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 You'll
find plenty of lists of "how to save the world" in easy steps, and a
lot of them are fiddly little things that it's a problem to remember and
sometimes a pain to do. There's also the fact that some make a huge
difference, others, while terribly worthy may be wiped out by that
light-bulb you forgot to turn off last night.I thought I'd make it easier and in particular focus on the biggies - that make the largest difference, if you want to re-use supermarket bags as well even better, but if you don't do those listed here, you're not really making much of an effort. It comes down to reducing the amount of greenhouse gases you are personally responsible for releasing. Some are obvious, drive a car - carbon dioxide (CO2) comes out of the exhaust, some are less obvious, buying just one new shirt instead of two that you don't really need for instance saves on CO2 emissions in its production and transport. So here goes, roughly in some kind of order.
Switch your brain on, take an interest in the world, it's an ecosystem that you're part of - not on the outside of. While technology may provide cushions and barriers, when Mother Nature turns her mighty wheels, nothing, but nothing is going to stop them. Sticking your head in the sand may be temporarily comforting, but ultimately disastrous as a survival technique. I can't remember where I first heard this, so can't attribute the quote properly, I've changed it a bit but it's relevant here.
Make sure you're in 1 or 2 and definitely not group 3.
So how bad is it? A single long-haul return flight, say from the UK to Australia, South America or the Far East can release about as much CO2 as driving 15,000 miles in a fairly standard 1.6L car on your own (and yes that is per person, you don't divide it by all the people on the plane). The average annual mileage by a motorist in the UK is about 10,000, so one long-haul airline round trip is the same as 18 months of normal motoring - and wipes out an awful lot of eco-friendly bike-riding in a single stroke. All of these thing produce about the same amount of CO2
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Isn't
that a bit militant? Well maybe it is Mr.
Airline-Industry-Dependent-Guy, but flying is the one
usually unnecessary
thing we do that can have the biggest immediate effect on greenhouse gas
emissions (CO2). Long-haul flights are the worst as they
have to carry extra fuel that in the early part of the journey that is
needed to burn to carry the extra fuel that is needed in the later parts
of the journey - short-haul flights don't need to do that to the
same extent, so the kilometres per litre or miles per gallon for fuel
burnt is better with short haul than long haul flights. |
Good for me The realization that vacation is a state of mind as much as a matter of geography Save money and time on long haul trips, not to mention avoiding jet lag while you're supposed to be enjoying your holiday
Good for the environment | Lots and lots less carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere Less fossil fuel usage - means it will ultimately last longer Less other pollutants released by the aircraft too | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 3 / Dump the SUV or Pickup - Get a More Economical (and better) Car |
 (Swallows
diplomacy pill) You can probably reduce your CO2
emissions by at least a third by getting a far more fuel
efficient vehicle.
An MPV will do pretty much the same job as an SUV for this
saving in fuel and emissions while giving a similar internal
space, though maybe not being so good at mounting a machine-gun
on the back and taking part in a limited regional armed conflict
or hauling a whole winter's worth of lumber from the back-woods
- hands up who needs to do those things?Relative CO2 emissions (approximate guide):
* Note - while the Toyota Prius was the first commercially available hybrid, there are an increasing number of small engined petrol and diesel models that are close to the Prius's emission levels or even better. Also - hybrid doesn't always mean low emissions, Lexus have recently produced hybrid SUV's with 3.3 and 3.5L engines that have emission levels far above many standard family petrol and diesel models.
(It's a little known fact that other cars regard SUV's and pickups as dorky idiot cousins that it's an embarrassment to share genes with - ask any Alfa Romeo or Mini of your acquaintance.) Car Fuel Data Site (UK) - get the environmental data on all current cars here
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(Spits
diplomacy pill out) No-one really needs to drive around in
something the size of a school bus, safety considerations
are partly negated by the increased tendency of SUVs to
overturn in accidents as they're top-heavy, they are also
more dangerous to pedestrians. So help the planet, the Poles
and get a better car that can go round corners too and is
far more fun to drive.
| 4/ Get More Efficient Refrigeration |
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In
most homes, the single most energy-hungry
appliance over the year is the refrigerator.
Buy the most energy efficient model you can - it
will be cheaper in the long run. Less efficient
models are usually less expensive to buy, though
the initial cost price difference is getting
slimmer compared to the most effective machines.
The extra running cost of electricity of cheaper
models easily wipes out the
initial cost-saving.| 5/ Reduce Space Heating Requirements |
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The second largest energy user is frequently the heating of a living or working environment. The scope for reducing energy usage is less so than refrigeration, but still considerable. Ways to do this: Insulate roofs, ceilings, walls, windows and floors, you may be able to get a grant to help you do this, ask at your local council, government office or library.Use curtains on windows to keep the heat in and shelves above radiators (about 2"/5cm above) to deflect heat outwards rather than up under curtains where radiators are so frequently placed and the heat lost in heating the window Turn the thermostat down by 1 degree - 2 is even better. 1 degree Centigrade will save around 10% of the energy needed and you probably won't notice so much - if you're cold, put something on. If you're cold and don't put something on it'll help you lose weight as you generate heat from within by burning up food instead! Keep doors and windows closed as far as possible.Don't heat little used parts of the house / workplace. Rarely or unused spare or guest rooms for instance can have their heaters turned off and doors closed when not in use.
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Despite
what it sounds like, this is about heating the spaces that
we live and work in and not on heating outer space.| 6/ Reduce Water Heating Requirements |
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In Antarctica a shower longer than 2 minutes is known as a "Hollywood Shower" - extravagant and unnecessary (though in Antarctica it's usually due to a lack of freshwater in liquid form). More efficient washing machines and dishwashers can have a large effect here too, so consider paying a little extra at purchase time to save an awful lot more in energy cost through the lifetime of the appliance.
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One
of the easiest ways of doing this is to take showers and not
baths, though it is possible to use an awful lot of
energy in the shower too. Power Showers are the worst
culprits, normal showers are fine for getting you clean.
Also, don't spend so long in the shower.| 7/ Eat Less Meat |
 Meat
is expensive and not just in monetary terms. It
is expensive because farm animals process their feed
inefficiently. About 10% or less of the food fed to an
animal reared for meat is converted to meat. The rest of
the available energy is is lost largely through losses
due to respiration mainly through generating heat (the
vast majority of farm animals are warm blooded) and
locomotion.This means that for every 10 units of (plant based) food energy given to a farm animal, 9 are not available for the consumer of that animal who only gets 1 unit. Whereas the whole 10 units could be gained by directly eating the plant food fed to the animal. Factory farming is more efficient and free-range less efficient as factory is based on the premise of maximum profit while free-range on animal welfare which means the animals are outdoors (colder) and free to move about more, this means they need more food to get them to the appropriate weight. Ok, so this is rather simplistic and I don't really think we can expect anyone to live on cattle or pig feed directly, but nonetheless any way you look at it, eating meat is an extravagance. Much more food is grown to feed the animals than would need to be grown if people ate plant-based food and this doesn't take into account the transport and infrastructure needed to rear and process the animals - and I'm not starting on the rights and wrongs of rearing and eating animals for meat versus being a vegetarian or the environmental impact of cow farts. Just one day a week (in fact just one day) without meat will have knock-on positive environmental effects as well as knock-on positive health benefits for yourself. You don't have to become vegetarian or know the source and provenance of every morsel that passes your lips (unless you really want to), just don't eat so much meat.
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| 8/ Get More Effective Lighting and Use it Less | ||
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Maybe it's too obvious to say, but turn lights off where they are not needed, the same goes for all those appliances you leave on stand-by. BTW - exactly when and why
did "off" start to get replaced by "stand-by"?
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We're
all aware of energy efficient light-bulbs - effectively
short coiled fluorescent tubes that use a fraction of the
energy of an ordinary light bulb and last far longer too.
They've come down in price a lot in recent years, but the
main saving is that they are considerably cheaper over
the life of the bulb - So why aren't you using more of them,
if you already know this?| 9/ Drink tap water - The great bottled water swindle |
In
the vast majority of the 1st world our tap water is more than clean
enough to drink, but somehow we started to fall for marketing
messages that tell us to go out and buy drinking water in bottles
instead of just getting it from the tap.
Get it from the tap and you will prevent the huge amount of fossil fuels consumed in transporting bottles of water to and from the supermarket, millions of tonnes of water unnecessarily transported over millions of road-miles. You will also help to avoid all those billions of one-trip plastic bottles needed.
If you want your tap water to be even cleaner, you can get a filter jug, or for greater convenience a water filter under the sink so it comes straight out of the tap super-filtered.
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Good for me Much cheaper than bottled water No more carrying big heavy bottles of water from the store Freshly filtered,
doesn't sit around in a plastic bottle for months on
end (or longer) absorbing chemicals from the bottle |
Good for the environment Billions of plastic bottles per year less to deal with Huge reduction in pollutant production associated with transport |
| 10/ Buy organic food - even grow it yourself |
Organic
food is food that is grown without man-made chemicals such as
pesticides and fertilisers. It also means no human waste, or
sewage sludge, has been used on the fields and that no ionizing
radiation or food additives were used in their production. Organic
meat has been reared without the routine use of antibiotics and
without using growth hormones.
Organic food doesn't need to be bought from the supermarket and is much more widely available than imagined. "Vegetable box" schemes are popular ways of getting organic food whereby you buy a box of veg that is delivered once a week or so of whatever veg is in season.
Organic food often has a price premium over non-organic, which is more reason to grow it yourself if you have the space. I don't see the point of struggling against the slugs and weather to get a crop of lettuce that I can't possibly eat quick enough at the time when they are almost giving them away in the shops. Instead you could try lollo rosso, rocket and especially those cut-and-come-again salads and tomatoes which are at their best when directly from plant to plate in a few minutes.
Other ideal vegetables to grow are green beans, these are easy and don't travel well so the ones in the shops are never as good or as fresh as home grown. Broad beans are good as are French beans and very easy too. French beans don't need all the long canes that runner beans need, but wait until early May before sowing them outdoors. They can be started off earlier if you like in 3" pots in an unheated greenhouse.
I also go for spinach because I like it in salad better than any other leaf (apart from watercress, but I don't have the appropriate flowing watercourse).
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Good for me Tastes better, though this is usually more a case of the varieties used than being organic itself. In reality it often works out more tasty as only the best varieties of plant and animal are grown in an organic manner Growing your own: Much cheaper than buying it Satisfaction in your gardening prowess Food that is not contaminated by any chemicals you'd probably rather it didn't have The absolute freshest fruit and veg
Good for the environment | Less chemicals out there, which has a direct effect reducing the amount in circulation Also very biodiversity-friendly as there are no "blunderbuss chemicals" that kill everything in their path and not just the pests Growing your own: No transport costs at all |
| 11/ Ready meals / TV dinners - don't do it! |
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OK - 'fess-up time, does that really apply to you? or is it more like a case of can't be bothered? Even if you don't have much time, it doesn't take long to cook proper food and it doesn't need to be exotic. |
Our
busy lifestyles mean that we have been sold the idea
that we have no time to properly cook or prepare food
anymore.
We arrive home late, exhausted and unable to do
anything other than take a packet of something exotic
sounding from the refrigerator - barely able to press
the microwave start button before slumping semi-lifeless
in front of the idiot-lantern (TV).Why are ready-meals not so good?
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Lots and lots of packaging
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Often twice cooked, once when prepared, then once again by you, energy inefficient and extra cooking removes flavour
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May contain additives you could do without
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Frozen meals require extra resources to keep them frozen in transport and storage
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Do you really like them? Go on be honest - they're not that nice really are they?
What's the alternative? - This is for the unconverted, if you already cook from scratch (or thereabouts) you're already there.
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Quality ingredients simply cooked
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Cheaper than buying ready-prepared food, even ready-grated cheese or shredded salad leaves are much more expensive than than getting the raw food as it comes and grating or shredding it yourself.
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Roasting a chicken for example will take you about 15mins effort, it will take the chicken a couple of hours or less, but that's your own time. You don't need the full roasted accoutrements, lots of other simple things you can do with it instead.
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We are brainwashed in particular by TV chef's talk of complex and subtle combinations of flavour, there is no more complex flavour than a fresh piece of fruit, veg or meat on its own. Remember to get quality ingredients. Many ready meal sauces are not only needlessly complex, but have flavourings that are needed to compensate for the less good ingredients and the fact that it's sat around for who knows how long waiting to be cooked - and why do any carbonara-types always repeat on you for hours afterwards?
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Good for me Tastes better, food that is in better condition and has less preservatives Probably healthier as you know exactly what has gone into what you are eating |
Good for the environment Less energy used in preparation as the food is cooked once, not twice Much less packaging, ready meals are one of the most over-packaged goods in the supermarket Less energy used in transport, prepared food in all that packaging that is largely air take up far more space meaning more lorries to ferry them about |
| 12/ Recycle stuff |
It's becoming easier and easier to do this as recycling facilities become more widespread reducing the need to throw things away to landfill.
Garden refuse that is too large for you to handle into the compost bin if you must, but it's better to make and use your own compost
Other stuff
you should be recycling at the minimum:
Many can be disposed off at a nearby out of town (or maybe even
in town) car park.
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Aluminium cans
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Glass bottles
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Newspapers
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Unwanted reasonable quality clothing and other goods to charity shops such as Oxfam / Cancer Research etc.
Further steps:
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ebay - sell stuff you would otherwise bin
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freecycle - give away and get stuff you would otherwise bin or have to buy
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Good for me Some recycling is the only altruistic-only thing here, although you personally benefit as well as everyone else More contentious, but nonetheless a useful positive (sort of) is that the fact that many councils are now collecting landfill waste less often, so if you don't segregate properly, you'll need to go to the skip to take the stuff that doesn't fit into the bin any more. Segregate recyclable waste properly and you won't have to do this. Get money for unwanted stuff, or other stuff you want either cheaper or for free! |
Good for the environment Lots less carbon dioxide pumped out into the atmosphere as much less energy is needed to recycle aluminium and glass in particular compared to making it anew Less mining with associated spoil and environmental degradation needed as less raw materials needed Recycling something intact saves ALL of the energy and resources taken to make another one as only one is made instead of two. |
| 13/ Business Can Help Too |
For
some reason I don't entirely understand, all of the above often goes
instantly out of the window when business is concerned. Here's a few
obvious ways that business can help VERY considerably:
1/ Don't assume that it doesn't matter as long as "it's business" - it does - you / they are responsible. At the moment in many cases the polluter doesn't pay, but in reality WE ALL PAY and the polluter is riding on the backs of everyone else. "It's Business" is not a no-blame joker-card, often the effort to improve may be small and the effect large.
2/ Don't have doors open in the winter with a fan heater blowing downwards above the entrance so people can walk in but still feel nice and warm even though the door is wide open. Doors are a very effective low tech means of retaining heat and therefore cutting greenhouse emissions - use them! (reduces fuel bills too - best described as "overheads" sounds more impressive in corporate-speak!)
3/ You don't really need
to have ALL the lights on ALL night - timer switches will do
the job if you can't be bothered. You'll save on power bills and
also on the life-time of light fittings. Advertising is just not
going to be effective between about midnight and 8 a.m. so turn
it off!
4/ Office environments don't need to be frigid in the summer. If
you need to put something on to stay warm when people outside
are in t-shirts, then the air-conditioning dial is in the wrong
place.
5/ DO NOT SUPPORT WASTEFUL INDUSTRY, here's an extreme example (November 2006) - A seafood company in Scotland is planning to ship frozen langoustines (a posh word for big shrimp/prawns) from Scotland to Thailand so that they can be peeled and then frozen and shipped back again. Currently they are peeled using water jets, but this isn't so great. A 12,000 mile trip to be peeled by Thai workers earning 25p an hour instead will give a better quality product for less cost. Each 1 tonne of fish will generate 0.5 tonne of carbon dioxide that wouldn't otherwise have been released. But hey! they can make money from it and that's all that matters isn't it?.......
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