What with COP26 going on in Glasgow, and the pledges to cut global methane emissions, preserve rainforests and limit coal-burning, it's time to reflect on our own individual behaviour with respect to the planet that we all share.
- Are you painfully aware that manmade climate change is real, and that the likelihood of a 3C global temperature rise by the end of this century would be catastrophic for humanity and for the environment?
- Or is this just something you accept and brush off with a "meh" before scrolling down to the next news item or turning the page of your newspaper?
- Or do you deny that such as thing as anthropogenic atmospheric warming exists, believing this to be nothing more than a conspiracy?
Has the reality of climate change altered your behaviour as a consumer, as a householder, as a commuter?
Do you have a nagging sense of guilt that you should be doing more as an individual to hold back the inexorable heating up of our planet? Or do you think that this is exclusively the role of governments and corporations?
What are you doing to cut your CO2 footprint?
Let's start with travelling to work.
Do you subscribe to game theory, thinking "why should I make sacrifices to my lifestyle, why should I give up comfort and convenience, if others continue to live as they always have?" Game theory is central to the conundrum of driving to work in traffic jams. Whatever incentives and disincentives the authorities devise - cheaper, better, public transport, road-pricing, higher fuel duties - the net result of getting more people out of cars and onto buses is... more people driving to work because the roads seem less congested. The average car in cities of the developed world is used to drive 1.2 people an average 11km (6.8 miles) to work,
I gave up driving to work in 2011; I did not replace my 20-year-old Nissan Micra 1.0 when it reached the end of its useful life two years later. I do not own a car. I do, however own three 125cc motorbikes, cherished and ridden only on warm sunny days, no more than a couple of thousand kilometres per year in total. I walk to do my food shopping. By not buying more than I can carry, I do not waste food. I recycle waste into six streams (general, paper/card, plastics, steel, aluminium and glass). Vegetable stalks, peelings, coffee grounds etc go into the garden. Radically, since 2011, I don't use the toilet at home to wee, instead I store urine for use as mole-deterrent and fertiliser (but then I have a big garden). This saves between 10 and 15 tonnes of clean water a year. I do not mow my lawn, allowing a meadow with wildflowers to grow back, attracting bees and butterflies. I use a scythe to maintain a small lawn around the house.
My diet contains little meat, the occasional beef steak as a rare treat. I buy second-hand clothes wherever possible (though, I must say, all of them were bought in London - see below).
My father's death and Covid have effectively curtailed my regular flights to London. According to ICOA's Carbon Emissions Calculator, each return flight from WAW to LHR contributed 276 kilograms of carbon dioxide - over a quarter of a tonne. Times ten such flights a year, that's nearly three tonnes. Just me flying, no suitcase, just hand luggage. To put into perspective, driving a large diesel-engined SUV 16,000km / 10,000 miles a year produces five tonnes of carbon dioxide.
At times I feel I am an outlier. Do you think it's weird to take such steps to reduce to a minimum my environmental footprint upon this planet? Human life in the developed and indeed developing world cannot continue as it has done. If every human had the living standard of the average American, we'd need the natural resources of between four and half planet Earths. My consciousness plans to return after the physical demise of my body, so I feel a long-term stake in the future.
Do have a look at this BBC explainer, Four Things You can do about Your Carbon Footprint.
This time last year:
Nail-biting walk
This time three years ago:
Insights in the search for consciousness
Loving Vincent - review
This time eight years ago:
UFO credibility test
This time nine years ago:
Junction ready for road to unbuilt sports centre
This time ten years ago:
Park nad Książecem - Vistula escarpment, beautiful autumn
This time 13 years ago:
Obama wins US presidential election
Posts
2 comments:
Travelling to work? By underground only. Faster, cheaper, more convenient, just then more environment-friendly. Business travels, these days virtually only to small towns (trips to bigger cities have been replaced by video meeting), take 3-4 hours door-to-door by car. The same jounrey on foot -> by underground -> by train -> by another train -> by taxi would usually be at least two times longer.
I very infrequently drive distances shorter than 5 miles (shopping done almost entirely on foot) and hardly ever get stuck in traffic jams, plus my foot gently, yet firmly operates the accelerator pedal and makes use of engine braking. This means if I choose to drive, I burn less fuel and emit less carbon dioxide than an average driver.
Radically, since 2011, I don't use the toilet at home to wee - your wife must be delighted ;-)
o you think it's weird to take such steps to reduce to a minimum my environmental footprint upon this planet? - I believe it is wise and responsible. Plus having known you maybe not very well, but for several years and having read your blog for nearly 13 years, I suppose you also have the Asperger syndrome (don't take umbrage, there is nothing to be ashamed of, Greta Thunberg also has it).
@student SGH
The only driving I do is the occasional trip to the działka borrowing my wife's car when I need to take heavier items beyond what I can take with my on foot/train. It's a 70km round-trip (usually at the beginning and end of each season). According to an online calculator, that's 20kg of CO2 emitted.
Not using toilet - no banging of toilet seats or bathroom door at night! Urine starts to smell after about 24 hours as it begins to ferment into ammonia. Bottled immediately, there's no offensive odour.
Yes, I'm absolutely on the Asperger spectrum and proud of it! Asperger's Syndrome (even high-functioning autism) seems to have been present in most of mankind's greatest scientists. A socially useful trait.
Post a Comment