is anyone else considering their carbon footprint?

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.

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 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!

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!

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.

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?

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.

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...

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 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.

Excellent post, Misha14!

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.

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.

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 .

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.

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!

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 .

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’

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!

I am impressed by plenty of you who've posted. Grans are quite a thoughtful bunch or is that just this small sample?
I agree with Rowantree that it is hard to get things repaired but doubly satisfying if you can.
I'm currently waiting for a repair person to fix our 40 yr old gas cooker. He is in demand so I have to wait 4 weeks and that is just to assess it!
DIY was a big thing when we were younger. Now everyone goes to IKEA.
Real nappies anyone? Apparently not one of the billions of disposables have biodegraded yet.
Perhaps we are on the brink of a quiet revolution and it won't be long before our DGC are asking us, in horror, if we drove vehicles which polluted the very air we breathe!!

On the contrary most people I know are concerned about global warming and are adjusting their lives accordingly

I dont agree. I think a lot of people are making "green switches" that allows them to continue their same lifestyles whilst easing their conscience.

But most green switches are just "greenwash".

We need to consume less and that means doing less. Not doing the same things but greenwashed

Merryweather speak for yourself. Some people act as you say but certainly not all. On the contrary most people I know are concerned about global warming and are adjusting their lives accordingly, but we have to live in the world as it is now.

Anyway people tend to be far too gloomy. The fact is that UK energy consumption is falling and has been falling for over a decade. We now use less energy than we did 50 years ago. This is because all our efforts at insulation have been effective. We may have more electricity consuming gadgets but they use less and less electricity as they become more efficient. Look at cars. In the 1950 they averaged about 30 miles to a gallon of petrol. It is now nearly twice that.

The problem is falling energy consumption is not something we can see and governments will not highlight it in case it makes us feel complaisant. but the good news can be found here: www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-uk-primary-energy-use-in-2018-was-the-lowest-in-half-a-century

So all our efforts are paying off. Keep going and we will get there.

I am changing my car (essentail where I live) to a hybrid to be more mindful of my footprint. I was somewhat disconcerted to discuss it is being shipped half way round the world!

Like Harrigran I have very little guilt towards my CF . Never fly ( wish I could though) never been on a cruise , rarely ever have a holiday, a weekend away maybe once a year ( if we are lucky), drive as a necessity only ( to and from work and looking after others ) . Have had a water meter since forever do have always been very careful with water , rarely throw anything away that might be useful to someone else prefer to use freecycle and have managed to give away everything from electrical items and furniture to sand and cement.

What a boring and sh*tty, miserable life I lead .

We are at fault. We want our heating on cranked up, air conditioning in the summer or fans. We want convenience, we want cheap/ value for money. Luxurious long showers or baths. We want to do what's right for the planet but refuse to compromise by reducing our use of the above.
So, unless we are prepared to compromise the planet is doomed.

Places like China dump the plastic in the sea - no one is prepared to make a stand to stop that, or other countries where rubbish lines the streets.

What's the answer? What's the plan?