NEWS: Poyzer Finale

As the credits ran at the end of the last episode of Penney Poyzer's fantastic show, No Waste Like Home, I sat slightly numbed...as if a good friend who had been staying with us had just got on the train and it was pulling away from the station...I wanted them back. But alas...for now! Tis not to be!

We do have an interview lined up with Penney and will find out what the future holds.

Anyway...here are my thoughts about this final episode and my final thoughts about the entire show.

Tonight's show was a great one. It was a quieter show than the others but it packed some serious punches.

The family involved used electricity like you would not believe. Almost three times the national average I recall.

Penney worked her magic and transformed them and their understanding. By the end of the show they got the point. But have they kept it up?

Post Penney's visit, the family have dramatically reduced their energy consumption; electrical appliances are switched off when not in use and the spa, since the time setting and insulation was installed, is now only heated for four hours a day instead of 24.

The family have continued using natural cleaning products in the house and use natural potpourri instead of air fresheners. They're still using the energy-saving light bulbs, but occasionally the girls slip back to their old ways of leaving the lights on at night.

Penney really focused on solutions: wood stove instead of electric heaters, efficient light-bulbs, natural cleaning methods (if people knew what was in regular cleaning products they would run a mile) and even home-made pot pourri instead of plug-in air fresheners.

Helping people realise that being green is easy is they key. Being green does not mean giving up luxury.

Penney did not want the Dad to give up his luxury spa bath - she just wanted him to put it on a timer instead of leaving it on 24/7 and save energy with an insulated cover. No hardship really!

The series overall has left us with the following thoughts to meditate on - if we could all think about one a month then what a different world we would live in next year:

Think about the electricity you use
Can you be more energy efficient? Why be energy inefficient? Where does your electricity come from? How it is produced? What difference does the energy production process make to the world? How can you find out? Where does it go when you are done with it? Are there alternatives? How would that benefit the planet? How would that benefit you today? What about in 50 years? Are you addicted to electricity? What would happen if your electricity were cut off? Could you live with out it? How? Prove it - take an energy vacation for a weekend!

Think about the water you use
Do you waste water? Why? Would water efficiency benefit you today? What about in 50 years? Where does your water come from? How it is produced? How is it prepared for you? Where does it go when you are done with it? How can you find out? Are you addicted to water wastage? What would happen if the tap ran dry? Where would you get your clean water from? How much water would you need to survive?

Think about the food you eat
Is it natural or processed? Does it have chemicals added to it? Why? What could those chemicals do to you? What could they do to the planet? How can you find out? Where was the food grown or produced? Who produced or grew it? How was it produced or grown? Did producing or growing it harm the environment? Did they get paid a wwage you would consider fair? Why should they get a fair wage? Were any animals mistreated? Could they have been treated better? Could the food have been better produced? What difference would that make to you or the planet? How did it get to your table? Did it travel needlessly around the world to get to the table? Did it have needless plastic packaging? Are there alternatives? What would happen if you had to find food without shops? Where would you go? How and what would you eat?

Think about the stuff you throw away
Why are you throwing it away? Can it be repaired? Can it be recycled? Can it be reused? Could it be useful to someone else? Why not sell it or give it away on Freecycle? Why should someone else have it when you paid for it? Why should you care about running out of landfill space? How can you find out?

Think about the stuff you buy
Who made it? How? How did making it affect the planet? What do they do with the money you give them for it? Do they do things with that money you would not do or want done to you and your world? Do you know? How can you find out? Do you care? Why not? What would make you care? Did you need or want it? If you wanted it why did you want it? Did having it make you feel better? How long did you use it for? Where is it now? Was it worth it? Is there an alternative?

Thanks Penney! See you next year back on our screens hopefully. And for those of you in the US remember to visit http://www.bbcamerica.com and tell them you want this show released. And if you live somewhere else well if you don't ask you won't get! Ask your tv stations to get it.

Namaste

CH

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