Carb(on) Diet Now

Starting something is tough. For months Jane encouraged me to meditate. She found it helpful and thought it would benefit me. I agreed. But when the opportunity came to learn how to meditate– and there were many opportunities – I just didn’t feel like it. One morning I agreed to her instruction. Since then I meditate first thing every morning.

This installment is for those of you who have not started calculating your carbon footprint. Now is the time. Too busy? Don’t feel like it? Afraid of finding out what your footprint really is?

If you are serious about starting a low carb(on) diet, you’ll need to know how much you weigh. I weigh 7.8. carbon tonnes. I know. I’m a long way from reaching 1.4 carbon tonnes per year, the target that we each must work towards to prevent runaway global warming.

The good news is that I’m on the right path. It’s going to take me a few years but I’ll get there through planning and a deep desire to ensure a stable biosphere for my niece and nephew and their descendants. I know you too are serious about making a difference. To make a difference, you need a plan. Every good plan needs a beginning. We begin by knowing where we are and where we want to be.

What do you need to get started? Just a half an hour of your time. Start now. If you simply can't right now, open up your calendar and mark at time to do so. Here is a list of carbon calulators:

Zerofootprint
I use this one. It’s very comprehensive. You can choose Toronto, Ottawa, Seattle, etc.

Carbon Friendly Solutions
Vancouver-based

Al Gore’s Carbon Calculator
US-based

Carbon Fund
US-based

Online carbon calculators make it easy for you. Prior to beginning, collect your utility bills which will help you ascertain your annual heating and electricity output. If you don’t pay these bills (or don’t have records of them) the calculator will provide you with an average estimate. I know I discussed carbon calculators last week. I bring it up this week because I believe it’s really important. About half of Canada’s carbon emissions come from individuals through their homes, travel and diets. A calculator will help you plan and strategize your personal carbon reduction in the years to come.

We have until 2020 to make a significant dent in our carbon emissions. Now is the time to begin if you have not already. When you do so, tell your family and friends. Spread the word! Issue challenges. My goal for 2009 is 6 tonnes – about a 25% reduction from 2008. I challenge everyone out there to reduce their carbon footprint by 25%. And even if you fall short of that goal, you will still be on the right track.

Carbon Offsets
I visited Canada’s PlanetAir, a Gold Standard carbon offsetting company, to confess my global warming sins and invest in renewable energy technology. Offsetting 7.2 tonnes costs $300. I am now on PlanetAir’s online monthly program, investing $25 over the next 12 months. When offsetting your greenhouse gas emissions, I encourage you to consider Gold Standard which supports sustainable technologies. The sooner these technologies are made available to us, the easier it will be for each of us to produce 1.4 tonnes of carbon per year.

Garbage Challenge
After three months of reducing our landfill-bound waste, Jane and I are left with one bag to deposit in our garbage bin. The only blip in the campaign was our trip to the BC’s Lower Mainland where the cities of Surrey and Langley do not compost their organics. We brought as much of the land-fill bound garbage home with us but had to leave the organics for obvious reasons.



The garbage challenge was surprisingly easy. It simply forces us to be more mindful of our packaging and what we toss out. Jane and I now limit packaging that cannot be recycled which means that bulk purchasing is part of our weekly shopping ritual. We are even reusing old packaging. All of the non-recyclable materials are soft plastics, although the City of Toronto now accepts plastic shopping bags. Jane and I reuse and then save the bulk plastic bags to take during the City’s Environment Days. The bag of garbage we toss out will take 1000 years to deteriorate. Jane and I are committed to producing as little of that as possible - only four bags of landfill-bound garbage per year.

In the News

Americans seeing the light on carbon tax
Ah, the irony.

My Incredible Shrinking Carbon Footprint

In India and China there is pressure and expectation for folks to consume like westerners. Mother Earth is letting us know that westerners need to take a page from the Chinese and Indians, who have one of the lowest carbon footprints on the planet.

It’s 2009, a year that promises to be absolutely lousy for a lot of people thanks to the ministers of financial deregulation and kingpins of the subprime mortgage. Despite the mayhem and confusion over root causes (like runaway credit and crazed-consumption – maybe?), I have something to celebrate. I dramatically reduced my carbon footprint in 2008.

Last year at this time I reviewed my footprint through Zerofootprint’s Carbon Calculator. Boy oh boy did I get a nasty shock. In 2007 I unleashed into the atmosphere 11.6 tonnes of carbon. Five domestic roundtrip flights really add up. They contributed to more than half my carbon emissions during that year.

I vowed to cut my footprint by 40 percent in one year, an ambitious goal to be sure. I am pleased to say that while I did not reach a 40 percent target, I did lower my emissions by 33 percent. Not bad, eh? In 2008, I was responsible for 7.8 tonnes of carbon emissions, below the Canadian and American averages of 9.8 and 12.6, respectively. However, I am well above the national averages of the following:

Average in Mexico – 3.4
Average in UK – 6.5
Average in Denmark – 5.9
Average in China – 1.8
Average in India – 1.4

Note the average for India. By 2050, possibly sooner, every human being must average 1.4 tonnes of carbon per year to stave off runaway global warming and ensure sustainable societies. Runaway global warming is a scenario we must avoid. It will lead to the breakdown of ecosystems on which our species depend.

Sobering, yes? Insurmountable, no.

Reducing our footprints to sustainable levels will not entail a meager existence. By focusing on renewable energy, nutritious local food, preventative health-care, quality education and local service-based economies, we will say goodbye to the rat race and welcome a more quality-of-life existence.

If you have not already, calculate your carbon footprint and make a plan to reduce it, even modestly, by this time next near. A carbon calculator is a great tool to help you plan and reduce your carbon footprint. There are many online calculators. I like Zerofootprint’s because it’s quite detailed. If you like a particular calculator, please recommend it on the comment section of this blog.

As for my footprint, the biggest carbon culprits continue to be air travel, now at 3.99 tonnes, and home heating (natural gas) at 3.91. I have one flight scheduled this year for work. I want to keep it at that. Home heating….that falls into energy conservation. Jane and I are seriously considering scheduling an energy audit sooner rather than later. More on that next week.

In the News

London’s creative schemes to green the city:

Boris Johnson launches plan to retrain jobless Londoners as energy advisers
News on the climate crisis is low priority what with the recession. At least one politician is linking help for the environment with help for the unemployed. Van Jones will be pleased.

Mini-turbines to harness energy from pressure in UK's gas pipelines

Oil : The Times they are a Peaking

Have you calculated your annual carbon footprint? For those of you getting around to it, I’m reposting the links:

Zerofootprint
DirectGov’t’s Carbon Calculator

There’s another reason why we need to reduce our dependency on fossil fuels, aside from warming the planet and endangering the biosphere. We may be entering a new era – one in which the price of oil and natural gas is increasingly expensive.

On January 2nd the price of a barrel of oil reached $100 not seen since 1980 during the Iran-Iraq war. In response, gas retailers hiked their prices and some consumers drove away without paying - as if the increase was an affront to their right to drive.

What these thieving drivers don’t seem to realize (or care) is that this so-called ‘right’ is completely unsustainable. Here’s why (aside from the fact that it’s warming the planet and endangering the biosphere):

• The demand for oil and natural gas has spiked dramatically due to the insatiable demand from rising countries like China and India.
• Regions that contain the bulk of sweet crude have become increasingly hostile to the West and a number of extreme weather events, such as Hurricane Katrina, have hampered oil refinery production.
• Oil and natural gas production may have peaked.

Peak Oil

Very few people talk about the phenomenon known as Peak Oil or Hubbard’s Peak. I find this fascinating and disturbing. It’s reminiscent of the time up until a year ago when global warming was not on the radar. While the scientific community was in agreement that climate change represented a grave threat, very few wanted to listen.

Very soon Peak Oil will make headlines.

M. King Hubbard

In 1956, M. King Hubbard, a renowned geologist and employee of Shell, made an announcement to his colleagues that seemed so preposterous at the time it created an uproar and subsequently damaged his career.

Based on his assessments, Hubbard predicted that American oil production would peak at some point between 1966 and 1971. By peak, he meant that half of all the oil buried in the US would be extracted by that time. In other words, from the 1870s when oil was first drilled in Pennsylvania to the late 1960s the US would have used up half the oil under American soil.

This situation doesn’t sound problematic. It is. Or was. You see, at the time when Hubbard made his prediction, America had enough oil to satisfy its energy needs. Geologists, oilmen, politicians and everyone else thought that this great bounty of cheap energy would last and last and last and last some more. Any talk that the crude would dwindle was…well un-American.

1966 came along and America still had oil to spare. In 1967 Israel defeated Egypt in the Six-Day war. The Saudis orchestrated an embargo against countries, including the US, that supported Israel. The sanctions failed because the US had enough oil to satisfy demand.

Then came 1973. During the fall of that year Israel defeated Egypt and Syria in the Yom Kippur war, thanks in part to American support. In retaliation, OPEC, led by the Saudis, issued oil sanctions against the US. Suddenly, Americans found themselves in long line ups at gas bars, discussing energy conservation and struggling with an economic tummy upset. And the reason….

Oil production in the US peaked in 1970. It maxed out at 11.7 barrels per day and it would never produce that much ever again.

From then on, OPEC called the shots. The US became more and more dependent on foreign oil to meet consumer demand. That’s why we have snapshots of Donald Rumsfeld shaking hands with Saddam Hussein in the 1980s and why the US became very very good friends with the Saudi Royal Family. Saudi Arabia is home to the largest pools of oil in the world. Or was home to the largest pools. Their resources, like everyone’s, are depleting. It also explains the Iraq war, but well, you get the picture.

Peak Oil is a Bell

Peak Oil is illustrated as a bell curve with the top of the bell representing the ‘peak’ and the rising curve representing an era of sweet crude – the easy to get at stuff or cheap oil. The descending curve represents oil that is difficult to access and therefore more expensive. It is a time of volatility. As prices increase, demand decreases as people embrace conservation. The price drops, demand increases and on it goes. But there will be a time when the cost of extracting oil is greater than its value. When it costs a dollar to extract a dollar worth of oil or natural gas, oil companies will walk away. It won’t matter if there are pools of oil left. If they are too expensive to access, they won’t be touched. There is strong indication that natural gas will peak soon as well.

The global economy depends on cheap fuel. In fact, cheap fuel is its life blood. You think I’m exaggerating? Consider this. Cheap oil is responsible for all of our transportation – bringing all that cheap clothing, food, toys, cars, electronics, furniture, knick knacks, you name it to our favourite big box stores. We drive to the big box stores from the suburbs where most of us reside, usually in big houses heated by cheap fuel. Petroleum is in the fertilizers and pesticides that make possible industrial farming and processed food. And let’s not forget plastic, that wonderful petroleum by-product that is in most things we own. Petroleum is also present in our pharmaceutical drugs on which so many seem dependant.

Fossil fuel is currently the only source for electricity. As it stands, right now, renewable energy depends on cheap oil to be manufactured. Renewables such as photovoltaic panels rely on batteries to store energy. Batteries currently depend on fossil fuel for their existence. Of course, we still have plenty of coal, but that’s the dirtiest fossil fuel and quite effective in warming and polluting the planet.

The End of Cheap Oil

Will we benefit from the end of fossil fuel? Absolutely. It will solve our warming problem, get us out of the Middle East and, if weaned off in time, lead to renewable energy sources that will no longer depend on fossil fuel for development.

The problem is timing. There have been various predictions regarding the peaking of global oil production. Some calculate between the years 2000 and 2008. Others give us until 2030. Keep in mind the last time an oil field of substance was discovered was in the 1960s. No other discovery of this sort has been made since then. The Alberta Oil Sands? The tar sands represent the expensive and difficult to get at oil. In terms of world consumption, the sands will satisfy about 10% of world demand. And for this Alberta is undermining its pristine ecosystems and making its communities sick.

When fossil fuel peaks so begins diminishing supply in the face of hungry demand. It’s the start of a very bumpy ride that could lead to a terrible economic depression. The question will be: how do we best use the diminishing supplies? To fuel more wars to secure limited oil? Or do we focus on renewable energy to support greatly scaled down consumption?

What Can You Do?

• Learn all you can about Peak Oil
• Make your home as energy efficient as possible. Conserve electricity.
• Wean yourself off your car. Don’t be dependent on it.
  Wean yourself off flying and piggy consumption. Scale down.
• If you are buying a house, pick one near public transit routes and amenities. Avoid the suburbs.
• Learn to grow your own vegetables and fruits. Connect with other gardeners to learn and share.
• Get to know your neigbours.
• Support your local economy.
• Invest in a solar oven and barbecue, and devices to hang up your laundry.
• Look into renewable energy options for your home.
• Start buying gold.

Links

The Association for the Study of Peak Oil & Gas

The Oil Depletion Analysis Centre

Post Carbon Institute

In the News

Federal report calls for carbon tax, trading in Canada

China bans plastic shopping bags
Toronto considers ways to reduce plastic bags. Click here to learn more.

The Year of Action

Happy New Year everyone! While 2006 was the year of the global warming wake-up call, 2007 was the ‘processing’ year – the year climate chaos made headlines and wound its way into everyday conversation.

Prepare yourself for the year of action. 2008 is the year that we collectively kick some serious butt (our own).

In order to do so we need a plan. Several months ago I calculated my carbon footprint through Zerofootprint’s Carbon Calculator. I discovered that if everyone on the planet lived like me, we would need one and a half earths to keep living the way I do. This of course is unacceptable. After reviewing my carbon footprint, I resolved to decrease it by a minimum of 10% every year, reaching a 60% reduction by 2015.

I thought I’d start the year off right by once again calculating my footprint with the target of reducing it by at least 10% when January 1, 2009 comes along.

My Footprint

Based on my home energy use, transportation and diet, I am responsible for 11.6 tonnes of carbon per year (this doesn’t even take into account 17.8 tonnes for goods & services the average Canadian is responsible for). I am actually above the Canadian national average of 9.1 according to Zerofootprint. Why? I write an environmental blog for crying out loud!

The reason I’m an environmental fat cat is because in 2007 I made five domestic round trip flights, which accounted for a whopping 6.32 tonnes of carbon dioxide. That’s more than half my 2007 contribution.

My New Year’s Resolution

Most of that air travel was work related. In response, I have been working with my organization to develop an environmental policy to help minimize, among other things, air travel.

In 2008, I resolve to:
· Reduce air travel by 50 percent (eliminating 3.16 tonnes) – this is actually doable
· Clean my furnace filter monthly and arrange to have the furnace cleaned (1.07 tonnes)
· Continue to save for energy efficiency retrofits and, depending on how I’m doing, arrange for an energy audit
· Purchase a worm compost in addition to the backyard compost to reduce as much of my organic waste as possible and nourish our vegetable garden (0.20 tonnes)
· Ensure that our food is 10 percent more local and organic than in 2007 (0.13 tonnes)
· Plan to grow five percent of our food in our back yard (0.01 tonnes)
· Reduce our packed food by 10% in addition to what we do now (.03 tonnes)

I am confident that I can reduce my carbon footprint by 4.6 tonnes this time next year, a change of 40 percent!

Now it’s your turn….

Carbon Calculators

How big is your footprint? Carbon calculators provide you with a ball park idea on your environmental fat-cat status. It will take about 20 minutes to do. You may want to dig out your 2007 utility bills – or base it on an average provided. After finding out your environmental impact, make a plan to reduce it by at least 10 percent next year. You may find like me you can make greater reductions.

How accurate are these calculators? I tried the UK-based DirectGov’t’s Carbon Calculator and was informed that my household is responsible for 10.75 tonnes of carbon dioxide, close enough to Zerofootprint’s results.

Both calculators are the most comprehensive that I’ve come across.

In the News

Big energy savings dwell here - After three years of construction, couple puts final touches on energy-efficient house

Beijing’s Olympic Quest: Turn Smoggy Sky Blue
Good luck.

As Earth Warms Up, Tropical Virus Moves to Italy

How Many Earths do you Really Need?

How many planets?
Did you figure out your carbon footprint through Zerofootprint’s calculator? I did. My annual carbon contribution is 8.1 tonnes of C02 per year. This is at par with the average person from the UK. According to Zerofootprint, if everyone consumed the same as me and the Brits we would need 1.5 earths to survive. And this is after all the work I’ve done to reduce my C02 emissions from a year ago.

I still have a ways to go.

Compared to the average Canadian, though, I’m not doing half bad. If everyone on the planet lived like the average Canadian, we’d need 1.9 earths. Imagine if everyone managed to live like the average American. We’d need 2.3 shiny blue planets. American Dream or American Nightmare?

Compare this to folks in…

India: .03 earths
China .05 earths
Japan .05 earths
South Africa .07 earths
Mexico: .09 earths

Isn’t it ironic that India and China are working awfully hard to live like North Americans when really we North Americans need to learn to consume as much as them.

My Annual Goal
I may not get to a point to match someone in India by this time next year, but I will commit to reducing my carbon footprint by 10% by next July (needing 1.35 earths). To accomplish this goal, I will focus on the following:

• Have an energy audit done on our house to find out where Jane and I can make it more energy efficient. Based on the findings, we will execute the more affordable suggestions and do our best to save our money for the more expensive.
• Increase the percentage of local and organic food in our diet and avoid packaged foods as much as we can. This means eating in season, more visits to farmers markets and for next summer expanding our garden to rely more on vegetables we grow ourselves.
• Fly less – a challenging task as I fly chiefly for work.
• Resist printing as much as I can.
• Ride my bike until it snows rather than retiring it in October. In fact, I pledge to stop being such a princess and to ride my bike nine months of the year rather than six months.

To Do this Week – Calculate your carbon footprint and make a plan on how you will reduce it by 10% by July 2008. I know you can do this because you are awesome!

In the News
Ontario’s Phase Out of Coal
The Premier gets legal with his promise to phase out coal. The Ontario Clean Air Alliance is happy but demands legally binding requirements for interim annual reductions in coal use. Sound good to you? Tell the Premier.

Bag Lady Chic
Like, only the really cool people are totally green.


Other News
Green Bloggers

Ecoshock Radio

Grist Magazine

Tree Hugger

Zerofootprint Blog

StopGlobalWarming.org

BBC – The Greenroom

New York Times – Environment

Monbiot

Take the Pledge

Did anyone check out the Earth Day concert on July 7? There were some fantastic performances. Did you take time to take the sign the Live Earth Pledge? If no, it’s not too late. Here’s the pledge:

I pledge:
1. To demand that my country join an international treaty within the next 2 years that cuts global warming pollution by 90% in developed countries and by more than half worldwide in time for the next generation to inherit a healthy earth;
2. To take personal action to help solve the climate crisis by reducing my own CO2 pollution as much as I can and offsetting the rest to become "carbon neutral;"
3. To fight for a moratorium on the construction of any new generating facility that burns coal without the capacity to safely trap and store the CO2;
4. To work for a dramatic increase in the energy efficiency of my home, workplace, school, place of worship, and means of transportation;
5. To fight for laws and policies that expand the use of renewable energy sources and reduce dependence on oil and coal;
6. To plant new trees and to join with others in preserving and protecting forests; and,
7. To buy from businesses and support leaders who share my commitment to solving the climate crisis and building a sustainable, just, and prosperous world for the 21st century.

Click here to sign.

Need convincing?
Read this article from George Monbiot, published in the Guardian on July 3.

Your Carbon Footprint
After taking the pledge, find out the current size of your carbon footprint and find out ways you can cut back. Zerofootprint provides you with a fairly comprehensive carbon calculator and challenges you to reduce your carbon footprint by 10% in one year. Click here to start calculating.

In the News

Oil and gas shortages likely within 5 years: report
The International Energy Agency doesn’t utter ‘peak oil’, but comes close, warning of serious shortfalls in petroleum by 2009. Fasten your seatbelts….

Other News

Green Bloggers

Ecoshock Radio

Grist Magazine

Tree Hugger

Zerofootprint Blog

StopGlobalWarming.org

BBC – The Greenroom

New York Times – Environment

Monbiot

Our Naughty (Greenhouse Gas) Contribution

Why am I doing this? Because I don’t want to be a little old lady, witnessing first hand the fall out of climate change and realizing I did precious little to do anything about it.

I think you feel the same. So we’re going to start small. But in order to start small, I invite you to think big….

What’s your Naughty (Greenhouse Gas) Contribution?

Now that we’re about to begin by doing simple little things around the home and office to reduce our greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, it’s always good to keep the big picture in the back our minds.

I’m stealing the following from Dave Reay, author of Climate Change Begins at Home. According to Dave, the following makes up the average North American’s climate impact:

Cars 40%
Household 36%
Food 12%
Waste 6%
Flights 6%
Office He doesn’t say.

Now obviously this breakdown will differ for everyone. To find out your annual GHG contribution, click on one of the various links below. The first one is the Canadian government’s One Tonne Challenge. Now you don’t have to be a Canadian to try it, eh? So I encourage my friends in the States, Mexico, UK and everywhere else for that matter to try it as well. I’ve also included two GHG calculators from the States.

Dave seems to think our annual GHG contribution is 20 tonnes. Canada’s One Tonne Challege pegs it at 5 tonnes. Atmosclear says 15, which is probably closer to the mark. Keep in mind that while the One Tonne and US EPA sites covers home and vehicles, they are missing air transportation, meat consumption and new product purchasing. The One Tonne team assures me that they are working on it and I will keep you posted. So check it out, but if you’re a high flying meat eater with a maxed out credit card, you may want to add a few more tonnes to your greenhouse contribution….

One Tonne Challenge

US Environmental Protection Agency

Atmosclear Climate Club


Next week: LIGHTS!

Cheers,
Cheryl

p.s. Good Grief! The Election!!!

For my Canadian friends: find out what parties say they plan to do for the environment… Sierra Club of Canada Election Survey