We may watch TV, but that doesn’t mean we don’t care

You might imagine that Go Green Week is of little significance to us keen telly-watchers. Why should we care about the environment when Phil Mitchell is rotting in jail, and the only thing stopping the desperate housewives from going the same way is… well, not much?

However, those sneaky execs at the _BBC_ are attempting to spread the environmental message to even the most dedicated couch potato. Programmes such as _Frozen Planet _appeal to the general public for their stunning cinematography and accessible information, but they are also teaching us to love our planet. And if we love it, surely we also want to save it?

But it hasn’t really worked out that way. Listen in on a conversation about _Frozen Planet _and you may well hear the sentence, “Oh my God! When that penguin stole the other penguin’s pebbles to build his nest, so funny!” You are infinitely less likely, however, to hear the sentence, “Oh my God! When that killer whale went for that seal, it totally made me recycle my empty vodka bottles.”

There is no doubt that when people watch programmes such as _Frozen Planet_, they are left in awe of the scenery and creatures shown, and yet this does not seem to translate into direct action.

On paper, ambitious, expensive projects, which draw audiences in with beautiful images and David Attenborough are the best way to spread the ‘Go Green’ message. So perhaps the problem lies in the rarity of these programmes, rather than the content itself.

Take _4OD_, for example. In separating the infinite number of programmes they keep in their online archive, they fail to have an ‘Environment’ category. If you wish to find something in this genre you must take it upon yourself to trawl through the millions (trust me, I’ve tried it) of offerings in the ‘Documentaries’ section. And even then, the choice is limited.

Programmes are all either one-offs which cover only the specifics of a particular natural disaster, or they are outdated. 2009 may seem recent when you’re talking about the pot noodle in your cupboard, but in terms of climate change the science and the solutions are changing all the time.

You get the impression that television channels include environmental programmes in their schedule because they have to, not because they want to. Hence why many are confined to the deep, dark realm of _More4_ or, God forbid, _BBC4_. Meanwhile, Jeremy Clarkson trundles around at primetime on _BBC2_, filling the atmosphere with toxic rubbish. And then there are the cars, too.

To sum up, _Frozen Planet _was great, but we need more. Everyone watches TV. Even people that claim they don’t are generally lying. That makes it an excellent medium for getting this message across, but at the moment it isn’t being exploited as far as it could be.

Showing a couple of programmes every three years about the plight of the penguin can only go so far. Maybe for the in-between times, the environmental baton should be taken up in other programmes.

Inject this important issue into the shows we love. Anyone fancy settling down to watch a TOWIE experiment with vajazzles made from recycled milk bottle tops? Maybe not.