CityCyclingEdinburgh was launched on the 27th of October 2009 as "an experiment".
IT’S TRUE!
CCE is 16years old!
Well done to ALL posters
It soon became useful and entertaining. There are regular posters, people who add useful info occasionally and plenty more who drop by to watch. That's fine. If you want to add news/comments it's easy to register and become a member.
RULES No personal insults. No swearing.
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the intended carbon savings from energy efficiency measures are often not realised in practice, because people spend the money they save on other goods or services that require an energy input. This is the so-called ‘rebound effect.’
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http://energysavingtrust.wordpress.com/2012/02/22/reduce-rebound-reoffend
Presume this has some relevance to cycling/driving.
Though obviously there are more good reasons for cycling (especially in urban areas) than energy/carbon.
She lost me at the beginning, when suggesting that exercising in order to come home and eat cake was in some way wrong.
Interesting article though, especially the later bit about 'moral self-licensing'. I buy organic food, therefore I'm a good person, therefore it's ok for me to offset this goodness by travelling at 35 in a 30 (my loose interpretation).
I use roads safely and courteously, therefore it's OK for me to scowl at people who don't?
I've seen people thinking that just because they have energy-efficient light-bulbs they're allowed to leave all their lights burning all the time.
I did once hear a woman on the the radio justify her use of a Humvee on the basis that she 'recycled' and had 'turned her thermostat down'.
What are people supposed to do with the money they've saved apart from buy other stuff?
If we are to counter-act the rebound effect, energy saving messaging needs to convey not extrinsic values but a sense of our moral duty to help meet the climate change challenge and make sure we all have a stable, sustainable future.
Oh dear. Is that the only answer? Trying to challenge the dominant values in society (that are constantly reinforced by media and advertising) is extremely difficult and almost certainly doomed to fail.
Just ask cyclists!
Cyclist: "Hey, you should really ride a bike instead of driving that gas guzzler".
Driver: "Oh really? Why? Is that what everyone else is doing?"
Cyclist: Er, no.
Driver: "Will it improve my image?"
Cyclist: Er, well your body might improve, but as for the clothes....maybe other cyclists will like them.
Driver: "Will it make me more popular?"
Cyclist: Er, not really. Maybe with other cyclists.
Driver: "Will I be wealthier?"
Cyclist: Possibly.
Driver: "Hmm. I'll think about it."
Cyclist "But you'll be able to eat considerably more cake without any noticeable gain in padding"
I feel the cake angle really is underutilised in pro-cycling campaigns.
Instography What are people supposed to do with the money they've saved apart from buy other stuff?
That's so true... I'm guilty of tempting some.
As an aside...
Last Sunday I went out on a CTC ride led by Liz on this forum.
Best bit was when someone walking a dog called us 'typical cyclists'.
We were guilty of:
• Taking up whole path (was huge broad bit at Musselburgh Harbour)
• Answering her back
• Being selfish
• Outnumbering her
I was quite chuffed as being on an 'un-typical' bike I never think I'm typical!
If we had been out running she would have kept quiet. She obviously knew we were no threat. Wonder how she drives?
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