I was lucky to get a lie-in til about 10, Gill woke me up saying my 11.30 appointment with Colin, to discuss AVP employment issues, had rung to cancel. He'd been snowed in.
So I didn't need to do anything today, apart from housework, keeping the house warm, and preparing for this evening's talk. Both boys were at home, Gill set them some work which they did quietly.
Gill made a 'cobbler' for tea, basically a hot-pot veg stew with potato, sweet potato, parsnip, tomato, peas and onions, with blobs of scone mix on the top and then baked in the oven. Really delicious.
At about 6.30 I set out for the Physics building at the University of York. I was due to do the talk titled: "Compost John : Britain's Most Sustainable Man. How does he do it?" in room P/L/005, but yesterday, a group of students, following the huge anti-cuts demo in town, decided to hold an occupation in the Physics building, to protest at the proposed increases in fees. So I was contacted by the organiser and asked if I'd do my talk to 'The Great York Sit-In' participants.
So that's what I did: as a guest of the newly-formed University Green Party, I did a talk mainly about carbon footprinting, and how I organise my life to have one considerably smaller than average. First I dispelled the myth that I'm 'Britain's Most Sustainable Man', and explained that this may have come from the Oxfam Carbon Footprint Competition in 2008. So, this led to info about ActOnCO2 and my favourite Carbon Calculator, The Carbon Account, and what makes up someone's footprint. I went through what I do to keep my footprint small, and with a goodly number of tangents, arrived at the other aspects of 'being sustainable' which in my opinion are Fair Trade and Organic consumption, and teaching others about your ethical choices. I also admitted the un-green things I'm responsible for, including my children, and my extensive use of the railways, which isn't recordable in The Carbon Account.
There were some really good questions afterwards, as one would expect from a bunch of intelligent and motivated young people. I feel very lucky to have these connections. I had a cuppa and more chats, and then cycled home, picking up a trailer full of sticks and branches on the way home. The snow wasn't too difficult to get through.
Played lots of Scrabble on facebook, read, watched telly and wrote blog til 3am.
Showing posts with label The Carbon Account. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Carbon Account. Show all posts
Well a dreadful-pre school time. Even I cannot believe the difficulty getting people motivated to go.
Gill eventually left with our youngest but they met others returning from school as many of the teachers hadn't got in, so although the school isn't officially closed, they were saying to people to go home if they wanted.
So Gill and our now happy boy went to play in the garden for a bit.
I did our monthly Carbon Account stats... gas and electricity meters, and when my graph came up with the new data, I was pleased to see that my carbon footprint, just using the simple home energy and travel stuff that they use, is 0.43 tonnes over the past year. This doesn't take into account my public transport use, food or other things I buy, not that I buy very much..., but it is still low. It is less than a 10th of the UK average of 5 tonnes using this calculator.
So, snow is the big news today... it didn't stop me cycling down to Country Fresh to get vegetables... and a warning, the cold weather will mean that some veg will go up in price and become scarcer. For instance, the local cauliflowers and carrots are now impossible to harvest, and as Country Fresh normally buys in local veg, they will have to buy ones in from elsewhere, making them more expensive. Richard has had another composter taking some unsold veg/fruit,which is fine by me as my trailer has developed a puncture and is out of action. But neither the snow or lack of trailer stopped me getting compostables from Freshways, and I popped into the Co-op for cereals and soya milk too.
I even spent a short while splitting logs.
Gill made a stew for tea, which we had with granary rolls. Simple and delicious. We had Christmas pudding and ice cream afterwards. I then went out on my bike again to visit a freecycler a mile or more away to pick up and unwanted diabolo and a travel Scrabble. I don't find cycling in snow and ice at all difficult. Just a bit cold.
Later, when all was quiet, I did various admin jobs such as some York in Transition stuff, York Green Festival stuff and even some prep for paying my tax!
Gill eventually left with our youngest but they met others returning from school as many of the teachers hadn't got in, so although the school isn't officially closed, they were saying to people to go home if they wanted.
So Gill and our now happy boy went to play in the garden for a bit.
I did our monthly Carbon Account stats... gas and electricity meters, and when my graph came up with the new data, I was pleased to see that my carbon footprint, just using the simple home energy and travel stuff that they use, is 0.43 tonnes over the past year. This doesn't take into account my public transport use, food or other things I buy, not that I buy very much..., but it is still low. It is less than a 10th of the UK average of 5 tonnes using this calculator.
So, snow is the big news today... it didn't stop me cycling down to Country Fresh to get vegetables... and a warning, the cold weather will mean that some veg will go up in price and become scarcer. For instance, the local cauliflowers and carrots are now impossible to harvest, and as Country Fresh normally buys in local veg, they will have to buy ones in from elsewhere, making them more expensive. Richard has had another composter taking some unsold veg/fruit,which is fine by me as my trailer has developed a puncture and is out of action. But neither the snow or lack of trailer stopped me getting compostables from Freshways, and I popped into the Co-op for cereals and soya milk too.
I even spent a short while splitting logs.
Gill made a stew for tea, which we had with granary rolls. Simple and delicious. We had Christmas pudding and ice cream afterwards. I then went out on my bike again to visit a freecycler a mile or more away to pick up and unwanted diabolo and a travel Scrabble. I don't find cycling in snow and ice at all difficult. Just a bit cold.
Later, when all was quiet, I did various admin jobs such as some York in Transition stuff, York Green Festival stuff and even some prep for paying my tax!
A very busy day in the loft. Moved all my bottles. Decanted another 3 demijohns into bottles, including an amazing blackberry and elderberry 1994 (!), a grape and apple 1999 and an unknown red from an unknown date which also tasted great. So who's inviting me to a Christmas party this year?
I sorted out a big pile of paperwork into keep, recyclable, compostable and 'used on one side only so reusable'...
I collected a cheque owed to me from St Nicks for Apple Day and saw Helen, and agreed to meet with her at 6pm and have a bit of a social. She came back here and had my home-made soup and a roll which was made by our son at school. Good chats.
In the evening I worked out my ActOnCO2 carbon footprint, updated to give our exact electricity usage (1674kwh/year, renewable tariff) and gas use (132 cubic metres/year) which gave a household footprint of 1.04 tonnes/year, or an individual footprint of 0.27 tonnes/year. Obviously this isn't the total as it doesn't take into account my public transport use, food and goods purchases, and the things that national and local Government does on my behalf.
I also took advantage of a fallen and logged tree to stock up on my woodpile...
I sorted out a big pile of paperwork into keep, recyclable, compostable and 'used on one side only so reusable'...
I collected a cheque owed to me from St Nicks for Apple Day and saw Helen, and agreed to meet with her at 6pm and have a bit of a social. She came back here and had my home-made soup and a roll which was made by our son at school. Good chats.
In the evening I worked out my ActOnCO2 carbon footprint, updated to give our exact electricity usage (1674kwh/year, renewable tariff) and gas use (132 cubic metres/year) which gave a household footprint of 1.04 tonnes/year, or an individual footprint of 0.27 tonnes/year. Obviously this isn't the total as it doesn't take into account my public transport use, food and goods purchases, and the things that national and local Government does on my behalf.
I also took advantage of a fallen and logged tree to stock up on my woodpile...
A good day!
Did quite a bit in the garden and building a logpile on the left of the front door, looking out, visited Richard at Country Fresh and met a nice law student called Gita, who knew of me as 'Compost John' from discussions at the Students' allotment.
Spent quite a bit of time sorting out the stuff from there, loading up the big Compostumbler with shredded hedge and greengrocers' unsold goodies.
I had an early tea... an aubergine thrown out for no good reason, and some slices of 'nutolene' that Gill found in the loft, in tins from a Suma order years ago. They are dated best before sometime in 2008 but as far as I'm concerned, it's OK, and 5 hours later, I'm not dead. I sliced this and fried it on the stove, and made two 'burger' things with Foccacia rolls that Gilly bought, with broccoli, baked beans and some home-made coleslaw.
Then I went out to 'The Climate Connection' meeting organised by York and Ryedale Friends of the Earth at the Friends Meeting House in town. This was a meeting to give information about the path towards the vital Copenhagen talks next week, and a chance for York people to hear what some local decision makers think about it, and ask them questions.
My friend Kate Lock chaired, and the panel were Andreas Heinemeyer from the Stockholm Environment Institute, Andrew Waller who is the leader of the City of York Council, Hugh Bayley our MP, and Mike Childs from FoE. The format was that they each had a chance to say what they wanted and then faced a couple of questions before the next panellist came on. Then all four of them faced a 'Question Time' type situation.
Andreas presented his take on climate change, which as a scientist had plenty of facts and figures, but as a father, had a soft side too. I've seen him present this before and he's one of the best, very accessible and easy to listen to.
Andrew Waller had a slide show showing some of the ways which York is responding to the issues. He had just come back from the Leeds City Region Housing Strategy and learning that York is to have it's own 'Urban Eco Settlement' where the British Sugar site was. He had slides of the Eco Depot, built with straw and with an innovative automatic ventilation system, and the Clifton Moor Eco Business Centre built by The Helmsley Group. I didn't know that York has a Passivhaus, (here's a good pdf from Leeds Metropolitan University on the development) but I did know about Elm Tree Mews in New Earswick, six homes heated by one ground source heat pump and with other built-in innovations. He mentioned the Joseph Rowntree Housing Association's other eco-experiment (to-be) at Derwenthorpe, near Osbaldwick and a 1930's semi they've bought and are retrofitting to high ecological standards. Andrew then turned to the carbon emissions from Council activities and property, which they have promised to reduce by 25% by 2013 using a carbon management system. This includes a new school which is heated with wood pellets, and a campaign to get shops to keep their doors shut in cold weather, keeping the warmth in (but hopefully not the customers out!)
Hugh Bayley was on good form and he too was pleased about the 'Eco-District' to be built on the brown-field British Sugar site. I didn't make any more notes about what Hugh said, nor any from Mike Childs apart from he was talking about leadership and the power that ordinary people have to lobby our leaders. The Climate Change Act only got through because of the thousands of us pushing the Government into it.
The Question Time bit of the meeting was excellent, with a first question on population and another on economic growth. I asked if any of the panel had measured their carbon footprint and which calculator they'd used. Mike said he had done his but had forgotten what the figure was, and that he 'was doing enough'; Andreas said he'd done lots of them and they all came up with different figures, but as he refused to fly, he was pleasantly surprised how low it was, Hugh admitted it was something he was going to have to do, to be able to say whether he manages his personal 10:10 pledge, and Andrew also didn't give a figure. Kate was the only one who knew her CO2e footprint had dropped from 16 tonnes to 12 over the 2 years she was writing her book. I suggested that people try The Carbon Account as it was so easy and visual. It actually doesn't matter which one you use... what's important is that people measure it now, make changes, and use the same calculator again to see the changes. Kate added some information about the Green Streets Challenge which she is involved with (door knocking!) and there were further questions about the Local Transport Plan and a complicated one about outcomes and policy.
All together it was a packed evening, with lots of information and I really enjoyed it.
I didn't hang around for too long, and was home by 10pm. I read Gill my notes and then typed up my blog whilst listening to music on BBC 2 and then Channel 4.
Did quite a bit in the garden and building a logpile on the left of the front door, looking out, visited Richard at Country Fresh and met a nice law student called Gita, who knew of me as 'Compost John' from discussions at the Students' allotment.
Spent quite a bit of time sorting out the stuff from there, loading up the big Compostumbler with shredded hedge and greengrocers' unsold goodies.
I had an early tea... an aubergine thrown out for no good reason, and some slices of 'nutolene' that Gill found in the loft, in tins from a Suma order years ago. They are dated best before sometime in 2008 but as far as I'm concerned, it's OK, and 5 hours later, I'm not dead. I sliced this and fried it on the stove, and made two 'burger' things with Foccacia rolls that Gilly bought, with broccoli, baked beans and some home-made coleslaw.
Then I went out to 'The Climate Connection' meeting organised by York and Ryedale Friends of the Earth at the Friends Meeting House in town. This was a meeting to give information about the path towards the vital Copenhagen talks next week, and a chance for York people to hear what some local decision makers think about it, and ask them questions.
My friend Kate Lock chaired, and the panel were Andreas Heinemeyer from the Stockholm Environment Institute, Andrew Waller who is the leader of the City of York Council, Hugh Bayley our MP, and Mike Childs from FoE. The format was that they each had a chance to say what they wanted and then faced a couple of questions before the next panellist came on. Then all four of them faced a 'Question Time' type situation.
Andreas presented his take on climate change, which as a scientist had plenty of facts and figures, but as a father, had a soft side too. I've seen him present this before and he's one of the best, very accessible and easy to listen to.
Andrew Waller had a slide show showing some of the ways which York is responding to the issues. He had just come back from the Leeds City Region Housing Strategy and learning that York is to have it's own 'Urban Eco Settlement' where the British Sugar site was. He had slides of the Eco Depot, built with straw and with an innovative automatic ventilation system, and the Clifton Moor Eco Business Centre built by The Helmsley Group. I didn't know that York has a Passivhaus, (here's a good pdf from Leeds Metropolitan University on the development) but I did know about Elm Tree Mews in New Earswick, six homes heated by one ground source heat pump and with other built-in innovations. He mentioned the Joseph Rowntree Housing Association's other eco-experiment (to-be) at Derwenthorpe, near Osbaldwick and a 1930's semi they've bought and are retrofitting to high ecological standards. Andrew then turned to the carbon emissions from Council activities and property, which they have promised to reduce by 25% by 2013 using a carbon management system. This includes a new school which is heated with wood pellets, and a campaign to get shops to keep their doors shut in cold weather, keeping the warmth in (but hopefully not the customers out!)
Hugh Bayley was on good form and he too was pleased about the 'Eco-District' to be built on the brown-field British Sugar site. I didn't make any more notes about what Hugh said, nor any from Mike Childs apart from he was talking about leadership and the power that ordinary people have to lobby our leaders. The Climate Change Act only got through because of the thousands of us pushing the Government into it.
The Question Time bit of the meeting was excellent, with a first question on population and another on economic growth. I asked if any of the panel had measured their carbon footprint and which calculator they'd used. Mike said he had done his but had forgotten what the figure was, and that he 'was doing enough'; Andreas said he'd done lots of them and they all came up with different figures, but as he refused to fly, he was pleasantly surprised how low it was, Hugh admitted it was something he was going to have to do, to be able to say whether he manages his personal 10:10 pledge, and Andrew also didn't give a figure. Kate was the only one who knew her CO2e footprint had dropped from 16 tonnes to 12 over the 2 years she was writing her book. I suggested that people try The Carbon Account as it was so easy and visual. It actually doesn't matter which one you use... what's important is that people measure it now, make changes, and use the same calculator again to see the changes. Kate added some information about the Green Streets Challenge which she is involved with (door knocking!) and there were further questions about the Local Transport Plan and a complicated one about outcomes and policy.
All together it was a packed evening, with lots of information and I really enjoyed it.
I didn't hang around for too long, and was home by 10pm. I read Gill my notes and then typed up my blog whilst listening to music on BBC 2 and then Channel 4.
Up early to finish the large job of tidying the back room to make it acceptable for BBC audiences!
Took all my paperwork off the floor, bits and bobs from around the hearth, tidied jars of dried fruit, and used our new super vacuum cleaner. I even cleaned the glass of the stove!
Anna arrived a bit late as she got lost and needed to be talked here from Bootham. She came alone and had her camera, tripod, sound stuff, batteries and tapes. First we just chatted and had a cuppa, then we got down to business.
She first interviewed me inside, sitting at the table, about my small carbon footprint, how I achieve it and why I live like I do. Then she filmed me taking the readings from my electricity meter and gas meter, and inputting them into the Carbon Account on my laptop.
Then we walked up the road to where yesterday, a nice Polish chap had invited me to pick up 5 pine logs. I'd asked him if I could leave it til today, so I could be filmed doing it. He was happy to let me do this. So I walked up there with my bike and her with her equipment. When we got there she realised that she had forgotten her empty tape. So she walked back and got it whilst I looked after the camera on its tripod. We did loads of 'takes', all at different angles and from different places... they'll be edited together and will make up one half of a film about two people with different carbon footprints, me, a little one, and Adam, a York-based radio presenter, who has a big footprint and feels he HAS to use his car as he lives in Tadcaster and works in York.
Then we came home and she filmed me cycling along the road, turning into the drive, unloading the trailer, and finally, me introducing myself. By 2pm she was finished... but I showed her the garden before she motored off and I had a peaceful lunch.
The footage will be shown on Yorkshire Look North (6.30pm, weekdays) during their 'green week' which is in the first week of December, coinciding with Copenhagen.. The other film she's doing is to look at two families, a 'green' one and a non green one. The green family is, by chance, someone I recently met, John Grant from Sheffield, who is an excellent communicator and I am delighted he's doing it as I know he'll be able to explain things well.
The rest of the day was much less 'full on' and I just did a bit of housework and stuff on the computer.
Took all my paperwork off the floor, bits and bobs from around the hearth, tidied jars of dried fruit, and used our new super vacuum cleaner. I even cleaned the glass of the stove!
Anna arrived a bit late as she got lost and needed to be talked here from Bootham. She came alone and had her camera, tripod, sound stuff, batteries and tapes. First we just chatted and had a cuppa, then we got down to business.
She first interviewed me inside, sitting at the table, about my small carbon footprint, how I achieve it and why I live like I do. Then she filmed me taking the readings from my electricity meter and gas meter, and inputting them into the Carbon Account on my laptop.
Then we walked up the road to where yesterday, a nice Polish chap had invited me to pick up 5 pine logs. I'd asked him if I could leave it til today, so I could be filmed doing it. He was happy to let me do this. So I walked up there with my bike and her with her equipment. When we got there she realised that she had forgotten her empty tape. So she walked back and got it whilst I looked after the camera on its tripod. We did loads of 'takes', all at different angles and from different places... they'll be edited together and will make up one half of a film about two people with different carbon footprints, me, a little one, and Adam, a York-based radio presenter, who has a big footprint and feels he HAS to use his car as he lives in Tadcaster and works in York.
Then we came home and she filmed me cycling along the road, turning into the drive, unloading the trailer, and finally, me introducing myself. By 2pm she was finished... but I showed her the garden before she motored off and I had a peaceful lunch.
The footage will be shown on Yorkshire Look North (6.30pm, weekdays) during their 'green week' which is in the first week of December, coinciding with Copenhagen.. The other film she's doing is to look at two families, a 'green' one and a non green one. The green family is, by chance, someone I recently met, John Grant from Sheffield, who is an excellent communicator and I am delighted he's doing it as I know he'll be able to explain things well.
The rest of the day was much less 'full on' and I just did a bit of housework and stuff on the computer.
Up at a civilised time and was please to see Valerie's expression when she saw the life-sized Native American figure that Gill's been making for the past couple of weeks. Val is involved with a theatre group and Gill's helped with set painting before, and this time has created a standing Native American for the next production.
Then I spent quite a bit of time tidying the conservatory, pruning tomato side shoots and winding the leaders around their supporting string, and potting up some sprouting ginger that I've rescued from the compostables. I've also got some other tubers which I don't know the name of which are beginning to poke out a spiky green shoot. I'll pot them up too!
After lunch I cycled down to the station with my eldest and bought our rail tickets for the trip to Weston Super Mare, plus two bikes... and was happy that it only cost £47 for the both of us, return. Excellent. The only slight problem is that on the way down we have a 4.20 to 9.30pm journey... a bit late. We'll stay with Lucy that night.
Came back via Argos to see what kind of tents they have, as last year my tent ripped and is not really repairable. The camping shop in York doesn't have any with the shape I want, and neither did Argos.
So, after an afternoon collecting logs from Woodlands (how appropriate!) and loading a compost heap, I had some time on the computer googling tents. I found relatively few with the shape etc that I wanted but there is one which is on sale in various places. I'll phone tomorrow...
Finally, did my Carbon Account meter readings...
Then I spent quite a bit of time tidying the conservatory, pruning tomato side shoots and winding the leaders around their supporting string, and potting up some sprouting ginger that I've rescued from the compostables. I've also got some other tubers which I don't know the name of which are beginning to poke out a spiky green shoot. I'll pot them up too!
After lunch I cycled down to the station with my eldest and bought our rail tickets for the trip to Weston Super Mare, plus two bikes... and was happy that it only cost £47 for the both of us, return. Excellent. The only slight problem is that on the way down we have a 4.20 to 9.30pm journey... a bit late. We'll stay with Lucy that night.
Came back via Argos to see what kind of tents they have, as last year my tent ripped and is not really repairable. The camping shop in York doesn't have any with the shape I want, and neither did Argos.
So, after an afternoon collecting logs from Woodlands (how appropriate!) and loading a compost heap, I had some time on the computer googling tents. I found relatively few with the shape etc that I wanted but there is one which is on sale in various places. I'll phone tomorrow...
Finally, did my Carbon Account meter readings...
I took our youngest into school, and then had a quiet day mostly inside doing paperwork and e-paperwork. Wrote to The Maudsley with some forms filled in, and sent that off with a 'signed for' extra cost. Got bread. Did a Facebook 'Event Page' for York Green Festival. Chainsawed and split a few logs, and built the beginning of a logpile outside the front door of dry and ready-to-use fuel. Tidied a pile of paperwork to find out what time tomorrow I can give blood. Found a cheque I received about 2 months ago, and phoned the sender to apologise for not cashing it quickly, and to tell them I'd do it tomorrow... Read my electricity and gas meters for
The Carbon Account and inputted my new data, my graph is pleasingly slim (trying to ignore my adopted massive aircraft spike last month) and I found my old buddy Dave Mansell is also recording his carbon footprint on the site. He's one of the top recycling managers in the country and I really admire him. If I was more organised, I'd like to be doing what he's doing!
Gill did most of the childcare stuff but I spent time with them when they came in from school as Gill had gone to the shops, so I took an interest in their 'Spore' game and cuddled before and after tea.
Later, got a message from Dave 'top recycler' Mansell telling me what he's been up to since leaving York... I'm really pleased to hear he's ok. Currently working for the Somerset Waste Partnership where it looks like he's in top management. Good stuff!
Kept both stoves going, they both make a reassuring clicking sound as they expand and contract over each burn cycle, so they are 'clicking away' which I like.
The Carbon Account and inputted my new data, my graph is pleasingly slim (trying to ignore my adopted massive aircraft spike last month) and I found my old buddy Dave Mansell is also recording his carbon footprint on the site. He's one of the top recycling managers in the country and I really admire him. If I was more organised, I'd like to be doing what he's doing!
Gill did most of the childcare stuff but I spent time with them when they came in from school as Gill had gone to the shops, so I took an interest in their 'Spore' game and cuddled before and after tea.
Later, got a message from Dave 'top recycler' Mansell telling me what he's been up to since leaving York... I'm really pleased to hear he's ok. Currently working for the Somerset Waste Partnership where it looks like he's in top management. Good stuff!
Kept both stoves going, they both make a reassuring clicking sound as they expand and contract over each burn cycle, so they are 'clicking away' which I like.
Our wedding anniversary... 9 years married, 15 years since our first kiss... aaahhhhh xxx
I took out little 'un to school and came back and spent some time with Gill, but then went into the garden to put some mature compost into sacks for our friend Alison who's making raised beds. Whilst doing this, I was thinking of something which I did yesterday which led me to feel quite upset and angry.
I had recieved an email from The Carbon Account reminding me to input my gas and electricity meter readings, so my graph of carbon emissions could be updated. I do this at the beginning of every month, and the website software calculates/estimates my annual carbon footprint. I really like this way of presenting the information, as I can see the different levels of carbon emissions from different activities over time. For instance, in August, as we were away for a week, our household emissions visibly dipped very slightly. So, yesterday, I read the meters and put in the new figures, and I decided to do something I had vowed to do back in September when I was expecting a visitor from America. I do not fly, for reasons of high carbon emissions being incompatible with my low carbon lifestyle. When my friend flew over last year to see me and other friends in the UK, I was a bit upset about it as I was contributing to the problem by agreeing to see this friend, and if I hadn't of agreed to spend some time with her, she might not have travelled. So when she indicated she'd like to come and see me again this autumn, I was not that happy and tried to put her off. However, she was intent on visiting and quite pushy and forceful, and I'm not the sort of person who tries to prevent people doing what they want to do. So she flew over and I agreed to spend some time with her. I also said that I would take moral responsibility for one of her flights, carbon-wise. So yesterday, I inputted a single journey from Manchester to Atlanta into my Carbon Account figures and was ASTONISHED to see how much carbon was emitted! My annual electricity emissions are about 250kg and annual gas emissions are just over 60kg... but the one way flight emitted a whopping 1947kg, making 86% of my yearly emissions. I was angry and upset. Not only has this wrecked my lovely graph (which you can see by going onto the site, clicking on 'people' and forwarding to the 'J' section and clicking on the pic of me and Caroline Lucas... you can see how much the spike of aircraft emissions dwarfs my household footprint by clicking on the small-print which says, 'Your emissions (including flights- click here to exclude them)'.
Interestingly, perhaps fortuitously, the visit dd not go well and I won't be seeing the American lady again. This is not due primarily to the fact that to see each other she has to fly, it's because we didn't get on. But the flights thing is an issue and I look forward to next November when that emissions spike disappears from my graph..... It will take longer for those carbon dioxide molecules to go from the atmosphere though, and I apologise to anyone who cares about this planet for re-igniting that friendship (we met as teenagers) and being part cause of those emissions (actually 1947 kg times four, nearly 8 tonnes). Dreadful! I won't even begin to think about my parents who have decided to visit New Zealand. Flying completely wrecks any good we do by recycling or using the bus rather than the car. If you fly, you cannot call yourself 'green', as if you do you are a complete hypocrite, and this is how I feel about myself for agreeing to see this friend. I'll try to put the whole sorry episode behind me.
Barry came to deliver the press and crusher, looked down the garden and drove away with the compost for Alison.
I continued to work in the garden in the drizzle... lovely!
Gill went to town on the bus to get shoes and came back with boots.
I went to school at 3 to help with Green Thumbs. I took a small group and we prepared a mushroom kit in a box.. a layer of straw with mycelium running through it, and a casing layer on top. We then had a good chat about decomposition, and all the types of organism which help... fungi, bacteria, slugs, worms, woodlice... my fave subject!
Home to a happy household, children voluntarily doing homework (a first for everything!) and all peaceful! Totally wow!
I made tea on the woodstove... slices of crook-neck squash, grown in the conservatory, and sweet potato from Country Fresh, and chestnuts from Poppleton Road.. all this along with my son's salad created at school today, yum!
A happy evening too, spent quite a bit of time on the phone with a helpful caller from Tiscali, trying to help me sort out a problem I'm having with emails bouncing back from certain email addresses, many thanks to Anup from Maharashtra who was very good to talk to, professional, and he got the problem more or less sorted (ie the problem is not with Tiscali, it's with, probably, The Phone Co-op... so will contact them next!)
But also had a good game of Scrabble with Gill. I won, just.
I took out little 'un to school and came back and spent some time with Gill, but then went into the garden to put some mature compost into sacks for our friend Alison who's making raised beds. Whilst doing this, I was thinking of something which I did yesterday which led me to feel quite upset and angry.
I had recieved an email from The Carbon Account reminding me to input my gas and electricity meter readings, so my graph of carbon emissions could be updated. I do this at the beginning of every month, and the website software calculates/estimates my annual carbon footprint. I really like this way of presenting the information, as I can see the different levels of carbon emissions from different activities over time. For instance, in August, as we were away for a week, our household emissions visibly dipped very slightly. So, yesterday, I read the meters and put in the new figures, and I decided to do something I had vowed to do back in September when I was expecting a visitor from America. I do not fly, for reasons of high carbon emissions being incompatible with my low carbon lifestyle. When my friend flew over last year to see me and other friends in the UK, I was a bit upset about it as I was contributing to the problem by agreeing to see this friend, and if I hadn't of agreed to spend some time with her, she might not have travelled. So when she indicated she'd like to come and see me again this autumn, I was not that happy and tried to put her off. However, she was intent on visiting and quite pushy and forceful, and I'm not the sort of person who tries to prevent people doing what they want to do. So she flew over and I agreed to spend some time with her. I also said that I would take moral responsibility for one of her flights, carbon-wise. So yesterday, I inputted a single journey from Manchester to Atlanta into my Carbon Account figures and was ASTONISHED to see how much carbon was emitted! My annual electricity emissions are about 250kg and annual gas emissions are just over 60kg... but the one way flight emitted a whopping 1947kg, making 86% of my yearly emissions. I was angry and upset. Not only has this wrecked my lovely graph (which you can see by going onto the site, clicking on 'people' and forwarding to the 'J' section and clicking on the pic of me and Caroline Lucas... you can see how much the spike of aircraft emissions dwarfs my household footprint by clicking on the small-print which says, 'Your emissions (including flights- click here to exclude them)'.
Interestingly, perhaps fortuitously, the visit dd not go well and I won't be seeing the American lady again. This is not due primarily to the fact that to see each other she has to fly, it's because we didn't get on. But the flights thing is an issue and I look forward to next November when that emissions spike disappears from my graph..... It will take longer for those carbon dioxide molecules to go from the atmosphere though, and I apologise to anyone who cares about this planet for re-igniting that friendship (we met as teenagers) and being part cause of those emissions (actually 1947 kg times four, nearly 8 tonnes). Dreadful! I won't even begin to think about my parents who have decided to visit New Zealand. Flying completely wrecks any good we do by recycling or using the bus rather than the car. If you fly, you cannot call yourself 'green', as if you do you are a complete hypocrite, and this is how I feel about myself for agreeing to see this friend. I'll try to put the whole sorry episode behind me.
Barry came to deliver the press and crusher, looked down the garden and drove away with the compost for Alison.
I continued to work in the garden in the drizzle... lovely!
Gill went to town on the bus to get shoes and came back with boots.
I went to school at 3 to help with Green Thumbs. I took a small group and we prepared a mushroom kit in a box.. a layer of straw with mycelium running through it, and a casing layer on top. We then had a good chat about decomposition, and all the types of organism which help... fungi, bacteria, slugs, worms, woodlice... my fave subject!
Home to a happy household, children voluntarily doing homework (a first for everything!) and all peaceful! Totally wow!
I made tea on the woodstove... slices of crook-neck squash, grown in the conservatory, and sweet potato from Country Fresh, and chestnuts from Poppleton Road.. all this along with my son's salad created at school today, yum!
A happy evening too, spent quite a bit of time on the phone with a helpful caller from Tiscali, trying to help me sort out a problem I'm having with emails bouncing back from certain email addresses, many thanks to Anup from Maharashtra who was very good to talk to, professional, and he got the problem more or less sorted (ie the problem is not with Tiscali, it's with, probably, The Phone Co-op... so will contact them next!)
But also had a good game of Scrabble with Gill. I won, just.
Another busy Summer Saturday.... had been booked to start work at Tockwith Show at 10am, so I loaded up what I needed on my trailer and packed my panniers and set off at about 8.40, as I expected to take just over an hour to cycle the 12 miles to Tockwith. As usual when I take this route, I took a brief break at the Battle of Marston Moor memorial, and then continued, getting to the Secretary's Marquee on the dot of 10, where Les the event organiser found someone to take me to the spot he wanted me to occupy.
I did over 2 hours of workshops and then had a break to go and get a meal ticket which entitled me to a veg pie with Yorkshire Feta, green salad with balsamic vinegar dressing, local new potatoes and 3 other salads... with orange juice, followed by a pear crumble 'sweet' and coffee. Delicious... and kept me going til well after 5 when I was supposed to stop... but I still had crowds wanting to try out my various pieces of equipment and get a balloon animal...
Then eventually packed up and went to get paid, and cycled swiftly with the wind behind me back to the memorial, where I had a half-hour sit down and ate my sandwiches for tea. Got back home at 7pm... a very long day and 24 miles cycling.
The day passed completely without incident until I was cycling along Bishopthorpe Road, heading for home, and I suddenly heard a loud hissing behind me just like a lorry with air-brakes or something. However, there wasn't a vehicle behind me, just my trailer with the two unicycles on it. My trailer tyres seemed to be ok, so I guessed it might have been a unicycle tyre. So when it was safe, I pulled in and checked... and yes, my big uni had got a flat tyre. How weird! I wasn't riding it and nothing seemed to have caused the rapid deflation, but it was completely flat. Very odd!
Gill gave me blackberry pie when I got in after I had unloaded the stuff and taken a fruit-fly-ridden box of grot down to a waiting heap. Enjoyed watching a programme on the London Underground, with the lovely voice of Sir John Betjeman narrating, infact presenting... I've never seen him before, just heard him...
And did my 'Carbon Account' gas meter and electricity meter readings.
Gill was not well this evening, with extreme pain in her right kidney area. The previous day she'd had a painful toe and during today, an achey leg. She mused about whether she was having a bit of gout... and the kidney pain could have been a kidney stone. Gill used to be a nurse but I cannot comment about the likelihood of something moving from her toe to kidney.. but every time she moved she yelled out in pain. At 10pm she rang NHS Direct and a bit later, the out of hours doctor, and by 3am the pain was so acute, she asked me to ring her a taxi so she could go to A+E. She was back within the hour bearing antibiotics, incase the pain was simply an infection. Poor ol' Gilly.
I did over 2 hours of workshops and then had a break to go and get a meal ticket which entitled me to a veg pie with Yorkshire Feta, green salad with balsamic vinegar dressing, local new potatoes and 3 other salads... with orange juice, followed by a pear crumble 'sweet' and coffee. Delicious... and kept me going til well after 5 when I was supposed to stop... but I still had crowds wanting to try out my various pieces of equipment and get a balloon animal...
Then eventually packed up and went to get paid, and cycled swiftly with the wind behind me back to the memorial, where I had a half-hour sit down and ate my sandwiches for tea. Got back home at 7pm... a very long day and 24 miles cycling.
The day passed completely without incident until I was cycling along Bishopthorpe Road, heading for home, and I suddenly heard a loud hissing behind me just like a lorry with air-brakes or something. However, there wasn't a vehicle behind me, just my trailer with the two unicycles on it. My trailer tyres seemed to be ok, so I guessed it might have been a unicycle tyre. So when it was safe, I pulled in and checked... and yes, my big uni had got a flat tyre. How weird! I wasn't riding it and nothing seemed to have caused the rapid deflation, but it was completely flat. Very odd!
Gill gave me blackberry pie when I got in after I had unloaded the stuff and taken a fruit-fly-ridden box of grot down to a waiting heap. Enjoyed watching a programme on the London Underground, with the lovely voice of Sir John Betjeman narrating, infact presenting... I've never seen him before, just heard him...
And did my 'Carbon Account' gas meter and electricity meter readings.
Gill was not well this evening, with extreme pain in her right kidney area. The previous day she'd had a painful toe and during today, an achey leg. She mused about whether she was having a bit of gout... and the kidney pain could have been a kidney stone. Gill used to be a nurse but I cannot comment about the likelihood of something moving from her toe to kidney.. but every time she moved she yelled out in pain. At 10pm she rang NHS Direct and a bit later, the out of hours doctor, and by 3am the pain was so acute, she asked me to ring her a taxi so she could go to A+E. She was back within the hour bearing antibiotics, incase the pain was simply an infection. Poor ol' Gilly.
