SO WHAT CAN I DO ABOUT CLIMATE CHANGE

 

  

This is a 'CLIMERICK at Christmas' card which draws together the horrors of the Israeli actions in the Holy Land and the existential threat of Climate change. The CLIMERICK reads

Bethlehem’s besieged with woes

because of its Zionist foes.

And climate could freeze

its last olive trees.

Round the manger, angst just grows and grows.

(The card is this year a concept design - but if still appropriate, and let’s hope it’s not, and there is sufficient interest, it may be made available next year)

Find out more about CLIMERICK cards via the owl image button in the right hand column.

THOSE OILigarchs, They Lie, They Lie

Just a thought in the closing stages of COP30

Image credit: Pixabay free image

 - Alexandra_Koch

 

Those OILigarchs, they lie, they lie,

when they proclaim they aim to be

great sources of clean energy:

when what they do, relentlessly

is drill and drill and drill and drill, 

leaving gross scars beneath the sea,

in beauty spots quite brazenly,

or on First Nations’ territory.

They don’t care when pollution seeps

from poorly maintained fossil wells;

they spread miasma far and wide;

their bottom lines spew threats and smells.

 

 

CLIMERICK: Electric Car Switching

 

Electric car switching contributes

to the health of the climate, a good route

to help cut pollution;

they’re a major solution:

so with an EV, show that you’re astute.

 

Climerick and image by Trevor Thorn November 2025.

Many more Climericks to help prompt Climate concern 

conversations can be found elsewhere on this site

and some are available to raise awareness by sending a card

or displaying a poster . These are available from the CLIMERICK

CARDS(TM) shop at http://bit.ly/46aZeaK

NEW! CLIMERICK CARDS AND POSTERS - Learn more if you value our planet.

With the opening of the CLIMERICK CARD Etsy shop, some might wonder who might send CLIMERICK CARDS and to whom. Here are some ideas

Who might send

 CLIMERICK 

CARDS?

(Climate change wisdom

 in five short lines)

 

·     Mums and Dads to show the children you DO care about the world they will face.

 

·     Children to let mums, dads and other grown-ups know that you are anxious or concerned about the planet.

 

·     Students to let the ‘oldies’ know you want their urgent help to improve your future.

 

·     Grandparents to show grandchildren you are ‘in touch’, feel sorry about climate chaos, and want to do something about it.

 

·     Community leaders to affirm your commitment to the environment.

 

·     Environmentalists to reinforce your messages in a non-aggressive, engaging way.

 

·    ANYONE WHO CARES! 

 

So, if you’re a MUM, DAD, YOUNG PERSON/CHILD, STUDENT, GRANDPARENT, COMMUNITY LEADER, ENVIRONMENTALIST head on over to the CLIMERICK CARD SHOP at http://bit.ly/46aZeaK where you’ll find a range of cards and POSTERS with which you can respond to the ideas above. That is at

http://bit.ly/46aZeaK

CLIMERICK: Lots of People Ask ‘What Can I Do?

 

Lots of people ask ‘What can I do

to build up a powerful world-view

that leaders must act 

on dire climate facts?’

Talk about them! Help others chat too.

Many more Climericks to help prompt Climate concern 

conversations can be found elsewhere on this site

and some are available to raise awareness by sending a card

or displaying a poster . These are available from the CLIMERICK

CARDS(TM) shop at http://bit.ly/46aZeaK

CLIMERICK: Don’t Reach For that Ignition Key! By John Hobbs

Today a CLIMERICK from my very long-standing friend - now living on Vancouver Island: Thanks John.

Pixabay free image by Brett Hondow - modified

Don’t reach for that ignition key!

can you walk there? Or cycle? Just see:

there’ll be less greenhouse gas

and less flab on your ass -

a win-win for you and for me!

Many more Climericks can be found elsewhere on this site

 and some are available in card or poster form from 

http://bit.ly/46aZeaK

NEW! CLIMERICK CARDS AND POSTERS at the CLIMERICK CARD SHOP

Here’s the first poster available from the new Climerick Cards shop. It’s available in A3 and A4 sizes or can be downloaded. To find out more, go to the etsy shop by clicking HERE or typing http://bit.ly/46aZeaK into your browser. (underlining not needed)

The same theme is available from the shop on A5 cards or in a set with two further climericks in A6 size.

What better way of letting friends who visit you know of your concern - with a light-hearted touch? 

Not serious enough for such a major concern? Take a look at some of the CLIMERICKS that have been posted to this blog in the last couple of years. You will find the hopeful, the challenging, the thoughtful and the downright daft! Together they give some idea of how our card and poster portfolios might develop over time. Whatever mode they are, they are intended to provoke discussion on the biggest issue of today - and thereby help many people to realise they can take action that will help to hasten the end of the dirty, dangerous fossil fuels era and help usher in the new era of Clean air technologies - already outstripping COGS (Coal, oil, gas and shale) in delivery terms, mainly due to investment by developing nations, and China (according to a BBC report 7th October 2025).

The CLIMERICK posted on 12th September looks forward to reinforcement of that trend. You can have a look at that by clicking HERE .

NEW! CLIMERICK CARDS and POSTERS to show your concern about the climate

As from today, you can obtain CLIMERICK CARDS and POSTERS from a newly opened CLIMERICK CARDS Etsy shop. Just follow the link in image below which, in case it’s difficult to read on a phone is http://bit.ly/46aZeaK

You can also access the shop via the QR code here

CARDS are available in A5 and A6 versions and POSTERS (hard copies in A3 and A4) and a download.

The cards and poster currently available are FIRST EDITIONS with a limited range while we find our feet. Once our systems have settled and we have more clarity on what customers like, we expect to offer a much wider range of both posters and message cards. So watch this space and be among the first to provoke climate change interest among your friends, family and workplace peers by thoughtful use of the material.

How about lining up your first CLIMERICK campaign for SUSTAINABILITY DAY for the fourth Wednesday of October (This year 2025 - 22nd October)?

OR maybe for anyone you know involved with or influential at COP30 from 10th -24th November.

#COP 30 #Ecology #Sustainability #ClimateConcern #ClimateChaos #ClimateChange 

.

ANNOUNCEMENT With A Cluster of CLIMERICKS

Within a couple of weeks, we will be offering CLIMERICK CARDS, POSTERS and downloads for sale. These are all intended to provoke Climate concern discussions, provide an impactful vehicle for conveying messages to MPs, Senators and others in power: and to alert your friends and acquaintances of your interest in, or passion for, this critical issue.  

Ahead of the launch, we are publishing three CLUSTERS of three CLIMERICKS to prepare the way for the opening of our ETSY shop

Here’s the second and third of the second cluster

Though One Person's Commitment Is Small by John B. Hobbs

Free  Pixabay image - edited

Though one person's commitment is small

In saving the Earth for us all,

If billions try,

There's a chance we'll get by,

So GET OUT AND DO IT, Y’all!

Young People All Over The Earth.

Young people all over the earth,

need leaders who realise the worth

of the next generations, 

the hope of their nations,

threatened by fossil fuel’s curse.

ANNOUNCEMENT WITH A CLUSTER OF CLIMERICKS - Second Cluster: Councils with Streetlights Bright by Susan Sanderson

Within the couple of weeks, we will be offering CLIMERICK CARDS for sale. These cards are intended to provoke Climate concern discussions, provide an impactful vehicle for conveying messages to MPs, Senators and others in power: and to alert your friends and acquaintances of your interest in, or passion for, this critical issue.  

Ahead of the launch, we will be publishing three CLUSTERS of three CLIMERICKS to prepare the way for the opening of our ETSY shop

Here’s the first of the second cluster

Image credit: Pixabay Free images

Councils with streetlights bright

Are reducing insects in flight

Trees' leaves grow so tough

Larvae can’t eat enough

Must you leave streetlights shining all night?

ANNOUNCEMENT - WITH A CLUSTER OF CLIMERICKS : 3 - As Of Old a Prophetic Voice

Within the next couple of weeks, we will be offering CLIMERICK CARDS for sale. These cards are intended to provoke Climate concern discussions, provide an impactful vehicle for conveying messages to MPs, Senators and others in power: and to alert your friends and acquaintances of your interest in, or passion for, this critical issue.  

Ahead of the launch, we will be publishing three CLUSTERS of three CLIMERICKS to prepare the way for the opening of our ETSY shop

Here’s the third of the first cluster

Image credit: Amazingly Wonderful free 

AI  image on Pixabay

 As of old, a Prophetic Voice

goes unheeded by many, through choice;

now with prophets arrested

 

our leaders attested

their shocking pro-fossil-fuel ploys.

This CLIMERICK looks back to Mid-October 2023 when Greta Thunberg was arrested for joining a Climate change protest in London.

 

ANNOUNCEMENT with a CLUSTER OF CLIMERICKS: 2 How Can Someone Think on Their Feet?

 Within the couple of weeks, we will be offering CLIMERICK CARDS for sale. These cards are intended to provoke Climate concern discussions, provide an impactful vehicle for conveying messages to MPs, Senators and others in power: and to alert your friends and acquaintances of your interest in, or passion for, this critical issue.  

Ahead of the launch, we will be publishing three CLUSTERS of three CLIMERICKS to prepare the way for the opening of our ETSY shop

Here’s the second of the first cluster

                                            Hot cobbles: Adapted Pixabay free image

How can someone think on their feet,

when pavements store hideous heat

of some fifty* degrees:

they must long for a freeze.

but it seems torrid heats will repeat.

(During 2025, pavement temperatures of 130ºF *(54ºC) have been experienced in India and in the USA)

Island Return (Lindisfarne)

WE are back on the beautiful Island of Lindisfarne in Northumbia, UK. Here, at times when the island is cut off from the mainland is a deep peacefulness which could very reasonably be described as ‘balm for the soul’. We have been coming to Lindisfarne since 2013 when we visited in November and gained personal experience of why Lindisfarne is also known as The Isle of Winds! But that did not deter us. This  ‘thin space’, inhabited by saints and evincing a beauty which can be breathtaking, has called us back again, and again, and we are always delighted to make it safely across the causeway and be welcomed by the deep-throated song of the seals.  This poem emerged within a day of arriving.

Seals on the northern tip of a sandbank

 at low tide on a previous visit to the island.

 

ISLAND RETURN

With an hour of safe-crossing still to go,

we coast across the causeway

in our newly acquired, zero emissions car.

 

We are heading for our oft-visited

Lindisfarne retreat.

 

To our delight, the seals

are once again waiting

to slither off the sandbags

as the wavelets, inexorably wash over them.

 

Is it too fanciful

to imagine,

that the last heads

to bob above the ripples,

might be deniers

of the inevitability

of rising water?

 

September 2025 

ANNOUNCEMENT - WITH A CLUSTER OF CLIMERICKS : 1 - If You Take a Regular Shower

 Within the next couple of weeks, we will be offering CLIMERICK CARDS for sale. These cards are intended to provoke Climate concern discussions, provide an impactful vehicle for conveying messages to MPs, Senators and others in power: and to alert your friends and acquaintances of your interest in, or passion for, this critical issue.  

Ahead of the launch, we will be publishing three CLUSTERS of three CLIMERICKS to prepare the way for the opening of our ETSY shop

Here’s the first of the first cluster

Image credit Public Domain on Pixabay

If you take a regular shower,

please don’t take one sixth of an hour:

turn it off while you soap,

keep it short to build hope:

you’ll be saving both water and power

CLIMERICK (of HOPE): We All Need To Take A NewView,

New Scientist of 5th September 2025 carried three articles which I interpreted as pointing to the inevitable demise of the fossil fuel industries (Hurrah!) - but when?. To believe in the possibility that it will be sooner rather than later, needs huge numbers of investors realising how many ordinary people want this change brought about. So here's - a CLIMERICK of HOPE. Let’s reinforce this idea and do all we can to accelerate progress towards it. (EV or Solar panels anyone?).

We all need to take a new view,

that clean air technology’s tru-

ly a better investment,

by any sane judgement,

than fossil fuels’ oft fatal spews.

Find more about the thinking behind the growing collection of CLIMERICKS HERE  

CLIMERICK: So Reform Wants to Push Foolish Fracking,

Image: Fracking N Dakota - Wikipedia

After the discovery of a gas field in Lincolnshire, Reform’s Greater Lancashire Mayor is demanding we “drill, baby, drill”and with Reform’s big party conference just days away, they’re trying to turn fracking into a rallying cry.

Here’s my response to that folly:

So Reform wants to push foolish fracking,

with little idea of the whacking

risks there might be

from tremors deadly,

and foul fumes spewed out from the cracking.

Find more about the thinking behind the growing collection of CLIMERICKS HERE    

CLIMERICK: Fossil Fuels! O So Dangerous and Dirty

                                     

The image was AI generated, (from Pixabay free images)

but the CLIMERICK comes from the heart

 

Fossil fuels! O so dangerous and dirty,

need be axed by around twenty-thirty,

if the planet’s to live

and its creatures all breathe-

in air, fresh, life-giving and healthy.

Find more about the thinking behind the growing collection of CLIMERICKS HERE   

 

CLIMERICK: Consider How Dangerous Are...

 

This gyre may feature cans, as well,

but it’s the one-trip plastic that is the more pernicious.

Consider how dangerous are,

the fizzy drinks peddled afar:

their plastics pollute

their sweeteners recruit

more obese; and their water use, scars.

Find more about the thinking behind the growing collection of CLIMERICKS HERE   

CLIMERICK: Now Lis’n Up You Politicians

It’s an ongoing and critical theme!

 

Now lis’n up you politicians,

we know that you can’t be magicians.

But hear those who tell,

that we’ll all go to hell

lest you stop coal and oil-based emissions.

Find more about the thinking behind the growing collection of CLIMERICKS HERE   

 

CLIMERICK: On Failure of the Proposed Global Treaty to Cut Plastic Pollution

My response to the recent news that powerful petrochemical states opposed a global treaty to cut plastic pollution aimed at meaningfully reducing the harms to human health and the environment.

Disgusting! Disgraceful! It grates

that greedy petrochemical states,

should block the reduction 

of plastics production,

for profit for them and their mates.

Find more about the thinking behind the growing collection of CLIMERICKS HERE   

CLIMERICK Mums and Dads, Now Let’s Talk it Through

We’ve been away from CLIMERICKS for too long! So now let’s resume the collection of 'Climate Wisdom in five lines’

Pixabay free image

Mums and dads, now let’s talk it through.

What is it that you want to do

to keep your child living

with air that is giving

it life, and not gasps you’ll all rue. 

FOURTH AND FIFTH ENVIRONMENTAL SIDESHOWS (developed in May)

Maybe one bubble can say a lot - but a wild stream of bubbles from the loan bubble-machine is bound to draw attention to this attraction. To hold that attention, once the young children have exhausted the fun of chasing and popping the bubbles, there is equipment for children to blow serious bubbles of various sizes, and, if someone is so disposed, a recipe and equipment to make bubbles large enough to match a child’s height. (This will take some pre-fayre practice).

Going deeper in thought about bubbles, apart from reflecting on the immediate joy they give children (and not a few adults), they are a small wonder of the sciences of physics and light, incorporating the mathematical properties of a sphere, the vital properties of surface tension, the balancing of internal and external air pressure, the iridescence which can show all the colours of the spectrum/ rainbow and at their last, the effect of gravity after each bubble’s brief flight

Children get a timed ‘slot’ to explore the bubble blowing on offer.

And in keeping with the Eco-themes of the sideshows, we can perhaps think of the fragility of each bubble as symbolic of the fragility of our home sphere, our planet, whilst dirty fuels remain.

OILY BEACH

Today’s sideshow derives from an experience many of us will have had, of finding a beach we love sullied by large globs of tarry oil which are quite vile, leaving thick deposits of oil on shoes or clothes or on the skin of a curious child. 

Usually we will have no idea of the source which could be a major oil-spill, the deliberate discharge of oil from a tanker, to lighten load, or from a leak from an old or damaged tanker. Whichever it is, the mess it leaves on the beach will be s nothing compared to the destruction it will have caused on its journey to the beach. Sea-birds fouled and unable to fly, fish poisoned in the filth of the spill and who knows what damage done in the unseen parts of the sea bed. Yet another by-product of the dirty-fuel industry.

So, we reflect on this with numbered, scoring stones scattered, numbers down amidst large black-painted stones in a sand-tray, representing the disgusting disfiguring globs of useless oil. 

Wait - No! Worse than useless - for who will clear them up? Not the fat-cat shareholders of the extractors of the poisonous lumps, but a local sea-side corporation, obliged to clear up the mess and spend taxpayers’ money to make the beaches we love, safe. 

The concepts behind the sideshows will all be explained in a small pamphlet entitled ‘Our Sideshows: what they mean’, available to borrowers of the equipment. At the time of writing this post, the pamphlet is in embryo form.

For now, to better understand the purpose of the Eco-Fayre, go to The first Mini Eco Fayre entry that you will find HERE