09 May 2010

Why bother jumping out of the way of a speeding car?

Because it is interesting to set yourself a challenge in an age of abundance.

(In addition to far more urgent and obvious reasons of course.)

I »pledge to:
  1. Continue doing laundry at the lowest temperatures because it is also good for my clothes.
  2. Continue relying on natural light in the day because I also have the most gorgeous view.
  3. Continue separating out my trash because they have already made it so easy.
  4. Chuck a folded plastic bag in every of my bags, because conference pears and fresh milk keep badgering me to bring them home. 
  5. Spend only on good quality and design, picking up mundane items like holepunchers from thriftshops. (There're a ton of mundane stuff in our lives that don't need to be new at all.)
  6. Never throw another battery into the trash out of laziness unless »the country doesn't have battery recycling bins.
  7. Plug my phone charger in a conspicuous socket so that I will turn it off when not in use.
  8. Use the stairs on the way up, instead of just on the way down.
  9. Reduce the amount of trash I generate to one bag per week.  (Currently 1.5)
  10. Switch off common area lights in the day even though I don't pay the utility bills.
Finally, I pledge not be affected by sniggering folks who are too cool to do anything, or too blasé to have hope.


P.S. I'm still reeling from the revelation that flying is the worst thing an individual can do to her carbon footprint.  I'd have to think of how I can adjust my penchant for travel to this unfortunate fact of life.

2 comments:

  1. "flying is the worst thing an individual can do to her carbon footprint"

    Is that really TRUE???

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yes, it's a very inconvenient fact, and I was devastated to find out, but it's true.

    People differ on the exact number, but the fact remains is that it's the worst. Long-hauls are much worse than short-hauls:

    * A return long-haul flight to Thailand releases over two tonnes of CO2 per passenger - which is more than most non-flyers' carbon footprint for a whole year. - http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/Travel/Flying/Flying-the-facts

    * A flight from London to Madrid uses a quarter of their entire sustainable carbon year (ie the amount of fossil fuel a person can use in every aspect of their lifestyle over 12 months without contributing to climate change). A flight from London to Sydney squanders two and a half times this ration.
    - http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2006/dec/10/ethicalholidays.escape1

    ReplyDelete