I've an owl. It sits on the dining table and it's starting to rule my life. This is no Harry Potteresque messenger, but it constantly delivers scary news and has confirmed a suspicion I've held for some time.
My owl is a bit of technology that connects to the mains electricity supply of my house and tells me how much carbon my energy use is creating. It measure power consumption in my whole house. Why it's called an owl is beyond me. It has a number of display settings telling me either how much energy I'm using, how much carbon is emitted as a result of my energy use, or how much it's costing me to run all the electrical stuff in my house.
As a conservationist I know I should be most concerned with the amount of emissions I and my family are responsible for, but the thing that makes us all run around switching stuff off is the setting that shows how much it's costing us when we leave unnecesary stuff switched-on or plugged-in. My children have a new game; to see how low we can get the reading. So, my suspicion that financial controls are more effective than playing on people's emotional concerns for the environment have predictably been proven right; sadly, by me! How ashamed am I?
The discovery that saving money is a more powerful personal motivator than saving the environment was shaming enough, but that shame has been deepened by an event we organised at the weekend for a few of the vast army of volunteers that support the work of the RSPB. Put simply, the RSPB could't deliver half of what we do without the dedication and drive of thousands of people who give their time and energy for nothing. These people give so much and care deeply about the world around them. The event we organised for them was a way of saying thank-you.
Winston Churchill once said, "we make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give." That's a grand philosophy and one that rings true. Having faced the fact that I am a selfish environmentalist I have now vowed to try harder.I can't afford to install solar panels on my house. I can afford draught-proofing and insulation. I can save water and I can cycle and walk more. All these tiny acts do have an impact on the environment and will help reduce the effects of climate change.
The government's latest sustainable development indicators have just been released and show that Londoners produce less rubbish per person than any other UK region but we recycle less than anywhere else. We're building more and more homes within smaller and smaller spaces; which means we're losing space for wildlife! Our rivers and waterways continue to improve in quality but with all this development our drainage systems are increasingly stressed. More than a third of Londoners give their time as volunteers in one way or another but most of us are unhappy with the quality of our environment and don't feel safe in our neighbourhoods.
There's plenty we can all do to improve these findings. Volunteering in schools and with community groups can help tremendously. Being less selfish and NOT following the advice in the Homes section of the Sunday Times of flogging off back-gardens for development would hugely benefit London's wildlife. Planting trees, shrubs, hedges and flowers can improve neighbourhoods and also benefit wildlife.
Driven by my shame instead of my wallet I will be pursuing some of these suggestions with renewed vigour. I will also try harder to recruit support for the RSPB [join here] knowing we can do more to improve our world by acting together than we can achieve on our own. Oh! My wallet wil benefit too (eventually - via lower energy bills and by growing some of my own fruit and veg), so a litle bit of enlightened self-interest is allowed.
If you'd like to find out more about the work of the RSPB, visit us on the South Bank at our Tate Modern Peregrine Watch. You'll find some of our volunteers and staff by the Millennium Bridge ready and waiting to chat about conservation and London's wild peregrines.