Sustainable Community

Super Output Area: Milton Keynes 022E

Economically the area in which i live in could be described as a sustainable community with only 1% jobseeers allowance. Economically my Super output area most of the occupants are working and contributing to the government. There are certain statistics economically that are unavailable but i feel that the area that i live in is productive in this respect and can therefore be seen as sustainable.

One of the statistics is fire related crime and there has been no incidents in my super output area between the years of 2002 and 2006. There is also very little houses in poor conditions. There seems to be little cocial problems in my area and therefore can be seen as sustainable as neighbours respect each other and others respect the area.

I think overall that the state of the environment including the air quality is of a high standard in my area. Our area of greenspace is also 739 m2 which is a lot for such a small area. This also contributes into being environmentally sustainable. We are also an area that tries our best to recycle as much as possible and overall enjoy a good quality of life.

I think that our S.O.A is a sustainable community socially, economically and environmentally as there are little issues associated with vandalism or crime in our area and also the neighbours all seem to get on with one another. Economically we are a very productive area with a very small amount of people claiming benefits. Environmentally we are sustainable as well due to the amount that we recycle and the fact that the local environment is clean and unpolluted.

Education for citizenship

Constituency: Milton Keynes South

Local MP: Vanessa Pike - Liberal Democrats

Local Council: MK Council

Dominating Party: Liberal Democrats

2010 is indeed the election year and in my eyes is a total waste of time. The only reason why labour win most of the time is because in modern day society politics is boring. People vote either labour or conservative just because they couldnt really care who is in power and do not even know what each party aims to do. The majority of the people dont care and those who dont vote usually choose not to because either a) every single leader of political parties doesnt bare any kind of representation of the people. Gordon Brown struggles to speak fluently and what he does say is usually just trying to defend how labour have ruined the economy. David Cameron its fair to say is a total clown in most respects. Nick Clegg performed the best in the first election debate but honestly will probably never get into power and as for the others they stand little chance of ever being in power as well, b) Politics has become a childish game where every MP (who is usually employed to be sarcastic) has a go at another MP for something of little relevance to anything, or C) They dont care/think it wont affect their every day life.

The problem is that in modern day society people are simply not as interested in politics as they were in the past. Many people find politics hard to follow and hard to understand. For example my mum votes liberal every year just because they knock on our door and didnt even know who the leader was until the debate. Politics has become more of a game to the major party leaders, each of them giving the public empty promises and mostly hot air. The reason why labour get so many votes is that they have been in for the longest time, the immigration system has been messed up so they all vote for labour in the know they will still be able to get their benefits and then the rest will vote labour because they think David Cameron is a clown.

I dont have any concerns and nothing will influence my vote in this years election. I think its fair enough if people do not wish to vote in the upcoming election because i feel that the majority of people in this country wouldnt have the sufficient knowledge to vote including myself i must admit. But i feel its important to vote as many people complain about the government that do not vote.

Transport - Environmentalists vs. Logical people ;)

So what are your views? Is there really a transport problem? Do the benefits of motorized transport outweigh the costs? Are there any minor (or prehaps major) changes you personally feel could make our present transport system more sustainable?

First of all there is definetly a cost, as there is a cost to everything that humans do on the planet in some way shape or form. Transport has undoubtedly transformed the way that the world is able to communicate and this enhanced and more in touch global community would not have happened without the introduction of the technological advancement of transport. Being a sustainable development module the focus is clearly on whether or not the issues surrounding the sustainability of this new age of increased advanced transport such as the depletion of fossil fuels and air pollution outweigh the benefits. Although for this question i strongly believe that it would be very difficult for the negative impacts to even come close to the positive impacts that increased technological advancements in the field of transportation have in an analysation of balancing the success against the environmental damage.

I am aware that many people such as our Greg do their best to cut down on pollution to the environment by using friendly means of travel such as walking or going on a bicycle. I agree that measures like this should be taken locally but in the modern day society, meaning locally, regionally, nationally and globally using these means of transport have little effect on the global environment. Even natural events such as volcanoes leave air pollution in the atmosphere that last hundreds of years easily totalling what it would do for one person to be driving every day for the rest of their lives. Walking or cycling after an event like this may seem pointless if you think of the amount of harmful gasses being released into the air by not only geographical events but also from the thousands of planes in the air every day, the gasses that factories are letting out into the air and the amount of cars on the road every day. Even though walking and cycling are obviously much less damaging then travelling by car, even these forms of transport are damaging to the environment as they wear away footpaths. (and the cyclists annoy the drivers by usually deciding that its a good idea to stay in the middle of the road at 5 mph, sorry Greg)

All in argument coming to the conclusion that every human action has a cost to somebody, somewhere or something.

I dont believe that at the moment there is a transport problem, however i believe that the fossil fuels will run out sooner or later but i am certain that technological advancement will find us a solution in the next few years. A hundred years ago we would have found it obsurd that today we would be watching a box in our living rooms giving us colourful pictures of events that are going on all around the world. These days though, we call it a TV and everyone has one. There is no reason why a hundred years from now we cant have transport that runs on water? On air? Who knows, scientists are paid enough, they will invent us something that will combat the environmental problems and solve the so called 'problem' that environmentalist would argue that we have. I think that we all need to chill out and let the inventors be creative and stop our planet from flooding :). In conclusion there is no current transport problem as it has brought our planet forward in the way of transportation of goods, people and communication.

Is christmas sustainable?

What do you think? Is christmas sustainable? How would it all work in a changed world?

Christmas is the most unsustainable event in the calendar.

I believe this because the amount of waste produced over christmas is excessive, if we were all to take a step back and look at the figures of how much waste is produced over christmas from items such as present wrapping and food waste, we would then feel bad looking at the figure compared to one of a much poorer country in places such as central Africa. The amount that people self indulge over christmas is heartbreaking to those who really care about the environment but the harsh case in recent years is that not many people do. The fact that not many people do care about the enviornment means that people would rather have a good time and enjoy their christmas holidays rather than worrying about the consequences that this might have to the world.

In recent years the festival that is christmas has become completely commercialised, it is the chance for businesses across not only the country, but the globe to increase their profits due to the meaning of the festival being destroyed. Many people these days, especially children see the day as a day for opening presents and many adults see it as an excuse to overeat and overdrink. The meaning of christmas has been lost and due to this people see it as a present giving time more than anything else, because of this, companies advertise usually a whole new range of christmas items to sell and take a lot more moeny in because of peoples needs to buy gifts for family, friends or partners.

Whether christmas would work in a 'changed world' is hard to explain, since it matters a great deal how the world changes. I personally do not feel that the traditions of christmas will be overlooked in the future years to make way for a more sustainable christmas. People will continue to enjoy the national holiday in the usual style of gross self indulgence and buying people gifts.

If people dont care about the damage they are doing to the planet on an average day in Britain, then they most definetly do not care about what they are doing to it if they are off of school or work on their holidays. In this respect christmas hasnt, isnt and probably never will be sustainable in any way, shape or form.