this made me weep a little.
I suppose because the prevailing attitude in the west nowadays is who gives a damn about preserving species.
Swift bricks to be installed on all new buildings in Scotland
41–50 of 105 posts
Re: Swift bricks to be installed on all new buildings in Scotland
#42> Hannah Bourne-Taylor, who has campaigned for swift bricks nationally for four years.
The article apparently undersells her role. Clicking through to her site, she seems to have been almost singularly responsible for making this happen:
> For my campaign – for swifts – I have walked through London naked, twice. First to launch the petition (how else would a nobody reach the almost impossible target?) and secondly to the meeting at the Home Office, with Zac Goldsmith by my side in an unprecedented show of alliance, to remind the government that swifts’ existence is at stake.
https://hannahbournetaylor.com/the-feather-speech-campaign-f...
(Probably NSFW photo on that page.)
Re: Swift bricks to be installed on all new buildings in Scotland
#43If there were tax incentives for this instead of it being mandatory I'd support it wholeheartedly, but the idea of people being forced to directly attract and accommodate animals to/on their property under threat of punishment is unnerving to me. It's a completely different thing to being made to leave an existing den or nest alone.
You’re getting downvoted, but I agree. It’s never the carrot but always the stick with these kind of government initiatives and then people wonder why they’re so hated.
If they were smart they would make it a tax break, and the more you do to welcome animals on your property the bigger it is. Why just one swift brick? What about a bird house? How about a little shelter for cats? Animal lovers get rewarded and those who would rather not don’t get punished.
Re: Swift bricks to be installed on all new buildings in Scotland
#44If there were tax incentives for this instead of it being mandatory I'd support it wholeheartedly, but the idea of people being forced to directly attract and accommodate animals to/on their property under threat of punishment is unnerving to me. It's a completely different thing to being made to leave an existing den or nest alone.
I think it would be fun for wildlife to have their own barrister to bring lawsuits against people like you for destroying what was otherwise their native grounds before us meat viruses spread wanton destruction everywhere. The fact is you can't leave 'existing' alone, there is none. In countries like the UK the place has been completely and totally terraformed by people.
Would prey be able to sue predators for assault as well? Or is this just a uniquely anti-human sentiment?
Re: Swift bricks to be installed on all new buildings in Scotland
#45this made me weep a little. I suppose because the prevailing attitude in the west nowadays is who gives a damn about preserving species.
Amongst the money and power seeking it definitely is but I'm not sure how prevailing that really is among the general population. I think for starters many don't even realize there's a biodiversity crisis (doesn't exactly appear on mainstream media that often, plus there's the shifting baseline). And those that do realize there are some issues might give a damn but don't know what to do about it.
Anyway: if there's anything I'd weep about it's that measures like these are needed in the first place. Far too little, far too late. But to be honest I stopped weeping and just do whatever I can personally such that the day I die I can at least have some peace with my life.
Re: Swift bricks to be installed on all new buildings in Scotland
#46As I found the article did a poor job of demonstrating what a swift brick is, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swift_brick
I opened the article without a clue about what they were. Within my first 5-10 s on it I knew what they were. Literally right below the title: > bricks that provide nesting for swifts and other endangered birds And a picture.
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Re: Swift bricks to be installed on all new buildings in Scotland
#47Earlier quoted context omitted.
The brick is £35 each according to the article. That's practically nothing compared to the total cost of a modern house.
The problem is not the brick price, but extra regulations, controls that they are followed etc, plus the fact that now instead of say 10000 identical bricks for one house you need 9999 ones + one different. I simply think the priority should be more house building as people struggle to find places to live, and this measure will not help (the effect will probably be small I don't know)
It's a house, not a wall. And it's not being built by a robot. Adding the brick is inconsequential.
Go to any building site and ask a bricklayer if adding a single custom brick to the construction will stop them building the house and he'll laugh in your face.
Re: Swift bricks to be installed on all new buildings in Scotland
#48If there were tax incentives for this instead of it being mandatory I'd support it wholeheartedly, but the idea of people being forced to directly attract and accommodate animals to/on their property under threat of punishment is unnerving to me. It's a completely different thing to being made to leave an existing den or nest alone.
You’re getting downvoted, but I agree. It’s never the carrot but always the stick with these kind of government initiatives and then people wonder why they’re so hated. If they were smart they would make it a tax break, and the more you do to welcome animals on your property the bigger it is. Why just one swift brick? What about a bird house? How about a little shelter for cats? Animal lovers get rewarded and those w…
So instead imposing a tiny cost on the people building the home, your solution is to make everyone in the nation pay for it.
Sounds like HN: Make the public pay, while the private keeps the profit.
Re: Swift bricks to be installed on all new buildings in Scotland
#49If there were tax incentives for this instead of it being mandatory I'd support it wholeheartedly, but the idea of people being forced to directly attract and accommodate animals to/on their property under threat of punishment is unnerving to me. It's a completely different thing to being made to leave an existing den or nest alone.
I think it would be fun for wildlife to have their own barrister to bring lawsuits against people like you for destroying what was otherwise their native grounds before us meat viruses spread wanton destruction everywhere. The fact is you can't leave 'existing' alone, there is none. In countries like the UK the place has been completely and totally terraformed by people.
> us meat viruses
I wonder what brings about this sort of reverse-chauvinist viewpoint? Humans are "nature" too, and we have just as much of a right to planet we live on.
> The fact is you can't leave 'existing' alone, there is none.
What does this even mean?
Re: Swift bricks to be installed on all new buildings in Scotland
#50Earlier quoted context omitted.
You’re getting downvoted, but I agree. It’s never the carrot but always the stick with these kind of government initiatives and then people wonder why they’re so hated. If they were smart they would make it a tax break, and the more you do to welcome animals on your property the bigger it is. Why just one swift brick? What about a bird house? How about a little shelter for cats? Animal lovers get rewarded and those w…
So instead imposing a tiny cost on the people building the home, your solution is to make everyone in the nation pay for it. Sounds like HN: Make the public pay, while the private keeps the profit.
Yes, just like people receiving healthcare should pay for their procedures, instead of making everyone in the nation pay for it. Abolish the NHS amirite!!!
Hmm, probably not a very good argument for you to make unless you are a libertarian, in which case you wouldn’t be complaining about tax breaks anyhow.