Should Environmental Issues and Limited Power Restrict Christmas Lighting?

[mycarsavw]

Excessive Christmas lights are not essential to anyone except QVC and the Far east where they are made. They use vast quantity of electricity for no good reason.

"Won't somebody think of the children?!"

Ignoring the source (it was the only link I could find);

This is why people do it to excess - in my opinion of course.

This is one of about 30 streets I know of in Kent that have Christmas lights up to raise money for the Kent Air Ambulance. Every year my children get excited as December gets nearer, the obvious reasons aside, it means we can spend one day after work driving round looking at all the displays and putting a few quid in the collection boxes.

Pretty lights, charity and happy children - does it get any better?

EDIT: Lee beat me to it, didn't realise there was a second page

[Zak33]

FYI regardless of whether we use the electricity or not it is being produced and the same amount of carbon emission's will be emitted into the atmosphere. Reducing consumer use of electricity will not reduced carbon emissions. Power companies need to clean up the way they produce power for that to happen.

And electricity is not finite... technology exists where we can produce enough electricity for the entire world indefinitely. Geothermal energy, Solar Power, Wind Power, Tidal Power, Wave Power.

thats not actually right. A power station makes power as required. With more demand so the station must make more. And eventually we need more power stations as our demand increases. Agreed, some is wasted, but not much. Are we all happy about waste? No. So surely there's another use for it.


Once fossil fuels are gone, or too fantastically priced to be affordable, we will need every single on of thos forms of electricity generation that you link too...and more.

So... why use ALL the fossil fuels as soon as possible? Why not cut back on non required electricity consumption? Christmas lights, bedecking the house from all angles, surely, are not required by anyone at all?

Except maybe Airliners who are lost and need to look for the "bungalow lit up like a beacon" somewhere in Brighton

[Clunk]

http://www.google.co.uk/products?hl=...-8&sa=N&tab=wf

[Georgy291]

think off the children argument is irrelevant here.

did our parents say 2 generations care about global warming? or recycling etc?

[Funkstar]

did our parents say 2 generations care about global warming? or recycling etc?

Obviously not, but then generations before that didn't care about human rights, health and safety, minimum wage, etc. Doesn't make them less important just because our parents didn't do it.

[Georgy291]

Obviously not, but then generations before that didn't care about human rights, health and safety, minimum wage, etc. Doesn't make them less important just because our parents didn't do it.

i like them already, we need to go back to that

[DannyM]

think off the children argument is irrelevant here.

No offence, but, have you been on some dodgy stuff today boss?

I mean come on! As Funkstar said, the knowledge that we posess today, that comment is absolutely RIDICULOUS!

As for my original post, as I said to Zak, I can't argue with reason and logic, so I will try not to.

But as a youngster, one of the things our family did most years were to go see the Christmas illuminations and it was fantastic, always got the giddy side of me going! And as a 20 year old now, seeing something as simple as Christmas lights makes me feel the Christmas spirit coming.

So we want to save the world, we have to make sacrifices, granted, we want to kill the world, we don't need to make any sacrifices. So if we want to be all green around Christmas time... We have to... Well, that's just it, these days you can't have a 'Green' Christmas.

- Cards are made and shipped from one place to another so no greenness there,
- Fresh Christmas trees are about as fresh as it comes, but in order to get one of those to your home, you will need a vehicle.
- Wrapping paper, same issue as cards.
- Presents, well, where do I start...

- Oh, did I mention Christmas lights? lol

Basically people, we need to step back a couple of hundred years and do christmas how they did it in the old days, horse and cart FTW!!!

Haha oh, that'd be a funny site, Toys 'R' Us car park packed full of horse and carts! Ah well, this is a crazy debate. Green Christmas? This isn't The Grinch!

[[GSV]Trig]

FWIW, people have no idea what Christmas is about these days, they all want flashy lights, games consoles, the latest fashion trainers or whatever.
Christmas is about your family and friends, screw the rest up and throw it on the fire...

[TAKTAK]

It's all a bit lost on me, i don't see the enjoyment of shiny things, same with fireworks, what's the point? It's just a shameless waste of resources, in lieu of entertainment and caring...

I'd much rather channel the money into something useful for the family, instead of lavish decorations.

Give me a day in with the family/friends, some nice grub and tipple, that's me happy... Screw presents, who needs them? Seriously? WTF?, you don't need to give gifts to be charitable.

But alas if you don't atleast entertain the idea then people just see you as a scrouge and ignore you...

[DannyM]

FWIW, people have no idea what Christmas is about these days, they all want flashy lights, games consoles, the latest fashion trainers or whatever.
Christmas is about your family and friends, screw the rest up and throw it on the fire...

This is true! WE could have a green Christmas, if we did that.

But in all fairness, this year I want a White Christmas!

[Zak33]

Right, lets begin with LED christmas lights.

They need making, bringing to these shores and plugging in. That's factory's in China/India/Taiwan etc, millions of megawatts of power, card board and polystyrene shipping... then we need some ships. Big ships. Ships with vast engines to travel around the GLOBE... then we need some cranes, and some lorries, and some more fuel to get to the shops.. then, and only then, do you guys get to "save money and the environment" by PAYING for these items. And PAYING for the electricity. Instead of using what you already own for a limited period of time in limited quantity's.

OK.... my missus just beat me up about a Christmas Light Tax too..... it was, apparently, a silly idea.

So.... her suggestion:

Restrict the illumination of these lights on ALL homes in the UK to a pre determined set of days.

December 14th onward? Until New Years Day maybe?

I sit firmly with Trig on this, as I do on many subjects. It's about family time.

Christmas is supposed to be about a dude who allegedly was born in a barn in the far east, who allegedly was white, and loved sheep and might have loved a woman who might have been a hooker. He might or might not have been strung up for his belief that his Dad was bigger than the Roman's Dad.

I don't believe in God, or Christ, so why so I like Christmas?

Partly because, as DannyM said, it reminds ME of childhood and that's a good thing. And mainly because Trig is right. It's about Family, mates, a bit of time off work together, and some good grub that you normally don't have.

I DO like a Christmas tree, which IS in the loft and DOES have lights on it, and some poor sod in a water logged home with no money can't have that, so I AM being selfish and putting MY belief in MY desires for some kinda power useage for no reason.

If someone levied a NO CHRISTMAS LIGHTS tax or restriction, I'd go with it, because my little lad doesn't need to grow up next to a Nuclear Power Station if at all possible.

And I say again... electricity IS afinite resource and if we just relied upon the supply that George points out, we'd struggle to have a telly on in every house while the kettle boiled!

[kalniel]

I'd go with it, because my little lad doesn't need to grow up next to a Nuclear Power Station if at all possible.

Why not? Is that any nuclear power station, or just certain types?

And I say again... electricity IS afinite resource

It need not be a finite resource though... (in meaningful uses of the term finite anyway).

[Zak33]

Why not? Is that any nuclear power station, or just certain types?



It need not be a finite resource though... (in meaningful uses of the term finite anyway).

I don't like Incinerator Power Stations or Nuclear. I'm old fashioned about leaks and contaminations you see. I understand what coal dust, and steam can do to you and it's not as scary.. even acid rain doesn't scare me, as much as a nuclear leak or some foul toxins from burning people's bin bags.

It IS a finite resource. If we as a human race can lower our use of it sufficiently we will have a lot longer to survive than if we use more of it in wasted things.

Wind and Wave and Solar power all require power, to be made in the first place. Turbines, generators etc... huge towers, concrete bases etc. There will come a time with an increasing population where the amount of electricty that can be made will be outstripped by what we need.

When the "amazing" windfarms need expanding to cover the Christmas lights, where will the energy come from to make them? From wind farms? Who is going to be able to make sufficient Concrete by raising the temperature of the base minerals, while releasing yet MORE CO2 from the actual process... with a wave farm?

[DannyM]

Dear Santa,

For Christmas, all I want is a clean, green, eeelectricity making machine.

Thank you,
Danny

[[GSV]Trig]

Christmas is supposed to be about a dude who allegedly was born in a barn in the far east, who allegedly was white, and loved sheep and might have loved a woman who might have been a hooker. He might or might not have been strung up for his belief that his Dad was bigger than the Roman's Dad.

WTF Jesus was Welsh!!!!!11!One?!

[[GSV]Trig]

I don't like Incinerator Power Stations or Nuclear. I'm old fashioned about leaks and contaminations you see. I understand what coal dust, and steam can do to you and it's not as scary.. even acid rain doesn't scare me, as much as a nuclear leak or some foul toxins from burning people's bin bags.

We'll disagree on that one then, I'm kinda pronuclear tbh, yeah ok so you dont want them in built up areas but perhaps underwater or in places that are already uninhbitable...