I’ve been staying with friends in Geneva for the Xmas break. In their street there are traffic lights which go red if a car exceeds the speed limit. If the driver jumps the red light, they are photographed and fined. It’s a great idea that I’d like to see used in Camden. Unfortunately however Transport For London control all traffic lights in the capital so we’d have to apply for the right to do an experiment and that can take years.
There are cycle lanes painted in bright yellow all over Geneva’s roads. But because they’re not physically separated cars simply ignore them. It makes me more than ever convinced that we need properly separated cycle lanes if we are to persuade more people to take up cycling. So many parents tell me they would take their children to school by bicycle if it were safer.
I can’t believe how short-sighted the Alpine ski resorts are being. One – La Clusaz just over the border in France – started flying in snow by helicopter to fill bare patches on the ski runs. It’s crazy. Instead of working on a plan for what happens when there's no more snow in the Alps, they re-arranging the deckchairs on the Titanic. No, it’s worse than that – they’re exacerbating global warming for short term gain thereby ensuring that their livelihood will disappear even faster.
The Swiss now recycle 50% of their domestic waste. (In Camden we manage just under 30%.) But the house I’m staying in has to be about the least environmentally conscious in Switzerland. They do no recycling whatsoever. They heat their house 24 hours a day via a complicated under-floor heating system which they can’t turn off. They feed their children processed foods of all kinds. They leave their electrical appliances on stand by all the time. I was so distressed that I rushed out and bought them a compost bin for Xmas!
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