Letters: Beware overpopulation pickle

Too many people is the big problem of our time

GOOD to see environmental problems — from plastic bags to climate change — are being discussed more and more, and even some action taken.

However, the biggest problem is population growth. It hardly gets a mention, even though it underlies the violence, the refugees and the rape of the biosphere everywhere.
None of our environmental worries can be solved while world population is set to grow by up to 50 per cent in little more than 30 years.

New Zealand is no exception — is there really a housing crisis when we welcome some 70,000 new residents per year? That means we must build the equivalent of a whole city — bigger than Wanganui — with all roads, services and amenities every year.

Years ago I read that New Zealand schoolgirls were five times as likely to get pregnant as their European counterparts, in schools with good sex education and contraceptive vending machines in the corridor.

These issues must be discussed and acted upon lest we get in the same pickle as many other nations.

NICK PYLE
Whanganui

Three degrees a lot

The op-ed piece that I wrote on indoor heating had a typo upon printing (corrected on-line) that should have read "World Health Organisation recommends that 18C be maintained as the safe minimum indoor temperature, and that 21C be maintained for homes with babies or elderly people" instead of "18C be maintained for homes with babies or elderly people". Three degrees centigrade is a big spread.
https://www.cph.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/cdhbpositionstatement
homeheating.pdf)

What can be done about it? Suggestions have included the following from a number of groups.

1. Bring the grid back to the public. Our electricity (that is now 82 per cent renewable) costs almost twice that of Canada and significantly more than Norway. Since the grid was privatised by National, it has risen precipitously and now irrationally includes penalties for using private solar power.

2. Regulate rentals as they do in much of the developed world, so that landlords must provide minimum heat in the winter. One half of Kiwis live in rentals. That will incentivise landlords to insulate and put in energy-saving heat pumps. They already make off like bandits with no real capital gains tax.

3. In publicly owned spaces, bite the bullet and insulate them and install energy-efficient heating systems.

4. Close doors and use an "open" sign instead in commercial and public spaces. The UK "Close the Door" campaign said "that simply closing the door slashes a shop's energy usage in half".

5 Don't dismiss these aspirations as simply an "American" quirk. It is a universal goal among most developed nations and encouraged by the UN's World Health Organisation.
Regarding Claire Leadbetter's comment, I have no doubt that the new Government is light years ahead of the last one. The Winter Energy Payment is a great achievement.

However, the Healthy Homes Guarantee Bill mentions a vague, aspirational "standards about the indoor temperatures" still to be developed, not yet a legal specific minimum standard temperature. I have faith that they will do their best.

BRIT BUNKLEY
Whanganui

'Fly-tipping' solution

There was a sad report of a vehicle dropping off rubbish along Castlecliff Beach.

Why do people throw rubbish on the beach or into the creek off the bridge? Well, probably because to take it to a landfill or recycling depot costs money — a lot of money.
We have a system in place where we now have to pay twice to get rid of rubbish, and this is a major cause of the problem.

If councils and government were serious about cutting down on "fly tipping", they would not charge twice for rubbish disposal.

We pay our rates, and some of that money is for solid waste disposal. There should be free drop-off places for solid waste.

The people who pay rates are property owners, and they most likely have enough money to pay twice to get rid of rubbish, but many people, such as tenants, may not be so well off. They might only have $12 at the end of their week — do they spend it on a trip to the tip or do they buy chips for the kids, having thrown the trash over the bank on the way to town?

I suggest our rates pay for the cost of solid waste — all the cost. The reduction in "fly tipping" will probably save councils money in the long run, and genuinely impoverished people do not have to resort to the crime of littering.

WILLIAM PARTRIDGE
Hunterville

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