We are reluctant eco-warriors

We are all watching our environment suffer from the excesses of our 'civilisation', yet few of us are actually prepared to go even a little bit out of our way to help. Why is that? What is it that makes us so reluctant to modify our behaviour in order to protect the environment, therefore our world, therefore ourselves and the future?

Some of us simply do not believe there is any real problem as we do not see mountains of plastic in front of our eyes and because the full horrors of landfill sites are hidden away, buried out of sight.

Some of us just can't be bothered - the 'why do I have to be the one to save the world?' brigade - always believing it's anybody's job but theirs to help.

Then you have the suspicious ones - the 'do you REALLY believe that the stuff goes to recycling?' - mob, who may have a point in certain areas but still... Recycling is a fact, it's happening now and it works, most of the time anyway; it is neither perfect nor the complete solution, however, for the mountains of materials used.

But the biggest problem is from those of us who are just not prepared to be inconvenienced in any way, shape or form, to the point that we are unwilling to even contemplate reducing our consumption of plastics if this means having to change personal habits.

Yet we are assailed these days, pretty well constantly, by images of the problems caused by our careless handling of waste, especially plastic; how is it possible that these images do not make us stop to think? Pristine beaches the world over are now full of bits of plastic, large and small, usually sea-borne debris. Only a few days ago I was visiting a lovely beach on a Greek island, remote and beautiful, and ended up spending a large part of my time picking plastic out of the sea. To most people there I'm sure I appeared to be an eccentric - if not downright stupid - older person, not someone who was doing his bit for the good of our planet.

Now I must admit that I have not always been as prepared to act on this as I am now, despite my deeply held environmental concerns; somehow I managed to disconnect the problem from the need for action. Along those lines I once commissioned a packaging range for my then company's products that was to my mind extremely practical, solving certain retail problems and allowing the consumer to examine the product without opening the package. Unfortunately the packaging in order to be see-through - was largely made of plastic - recyclable, possibly, but... - and so not really environmentally friendly. Yet as an 'efficient' businessman I thought I was being clever...

I am no longer reluctant in my environmental concern; rather, I am a sort of mildly militant eco-warrior bloke, trying to be responsible and berating my friends and all others who are being lazy and careless. May I humbly suggest that you could - and should - be that way too? Our planet will be grateful, I promise you, even if the idiots snigger or complain.