Young people love to preach about climate change but they’re masters of ‘do as I say, not as I do’

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AH, young people. There’s nothing they love more than Greta Thunberg, pronouns and telling anyone over 30 how monstrous we are.

They’re also masters in “do as I say, not as I do”, veritable PHDs in hypocrisy.

There’s nothing young people love more than Greta Thunberg but it doesn’t help that our celebs are trailblazers in the world of hypocrisyCredit: Rex

Naomi Campbell recently became the face of Pretty Little ThingCredit: PrettyLittleThing

Latest research shows 18 to 24-year-olds, who worship at the tubthumping feet of Ms Thunberg, are worse than anyone else at acting on climate change.

So while they merrily wang on about polar bears standing alone, gingerly perched atop tiny little melting ice caps, and noisily stand outside Parliament clutching hand-made placards calling for everyone to be “part of the solution, not part of the pollution”, it turns out they’re rubbish at recycling and are regulars on board a 747.

A new study has shown that just 20 per cent of Gen Z have actively reduced the number of flights they take while only 52 per cent recycle regularly.

In contrast, the sexagenarians are nailing it.

Nearly 90 per cent of oldies are recycling, while 27 per cent have consciously cut their carbon footprint.

One of the fundamental problems here is that Gen Z are digital nomads.

They’ve grown up with a phone as a fifth limb and spend their lives out-bragging one another on Instagram.

There’s nothing influencers like more than a “main grid” pic on board a private jet, champagne in hand. And a private jet doesn’t exactly scream “Greenpeace”.

Earlier this month, a Just Stop Oil activist was pictured in her bright orange JSO T-shirt . . . on board a plane.

Today, the travel industry no longer bothers with a nice advert in The Daily Telegraph promoting the wonders of the Costa Brava.

It simply sends a pretty 23-year-old to Iceland to sit by a glacier in her bikini.

In contrast, popping old magazines, wine bottles and food waste in the council’s mandatory 27 differently-coloured recycling bins is not sexy.

Trailblazers in hypocrisy

Travel blogging has become a viable job option, with more youngsters inclined to become one of these than, say, a doctor, nurse or teacher.

I mean, in today’s pampered, snowflake generation, why would anyone want to slog away on the frontline when they could be lapping up cocktails on a Caribbean beach?

Gen Z’s buying habits are also frustratingly schizophrenic.

While they love websites such as eco-friendly Depop, which resales “pre-loved” clothes, they also enjoy nothing more than a spot of fast fashion.

Their obsession for affordable things, and need for continually flaunting a new outfit on Insta, means retailers including Shein, Fashion Nova and Primark continue to thrive.

While these brands come under fire for their dubious production and worker treatment practices, their consequent waste is also massively unsustainable.

Fast fashion companies help to produce ten per cent of global carbon dioxide emissions yearly, while the aviation sector — which you might expect to be a big contributor — is responsible for just two per cent.

In other words, their consumption is not without consequences . . . but try telling that to a teenager.

In defence of Young People, it doesn’t help that our global leaders, and celebs, are trailblazers in the world of hypocrisy.

Rita Ora and model Naomi Campbell, recently be-came the faces of Primark and Pretty Little Thing respectively, and politicians jet in for global summits, eating Kobe beef and drinking fine wines while telling the rest of us to cycle and holiday in our front rooms.

We all just need to pipe down a bit . . . while also doing our bit.

MATT’S LEGACY IS VITAL

MATTHEW PERRY said he wanted to be remembered as someone who helped addicts, not just as “Chandler from Friends”.

The reality is he will be remembered as so, so much more than either.

Matthew Perry is arguably the first star to have died this century who really spanned the decadesCredit: Getty

Matthew said he wanted to be remembered as someone who helped addicts

A huge talent on screen, and hugely likeable off it, arguably he is the first star to have died this century who really spanned the decades.

Gen Z loved him, loved Friends, and it was the litmus paper series for every millennial in existence.

But Matthew was proof that fame, money and ability aren’t a guarantor of happiness.

His tragic, premature death – one he admitted would “shock people but surprise no one” – is also a damning indictment on America’s pill epidemic.

In his autobiography, which, one now senses, he wrote believing the end was near, he explained he got hooked on prescription painkiller Vicodin in 1997 after taking it to deal with the aftermath of a painful jet-skiing accident.

At one stage he was on 55 pills a day – the maximum dose is eight.

Over the past two decades, nearly 600,000 people have died from an opioid overdose in Canada and the US.

According to medical journal The Lancet, this addiction could claim a further 1.2million lives by 2029. That’s 1.2million lives too many.

Increasingly, doctors on both sides of the pond are dishing out pills like pick ’n’ mix.

Matthew’s death must now act as a wake-up call to medics everywhere.

That, surely, will be the ultimate legacy.

A good lover has to make your roar . .

Bonkbuster author Jilly is right on marriageCredit: Rex Features

“THE secret to a long marriage is creaking bedsprings; not from sex but from laughter.”

So says bonkbuster author Jilly Cooper, in a new interview. She’s right.

Forget a perfectly symmetrical face, there’s nothing sexier than a person who can make you LOL until your tummy hurts and your nose fetch-ingly pig snorts.

EARS TO HUBBUB

THERE’S a new craze among youngsters – walking around without earphones.

Absolutely not.

As someone who needs music and distraction at all times – not least because a giant pair of headphones is the social equivalent of wearing a large “do not approach” badge – I cannot imagine anything worse than silence, or being in my own head.

Which, obviously, is absolutely healthy.

AN OLD STORY

MY friend’s grandmother recently died and her mum, a devout Catholic, has started going back to Church every Sunday.

Except now she’s been hit with £500 in parking fines.

Yep, a private car parking company has installed a (tiny) sign in the car park, charging church-goers for their transubstantiation.

She hadn’t seen the signs and, being elderly – and not a regular app user – is oblivious to the concept of RingGo.

Once again, old people are being punished in an increasingly cashless society.

Ruthless private companies need to be held to account – now!

OF all the revelations in Britney Spears’ new autobiography, surely the greatest is that her grandma and grandad were called Jean and June. Her grandad was June.

CHILLED BY TIPS

WELL, that’s winter sorted, then.

The Met Office has come up with a handy list of top tips to beat the cold this season.

These include wearing a swimming cap under your cycle helmet (presumably when cycling), placing old socks on windscreen wipers and microwaving 700g of baking beans and putting them in your shoes.

I’d genuinely rather get frostbite than be seen doing any of the above.