Don’t save the planet – save yourself!

Saving the planet is not really about stopping Planet Earth from dying, exploding or somehow disappearing. It’s about saving our own skins. Pretty much whatever we do Planet Earth will still be here – it’s us (and many other life forms) that are the ones under threat.

So here are three quick and easy eco top tips…

1) Go Veggie. 25 calories of fossil fuel are used to produce just one calorie of meat protein. Vegetable protein requires 30% less energy, 100 times less water and seven times less land area.
Every time you eat a meat free meal you’re helping the environment.

2) Use the car for one less journey this week. Reduce your car use one journey at a time. It all adds up.

Every time you leave the car at home you are helping to reduce global warming and particulate pollution.

3) Take your unwanted clothes, shoes, toys and bric-a-brac to the local charity shop. Millions of tonnes of perfectly good, re-usable items end up in landfill every year.

So don’t add yours to the pile – donate it to charity and save the planet while helping a good cause.

MAIL ME YOUR CARBON!

Hi. I’m Dave Hampton and I’m offering some free help. In schools I’m known as Carbon Dave, or, more professionally - “the carbon coach”.
Pssst. I'm a ‘carbon shrink’. You can tell me!
You speak your weight, and I'll hear you.

I am ‘trialing’ a 'Mail me your carbon' scheme, before I roll it out globally.. and beyond...!

I am offering this to Passion for the Planet listeners and blog readers. (I may have to ‘cap’ the offer, but I will take at least the first 30 to contact me.)

By participating, asking awkward questions or providing challenging feedback, you will be helping me to help others chip away at the carbon fat; leading the way for us all to ‘Cut The Carbon’

At the heart of all this is my conviction that to know our own personal carbon footprint is more important than we might think. Not knowing our number is potentially holding us back in all sorts of ways. Our carbon shadow (the CO2 emissions we are responsible for) without really knowing it - is ‘behind us’. It is much easier to face this shadow once we know it is always following us. Like in the panto!

I strongly recommend that you sign up for the 10:10 campaign as well - if you haven’t already! (10% footprint reduction by this time in 2010).

Mission Possible:

Email me your best estimate of your current overall carbon footprint and what you make of it. There are several carbon footprint 'calculators' but I recommend you use:

The Resurgence Quick Carbon Calculator

It is quick and simple to use – as well as educational and illuminating. It's also very friendly!

You can see the ‘working total’ (bottom line) start to add up, and you can see the carbon mount up - real time - as you enter your data.

Tell me how it worked for you, and which part you'd most like to tackle over the next 12 months.

I will reply. The heroes - in my book - are those who know their number. Confidentiality is assured.

If you find you are a 200 tonner (200 TCO2e per year) but you didn't realise it before, and you tell me, then you'll have made my day, by sharing this with me. Chances are you'll feel better too. After all, a footprint shared is a footprint halved - well almost! And you are nearly in the company of Prince Charles, who last year estimated his Estate at some 2800 tonnes! (And falling year on year impressively.) Don't be downhearted. I can help you find ways to reduce your carbon.

If you find you are a 20 tonner, that’s better, but you are above the UK national average of 13 tonnes.

If you are a 2 tonner, I salute you. We can learn from you.

Who me? Well, since you asked, I am coming in at around 5 tonnes on this estimator, which is around half the national average. And I’m working on further reductions.

Keep a copy of the email you send me - it will come in handy next year when you calculate whether or not you made your 10% reduction, and when you set yourself a new reduction target for next year.

One last thing! Happy Birthday Gandhi!!

On October 2nd it is Gandhi’s birthday and that day is also National Carbon Footprint Day!

Gandhi used to say “Be the Change that you would wish to see in the world” – and nowhere is this more true than with carbon leadership.

National Carbon Footprint Day was launched last year by Donnachadh McCarthy. The website is simple and functional. This time last year I entered my gas, elec, and water actual meter readings - on 2nd October 2008, along with my actual car milometer readings, and details of flight miles. Hey presto – the next year - it feeds all that info back to you - on Gandhi’s birthday, so you can keep track of the longer term trend in your carbon footprint.This is helpful, as you don’t need to keep the meter readings or do the working out.

So I warmly encourage you to make use of this NCFD site: use it to record where you were in 2009. Who knows, in 2012 we may look back with much pride at how much carbon weight we have lost!



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