| Topic: Your carbon footprint........................ |
| Posted : 24/07/08 / Views : 605 / Replies : 26 | |
|  | | Have you calculated your carbon footprint or don't you think it matters? |
|
|
|
| Replies : 1 - 10 of 26 [ 1 2 3 ] | view all | view as outline | [add your comments | all topics] |
|
|
| Reply #1: Re: Your carbon footprint........................ |
| Posted : 14/07/08 | |
| | Hi worldtuner,
I haven't calculated my carbon footprint as I wouldn't know how to. I do think about it though. There do seem to be two schools of thought regarding global warming and it's hard to know what to believe. I'm concentrating on recycling first, as one thing is definite, we will run out of landfill. I've just bought a big composter so hope to keep my rubbish to a minimum now.
I love to travel but I know that is supposed to be bad. I also have quite a thirsty car with high emissions so have been thinking about that recently. It's a bit confusing though as I read a report that said that a Jeep had the lowest carbon footprint. This took into consideration the manufacturing process as well as emissions. It's difficult to make an informed decision without all the facts.
What's your opinion? |
|
|
|
| Reply #2: Re: Your carbon footprint........................ |
| Posted : 16/07/08 | |
| | | I have calculated mine. Its 14.4 tonnes verses the US average of 20.4 tonnes. I think that is actually a little high because most of my electricity is solar or hydro here, but I still think its too high. I wonder though how much more I can do on my own. I drive a Prius (Cant bus to work in under 2 hours and cant bike because of injury), I am recycling as much as I can, buying my food plain and in bulk, trying to learn to cook with solar power (trying anyway), using CFLs, composting, turning off everything unneeded, and keeping the AC on 80 F. What else can I do? |
|
|
|
| Reply #3: Re: Your carbon footprint........................ |
| Posted : 16/07/08 | |
| | I recently calculated and found it confusing, I'm pretty high at 29.183 tonnes, if I live in any Asian country it's bad for the average is 9.8 tonnes, in Europe it's the same 9.8 Tonnes (yet more pollution in the East) and as no hurry said America is 20.4 tonnes.
Hi Wolfspirit yes travel problem just goes over the top. try your's go to carbonfootprint.com .
May you stay forever young |
|
|
|
| Reply #4: Re: Your carbon footprint........................ |
| Posted : 17/07/08 | |
| | Thanks for the web address Worldtuner. Mine works out at 13.718 tonnes but that's because I haven't done much travelling over the last year, I usually do more.
One big chunk is my car and the other big chunk is my household fuel bill. I've got oil heating (no gas available) plus large electric bill. Living on my own makes my footprint bigger. I'm going to look into changing my electricity supplier to one that's cheaper and more ethical. |
|
|
|
| Reply #5: Re: Your carbon footprint........................ |
| Posted : 18/07/08 | |
| | One area is solar panels or wind turbines, these are so expensive, I don't know if these can be purchased secondhand, you have to change bulbs to 12v standard fittings, these are not cheap, I understand the Government has either stopped the grants or reduced the payments for going ecofriendly, doesn't make sense, have you tried burning used oil or some form of bio fuel, look at recycle.com, I joined my local one you can ask other users for items you are looking for all free instead of garbaging it.
No hurry is cooking with solar power, maybe some tips there. |
|
|
|
| Reply #6: Re: Your carbon footprint........................ |
| Posted : 18/07/08 | |
| | I calculated mine a few months ago, wow if it's true and we're all producing roughly the same then we're in serious trouble,
hey how do you cook with solar power? |
|
|
|
| Reply #7: Re: Your carbon footprint........................ |
| Posted : 20/07/08 | |
| | I built a simple CooKit following the directions online. Very easy and I had most the materials in my garage. I didnt have a huge black pot or oven bags though. I live in the Nevada heat and sun, so I figured if ladies in Africa can do it, I should be able to get high enough temps here too.
Yeah, a big house sure makes a bigger footprint. Id like a much smaller house and to live a lot closer to work. |
|
|
|
| Reply #8: Re: Your carbon footprint........................ |
| Posted : 20/07/08 | |
| | | Well i dont own a car, havnt been flying on hols for quite a while (in fact only one return helicopter trip in the last 5 years). i recycle, try to cut down my heating as much as possible, turn everything off when not in use, im vegan, try to buy products that have traveled least miles and raise my kids to be as green as possible. |
|
|
|
| Reply #9: Re: Your carbon footprint........................ |
| Posted : 20/07/08 | |
| | | Has anyone wondered how effective recycling is? I mean, my council has a different collection for paper waste and bottles, and another for green waste - that's a lot of fuel being burned to 'help' the environment, and god knows what chemicals are used during the 'recycling' process. Recycled paper has to bleached for instance...do they just pump that into the sea?? |
|
|
|
| Reply #10: Re: Your carbon footprint... |
| Posted : 22/07/08 | |
| | I think the main benifit in recycling is the reduction in the harvesting of virgin resources. Yes, it takes fuel to move our recycling around, but it would also take fuel to move it straight to a landfilll and to move virgin resources to manufacture as well.
I think even more important than just recycling is reducing what we consume. I am constantly astounded by the scale of American consumerism. It makes me feel like my efforts are like a pebble trying to stop up a river. Then I get a friend to forsake plastic shopping bags, carpool, or eat a meatless meal and I realize its baby steps. |
|
|
|
| Replies : 1 - 10 of 26 [ 1 2 3 ] | view all | view as outline | [add your comments | all topics] |
|
