It is time for the latest blog post by ‘The Climate Change Collective.’ We set up a group of bloggers who take turns writing lead articles about global warming and being ecofriendly. After each post appears, all of us keen eco bloggers add our own thoughts on the matter, whilst linking to the lead piece.
This month’s thought-provoking article is by the brilliant @MidLifeOnEarth who is considering how we can change our attitudes to travelling locally to work, school and shops.
When I went to University my geography lecturer spoke about the need to replace short car journeys with walking, cycling and public transport. I feel that he was ahead of the times in 1996 as he was consulting on cycling access throughout Europe and leading initiatives for sustainable transport.
Twenty seven years later and we still haven’t made much progress in the UK. It is a struggle to cycle alongside cars on roads filled with potholes. I feel ashamed that the UK government are not prioritising walking and cycling routes as these should be priority schemes.
It will take a huge mindset shift for people to transition to making local journeys on foot or on bikes. The results of such a move would be greatly reduced danger from vehicles, due to fewer cars on the roads. Also, fitness would improve due to increased amounts of cardiovascular activity. It would be a win-win situation.
In A Nutshell
Check out the latest article about the benefits of active travel and let us know your thoughts on this important environmental matter. For my last link post, perhaps also have a look at Why Greener Spaces Matter.
Thanks for looking at my post. Please read through MidLifeOnEarth’s fascinating article and drop a comment with your own ways of reducing vehicle travel.
Continuing my articles about places I have visited without needing to fly, here is a post about staying in beautiful Paris. Paris is a city that I have been to many times. Originally I caught the ferry from Dover to Calais and these days I get there by train.
Travelling by EuroStar is very efficient from London and Paris’ Gare du Nord station is just two hours and fifteen minutes away. I usually find myself in the buffet carriage throughout this journey, often during the twenty minutes that the train spends whizzing through the tunnel, deep under the English Channel.
Paris is magical to me because it is filled with wonderful memories. I took a group of close friends there for a special birthday and have also been there to celebrate New Year before.
Here is my list of five reasons why you should take a trip to the enchanting city of Paris:
1) History
France is a country which used to have a royal family but now has a president instead. Paris has many leftovers from its regal past, including such beautiful buildings as the Palace of Versailles.
On the day that I went there it was incredibly busy and we were on a bus tour so I opted to look around the magnificent gardens rather than spend time inside the building. The gardens were expansive, packed with fascinating fountains, statues and floral displays. Of course the palace is not only a previous seat of kings and queens but also the venue where they agreed a settlement at the end of the First World War (The Treaty of Versailles 1919).
2) Tours
As soon as I got to Paris I wanted to do a bus tour of the city and take in some of the incredible views. Open top buses are brilliant because you get great pictures (when the weather is good) and can pop some earphones on and listen to an audio tour at the same time.
I believe the bus tours Paris provides move around four quadrants of the city and I recall covering most of the important sights such as the Arch de Triumph, Notre Dame and The Louvre.
There are also plenty of boat tours daily which leave from various sites around the city. I have done a boat trip almost every time that I went to Paris and learned something new every time.
Notre Dame Cathedral before the tragic fire. (Reasons to visit Paris)
3) The Eiffel Tower
This incredible structure is what most people associate with Paris. Standing 324 metres high, the cast iron marvel first opened in March 1889 to the public. It is layered like a wedding cake in tiers and you can choose how high you want to go.
Last time I took the endless stairs to the first level and then caught the lift the rest of the way to the top. As well as being an excellent viewing platform for the whole city, there is a sense of achievement when you reach the top, able to reflect upon the historical significance of this landmark.
4) Disneyland Paris
It would be wrong of me to mention the French Capital without a reference to the nearby Disney resort. Having never been to any Disney parks before, I was so happy to visit this one on a cold February day. It was full of magic and intrigue and left me wanting to come back for more.
Me, absolutely frozen but totally enjoying Disneyland.The stunning fireworks and light show. ((Disneyland Paris)
My favourite part of our brief visit to Disney was the amazing firework display at the end of the evening. Somehow the Disney imagineers manage to create a series of video projections that celebrate Disney movies from throughout the ages, all inter-spliced with colourful fireworks and set to a rousing Disney score.
You can find some incredible Eurostar Disney deals on the DisneyLand Paris website. There are always opportunities to go straight to Disney by Eurostar, which is an option I might take in future as I certainly want to spend lots more time there.
5) Museum
Paris is a wonderful setting in which to enjoy some fascinating museums. Going to the Louvre is a must-do activity but remember that it is always closed on a Tuesday. Such an expansive place is hard to explore in just one session.
The one picture that everyone wants to see. (Reasons to visit Paris)
Having viewed the Mona Lisa portrait and many other delightful paintings and statues, I also had a lovely time taking in the incredible architecture.
Another brilliant museum is the Musee D’Orsay which has collections of paintings including those by Monet and Renoir. It also has a variety of sculptures and furniture from different historic periods.
The Musee D’Orsay (affordable and educational)
I feel as though I could talk about Paris all day long. In fact I may end up following this article with a future one about some of the lovely features that I have yet to mention. Here is another article that I wrote about a visit by train to Luxembourg which also involved changing trains in Paris.
I hated saying goodbye to Disneyland Paris.
If you enjoyed this post about reasons to visit Paris, perhaps consider following my blog for similar content in future.
With the awful raging wildfires in Greece and Turkey, as well as the annual fires in California, News companies are giving more air time to environmental concerns. Even some adverts for products such as washing detergents are presenting a more eco-friendly attitude to their selling strategies.
Take a train, not a plane.
As I sit by the sea and look out into the distance, I contemplate the future and worry a little about how much our coastlines may soon change.
I decided to share a few basic things to consider when wanting to be more eco-friendly. These adaptations will aim to reduce your carbon footprint, helping to reduce global warming, at least a tiny amount.
1) Buy fewer items of clothing.
Although many people love to follow Instagram trends and buy new and exciting designer clothes all the time, that needs to stop. Some items are only worn once or twice and stored for ages in wardrobes. These are then replaced again and again, with seasons bringing whole new collections.
Manufacture of clothing uses lots of materials and involves burning lots of fuel. We all need to wear out clothes more often, recycle them after they are worn out and repair them when they have the odd hole appear.
2) Use planes less.
This one is super important. I stopped using planes seven years ago and believe that unnecessary flights are damaging the environment massively because they pump damaging gases straight into the upper atmosphere. Hopefully Covid has stopped long distance business meetings happening so frequently involving air travel. Often these meeting were just jollies in the past and Zoom meetings can adequately suffice in most instances.
As power supplies move towards renewable energy, the use of trains is becoming more acceptable and is now a more eco-friendly way of travelling bigger distances. For instance in Europe you can get almost anywhere by train, with ease. I have been using the EuroStar and Inter-rail to navigate France, Germany, Austria, Belgium and Switzerland. From my limited experience in the US I can say that trains can easily get you interstate, yet many prefer the quick flying option.
3)Turn it down.
Simple changes to gas heating and use of boilers can make a positive difference. In winter, having the heating on for less time and at lower temperatures, whilst wearing jumpers and layers, is one easy way to make a change. Also, putting the boiler on once rather than several times a day is worthwhile.
The simple points above are small but important ways that we can all have an impact on climate change. However, we also need to put pressure on governments and big businesses to make meaningful alterations to practices and levels of pollution.
