» Every little helps
Phil Mills finds out if the city’s party leaders are doing their bit to help the environment and the economy
Higher food, gas and petrol prices are focusing minds on household expenditures and economies, but how far are people really cutting back?
Brighton and Hove’s three party leaders were asked: are you switching off lights and avoiding car trips?
Gill Mitchell, Labour leader, has had tiffs with her 26-year-old daughter at their home in Kemp Town: “I’ll find her putting just a pair of jeans in the washing machine.
“I’ll pull her up on the waste and cost of energy used for just one pair of jeans but then she pulls me up on other things she sees me doing.
“I will switch off the TV standby light but I can’t bring myself to do the same with my computer – I’m worried I’ll lose everything.
“Overall, my daughter and I have a pretty sustainable lifestyle – I work at the Royal Sussex County Hospital twice a week and can walk there and back, and my daughter walks to American Express where she works.
“We use local shops and only rarely go to Asda at the marina. We now don’t leave our heating on a timer but switch it on only when we need it.”
Tory leader Mary Mears has come up with an idea that would cut carbon emissions and relieve city congestion – she wants signs put up showing how long it would take the average person to walk between two places.
“People think it’s too far to walk across the city but it’s not. We had to get off a bus in the city centre because of a demo and walk to George Street, Hove. It took just 20 minutes. It was easy and quick.”
Cllr Mears said she would love to be at home long enough to make economies but is so busy, she’s out most of the time.
She said she does think of the issues, both personally and as council leader, but she is loathe to talk down the economy. By doing so, she said, we could be making the problems worse.
She said: “You can easily exacerbate the situation and, in reality, the city is still doing well.”
But Cllr Mears said she was aware some individuals were hurting: “My overheads are not high but I’m conscious of the effect the economic climate is having on families on low incomes and we have to monitor the situation.”
Not surprisingly, Green leader Keith Taylor is the most vociferous and active on the issues.
He’s even considering boycotting supermarkets.
He buys from local shops and wants to support local produce and businesses and reduce the transportation, fuel costs and emissions created by supermarkets.
Cllr Taylor always makes sure his standby lights on home electrical equipment are switched off and feels so strongly about the issue that he’d like to see the government introduce legislation requiring disconnection of appliances when not in use.
He’d like to see more office lights switched off at night but doesn’t go as far as demanding lamps lighting the Royal Pavilion be turned out: “It’s an iconic building and people want to see it. And there is a security issue as well.”
He thinks the downturn will delay housing developments in the city and believes the current crunch has exposed the “myth of continuous economic growth” and the reality of how finite resources are.
He added: “We need a society which is carbon light and resources light but fulfilment heavy.”
