November 2008 Archives

Most people accept that petrol supplies will reduce in the not too distant future and that the price of petrol will continue to rise. Some people think that the answer is to buy a new, "greener" car, that uses less petrol or a different fuel, but this option is only open to those with money to spare.

Many households think that having one, two or even more cars is essential to their daily lives. If you live in a city this is not true - and I speak from experience. My household has not had a car for over four years. However I am not trying to persuade you to give up your car, just to consider if you might reduce your car use.

Around 50% of car journeys are three miles or less. How many times each week do you drive, or are driven, up to three miles? What are the alternatives and what might persuade you to use them?

The main disincentives to using public transport, walking or cycling, are time and expense - but are these perceptions or reality? What recent experience do you have of these alternatives?

I live in Moseley and used to work at Lancaster Circus, 3.5 miles away. It was quicker to cycle to and from work during rush hours than to drive, even though I had a car parking space in the basement. There is an additional time saving in energy and good health, gained without spending time in a gym. It is true that there is always the possibility of an accident, but no more than as a pedestrian. The ratio of days gained to your life through better health achieved from cycling, against days lost though cycling accidents, is around 20:1, according to experts.

If you need peer group support, or training, before considering using a bike for some of your short journeys, contact Push Bikes, the Birmingham area cycling campaign group.

How many of your car journeys are around a mile long? Is walking a viable alternative for some of these some of the time?

If you are a parent, would walking your child to school result in improved health for both of you, and give both of you a chance to talk and listen more, saving time wasted through misunderstandings and resentments? Cycling to school with older children is another good option.

Could you walk or take a bus to the shops and get your purchases delivered? My local supermarket in Moseley (Somerfield) has no car park and has an efficient, free home delivery service.

The disincentives of cost and time affect our use of public transport. Cars cost a lot even when they are not being used: the additional cost of petrol may seem better value than the cost of public transport. The car may seem more convenient. Try using the bus or train or even a taxi and experience the benefits: no parking problems, time to read or make phone calls, a bit of exercise and so on. We should be campaigning to get all costs of cars to be focussed on when the car is being driven. It would then be a level playing field for comparing costs.

In 2004 my husband and I both had a car but we decided that we could manage with one. Having sold one, within a month our remaining car was written off, whilst parked, by a careless motorist. We calculated that this car had cost us an average of £57 a week over the previous six years so we decided to delay replacing it for a while. We would ride bikes as much as possible, use public transport, taxis and hire a car when needed.

We realised very soon that having no car gave us greater freedom, not less. Four years later we have no plans to buy a car, though if the car share scheme in Birmingham expands to Moseley, I may consider joining it.

The message to REDUCE is not only a mantra for those of us who care for the planet, most of us are being forced to reduce our spending by rising prices and insecure incomes. So let's focus our savings in a way that not only helps the planet, but also makes life more enjoyable, not less. We can stop feeling miserable about not being able to afford to buy X, or being able to afford to do Y. Let's be cheerful and buy and do different things.

None of us intend to waste what we buy, but it happens all the time. Let's start by checking the contents of our own bins, and what we have put out for bulk waste collections recently.

We are told that about a third of the food we buy is thrown away - is this true for you? Could the amount that you throw away be reduced?

We are enticed by "BOGOF" offers: Buy One Get One Free. Will we use it all before the "eat by" date? If not, will we use our common sense and check if the food is still edible? The "eat by" date for animal products should be obeyed, but vegetables are a different matter. Whatever the purchase price saving is, we should not weigh down our shopping trolleys with items that will end up in our dustbins or compost heaps. We can lighten the load and choose items that will end up being enjoyed by our tastebuds.

There are good tips on the website "love food hate waste".

I will continue this theme of "REDUCE" next time, but I will end with a news item about reducing energy bills at home.

There is a Government campaign called "People Power" that is appointing ten ambassadors in Birmingham to take part in a big energy saving challenge over the winter. One of my neighbours has been interviewed as part of the selection process, and was given a free "energy audit" yesterday. SusMo (Sustainable Moseley - cutting CO₂) will make sure that the lessons learnt will be well publicised.

My first blog was about why "lighter footprints" are so important. If we make our footprints "lighter" we can stop the climate reaching the tipping point, of no return, that would end the Earth's ability to provide fresh water and food for all of us. This is not inevitable - yet - but we need to act while we still can.

So what do I mean by "lighter footprints"? In simple terms, I mean making less of an impact on the Earth's finite resources in our daily lives, using less oil and other fuels that cause a build-up of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases that affect the climate.
Just like good intentions to lose body weight, it is very important to avoid going on a crash diet, denying ourselves so many items that have seemed vital to us, or give us pleasure, that we give up, succumb to temptation and then binge. We need to change our lifestyle gradually, sustainably. The first change is just to pause before we act and consider alternative actions.

We have been advised to "recycle" for a long time. That message has now expanded to "reduce, reuse, recycle". It needs to be expanded even further:
"refuse, reduce, reuse, repair, recycle".
We should only recycle things that we have not been able to reuse or repair.

Just pause and consider "refuse". For example this is about

• not buying a new car / TV / kettle / whatever, when the items you have still work, because your friends are so pleased with their new purchases;
• saying no to requests for trendy, flimsy, plastic toys with batteries and choosing something that you will enjoy playing with, with your child;
• saying no to excessively packaged fruit and vegetables, air freighted from overseas, and choosing loose items, grown nearer home;
• saying no to plastic carrier bags in shops - take reusable bags with you;
• saying no to a suggested visit to a restaurant which you know serves large quantities of meat with uninteresting vegetables. Choose one that serves a variety of tasty food which uses little or no animal products.

You may be surprised by the last example, which is not directly linked to the Earth's finite resources and carbon dioxide. However animal husbandry produces methane which is 21 times more powerful a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide, see the EarthSave report.

I am sure that you can provide other instances where, in future, you might pause and say no, and walk away cheerfully with lighter footprints. If you would like to pass on your tips, please add a comment.

I'm Esther Boyd, a wife, a mother of three children in their 30s plus two grandchildren, a community activist, a cyclist, a retired architect and a Quaker. I live in North Moseley, which has changed considerably since we moved here in 1972.

I welcome the opportunity to write this blog about a "green" lifestyle, as I am passionate about social justice. If the whole world improved their lifestyle to the average lifestyle in Birmingham it would need the resources of three planet earths, and there is only one. By making more sustainable choices we do our bit to save the planet for our grandchildren, and for our friends all over the world and their grandchildren - and at the same time we save money and have a lot of fun.

Agreeing, talking and writing about a "green" lifestyle is not enough, we have to act. It is up to all of us to make changes which will save our planet, we can't leave it to others to do it for us. I hope that things I will say in my blog will encourage others to make their footprints lighter, aiming to even out the North-South divide, which is not just a worldwide issue, it exists in Moseley.

Lighter footprints are not an option for people to choose or reject, the future of life on this planet depends on us taking action. I recommend that you take a short break sometime soon and watch Leo Murray's 11 minute film "Wake Up, Freak Out - then Get a Grip": He ends with this statement:

"Preventing runaway global warming is the single most important task in all of human history - and it has fallen to us to do it. If we don't, then everything else we work to achieve in our lives will be destroyed, or become meaningless. Those who came before us didn't know about this problem, and those who come after will be powerless to do anything about it. But for us, there's still time! We'd better get a move on though."

Please respond to my blog with constructive comments and suggestions of your own. Together we can, and will, make a difference in tackling climate change.