No Strain by Train

I made an interesting discovery today concerning flying cheapy RyanAir as opposed to going on SNCF and Eurostar to London. I am taking the boys over for Christmas and today was the first day we could reserve SNCF tickets for that period. I think the reservations opened at midnight but I'll be damned if I'm going to stay up until the early hours to make a train reservation. How sad is that??

Anyway, by way of comparison, I checked with RyanAir yesterday to see how much it would cost. To start with, I'd have to go from Marseille because the Montpellier flights have been cut right back to Thursdays and Sundays. Going from Marseille involves parking costs, autoroute tolls and diesel, and takes 90 minutes to get there.

The listed price on the internet was a tempting 29.99Eur per person each way. Then, of course, you get the taxes. Then you have to pay 18Eur for each piece of hold luggage, plus, if we want to sit together, a further 6Eur each for priority boarding, each way.

Taking a taxi to get to and from Stansted is another £50 or so. Total price: 550Eur for three plus the fact that the boys would be in the wrong place upon their return because they would have to go straight back to Paris to be with their father for New Year.

The SNCF/Eurostar option, going via Paris so I can drop the boys off on my way back is roughly 530Eur plus Underground tickets on my Oyster card. If we take a taxi from Gare du Nord to Gare de Lyon it'll be marginally more expensive, then, but much more comfortable, much less hassle, and much better treatment from staff. For me, there's no comparison, AND my carbon footprint is that much lower so enabling me to go around with a saintly expression on my face.

I'm that well-organised, n'est-ce pas?! Necessity is, as you know, the mother of invention and it is an extra joy that one can be 'inventive' with a clean (earthly) conscience...

Carbon Footprinting

I've given up on brain power. I am too vividly transported back to deadly days at school staring at a maths book with some ghastly problem along the lines of "two cars are travelling; one at 16mph, the other at 25mph; one leaves 9 minutes early, how many miles will they have travelled in 28minutes". Frankly, I don't care. My mind clouds over before I've got to the end of the problem and it's a super-human effort to push back the clouds to give it my full attention. Some things never change.

So, I tried out my carbon footprint instead. It's an issue that is pre-occupying us more and more, and rightly so. I am worried that my boys will grow up into a world that is bereft of much that we take for granted now. I have no faith that politicians and big business will act in time to develop alternative power sources, or that enough oil will be preserved for vital production of medical and other items that can only made from plastic.

My own step, tiny though it is, for mankind and the future of the planet is to try not to waste resources. The result from the BP site is that my carbon footprint is 2 tonnes of CO2 per year, compared to a French average of 8.9 tonnes. The American average is a horrendous 20 tonnes, but they do overdo the air conditioning somewhat. Turn it off, guys. You won't die, honest! You may die if you don't, however.

My level is achieved by:

• not using my car much - about 12000km per year (I live 5 minutes from my work)
• not having a gas-guzzler (diesel Peugeot 406)
• turning off appliances and not leaving them on stand-by
• using energy-efficient appliances (washing machine etc)
• using energy-efficient light bulbs
• recycling at least 30% of household waste
• not flying much (once a year, and one train trip to the UK per year)
• no air con. Shutters are there for a purpose.
  

I am pretty proud of this, as my efforts do seem to be theoretically working. We have barely put the heating on this winter, thanks to the balmy weather, and wearing a pullover to keep out the chill. The whole household needs to participate, however, to save the planet.

RoadsofStone has been writing articles on global warming, as I'm sure have many others. I don't have time to research the subject enough not to sound like a prat, so I'll leave it to the guys who know what they're saying.

However, I do regret one thing: I live in rented accommodation and so cannot make changes such as installing solar energy, or a more efficient heating system.

What is your carbon footprint level?