is anyone else considering their carbon footprint?

We fly quite a lot as we have a house in Greece and our son lives in Montreal. Would driving to Greece be any greener? I don’t think so. I do try in every day life to do my own little bit by getting on my bike for small journeys, recycling, etc etc but I do think that we can only try our best in our own small ways.
I do agree that whatever we do individually is a drop in the ocean but drops add up and it is better to do something than nothing.

I know we can't uninvent the wheel, but I wish it was easier to have things mended instead of chucking them on landfill and buying new. Also it's worrying that companies will latch onto the 'green' movement by manufacturing more tat we don't need under the banner of being 'eco-friendly' when actually how much of it do we really need?

Absolutely agree!
So many "green switches" ARE JUST MORE STUFF
and are also designed so that people can think they dont have to reign in their lifestyles!

Yes.

Switching to reusable coffee cups wont make a dent. We have to CHANGE how we expect to live to make a dent, and that cant be done with "easy" switches or questionable offsetting schemes.

If you are not considering your carbon footprint, you have been paying attention.

I am now disabled and practically housebound only going shopping once a week by the Dial a bus. Home made cloth bags for shopping. Buy meat from the butcher if possible rather than packs from the supermarket which is in plastic trays shrink wrapped.
I have stopped my help from using wipes. Instead bucket of soapy water. Soap for shower and hand wash. Wait until I have a full load before using the machine. Same with the washing up.
Unless he wants to take me out my son comes to see me by train. Says it is much more relaxing. He rarely uses his car . Cycles much as possible.
I have to shop on line and it annoys me how much packaging is used. Three small books yesterday wrapped in plastic in a huge cardboard box.

Po-faced? Sod that. I can live with being called that. Also a hypocrite though we use the car far less now and travel more by train where we can. DD1 lives in Norwich and doesn't have a car so we sometimes train it and sometimes drive in order to take them out to places they couldn't otherwise reach.

When we holiday abroad we take the train. I used to grumble that we wouldn't see far-flung places, but again - sod that. It's not a right. Now we can be more creative, careful and thoughtful about travelling.
harrigran we need to re-learn how we (people) lived and move towards it again. Even in my lifetime, for us, I recall my mother's basket on wheels and wicker shopping basket; going to the butcher and greengrocer, bringing home a whole chicken to cut up and so on. My mother washed sheets and clothes in the bath for years, but when she finally did get a washing machine, it lasted 25 years before it packed up! How many last that long these days?

I know we can't uninvent the wheel, but I wish it was easier to have things mended instead of chucking them on landfill and buying new. Also it's worrying that companies will latch onto the 'green' movement by manufacturing more tat we don't need under the banner of being 'eco-friendly' when actually how much of it do we really need?

Personally I find it almost overwhelming and frightening just how far I have to go to reduce my own footprint.

I have been considering it for years. I haven't been on a long haul flight for over 10 years and have not flown short haul for some years either. Mainly, I admit, because I hate airports. I use train a lot. I have travelled to Spain, Switzerland and the mediterranean coast of France by train and loved it. I also use ferries a lot.

I have also given up swimming in favour of walking because I can walk from home while the pool was a 10 mile round trip and, living in a rural area plan my car trips very carefully to try and do as many things as possible on each trip out.

I have no intention of going veggie or vegan, but I am about to start buying my beef from pasture-fed farms, where the beef are raised and fed only on pasture and hay and are not given grain. It is environmentally sensitive at every level from reduced emissions to making more land to grow crops for human rather than animal feed. Here is their web site: www.pastureforlife.org/news/pasture-for-life-it-can-be-done/

We don't fly (we have in the past, once long-haul and several times short-haul, so we are no angels) partly to cut down our carbon footprint and partly because I am scared of flying. We are fortunate in having no need to fly to visit family.

It seems to be ok to say you are scared, but if you say you think it's a very silly way of getting about, crammed into a tin miles up in the sky while damaging the planet, you can come over as po-faced. I am quite happy to admit to being a coward!

“Crusades” did someone post? How demeaning. It is hard to confront our consumption and like another poster notice that my children are less careful than I have been, but my grandchildren are getting worried... If plastic and disposables are to be kept for only really necessary things, maybe the NHS use is understandable. I recently had a major op where all the disposable blankets on the operating table were incinerated after use, washable blankets not entirely germ free and increase use of antibiotics. I’ve always loathed aerosols for cosmetic or more “frivolous” use - hair sprays, deodorants etc. Squirty cream! Where do the manufacturers or consumers think they will go?

My carbon footprint is probably lower than anyone that protests about the environment. For the first 50 years of my life I had never been on a plane and never eaten convenience foods or used plastic bags. In the 23 years since I have travelled by plane only 8 times. When we refurbished our house everything that came out of it was recycled including the windows and even the soil was taken to another building site for reuse.
We lived in a time when string shopping bags were the norm and waste not want not was on everyone's lips.

It's arguable that carbon offsetting could be akin to buying indulgences/forgiveness for one's sins....though whilst better than nothing, it's obviously more effective to make real changes in our lifestyles. Just pick up any magazine in a newsagent: they're all trying to prey on insecurities and con you into buying stuff you/we don't really need, again and again, season after season. They, and the rest of the media, need to do a serious re-think because they do influence people.
I wish I'd paid more attention in my Domestic Science sewing classes as a teenager..... :-(

Thanks for your thoughtful answers.
I was reading an exhibition board today and the final panel suggested what we could individually do. I'll try to post it on here.
My own conclusion is that we should keep trying in whatever way we can. If young and energetic enough we can lobby people who make the decisions to help them to make better ones.

ecci53 so who's going to volunteer for a suicide pact then? Or have you designated a group of people who are surplus to requirements?
IMO that's a cop out. Our consumer-led, profit-led polluting global society is to blame for the vast majority of the planet's ills. It's that which needs tackling head-on and it's governments who have to commit to laws forcing change, but many are dragging their collective feet and paying lip service to appeasing anyone concerned at the demise of our environments. Apologies for the mixed metaphors!

It is easy to make small changes I find, using less plastic, more eco friendly wash stuff, cooking more food rather than plastic takeaways, using old clothes and shopping for new far less often. Also try not to put the heating on until really necessary. I love my thick wool jumpers. But, I do fly long haul twice a year. Thinking of cutting this down and staying longer at my chosen destination. But confess a hard habit to break for me. I eat out a lot when travelling and try to support local economies. That country relies on tourism too so a difficult choice.

If the poster who found an ethical offsetting site could post the link I would appreciate it.

Anything we do is just tinkering round the edges of the problem, which is that there are too many people. The global population is increasing at a ridiculous rate and our planet cannot support so many people.

I think most of us try in some small way to reduce our carbon footprint, and although most of us don't do anywhere near enough, it's good that we do something, however small. I don't think we should berate ourselves for not doing more, I think we should pat ourselves on the back, oak trees grown from little acorns and all that. But at the same time, we shouldn't get complacent, but should aim to do more each day.

I do my best but, have a very poor local transport service. I get my groceries delivered (and usually manage to book the time when the website indicates the van is coming to my area anyway).

I have just had a holiday in the UK with friends. We use Advanced Booking and Senior Railcard on the railway to keep the cost right down. We shall be doing the same next year.

I shall be flying with my sister to Egypt for Christmas and New Year but, that will probably be the last time.

I will not buy bottled water, but use tap water to try to cut down on plastic,

There is a lot more I could do so must try harder,

Ive been considering my carbon footprint. I dont like flying so have generally used trains and have been on a cruise 3 times in my life. I generally take the bus or train everywhere. We do take our small car on a UK holiday 2 sometimes 3 times a year. I have been on a plane, furthest I have flown is either England or Southern Ireland. I know cruise ships arent meant to be that great, but I have only been on those for a special occasion. Also use Park and Rides when we can.

Excellent post.
We never fly and yes, we are all part of the problem, like it or not. We have all got used to convenience and belief that choice of consumer goods and services is ours by right whatever the cost to the environment. It's just...happened, over the decades.
We, and our descendents, will need to clear up the mess if there's a viable world left.
So we all need to extricate ourselves from consumerism as far as possible. Buying new to update? Forget it. Changing decor because you fancy something else you've seen in a magazine? Think again. Throwing gadgets away rather than fixing them? Buying strawberries in December, flown from somewhere we haven't ever been to or heard of? Again, re-think. Previous generations had to eat seasonally, and we can learn to do this more. Growing our own veggies and fruit is great for those with space and time. Make things last, clothes and furniture. Gradually cultivate a different mindset (and it's far from easy - I admit to being a massive hypocrite but I'm trying really hard not to be! It's like that old saying about sliding down a razor blade using your big toe as a brake.)
By far the biggest pollutors are industries and corporations and government is slow to impose laws forcing change. We can and should be part of that pressure. We can't change the world by knitting one dishcloth but it's all part of a move in the right direction.
Can we make the needed changes fast enough to make a difference? That's the worrying question.

And I didn't mean to say it was a nice topic either! I probably meant massive. No more messages from my phone.

That should read 'we'll buy it'... not 'all bit'!

I think this is such a nice topic and most of us are pretty clueless about it all.

Developing countries. Are they to be stopped developing? The problems in South America. They want to rear beef. We don't really want them to. I imagine all bit it though, if the price is right.

I was in hospital the other day and just glancing around noticed how much plastic is used. I googled and found an article from last year saying that the NHS binned 334,000 single use cups a day.

Makes the Christmas cracker spoils look positively innocent.

Massive, worldwide problem.

Answer? Not a clue.

We can say we're doing our bit which is great but it's a drop in the ocean. Literslly

I do what I can without being a hypocrite. Less single use plastic ( no shower gel bottles or bottled water), heavily insulated house with very efficient boiler, vegetarian, walk or car share on local trips. But: we have worked hard and now plan on having the big trips we couldn't do when we were younger, and there will be a few flights in the next couple of years. When I watch athletic championships in Doha in air conditioned stadia, which is true madness, I am not concerned about my flights.

I do think about it quite a lot I do have a small carbon footprint as I don’t have a car I cycle walk or use public transport I do a couple of short haul flights a year to see grandkids otherwise I m fairly green I don’t eat meat or fish enjoy veggies and plant based ‘meat’ and am now starting growing my own I shower not bath I only water the ground when drought conditions are around I m very conscious of plastic and I m changing my habits a lot I recycle my clothes and books and buy mostly (not all) recycled items

nipsmum not a very nice post what’s your reason for that

It’s interesting how this sort of post mentions making things better for the grandchildren.
My own DS and DIL do not make anything like the effort DH and I do to save the planet. Not too fussed about recycling stuff, nip about in the car when I feel they could walk, DIL buys quite a few clothes and not sure what she does with old ones, but probably doesn’t send them to charity. And they are the ones with children.
I privately think they could do with making more of an effort, but as adults it’s really their choice.