What is your attitude concerning people who are not planning to vote in the general election? What main concerns do you have that may influence your

I live Northampton North Constituency. Northampton's local MP is Sally Keeble who is apart of the labour party.the name of our local county council is Northampton county council and it is dominated by the conservative party.

My attitudes towards people that don't participate in voting is very much mutual. As a non voter I believe that if people don't vote it is entirely their decision. Everyone has their own reasons for not voting which loyal voters may frown upon. My reasons are that I don't trust the the political parties that run or want to run this country. When a new party comes to power, the other party thats been other thrown complains that the new party are not making things any better whilst the party in power argues that things were 10 times worst before they were elected to power.
To be honest I think the government feed the masses with the idea that they care about the social and environmental issues as much as their public do.

With broadcasted Important Political Talks and media support the government can easily encourage the public that communities need to unite for and individuals need to put in efforts to make a differences and assure them that what they are doing is making a differences.

Blog to what extent your ward/SOA resembles a 'sustainable community' and what extent you don't think it does.

I've lived in Northampton all my life and to be honest did not take any notice whether my community was sustainable or not until I started to take this module. I remember my parents telling me to 'always put my rubbish in the bin' and at my lower school we would take part in 'litter picking', I wasn't aware that we were actively being sustainable, I was just interested in the treat promised to us when we were done! However as I got older the government got tougher on the appearance of the cities and towns in England. it was encouraged that it was important to Keep Britain Tidy and was enforced by fines for dropping chewing gum and cigarettes butts on the ground. The government said that the money raise from the fines would be used to buy more bins and help rise awareness to the public.
I have notice a differences in the town's appearance but on the other hand have notice the amount of bins that are made from metal and plastic, which I think is unnecessary and and a bit of a contradiction if the country's wants to be Eco friendly. Some may not agree but I think there is a lot of motorized traffic in Northampton town compared to the villages around it. we have a lot of schools, a university and people who still have a job! The county council of Northampton don't really push the idea of alternatives ways of sustainable transport from what I've seen but do really concentrate on the idea of recycling rubbish, old clothes and reducing the amount of the litter in the town.
As I have mentioned before, Northampton has a University. This intuition has to cater for a huge amount of student and staff that need to use electrical resources to teach, learn and live among other things. Just imagining the amount of the University's electrical usage especially by students that live on campus does not give the impression that Northampton is not such a sustainable community.
The sustainable community spirit in Northampton I think, has be generated from the media, news and schools that have recently started to teach students about it. The Northampton's Super Output Area 2007 statistics, shows the domestic comsumption of electric was 3,697 and of gas was 16,307. From then till now I do think the number in comsumption would have increased with a growing population of 202,800 despite the promotion of being Eco-friendly in Northampton.

Is there really a transport problem? Are there any minor (or perhaps major) changes you personally feel could been made

There are 27,000,000 cars on the road, 3 million of those are company cars and it has been found that women drivers have have increased to just over 60 percent and train travel has risen by 40 percent from the result of occasional trips It is evident not just by the figures I have found that the is a transport problem and from the government to the general public are trying to do something about it. However there are argument for why there is increase in transportation and the benefit people get from it.
The most popular arguments are:

Cars are convenient for people who need to get around
Public transport can help people who haven't got used of a car
Trains are a the best way for people to commute from home to work
People with cars no longer have to dependant on others or public transport
The Motor Industry help generates a lot of jobs and makes money

These are valid points and there would be a large number of people who agree that motorize transport is necessary despite the the impact it's having on the environment and the economy. The capital of Britain experience huge amount congestion nearly every day with the amount people that live, visit and work in the big city, who will be using public transport, cars to get around.
My personal thoughts on the matter are that i don't think the problem with transportation will be solved for now. HOWEVER if I had any ideas that could possible resolve the situation, I would think the way the government ban smoking public places, they could enforce stricter rules on the use of transport in Britain. They could cut back on public transport so people would have to find alternative ways of transport like cycling and walking which are both sustainable. When it comes to the many school runs families have to do, it could made that depending how far a family lived from the school and fit a certain criteria (health problems) determines whether they were allowed to drive to take their children.

Some may think my suggestions are a little far fetched but motorized transportation is one of major impacts on the environment so someone better could up with some ideas!

What do you think? Is Christmas sustainable? How would it all work in it a changed world? Or should all the 'do-gooders' leave our festivals alone!!!!

I don't think the Christmas period is sustainable because the majority of people who celebrate at this time of year for what ever reasons, are more than likely, thinking about what presents they need to buy and probably what the would like to receive. Then there's the Christmas decorations which are no longer restricted to the living room but to the front the house, place of work and education, shops and maybe for yourself (the appropriate get up for the Christmas party). Then there is the FOOD, and from all the mouth watering adverts on television as well as new recipes the families will want to try out, people will shop in supermarkets as though their going to 'feed the 5000!'

Christmas in a 'Eco friendly' world would I agree, help with reducing some elements of climate change. However I don't know how many minds around the world, governments and professionals would to be able to convince that decorating houses so it is the spitting image of Santa's grotto and so many other seasonal tradition should come to a stop to save the world, one that seems to be doom any way.

The media and their Influence when it comes to serious issues.

To fulfill the needs of today's societies, who have become celebrity obsessed and convinced that the goings on in things like 'Eastenders' are indeed factual and that The XFactor is a small part of their life, stories and newspapers like the one opposite are what is going to sell. 

I have to say in the little research I did, I found that serious issues rarely get that much exposure by the biggest selling newspapers unless it's a politician slipping up or a story that's been grabbing every headline available. We can see the story with Gordon Brown in 'The Sun' just making the front page by being shoved in a side column by a world exclusive from Britain got talent, as an example. In my opinion I don't think they should change what they write about just because more of Britain population buys their stories because their is media such as the news and other newspapers that can inform people in more depth and possibly with more factually based stories as well.

If I reflect this opinion on low budget entertainment and their coverage of serious issues, again I think they do it when it suits them or when they believe it to be relevant to their audience but not because they need to. For example on the latest episode of The XFactor, one of  Simon Cowel finalist Danyl Johnson sang 'Man in the Mirror'. The judges was singing his praises for his vocals but were left confused by the Video Back drop choice, Louis commented on why polar bears, climate change and children had been used for Danyl's performance and said the images where distracting. Simon responded that they were to go with the song choice. Distracting or not distracting millions of viewers that night received a message about man kind changing from that XFactor performance.       

I think I blind man could see that this country feeds off mass media and low budget entertainment, I don't think its going to change any time soon because it brings in so much money for these industries and I'm sure they don't want to lose their piece of the pie or the part of the power the have gain by starting to cover serious issues.    

To what extent do you think that it is your duty as a citizen to be 'informed'? Are you informed? How do you get to be informed about serious issues?

I don't exactly remember when it became a global phenomenon but the best way I can describe it is like the snow ball effect; the world became bombarded with issue after issue effecting the world we lived in. Terms like Global Warming, Co2 emissions and Greenhouse Gases are used everywhere, in schools, on the news and in newspapers, the media have crafted it in adverts with celebrities and local super markets who want to help us save "our planet". We have been advised by the government with free friendly booklets on how to reduce Co2 emissions at home and when we're out and about. They have showed us in serious talks and with fancy websites that they too are prepared to make necessary changes and commitments for whatever the world's forecast might bring.

I believe as a citizen, someone who has lived on the earth for 22yrs, and also recognising the fact that in the eyes of some I am responsible in some way for contributing to the planet's current condition, have every right to know what going on in regarding the world's welfare. I have this right when I get told the hard facts gathered from the country's or the world's leading scientists and because this worldwide crisis has spread into people's homes, bringing with it concerns and questions on what this means for the future and how are people meant live within the change. It is true that I and many others might not have a degree in science or have any qualification in environmental studies, but we are citizens of the world, which leads me to my conclusion, I do think we should also have a say in the changes made to stabilised our country just as the PM has his and should be briefed with lasted developments on climate change just as he is because let's us not forget that Gordon Brown is just another citizen too.

  

What actions could you (in theory) untaketake that would improve the 'sustainability' of your life? What might be preventing you from doing these?

My lifestyle became more sustainable when I first moved out on my parent's house as this was when I really had to take responsibility for myself.

Unlike at my parent's, I had to pay my own way for the basic and main essentials; food and bills which before were given luxuries. I soon realised that I had to change the way I spent money and what was the difference between my needs and wants.

I firstly put a stop to my shopaholic ways. I tended (like a lot of the ladies) to buy clothes and shoes when I already had clothes and shoes, some of which I had never worn. Instead I made the best of what I had already brought; this allowed me to see what I wasn't wearing and then donate to charity shops. I was no longer under the impression that I NEEDED the LATEST top or dress but what I acquired over the years was just fine but not that I couldn't treat myself now and then!

When it came to my finances the amount of my savings was looking healthier month after month and to my delight I was able to keep my bank balance stable.

Moving out own was an experience that has definitely had a positive impact on my life. Right now we are in times of a huge economical crisis; the government are in talks about making cuts in spending to help the nation. I now am able to adapt with ease to the changes that have occurred due to the lack of money has had on people because I learnt how to organise and budget my money properly for everything I NEED. I now know where my money is going, when its going and how much I've got, so having no support from my student loan yet isn't that daunting.