Sustainability and the Next Generation
Last week I was interviewed by a Durham University student who was doing a project on Net Zero and the younger generations. One anecdote (amongst many…) I told her was my experience of the changing attitude to car ownership between generations – here’s an extended cut of my point.
My Dad is of the generation where the car you drive said a lot about your status in life. I recall oneupmanship sessions between my schoolfriends over which car each of our Dads drove, whether they had spoilers, electric windows, or what the top speed was (we were absolutely convinced that the highest number on the speedometer meant something and would peer into fancy cars to see what the speedo ‘went up to’). One of my friends demurred, saying his Dad “just wanted something that got him from A to B”. The rest of us took this to mean he was embarrassed at his Dad’s car and felt sorry for him.
Funnily enough, given this car-centric childhood, I never became a petrolhead. I didn’t own a car until the age of 29 when I took a job in a different city to my partner. We bought a modest Ford Ka as it was said to be good on a motorway for such a small car (my commute was mainly on dual carriageways). At one point three of us shared the lengthy commute.
A minor shunt on one of those dual carriageways killed the Ka, so I went fully mainstream with a VW Golf, eventually moving to a Ford S-Max as it could take three child seats across the back. All three cars were definitely in the “get from A to B in comfort” category rather than anything particularly flash. My most recent move was to take the ‘A to B’ to the extreme – I sold the S-Max last year as it was rarely going anywhere, and joined a car club instead. This felt like a jump into the unknown.
There has been a rash of recent press reports that the latest generation to get to the L-plate age are decidedly lukewarm about either applying for a drivers licence or in their aspiration to own a car. At 17, my eldest has never mentioned driving and the younger two never talk about cars with any interest, except if they see a yellow one and get to punch someone (often me).
There is clearly an opportunity to usher in a societal shift towards more sustainable transport modes by starting with the younger generations? The obvious prerequisite is to provide them with safe, reliable and pleasant infrastructure to do so, otherwise they will be forced into the car-centric world.
We often see change in terms of a snapshot in time – “I want you to give up your petrol car/gas combi boiler and invest in this emerging new technology.” But we should always remember that demographics shift constantly and if you haven’t got used to a particular thing, you won’t miss it. My kids find the idea of owning a CD or DVD anachronistic – will owning a car or a gas boiler go the same way?