Memorandum submitted by BBC Radio 4: You
and Yours (Cit 55)
You and Yours is BBC Radio 4's flagship
consumer and social affairs programme broadcast between 12 noon
and 1pm every week day lunchtime.
The programme has 3.181 million listeners per
week. Their average age is 59. 56.1% of You and Yours listeners
are female. 43.9% are male.
The social grading of listeners breaks down
as follows:
INTRODUCTION
Between 30 January and 9 February, working in
conjunction with the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select
Committee, we gave our listeners the unique opportunity to contribute
directly to the committee's inquiry into Climate Change—The
Citizen's Agenda.
Our phone in programme "Call You &
Yours"—which invited listeners to air their views on
Climate Change—was broadcast between 12.00-13.00 on Tuesday
6 February 2007 on BBC Radio 4. We asked our listeners to give
us their views on:
"The barriers stopping you from reducing
your own personal carbon emissions"
RESPONSE
The response was overwhelming; within two weeks
we received 908 emails, calls, texts and letters. They break down
into 8 broad categories:
— 19% (175 listeners) had their own
positive stories and ideas on what simple steps individuals could
take to be "green".
— 18% (167 listeners) responded to
say it was government bureaucracy or red tape that was preventing
them from cutting down their green house gas emissions.
— 16% (147 listeners) said money was
the biggest barrier to them reducing their own personal carbon
emissions.
— 14% (129 listeners) contacted us
with "other" concerns including calling for shop buildings
to turn off their lights at night to people considering vegetarianism
as a way of cutting down carbon emissions.
— 11% (108 listeners) said their attempts
to be more green were hindered by a failure to get hold of particular
products or services.
— 10% (92 listeners) were sceptical
that their actions would actually make a difference.
— 7% (66 listeners) pointed out that
advice given on cutting down green house gas emissions was often
confusing.
— 2% (24 listeners) emailed to tell
us of their own successful community projects to reduce carbon
emissions.
1. Examples of those with positive stories
and individual ideas
The most common idea was to make small changes
in the home. Many listeners spoke about turning off lights, cycling
to work and turning down their heating. Some listeners even went
so far as to suggest new legislation to make more of us take this
sort of action.
George Elder from Powys in Wales
He called for every citizen with a car to be
provided with a ration book to stop excessive use of the car cutting
down on fuel emissions.
Stella Woodman from Norfolk
She believed she was very energy aware having
low energy light bulbs and turning off equipment when not in use.
But she also called for everyone to have a fixed carbon allowance
to stop those with more money consuming more energy.
Judith Proctor
She is surprised by how much money she has saved
since becoming more environmentally friendly. The biggest change
was buying a small plug in meter from Maplin which told her how
much wattage was used keeping appliances on standby—this
was her incentive to switch off appliances at the plug. She also
brought thicker curtains and poured a mug of water into the kettle
drew a line where the water came up to and now only boils the
amount of water she actually needs. She also got rid of an old
fridge because it used a phenomenal amount of electricity.
Kate Boothby
She wants the UK to look to countries like Norway
who she says have insisted on alternative energy sources being
incorporated in all new builds. She says she has tried her best
by insulating her house but wants the government to do more.
David Richardson
He was interested in the government encouraging
citizens to surrender their driving licences and passports for
a "Green Medal" to encourage people to use their cars
more frugally.
2. Examples of those whose biggest barrier
was red tape and bureaucracy
Brian Knight
He wants to see fast tracked planning permission
or a simplified process for people like him. He wants to look
into having a wind turbine or solar panels installed. This he
says will enable local residents to get on with reducing their
carbon footprint without being put off by the red tape.
Lorraine Kitty
She explained that she had already invested
ten thousand pounds in improvements including double glazing and
a new boiler to reduce her greenhouse gas emissions. But when
she looked at getting solar panels she went to her local council
for a Warm Front Grant the estimate came through at £2,600
with only a £400 grant. Her main complaint was that if you
want a grant there seems to be no choice of installer and therefore
no competition to prevent profiteering.
Patricia Howe
She says her local council was offering free
cavity wall insulation to the over 60's in her area. She has been
busy trying to do her bit by getting double glazing, low energy
light bulbs etc. But her house is built of sandstone with a 10ft
x 4ft rear brick-built porch which faces north and is quite cold.
But she was told she couldn't have that insulated for free because
it doesn't constitute 50% of the building.
Tony Hirst
He already has solar panels and wanted to take
the next step and install a wind turbine. However his planning
application for a 2KW machine was rejected by Anglesey County
Council on the grounds that he lives in an area of outstanding
natural beauty. This is despite the fact that he has a large telegraph
pole in his garden which is higher than the wind turbine would
be.
Chris Cheeseman
He says that he wanted to increase the roof
lagging to 6" depth and applied for a discretionary grant.
But he was told that the year's allocation had already been spent
and that he needed to get three approved companies to crawl through
his loft to give him a quote. So he decided to do it himself but
found that he wasn't exempt from VAT which left him feeling very
disgruntled.
3. Examples of those who say money is their
biggest barrier
Ed Blacker
He explained that two years ago he heard about
the clear skies initiative which promised to give him a grant
of 50% for environmental energy projects. But having committed
himself to installing photovoltaic solar panels he revisited the
site to discover that the original scheme now has a monthly cap
put in place. So the scheme has proved too popular and now Ed
has to find the other 50% to fund his project.
Eve Bendall
She successfully had solar panels fitted and
after seeing the drop in her gas bills decided to look at getting
photovoltaic roof panels fitted. She says they are very expensive
and even though there are grants allocated each month the money
tends to run out in the first few days of that month.
Pam Golden
She believes the majority of people would happily
install solar panels or solar roof tiles were it not for the cost
but at the moment only the minority do it because only a few can
afford to take that step.
Kay Jackson
She says the cost of going green is considerable.
She has been trying to restore a derelict farm in Fife and wants
to install sustainable energy measures including a wind turbine.
They need to have a mains electricity supply to feed in any excess
electricity they make but don't use. However Scottish Power is
demanding more than £35,000 to do this work—an amount
they can ill afford. So despite their commitment they are being
held back.
Helen Taylor
She says she has recently changed her central
heating from oil fired to wood pellet fired. She believes she
has saved around 8 tonnes of CO2 emissions per year. And she was
lucky enough to get a grant of £16 thousand pounds. However
she says government initiatives pay the same amount for other
technologies like solar panels which don't have as good a return—more
people seem to be encouraged to look at getting solar panels etc
and not wood pellet fired central heating.
4. Examples of other concerns
Colin from South Wales
He says excessive street lighting wastes more
energy than stand-by home equipment. Why do we need roads to be
lit up all night?
Kat Himmel
She says she adheres to a vegan diet which is
organic and primarily local. More people should consider this.
Paul Sutton
He says the only solution to our energy and
green house problems is to go Nuclear.
5. Examples of those who could not access
services or products
Thomas Costick
He says he has been considering having solar
panels fitted to his roof but a big inhibitor is the lack of standards
for such products and the firms that supply them. He thinks more
people would adopt this technology at home if there was a reputable
one-stop-shop for these products and their installation.
Keith Hicks
He says he would switch off from standby his
DVD recorder, Sky Box and TV but says he would loose all the settings
and have to reprogramme them each time. Why don't manufacturers
make it easier for people?
Suzanne Etherton
She says she is doing up two flats and trying
to install grey water re-cycling units. She has tried her water
company and local planning and building merchants but no product
is available. She has sourced some products but they are only
sold in Holland. One supplier in the UK says there were no clear
legal guidelines about grey water quality in this country.
Jacqui Watson
She says she has been trying to find someone
Kent based to install a wood pellet boiler at her house near Maidstone
but despite seeing four different plumbers not one has been able
to come back to her with a quote. She says if she can't find a
suitable plumber how can she possibly proceed?
Dag Saunders
He says it's been two years since he had photovoltaic
cells fitted across their south facing roof together with solar
panels for water heating. But he is still waiting for his electricity
supplier to properly monitor the electricity he is generating
whenever someone comes to read the meter they say they have no
knowledge of electricity generation.
Catherine in Bristol
We tried for two years to get two wood burning
stoves installed. We got one quote in that whole time for £3,000
per stove. The difficulty was that the people who owned our house
before had removed the two chimneys from the roof, so we had to
have chimney lining from the stove right up through the chimneys
and out of the top of the roof to a height of a metre. In the
end we hired a scaffolding tower and did it ourselves. It wasn't
easy.
6. Examples of sceptics
Katherine Hammond
Why is it that, while the public are constantly
being urged to save energy, businesses appear to do little? Shops
in towns and cities everywhere, for example, are still fully lit
at night and their central heating systems are on full blast all
day.
Wendy Birks
What discourages me from taking action: When
I heard that a lot of UK recycled plastic was being sent 5,000
miles to China where it is processed causing huge environmental
harm and human misery.
Bob Hyslop
When will the Climate Change lobby give proper
treatment to the causes of the rise and fall of the 3 Ice Ages
and the variations in temperature over the last millennia? Undoubtedly,
these were due to the Sun's activities so how can humanity be
responsible for 90% of the current situation?
Michael Williams
When I hear experts on climate change saying
"we should only half fill our kettles" or "turn
our lights of at night" to save the planet, I despair and
worry for future generations. It is "people" who pollute
and the fewer people there are in the world the less pollution.
Peter Henson
I would readily give up my car if we had an
affordable, safe train service and a safe and extensive cycle
network.
7. Examples of listeners who feel their lack
of knowledge stands in their way
Anna Thomas
I have recently been looking into changing our
electricity supply to a supplier of renewable power as I heard
advice on the radio that this was a better solution initially
than generating electricity ourselves. At first the alternatives
looked good and could save us money but when I visited the Green
Electricity Market Place website I learnt that most of the "green"
suppliers were selling you renewable power which was part of the
5% that there were obliged to produce anyway. The only supplier
that produced 100% renewable power was predictably more expensive.
For a clear conscience it seems that this might be the only one
to go for but the information available is a little confusing.
Richard Howarth
Key is getting individuals to take responsibility
and relates to wider issues, such as consumptions and waste. There
are big problems with this related to education (the environment
is rarely taught in business schools at University and the issue
is marginal) and the self interest of all parties involved; business,
individuals who want to maximise their own welfare and governments.
Victor Franklin Kitts
Wind Turbines are NOT friendly. It takes at
least 10 years to generate the energy which has been used to make
it. Then it has to be repaired. It is a bad decision. Government
and particularly the BBC should help people make INFORMED decisions.
Barbara Cooper
We are going on holiday to Italy this summer.
We really didn't want to fly but couldn't find a practical alternative
or any information to help us.
Teresa Belton
It is difficult to know where to get comprehensive,
reliable information about taking green actions in the home. Eg
on insulation, solar panels etc.
8. Examples of listeners own successful community
initiatives
Lorely Lloyd
Many of us have been trying to do our bit for
the environment in isolation. Now using the Transition Towns community
action model we can work together locally to produce and implement
an energy descent plan for our towns or bioregions. Transitiontowns.org
list several towns including Totnes, Falmouth, Penwith etc transitionculture.org
shows the practical steps for relocalisation and powering down
to establish a low carbon based future to both protect our environment
and prepare us for the impending reduction in supplies.
Pauline Fothergill
Most people want to do something but they don't
know what. I lead the Thatcham Environment Team and our number
priority at the moment is to appoint a "Make Thatcham Green
Officer"—a sort of Go Green Guru. Someone that people
can trust to go into their homes and carry out a green audit and
recommend appropriate ways that they can reduce their carbon emissions.
Chris D'Avray
We are organising an Eco Awareness Day in Lingfield,
Surrey, on the 9 June with an exhibition supported by the eco
industry and a parallel conference to give local people the opportunity
of seeing what simple things they can do in their own homes to
reduce carbon emissions in our village. Lingfield has been presented
with the Best Village in Surrey award and we are proud of what
local people can do. I believe that going green locally can make
all the difference.
Diana Berriman
I work for a community group call Llanidloes
Energy Solutions which wants to tackle climate change on a local
scale. We have been encouraging local people to reduce energy
wastage as part of our energy efficiency campaign, which also
gives us an idea of the energy use in the town. The main problem
we are experiencing is the lack of funds to support such a venture,
and the high capital costs of the technology, connecting to the
grid and ancillary works. Our overall aim is to be carbon lean
as a town, and this is proving more and more difficult as legislation
gets in the way and lack of funds.
Liz Reason
We have set up Sustainable Charlbury to help
individuals, households and the community as a whole to reduce
the CO2 emissions. We have several projects in development—a
different kind of home energy audit, street champions, an organic
garden, and a light bulb library—an e-missions statement.
You and Yours feedback:
This programme prompted one of the largest responses
we have had on "Call You and Yours". The majority of
emails and phone calls came in during the one hour broadcast (approximately
500 emails and 200 phone calls). The vast majority of listeners
who contacted us were enthusiastic about reducing their own green
house gas emissions. They were also keen to point out the barriers
and even had suggestions of ways to reduce these. Most were keen
to be involved with the radio programme because of the potential
to help shape the Select Committee's final report.
Producer: Rabeka Nurmahomed
BBC Radio 4: You & Yours
February 2007
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