Green miles, not (1 Viewer)

Feb 16, 2013
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Sitting waiting for the ferry in Calais this morning, watching the wagons come off, must have been 100 probably more, didn't count and then watched 100 or so getting on .
How many of them were carrying the same stuff back to England that had just come off, one example that took my eye because I am interested in such things was a waggon with three tractors on from England and another one getting on with three french tractors going to England , now although different makes they were basicly the same sort of tractor, so wouldn't it be better all round if the English tractors stayed in England and the French tractors stayed in france, save all that diesel and time and rubber and man hours never mind the pollution , the manufactours wouldn't lose out they would still sell as many tractors but wouldn't have to transport them abroad, now i know someone one will come up with freedom of choice and all that but I am just looking at it from a green view, and not only tractors there must be untold loads of bits of metal that could just as easy be made in their own country, as well as food and all manner of things but I suppose the governments are making far to much out of fuel tax and road tax and that to try and get to grips with it, must be far more of a pollution saver than all these turbines
 
Mar 23, 2012
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But how many motorhome owners who chose a German or French make would feel happy to be forced to buy a British one!!

David
 
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vwalan

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what about all the cars we drive or the trucks themselves . even how many campers are really english.
since when as green come into it.
all the parts are from all around the world and the steel etc .
unfortunately its never been green at all.
and cant be .
if you want a green m,home you will have to paint it thats as close as you will get to being green .

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OP
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Feb 16, 2013
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what about all the cars we drive or the trucks themselves . even how many campers are really english.
since when as green come into it.
all the parts are from all around the world and the steel etc .
unfortunately its never been green at all.
and cant be .
if you want a green m,home you will have to paint it thats as close as you will get to being green .
See mate , I know that , I have a peugot , I was just stating the theory of it, I'm not even a green supporter, but same as those tractors there must be hundreds of things that don't need transporting about, but the world has gone green mad and yet we still do things like that
 
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Feb 16, 2013
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But how many motorhome owners who chose a German or French make would feel happy to be forced to buy a British one!!

David
But you could go and fetch it , it doesn't need lorries to move it about
 

vwalan

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Sep 23, 2008
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these days why not buy chinese then its cheap . they get the pollution and we only have to move it one way . now we move small parts all over the world then move the complete vehicles .
can we actually buy a real british van .
bet its impossible .
the raw material will have been dragged from all over the world .
we did have british built vehicles . thats why i got in to vw,s . found the british ones to be poorly built and poor quality.
i realized a few years ago that even german quality was finished . so bought a Portuguese built japanese truck.
better quality and a better price.

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these days why not buy chinese then its cheap . they get the pollution and we only have to move it one way . now we move small parts all over the world then move the complete vehicles .
can we actually buy a real british van .
bet its impossible .
the raw material will have been dragged from all over the world .
we did have british built vehicles . thats why i got in to vw,s . found the british ones to be poorly built and poor quality.
i realized a few years ago that even german quality was finished . so bought a Portuguese built japanese truck.
better quality and a better price.
Quite agree, but in my example the French are buying English tractors and the English are buying French tractors, why
 

vwalan

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cant answer that one.
why did you buy a Peugeot?
you might answer your own question.
 
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cant answer that one.
why did you buy a Peugeot?
you might answer your own question.
Very little choice, I'm not arguing with you just stating the use of envirement stuff, if I could have found a tranny I would have, I have a ford pickup and a ldv pickup for my vehicals and they knock the Peugeot into a cocked hat

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Try food they grow sheep in Wales just coming into season

What's Asda selling lamb all the way from NZ and OZ
And price reduced

Try working out how far your dinners travelled
Oz for me lamb Peru for the asparagus spuds from Jersey
Beans from Kenya

All stuff grown hear ok the spuds are from jersey
Which is part of uk granted

But that's a well travelled dinner
 

vwalan

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when i was younger i asked this same question when i worked for the largest importer of nz and oz lamb in the world . . english leg of lamb cost 5 quid . yet we could sell a whole nz lamb cut up for your freezer. its because uk lamb is far too expensive .
we sold it to places like france . theyt couldnt get nz or oz lamb because uk controlled the whole of the nz /oz lamb sales .
later when uk had given the rights for nz .oz to sell worldwide france told uk to stuff its lamb .
joining the eu was why we had to give freedom to the empire . other finanial reasons as well.
but its still cheaper to freight many things across the world than buy local.
uk needs to have a 25 % cut in wages and produce 15%more produce if it wants to be competative . till then it will never be world competitive .
germany is facing the same thing now . many of its companies are having parts made in china etc . then assembling in germany . but german workers are begining to feel the squeeze . just like uk did in the 60,s and 70,s .
 

Scout

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next you will be saying

French hoiday in France.

British holiday in Briton. :(

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next you will be saying

French hoiday in France.

British holiday in Briton. :(
Don't think so;), not the point though, I was talking unecersery stuff not personal stuff wouldn't be surprised if some of those wagons were taking stuff like lettuce and onions both ways wooden stuff paper boxes, screws don't know what else but I would like to bet half the loads are duplicated some way.
Beer what about that spring water pop frozen chips
 
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Hi.
" One hand washes the other". Better question to ask is this. Why did they used to transport ladies brassier ?? parts, from england to morocco ,have them stitched together,then transport them back for sale here ?
I think it is called "Business",don't you think if it did not pay it would not be going on ?. One size does not fit all,even Chairman Mao ? failed on that one.
Come the REVOLUTION....Up the TOOTING FRONT !! LOL "Wolfie Smith."
Tea Bag (Not from Ceylon or the other place,Sri Lanka)
 
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Feb 16, 2013
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Hi.
" One hand washes the other". Better question to ask is this. Why did they used to transport ladies brassier ?? parts, from england to morocco ,have them stitched together,then transport them back for sale here ?
I think it is called "Business",don't you think if it did not pay it would not be going on ?. One size does not fit all,even Chairman Mao ? failed on that one.
Come the REVOLUTION....Up the TOOTING FRONT !! LOL "Wolfie Smith."
Tea Bag (Not from Ceylon or the other place,Sri Lanka)
I am not talking business , just pollution and diesel and wear and tear on roads, and things for what is unnecery(sp)

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DBK

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It's called trade and has been going on for many thousands of years. Transporting things by ship is now so cheap it is apparently economic to ship frozen fish to China for processing then bring it back to Europe. This is why the "shop local" concept isn't necessarily very green. To grow tomatoes for example in this country outside of summer takes a lot of energy to heat the greenhouses. Grow them in say Egypt or even South America and per tomato there are fewer fossil fuels consumed as the fuel used to bring them to Europe is less than you would burn trying to grow them in this country.
 
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Feb 16, 2013
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Ok ,I give up, I wasn't talking about things that you couldn't grow here or whatever, my original post was almost identical tractors going both ways when they could just as easy stopped at home and save the transport, and they would both be cheaper
 

vwalan

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but you bought a Peugeot you could have bought a tranny or an ldv . but didnt so you encouraged importing exporting .
plus many used that same Peugeot motor .
we really cant answer the question . but your observations are true .
its a strange world we live in .
we can buy tinned sardines here caught tinned in morocco cheaper than you can buy in morocco.
yet cornish sardines are being sold to spain for profit.
spain cant buy them in morocco because of politics over western sahara .
its what makes the money go round .

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callumwa

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It does look strange doesn't it.....o_O

We ship thousands of tons of Caustic Soda solution (50%) out of Runcorn on the Manchester Ship Canal and we take it all parts of Europe and down the Med. Then we have been known to backload Caustic Soda (again 50% solution) from the European mainland and the Med and then we bring it to Eastham, again on the Manchester Ship Canal.

We burn Fuel worth thousands of dollars to do so, never mind the environmental issues, and all the other costs of running a ship. I have often asked why would Eastham not get its Caustic Soda from Runcorn, about 10 miles away and save on all those shipping costs? Simple answer the Caustic Soda can be of just an ever so slightly different specification, and more suited to their intended use, but more importantly, and amazingly, it can also work out cheaper for them depending on the deal and contracts that were signed, and that's factoring in the shipping costs.... :doh:

So instead of Caustic think of tractors, they make look the same, but maybe they are that wee bit different and some tractors do some jobs better than others, or maybe they just got a better deal from the Foreign Supplier. The world does seem mad at times, but there is normally a sensible and logical reason why if you did below the surface.


::bigsmile:
 

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