The next big thing, or is it NOW - Going GREEN

[vanth]

Also, while reducing your personal emissions is admirable, I think that this is fundamentally a public policy issue and too much responsibility is being put on the end consumer (especially with the way the ETS is shaping up) when we should be figuring out ways to maintain our current lifestyles without the emissions. Take the whole rental scenario, the government should be investing heavily in super energy efficient public housing so that renter can choose to live in green homes, and get desperately needed affordable housing too, two birds with one stone.

You should keep in mind that you are probably aware of the the attention the "end consumer" is getting with regard to this issue because you are an end consumer, and not someone in charge of a large company (just guessing here, of course). Those people in charge of large companies probably get a bunch of stuff and offers to do with the Emissions Trading Scheme as well

 

[lostpunk5545]

The eco footprint tool whilst originally developed for a national level as an environmental equivalent of the GDP to replace the Triple Bottom Line way of thinking (which didn't do the environment any good) is pretty useful on a personal level. I'm a firm believer that only rational policy will get up out of this mess but it does show that doing things such as cutting the weekly amount of meat consumed, walking to the shops, or using public transport when an option are all helpful things on an individual level.

 

[lostpunk5545]

You said you didn't think you polluted much.

That was exactly I targeted you drug mentor and you'll notice I said a similar thing on the first page regarding not feeling compelled to make much change personally, i wasn't trying to be a jerk so don't take it that way, just pointing things out.

I have a few ideas I think are interesting on application of the eco footprint thing and I'll voice them when I get home from work.

 

[CHiLD-0F-THE-BEAT]

My score was 5.8 global hectares or 3.2 planet Earth's. I'm surprised I got such a high score, considering I only travel by car two to three times per week and when I do I'm always travelling with at least another person in the car; and the fact that I use public transport and cycling/walking to get around every other time I need to get around; only fly twice per year; recycle everything and rarely buy new clothes / shoes and household items.

Eating meat really hurt me, as did not having green energy. We should really get onto that.
I wonder if they could incorporate having insullation into the questions somehow? Surely not having it wastes a lot of energy.

Thanks for the link, LP.

 

[belarki]

I got 4 global hectares or 2.2 planet earths :/ Suprising to see food comprised like 30% of my total given I'm vegetarian. I'm guessing it's because of dairy and the fact most of our supermarket food in Australia comes from hundreds of kilometres away...

Interesting link though, thanks lostpunk!

 

[bit_pattern]

You should keep in mind that you are probably aware of the the attention the "end consumer" is getting with regard to this issue because you are an end consumer, and not someone in charge of a large company (just guessing here, of course). Those people in charge of large companies probably get a bunch of stuff and offers to do with the Emissions Trading Scheme as well

I'm pretty well versed on the issue, and with the CPRS it seems to many concessions are being given to big polluters in the form of free permits and they are being given free reign to pass the costs onto consumers, who get very paltry , if any, subsidies to help them deal with the increased costs. Unfortunately, the fossil fuel lobby (the greenhouse mafia as thy call themselves) have a huge influence over policy decison making in this country. It will be a real shit fight to try and strengthen the legislation in future years, and I find it to be a bit of a worry.

 

[UnSquare]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/en...-wind-farm-handouts-especially-in-Sicily.html

 

[NickyJ]

Wow, that footprint calculator is really hard to please. I thought my footprint would be heaps small but I got 2.1 planet earths. I drive a Corolla, ride to work at least twice a week and have a 1.5kW solar system on my house and that still isn't enough! Stupid planet.

Eating meat definitely fucks your average but I don't really eat that much and all the fish I eat is caught by me or my old man

 

[studman69]

Dude, I hate to say it, but fishing is incredibly bad for the ecosystem.

 

[NickyJ]

^ How so?

 

[Klue]

^ You mean because you catch the fish yourself it's sustainable right? And commercial fishing isn't? We are much better in Australia than many other countries as far as sustainability goes. I've heard dire consequences we will suffer if we don't change our fishing practices as a whole. But we have a fishing thread for that


I am sooooo into being 'Green' at the moment. I have huge plans to further extend our vegetable garden and food plants. My whole block is like one big permaculture garden, I love it. I'm using recycled newspapers when I'm mulching, just got a huge load of mulch from a mate. Don't use many chemicals, I'm using a plant oil spray on our fruit trees this year (they are literally loaded in blossom and I high hopes from this years crop).

Every single thing that was once alive that goes through my kitchen (with the exclusion of meat and dairy) goes into my compost. It's the most amazing thing for plants, I can't recommend enough using compost when you're planting things. Increasing the organic matter level in the soil makes plants grow so much better

 

[NickyJ]

Sure there are bad things about fishing and particularly commercial fishing. But in the context of the footprint calculator, which I was referring to in my post, surely me doing some recreational fishing and eating the catch instead of eating farmed beef is a much much better option.

But perhaps I'm missing something here, hence my question.

 

[lostNfound]

On a personal level - determining one's ecological footprint is the best tool we have for finding out our impact on the environment. If anyone's curious...

http://www.wwf.org.au/footprint/

http://www.wwf.org.au/footprint/calculator/

^ I got 3.6 global hectares of the Earth's productive area to support my lifestyle. If everyone lived like me, we would need 2 planet earth's tp provide enough resources.

Ok, time for a little Eugenics

I just re did this same quiz and dcored 2.6 global hectares Down by a whole point

 

[JoshE]

Hmm, Seems we would need 3 planets if everyone lived like i did

 

[NickyJ]

Nice work, LnF! I redid mine the other day and got the same as the 1st time

 

[lostNfound]

^ It's all those fish you're catching

 

[NickyJ]

Ha! Nonsense! I've scarcely been fishing all year.

I think it's actually the flying that I do

 

[lostNfound]

I marked myself down for 14+hrs a year!

 

[NickyJ]

^ So what areas were you good in??

 

[lostNfound]

Food took up almost exactly half that little pie chart at the end.

Lights and power saving equipment around the house mostly did it I think.

Almost all of my food is bought locally, I buy wekly from the farmers market for all essential food items. I forget wht the others were just now........