Environmentalist calls for 'wasteful' outdoor heaters to be banned

Vivienne Clarke

Environmentalist Duncan Stewart has called for “wasteful” outdoor heaters to be banned.

They were doing “massive damage” to the environment and were “the most wasteful way of using energy” he told Newstalk Breakfast.

Most of the population was going to suffer really badly this winter from energy shortages and high prices for energy, he said.

“To have a situation where people can go and sit outdoor, and squander energy - where cafés and pubs use this as an attraction to bring customers to their particular pubs. It's the rich, basically, that can do this”.

If people wanted to sit outdoors they should dress appropriately. When asked if this is a move toward “heat-shaming”, Mr Stewart said “we have to live our lives within a level of where we're being responsible. Trying to justify this is not the way to do it, this is shameful.”

In his view it was irresponsible to use outdoor heaters when there were issues with greenhouse emissions.

“This is such a visual way of showing waste - we have so many people poor now that will have problems trying to heat their homes and with shortages”.