Maybe it's because I'm grumpy

Maybe it’s because I’ve just finished reading Mark Watson’s Crap at the Environment (blog passim) and am much more conscious of green issues.

Or maybe it’s because I hate gmtv with a passion. Whichever it is, I am at a loss to understand how the producers can justify sending Ross King and Mel B* to Beverly Hills merely to promote a competition to win £100,000, in association with a Beverly Hills hotel.

Avoiding pointless air journeys such as this, is the first, easy step to take to cut down on carbon emissions - and the hot air the duo creates in their ‘chummy’ banter can only damage the environment further. Have they not heard of library footage at gmtv?

Personally I’d rather they spent the money on getting another decent news reporter so they could stop being tv’s version of OK! magazine (just don’t get me started on Carla Romano).

Are gmtv viewers so thick that they don’t realise the location of Beverly Hills and that for £100,000 you can afford an air fare? Are they so stupid that they wouldn’t know what to do with 100 grand? And are they so shallow that they need B-list celebrities to encourage them to enter a competition?

I think we all know the answer is probably ‘yes’.

How else can you explain the fact that in thousands of houses every morning people jump up excitedly from the breakfast table because they realise they know the answer to a multiple-choice question which is only slightly more difficult than ‘what is your name?’

It’s easy because they want thousands of people to phone in and cover the cost of the prize you numbskull. Chewing gum for the eyes? It’s not even that high-brow . . .

And if any of the three people who read this blog on a regular basis use the above link to actually enter the competition I will personally come round to your house under cover of darkness and remove all sharp objects for your own safety.

*And if, as has been suggested by a colleague of mine, they were in the US anyway, they'd probably still have taken internal flights, which, it could be argued, is an even greater sin

** Said colleague has pointed out that King and B may well live in Beverly Hills anyway. In which case I take back everything about a carbon footprint. Just concentrate on the fact I hate gmtv. Never let a smart-arse ruin a good rant.

Cynical but getting greener

I just love the opportunity to be cynical; after all I’m a journalist.

So I was interested to see the press release today about a thing called the Low Carbon Festival later this year.

It said: “Visitors and residents alike will have the ultimate excuse to visit Exmoor and Dartmoor this October as the South West’s National Parks host the very first Dartmoor & Exmoor Low Carbon Festival from 9-12th October (www.lowcarbonfestival.co.uk).”

Great. A festival about lowering carbon emissions. I think I’ll fly down to Plymouth Airport from Newcastle for that. Or maybe jump in my Audi A4 and drive down.

(Actually I live in Hampshire, not Newcastle, but I needed to stress my point).

Admittedly, the travel section of the website does say: “Please consider the many sustainable options for travel by using public transport or car sharing whenever possible.”

But then it still gives instructions on how to get there by air!

Maybe this wouldn’t have registered on my cynical barometer a month ago, but as I mentioned in a previous blog I’m currently reading Mark Watson’s Crap at the Environment (CATE), and I’ve suddenly become much more aware of things like this. I’m even half-filling kettles for the office coffees, not leaving my phone charger on overnight and walking to work.

Like Mark, I’m still CATE but I’m becoming more aware . . . and it would appear, more cynical.