Chris Goodall’s list of 15 things you can do to help save the world (G2, 19 January) misses what is surely the most important thing: have fewer children. Without controlling population growth we have to run ever faster to stay in the same place as far as climate change is concerned.

Catherine Goundry

Retford, Nottinghamshire

• In an item regarding Gambia, the country was referred to as “the Gambia” (Report, 19 January). I remember from my youth many countries referred to in this way and am interested as to the reason. There was the Argentine, the Levant, the Lebanon etc. Does anyone know why they were prefaced with “the”?

Tony Burson

Campinas, Brazil

• When Seamus Heaney began his translation of Beowulf with the single word sentence “So”, he described it as “an expression that obliterates all previous discourse and narrative, and at the same time functions as an exclamation calling for immediate attention”. Whenever I now hear a politician opening with it, I translate it roughly as “that’s quite enough from you, never mind what you think, this is my much more important opinion”.

Simon Cherry

Claygate, Surrey

• Not to mention the French way of starting sentences with Alors… , Bon bien… and, apropos of nothing preceding it, Mais… (But…).

Brian Smith

Berlin, Germany

• At school in the 60s we often had, as a pudding, damsons, custard and Weetabix (Letters, passim). Curious, but well worth trying as a substitute for crumble.

Gina Langford

Canterbury

• Never mind Weetabix. Here’s an all-time favourite poem of mine from school: “I eat my peas with honey/I’ve done it all my life/It makes the peas taste funny/But it keeps them on the knife.” (Ogden Nash, possibly).

Willy McCourt

London

• Join the debate – email guardian.letters@theguardian.com

• Read more Guardian letters – click here to visit gu.com/letters