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?