THERE is so much wrong with our attitude towards the environment. For instance, yesterday we learned that 15 years ago, the Government was rightly so worried about noxious gases being given off when waste was dumped in landfill that it introduced the landfill tax to encourage councils to find other solutions.

So they began burning it, causing a large growth in the number of incinerators which convert it into electricity.

But, because our recycling rates are not improving, these incinerators are burning increasing amounts of plastic which, ultimately, is made from petroleum. Therefore, to stop releasing noxious fumes from landfill we have started pumping out climate change gases from incinerators. It doesn’t make any sense – electricity from incinerators is five times as polluting as from other sources, but is regarded as “green” because it is tackling our waste problem.

There is plenty to make young people angry about the older generation’s attitudes – why have our recycling rates been becalmed at 41 per cent for years even though councils provide households with up to seven different receptacles?

So Wolsingham School’s attempt to make its pupils sit in unheated classrooms for a “blue nose day” in October in order to make a point about sustainability and to slightly, tokenistically, reduce emissions looks wide of the mark.

Education is now judged so important that parents are prosecuted if pupils miss a couple of days on holiday, and the Government is going to spend vast sums on free breakfast clubs so that no pupil is distracted by the gnawing feeling of hunger. Having a school-full of pupils distracted by shivering for a day undermines these efforts.

The next generation should be fired up to tackle climate change and our abuse of the environment, but their efforts should be channelled so they can make a genuine contribution and just make their fellows colder.