Enviro Blog
Charting my attempts to be green and make a website!
1/7/08
I never realised how dependent on refrigeration until I saw the make up of CO2 emissions produced from food. Everyone has a fridge- but do we really need them? Changes in family structure mean that fewer women stay at home and have the time to shop for the family on a daily basis. Now that food products travel further than ever its in the interest of the seller maximise shelf life. But studies have shown that the fresher food is the more nutrients, vitamins and minerals it contains. Society is increasingly money rich and time poor. It seems refrigeration it is part of an industry designed make things easier for us and it is difficult to envisage an alternative way of shopping where it is unnecessary. In other news I found a stag beetle in my garden yesterday.
Proof at least that they exist! I was quite taken with this creature and have named him Bob. Further research has show that this is likely to be a female- but I'm keeping the name.
17/6/08
In preparation for my forthcoming weekend away to Edinburgh I have been looking into carbon off-setting schemes. I hasten to add that this highly un-environmental internal flight was a birthday gift from my Mother who resides in the beautiful Scottish city. While perusing my carrier’s website I am surprised to find a page entitled "Flybe and the environment". I will be boarding a "Bombardier Q400" which they tell me is "among the most environmentally-sensitive passenger aircraft available and, offer 30% improvement in fuel efficiency". They then direct me to their emission off-set partner Pure (not to be confused with their hire car partner Avis who's services thy also try to sell me). They propose to charge me £6 for the 0.3 tonnes of CO2 my flight will produce. Like every good journalist should, I get a second opinion, though this does seem rather affordable. The CarbonNeutral Company ask for many more details and calculate my flight will create 0.2 tonnes of CO2 and cost £2.80 to off-set. My poor opinion of low cost airlines is confirmed. I am bamboozled by a further 10 sites which offer me prices which seem to have been plucked from thin-air. Half and hour later frustrated and disillusioned I decide to make my weekend away a strictly no-project zone.
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