One Planet chat

We only have one planet right? Doesn’t that speak for itselft?!

also as they say on the website you only need to get down to 2 planets- the other one is built into all the infrastructure in this country- roads, hospitals, army…..etc.etc. etc. as well as industry and the way business opperate

hense the need to campaign and lobby to change government policy and how companies opporate….

I am now wondering whether I can reach one planet – I may be able to get close as now I have started ticking off the more detailed eco tips – presumably making the calculation more specific to me and my footprint is coming down.

So life is looking rosier.

It will be hard to reach a One Planet level on your own. We also need systemic change across government, business, finanace, economics, health, law, defense etc before it will be feasible for all.

So we should be lobbying government and using our purchasing power to tackle to other planet, right?

I love the idea of ‘planets’ – what a great way to show how much damage we’re doing. This has really inspired me to cut my carbon and get below the 2 planet level!

I found this particular calculator offputting initially for the reason cited by Mr Bond up there and explained by a commenter on my recent diary entry: my footprint seems huge compared to on other calculators, and barely budges as I tick off ecotips. But that’s because half of it is the fault of agents purporting to act on my behalf: the NHS, the CBI, the employee whose wages I’ve just paid through a purchase, who’s just spent them on keeping a budget airline in business.

But at the same time it’s helpful to be reminded that things like writing letters to your MP or local businesses is a political act; that, over the long term, it can reduce your impact on the world’s poor just as much as a donation to Comic Relief.

Now all I have to do is overcome my revulsion and pick up a pen.

Hey Adele as bigfootprint (good mug shot and name) says it is also about joining others and organisatinos who are pushing our governemtns and businesses to change.

My footprint is between 9.6 and 12.6 tonnes of CO2 per year, depending on which calculator I use (10.6 here). The tonnes of CO2 measure is abstract and meaningless; I come in under average so I must be doing well, right? Then I found this, and realising 2.6 planets would be necessary to sustain my lifestyle came as quite a shock.

I know waht you mean rbrian – but mayvbe that’s the sort of shock we need if we’re to live sustainably. Just looking around us at the world we live in shows us that we’re living way beyond our means in the UK.

I’m not against consuming things – we need natural resources if we’re to live healthily and safely. My problem is more to do with the fundamentals – a ‘throwaway society’ (all those plastic food trays!?), unfair trade (how ASDA can be paying a fair wage to whoever makes their “two pair of jeans for a fiver” is beyond me) and short-sightedness in our infrastructure – we should be investing heavily in renewables and decommissioning nuclear as the new technology comes on line, and investing in a faster, more efficient public transport network.

There’ll be jobs and prosperity to be had and, with any luck and a darn site more forward-thinking, we’ll end up with a more sustainable and efficient, cleaner society.