is anyone else considering their carbon footprint?

DIY was a big thing when we were younger. Now everyone goes to IKEA.

As I regularly post, this is not because people became less willing or able to repair, but because it has become harder!

When I was young even my friends in social housing had sheds and lofts and yards!
You had space to do DIY
Space to store tools
Space to store "spares" (odd buttons, bits of bikes, planks, nails, half tins of paint etc!)

People didnt have to move every 6 months so they could build up supplies to re-use and repair things.

Homes are getting increasingly smaller and renting is so un-secure! Young people NEED cheap, light furniture that they can either move or get rid of if their next rental is furnished or smaller. Solid wooden stuff thats built to last is not good if you are hopping from one rental to the next!

We werent well off, but my mum had a sewing machine set up in the spare room and a chest of drawers full of fabric scraps. My dad had a big shed and a lot of space to make/repair things. There was a loft to store things until they could be reused.
We had a pantry where we kept old jam jars etc.
We had big heavy built to last furniture which was too big to move and was sold with the house in the end. Neither of my parents had to work weekends or evenings so they had time to do DIY etc. Both of their jobs/fields now are no longer office hours only. Weekends are not DIY/family time in many households now. Its another 2 working days!

And then there's built in obselescence. We didnt have that growing up! Things were fixable!

My husband doesn’t drive ...I don’t drive.... my son doesn’t drive....we use public transport or walk...taxis in extremis! My daughter aged 40 has just passed her test as she couldn’t advance her career without a car! My son hasn’t been on holiday since aged 14 ( last time he came with us)...me and OH not had holiday for 12 years! Think my conscience is clear on ‘carbon footprint’

There is no way I would wish terry nappies on the young mothers of today especially those who like my DD have to go out to work . I recall buckets of nappies steeping , I didn’t have an automatic washer and no way of getting them dried in the winter except hanging them all over the house .

It is surely about getting the balance between what makes our lives comfortable like disposable nappies, washing machines, central heating and being a bit 'hair shirt' about it all. I throw out very little, recycle, take to charity shops, don't get suckered in to buying the newest phone when my current contract expires, but I am not going to turn my heating off, I will continue to use those appliances which make my life far easier and more pleasant than the life my grandmother led. I do wonder who these people are who change their washing machine every two years; in 31 years, we are 5 years into our second one!

It's years since we flew anywhere, and we don't have a car, but both are more due to financial necessity than climate change.

It is so dreadfully difficult to know what actually affects global warming and what doesn't.

We shop for clothes in charity shops, walk or cycle most of the time, occasionally take a bus, about once a month and primarily eat locally produced food. We also sort rubbish, compost anything compostable and make sure that everything that can be recycled goes in the right bin.

We can only do so much about the world's problems, so I am happy to leave the environment to those who feel called to do something about it, while I do what I can to stop domestic violence.

Here here GillT57 ?

Like you we make things like washing machines and other appliances last . My DH has fixed the one we have now about 10 times so far . I have had 2 sets of sofa/suites in my life and the second one is as good as new having just recently been cleaned .

I waste nothing and I will not stop buying disposable nappies .

I live in a village with little in the way of public transport. You have me thinking though what about online shopping it has to be delivered are we willing to stop the convenience of that. I am a long distance carer for my brother and I get his shopping delivered I don’t know how ai could manage with the convenience of home delivery. Putting more freight onto the rail network would still mean needing to move it by road possibly in many smaller vehicles. The new lorries are very clean much in the way that new diesel cars are cleaner than petrol ones. I expect once all vehicles are electric that will make a huge difference providing we can actually afford them.

If every single human being on this planet did their bit, however, small then the effect would be humungous. I do realise that not everyone can. If you're starving then you won't be over concerned with plastic, if you have no bus service then you have to drive etc. but never underestimate the effect each individual has. At the very least it changes the mind set.

Excellent post, Misha14!

well said Misha I believe in the butterfly effect and every drop in the ocean counts.

I think we can't expect to see the result of what we do but we can plant seeds and plant trees and take as good care of our planet as we can.

As someone else said, there are plenty of places I will never visit but so what! Shakespeare wrote all his works without ever setting foot outside England. Rabbie Burns ditto for the UK.

How can I say this without upsetting everyone! Is not this climate change part of the our children's generation? Our meals were cooked from scratch, as were the children's' lunch boxes, we only had one car in our family, we took holidays locally - we packed picnics full of homemade food. I knew how to make food go a long way! I try my best to recycle etc - but I use a mobile phone, have a tablet which actually keeps me in touch with friends, I used to write letters and receive them! I cannot take these young people seriously - before you start campaigning about anything you have to look at yourself and see what you can do.

Well I have to use planes to visit my son and grandaughters in Australia...also to go to my daughter in the Emirates to help with grandson...but I only drive when necessary,recycle everything..don't eat meat!!! Methane from Cows (overbred!!!) is a huge problem.
We can all only do what we can...

Its all about balance. I use the bus/cycle for local trips, recycle, buy from our green shop and we are now using less and less plastic in our house. I grow a bit of veg and I am careful what food I do buy. Also tend to cut up old clothes and remake them.

Saying all this I do fly. Living in the west means driving across or up the country to get a ferry and we have an airport a short distance away that we can reach by bus. So we weighed it up and fly on holidays.

If anyone is interested in train travel around the world there is an excellent site called The Man in Seat 61 which has all the train routes, times, and fares for all over the world. I once planned a trip to Japan using train and ferry on this site. Never went.

Like farview We visit my DD in Aus. I go every 2 years, she comes here in the years that we don’t go there. I have no intention of stopping that.
I do, however feel that I must try and do what I can to stop waste. I don’t buy bottled water, use solid soap, am about to replace my very, very, very old down duvet with a woollen one and refuse to allow my DGS to buy plastic tat or fluffy toys when we have just been to a Sea Life centre. Honestly they bang on about plastic in the oceans then want to add to it in the gift shop!
I read every label that I can to make sure that I’m not buying anything with palm oil in it. Really hard work ?.
I still feel guilty.
Not so my young relatives. They fly here and there all the time, don’t seem to have a clue about recycling and think that the mini plastic bits of food that M&S are handing out as a marketing gimmick are cute!
? why am I bothering?

The rail system is just not an option for people like myself who use a mobility scooter.

When I was working I had to ring up and book assistance ( a ramp) for my outward and return journey. I couldn't deviate from those trains if a meeting ran late or finished early. Once on the train I was held captive and it was hit and miss whether they would remember I was on there and let me off. More than once I got stuck on trains and had to ring the customer help line because of course I could get off at no other station. Being alone on a train in the sidings is no fun let me say.

Now I live rurally, the local station has 2 platforms , I can access the outward platform no problem subject to there being someone on duty to move the ramp but I cant get off on the inward platform because there is no way out unless you cross a bridge.

So , whilst I appreciate the issues of offsetting your carbon footprint for it to be really viable more has to be done to make public transport accessible.

I live in Northamptonshire, and my mum in Yorkshire. To visit her using public transport, I have to get DH to drive me to Milton Keynes (30 mins drive if traffic is ok, but have to allow nearly twice as much again, just in case, as it only takes an accident on the M1 to block up all routes to MK), then a four hour 15 min coach journey to Huddersfield (after Sheffield it takes a very circuitous route to Huddersfield) that costs over £30 return, followed by a five mile local bus journey, then a 15 min walk with my luggage.

Then the same in reverse to go home again.

Assuming there are no big delays en route, one way takes about six hours from door to door.
The return journey for one person costs nearly £40, plus the car petrol to/from Milton Keynes.
By car, it takes 2 hours 15 mins door-to-door and the return journey costs under £30 in petrol for up to 4 people.

As I absolutely hate driving, and have an old-ish car that I don't want to go far from home in anyway (plus the fact that DH is no longer willing to either drive there or accompany me on these visits), I have made all recent visits using the coach journey as described, but until such travel becomes both quicker, easier and more cost effective, there is no way most people would choose this option over the car. It just isn't practical for most people!

Do I feel that my use of public transport here is of any benefit to the environment? No, not really!

I lnow this is nothing to do with carbon footprints, but it's part of the bigger environmental issue:
8 year old DGS has just become an Eco Warrior at his school, and apparently he was very unimpressed when he received his badge (supplied, I think, though not certain, by the local authority), because it was in a totally unnecessary plastic wrapper!

Palm oil is far more sustainable than other oils which are lower yield and do more damage.

We should all be chosing ethical palm oil, not rejecting it!

Avoiding all palm oil (e.g. Iceland Supermarkets) is a greenwashing marketing ploy which isnt actually that environmentally friendly!

I am amazed at the number of friends who get hot under the collar about single use plastics and how much they recycle and then feel perfectly happy to fly off on several long haul holidays a year.

I have family that live in rural places where they "have" to drive.

On paper.. what can they do?

In reality, when they have moved house they have refused to consider anywhere built up! They also object to any infastructure improvements in their areas because it'll change the character of the villages

But then climate change comes up and they claim they have to drive because the government doesnt provide them with a private door to door bus!

No! They chose to live somewhere "quaint". Now pretend they are not accountable for all their car use!

The last 2 houses we bought were deliberately chosen near good public transport links.

Yes, we could have sonewhere bigger and prettier in the middle of nowhere, but this way our children dont have to be driven to school as they can take the bus!

People need to start owning their choices a bit more

I see your point, notanan2, but unless we want/are prepared to let all rural properties lie empty, someone has to live there amd be dependent on cars, even if they would prefer not to be.
Some have a choice, yes, but far from everyone - those in rural social housing, for instance, who can't pick and choose where they live, but have seen bus services scrapped.

Don't fly abroad for holidays. Do fly within UK. Have checked out train but the cost is about a 3rd more. Would use public transport for shopping but there is none in my area. To go to the nearest city 30 mikes away I have to drive 18 miles to a park and ride. Governments have to get their act together in order that we minions can sort ours.

notanan2- of course you are correct and certified sustainable palm oil is a different matter.
Very few manufacturers use sustainable oil though.
I do have some products with it in- a cream that I use for my psoriasis. I contacted them and they responded with proof of the sustainability. It would be so much easier if they would just put the information on the bottle.

A kilo of meat generates more carbon emissions than a long haul flight. - “A kilogramme of beef protein reared on a British hill farm can generate the equivalent of 643kg of carbon dioxide. A kilogramme of lamb protein produced in the same place can generate 749kg. One kilo of protein from either source, in other words, causes more greenhouse gas emissions than a passenger flying from London to New York.” ( George Monbiot) so giving up meat is the most effective way of tackling carbon emissions.

How many kgs are generated by growing vegetables or cereals? Do you know crystaltips?
What about all the insecticides that are used on the crops that kill so many insects ect.?
It’s all so complicated that most people don’t know where to start.
Like many, I’ve started but am confused about all the information out there.