the problem is that we just don't have the pollution issues that you see over in Europe or elsewhere... especially outsides of the cities in the rural areas. So it's almost like they don't want to worry about it, UNTIL it's too late and we become overpopulated over here. ...

Yes, perhaps, but on the other side, not all of Europe is densely populated! Sweden is the size of California but with a fourth of the population of California. I think it has to do with realising that our resources are not endless and that we need to make do with what we have (in a way people did in the old days, of course - we seem to have lost the idea of saving and reusing in our generation!).
 

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