As organic foods and fair trade products prevail in Britain, one might think that the country is highly aware of environmental issues. In actual fact, as a country it has one of the lowest levels of environmental consciousness in Europe.
One example of this is the country's poorly functioning recycling system. It comes as a shock to the Japanese, who are so used to a waste collection system that strictly separates waste. Indeed it was only a few years ago that separate waste collection started in Britain, although it is totally voluntary. Moreover, waste is only separated into "recyclable" and "non-recyclable" rubbish. Things such as glass bottles, plastic bottles and paper are all randomly thrown in together, the sight of which almost makes me cry with disappointment. "This isn't 'separate' waste collection!" All the waste is destined to be shipped overseas to countries such as Thailand for a fee. While it is believed that the garbage is sorted when it arrives at its destination, who really knows?
Most British people say that global warming is a serious problem, but they never indicate what they are doing about it, just quipping that "The government must set stricter regulations" or "Companies need to be more socially responsible." Although they boast that they bring their own shopping bags with them, this is mostly because supermarkets have started charging for plastic bags. If the government announces a plan for building a wind power station as an alternative source of energy, candidate sites all rush to wage opposition campaigns. They claim that "The beautiful scenery of my home town will be lost." As represented by the expression "Not in my backyard," when it comes to the environmental consciousness of the British people, they are nothing more than opportunistic.
Although there are some people who have lead thoroughly self-sufficient "hippy" lifestyles, the people who are contributing the most to environmental issues are often those who do not loudly make a fuss about "eco" living. For a long time, inventor Trevor Baylis, who has even been honored by the Queen, has been developing gadgets that don't require a power source, such as a windup radio that you power by hand. His latest invention is a windup media player. The device is gaining popularity because of the convenience of being able to play MP3s and video without the need to recharge it. If 25% of the iPod users around the world were to change to this device, it is said that harmful battery waste would be reduced by 20%.The country seems to be in need of more people who not only talk about the issues, but also actually do something useful about them.
