It’s not easy being green…

This evening I've caught up on episodes of the BBC programme It's not easy being green featuring Dick Strawbridge. Now, I have to admit that the first series of this programme really made me aware of all things green and made me start thinking properly about my impact on the planet on which we live.

When I heard that there was a third series I was quite excited. Unfortunately though I'm now left feeling rather disappointed. The show has taken on a bit of a "magazine format" – which in plain English means that it now seems to have multiple presenters and dart between things rather than having a programme focussing on one thing, or there being any kind of real story line. This format is a bit distracting as I would much prefer to see a project from start to finish on one go.

This isn't my biggest frustration though. That is saved for the fact that this series seems to present the opinion that you can only be green if you've got money to spend. Lauren Laverne has presented segments on green swimming pools, eco-friendly hotels and high end eco-fashion – not exactly the sorts of projects that most people at home can try. Even the couple who are doing up a terraced house into an eco-house seem to have vast amounts of money to spend on green enhancements. Most things that they do are purchased solutions that will pay back over at least 12 years. In these credit-crunch times I can't imagine that there are many people watching this thinking that they have enough money spare to make a green investment that will only pay back in 12 years.

If this programme is really going to encourage people at home to make changes that will make a difference then it needs to be much more readily accessible in the things that it is showing. The idea of someone spending £250 on a skirt make from off-cuts from fashion designers is highly unlikely at the moment, yet had they instead given hints on how to turn something you buy in a charity shop into a one-off original then it may have sparked the audience's imagination in a different way.

Sorry, but I just feel that this series is missing the point a little bit, especially when you look at what else is impacting people financially at the moment.