Going green
on Apr 24 in General by DanI recently filled in an online questionnaire which determined my environmental footprint. Apparently if everyone on earth lived in the same manner as I do we would need 2.3 planets just to sustain us. While colonizing Mars and a couple of the moons of Jupiter certainly has its appeal, I recognize that I really should be modifying my behavior.
Recently Kerry and I have been doing quite a bit of thinking about this issue. We both consider ourselves to be relatively ethical people, but like many others we are heavy on good intentions and short of actual action. Oh sure, we buy free range eggs, our christmas cards come from Oxfam, and we have a healthy hatred for the BNP – but doesn’t everybody?
I’m not proposing we sell up and move to hippy commune in North Wales, but we have identified some things we want to change about our lifestyles. I realize they are just a drop in the ocean, and are certainly not going to get our environmental footprint down to just one planet; but it’s a start at least.
So here’s the list:
- Buy more fresh, in season, locally produced vegetables at small traders.
- Recycle more.
- Walk and catch public transport whenever practical.
- Eat less meat, particularly beef (this one is easy for Kerry as she’s vegetarian).
- Grow some of our own veg, and compost our waste.
Any other ideas?
Related posts:
- Toy Review: Green Lantern Parallax Final Showdown
- Green eyed monster
- Muppets, OK Go, and the Green Album
- Never mind her bad table manners, check out those mouse skills
- The Green Hornet: a mini review
« « Portrait of a blogger as a young man| National downshifting week » »
Completely agree (though I think the link should be http://www.earthday.net/footprint/index.asp). My score came out at 1.9 planets which I take as a “could do better”. Not owning a car must have a lot to do with it.
We too would need 2.3 planets to sustain us. Not sure what more to do but look forward to seeing other suggestions. We recycle and are lucky that our local Council collect paper, glass, cans and plastic, which appears to be quite unusual. We also compost although don’t grow any of our own veg. Being a one car family probably helps – Tony uses the car to get to work as he works shifts but I walk (3 miles each way) or get the bus. I have a constant battle as the organisation I work for seem to think it’s essential for the majority of posts to have someone who can drive – even if you’re in a desk-based post they ask for a car driver… just in case you ever need to go anywhere – they look at you like you’ve fallen from Space if you offer to travel by public transport. For such a large organisation (the largest employer in Worcestershire) I think this is wrong, but I don’t seem to be able to get anyone on my wavelength.
Ok, will stop ranting now! Keep up the good work.
We stopped using the dryer for our clothes. We found that they dry just as well being hung up. (The sheets are too big though so those are the only things that get dryed.)
Did you see my composting in the kitchen article?
Great link by the way!
(un)relaxed Dad – Both those URL’s worked for me here at work, but I’ve gone with yours just in case. Well done for not having a car! Kerry goes to work via public transport, and we have deliberately chosen vehicles with small engine sizes, but we still use cars far too much really.
Helen – Our council does collect recycling, just not from us as our lane is too narrow to get the truck down. This means we have to go out of our way to take rubbish to the rycycling point and we don’t do it half as much as we should.
Hygiene Dad – That’s a good idea, especially with the warmer weather coming.
Lee- I did see the composting article on your blog, but as I have my wonderful pallet compost bin I have no need of it :). I have a great link for you about how to make pots for seedlings out of newspaper, but I need to find it.
I need 3 planets to sustain myself. Yikes! But as you know I am working on it. I took the quiz again from the standpoint of several months ago, and it came out to 6.2 planets, so at least I can feel good about having made progress.
I need to eat less meat and walk more. Public transportation is hard for me logistically at the moment – our small town does not have a great infrastructure and it would be impossible to take Connor to preschool, for example, which is the bulk of my driving. This spring we are looking forward to buying all local produce from the Farmer’s Market, but it only runs in the warmer months. We have started to buy more organic food as well. A long-term goal is to add solar to our house for hot water and possibly electricity. Not a cheap venture though.
I think the questionare puts a bias in depending on which country you are living in, so I imagine you’d be disadvantaged living in the USA.
6.2 planets is quite impressive though. Did you have a central heating system that used baby seals as fuel?
Hi all!
Many thanks for bringing up NDW! I am delighted to see it being debated here.
The Earth Day programme is a favourite of mine too and I think anything that encourages us to slow down and green up is a good thing.
As a parent of 3 twiggly nugs (who I’m just getting to bed) I feel even more strongly that it’s key we normalise eco. Composting, recycling are part of our everyday life here and I’m trying hard to get them on the right, green track.
Anyway, wittering on!
Just wanted to say a quick ‘Thank You’!
Wishing you all the best,
Tracey Smith
x
I’m up at 5 planets. Probably comes from having two people with two jobs that require driving and also eating lots of meat :)
Surely all my lovely trees count for something?
The recycle truck refuses (no pun intended) to come up our lane too. I’ll have to force myself to start recycling more, but storage is an issue especially since frogs have taken up residence in our cellar (stupid karma).
“Did you have a central heating system that used baby seals as fuel?”
Yes, but they were organically grown so it’s all good. ;)
Of course I completely forgot about the pallet compost!!! I’ve got one in a metal bin with the base cut out but I still want to try the kitchen one for all that stuff you can’t put in there.
When you find the article pass it through!!!
There’s one really simple thing you can do that’s actually much more effective than it sounds, which is to switch out standard incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescents. They use less than a quarter of the energy of standard bulbs and don’t lose energy in the heat they give off. They’ve actually made a dent in our power bills. A quote from our city’s energy company said that if 100 million households switched out just one bulb, it would save enough energy to power a medium-sized city. Not sure how exact that is, but it seems worthwhile.
Tell that to my missus who says they look “ugly.”
That never stopped her going out with you Craig.
You can get ones that look like ordinary bulbs on the outside, they have a globe over them so you don’t see the spiral bit. They just aren’t as cheap as the ones from Ikea that’s all.
They are still more cost effective over the long term than ordinary bulbs, plus with your high ceilings I’d be wanting to keep lightbulb changing down to a minimum.