WHEN so many of our problems seem global and beyond our capacity to change, individual, local action might seem irrelevant in the bigger picture. But that bigger picture is made up of many dots. And if everyone thought that their actions would make no difference, nothing would ever change for the better.
Climate change is just such a big picture issue. Growing concern in recent years over the threats to our environment has left barely a school or household unaware of the need for lifestyle change to protect the world that nurtured us. Such change can
be effected by the actions of government and multinational corporations, certainly. But the impetus for adaptation comes, as it historically has always come, from individual action. The Greener Scotland campaign, launched by the Scottish Government, and supported by The Scotsman, started in just such a small way. But it is snowballing to help encourage change in individual behaviour.
Nearly 3,000 people have signed up to the campaign, and more than 21,000 have responded to the Scottish Climate Bill consultation. Thousands took part in Scottish Biodiversity Week in May, to help celebrate and preserve our natural environment. From action by Selkirk in the Borders to go plastic bag free to St Thomas' Primary School in Keith, Moray, which became the 600th Scottish school to be awarded the Green Flag for its commitment to the environment, small steps can build to big achievement. Together with a clutch of other projects and initiatives, they help to encourage others to follow suit. Ideas spread by example. Good examples become good habits, and few countries are better suited to lead this challenge than Scotland, renowned for its great scenic beauty.
With the sharp rise in food prices and the soaring cost of oil, there is now a fast gathering change in attitudes and behaviour across the world. In the US there is a massive shift away from the gas-guzzling cars to which Americans seemed wedded. Households are switching over to more fuel-efficient cars. Here in Britain a similar seismic shift is under-way, affecting our individual choices and decisions, from "big ticket" purchases to the regular weekly shop.
Thus, those small individual and household actions that many would have sneered at in a previous era are now becoming part of a massive global change. To the argument that the economies of China and India are continuing to churn out pollutants while we cut back, these economies are heavily dependent on, and influenced by, lifestyle and consumer preferences in the markets of America, Europe and the UK, to whom they export. They cannot but, in their own interest, note the change. And as Eilidh Whiteford, campaigns manager of Oxfam in Scotland reminds us, our individual actions help demonstrate to G8 governments that people living in rich countries are willing to move with the times and face up to reality. How else will we survive?
Salmond has a mountain to moveWHAT is a big anti-government tremor, and what is a political earthquake? According to a YouGov poll, the SNP has passed Labour in popularity across Scotland. It has SNP support at 33 per cent, Labour on 29 per cent, the Conservatives on 20 per cent and the Lib Dems on 14 per cent. This is the first time that the SNP has topped Labour in Westminster voting intentions and indeed, given that Scotland has been a Labour heartland for some 50 years, that is indeed a seismic shift that is not at all comfortable for Gordon Brown.
However, the same poll shows support for independence at 36 per cent, with 48 per cent against. So while the findings are encouraging for the SNP, the party still has to shift a sturdy majority of Scots from their wish to continue to live inside the Union. The findings would seem to reflect a sharp fall in the popularity of the Prime Minister and growing voter unease over the economic slowdown. But it is one thing for voters to indicate a preference for an opposing political party. It is quite another to embrace constitutional change. And, to that, most Scots remain opposed.
This sets an enormous challenge to SNP leader and First Minister Alex Salmond. The SNP administration has had an outstanding run at Holyrood. But it still needs to persuade the voters to embrace its core platform belief: independence. That is the elusive earthquake for Mr Salmond.
We deserve a bit of weekend funT IN the Park: wet weather threatening, economic black clouds also darkening the sky, and the prospect of traffic jams and the mud of a traditional Scottish summer. It may not be everyone's idea of the perfect weekend, but, after the worst week of economic news since, well, last week, we are in sore need of a party, and more than 85,000 people are raring to have one.
And why not? It's summer after all, or so it says in the Meteorological Office records. There is just a chance of sunshine, and we certainly need a collective cheering up. T in the Park is now in its 15th year. It has proved one of the most popular open air pop festivals in the UK, it draws music and crowds in abundance in a collective determination to escape from weekday drudgery, money worries, depressing politics and the daily grind of work. Last year it suffered the worst wet weather since records began. But has this spoilt its enduring appeal and depressed the turnout this year? Not a bit of it, judging by the crowds assembling last night.
More than 180 bands are expected to perform, with a blend of familiar groups and new to appeal to regular T-in-the-Parkers as well as those attending for the first time. It is overwhelmingly a well-behaved event, for which thanks should go to the organisers and the marshals. Traffic queues and congestion? Perhaps. But what a small price for a great weekend.
The full article contains 1006 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
