All of us like to think we are slightly better than average at environmental action than our neighbours but how realistic is that view?
The WWF Ecological Footprint Calculator is one of many online calculators that you can use to work out how sustainable your lifestyle is. I like it because it is Australian, visually attractive and easy to use and the result is in something I can visualise rather than tonnes of CO2(which I find hard to visualise). After you answer questions on your house size and construction, diet, transportation , consumption and waste management choices it gives you a result in how many worlds it would take if everyone in the world lived like you.
Australia has one of the highest per capital ecological footprints in the world. If everyone in the world lived like the average Australia we would need 5.4 Earths.
Using the WWF calculator as a tool achieves four things
1) shocks you out of complacency
2) gives you a tool to change various aspects of your life to see the difference you can make. With a few clicks you can see the difference between a meat and vegetarian diet, between a local holiday and an overseas one and changing your consumption.
3) It gives you a "before" figure so you can see the affects of your changes as you continue on your journey of sustainability.
4) The aspects that you find hard to change shows you where to put your energy for systemic change.
Individual change is not enough. If we had started 40 years ago then getting individuals to drop their emissions by 3% a year would have been feasible. But now we need to drop our emissions by about 15% a year. This isn't possible without government regulation.
Look at the parts of your lifestyle that are hard to change. I cannot put solar on the house or insulate it because it is a rental. What is needed to fix this? Minimal standards of energy efficiency for all houses and grants to retrofit houses. Likewise if 40 years ago the government had started changing electricity generation from coal to renewables turning on the power would not be an issue.
Walking the 1.5 km to the shops is harder psychologically than driving the car because there isn't a footpath all the way. So working to get council to put in footpaths is something I need to do. Buying local, plastic free food is more expensive than buying imported, plastic covered food from the supermarket. This shows us we need to campaign for companies to do better.
Doing low carbon living should not be something that only well off home owners can do. It needs to be affordable, easy and the default choice to make.
It is possible to get your footprint below one Earth and you don't have to sacrifice or live in a cave to do it. If anything, a low carbon life is more fun, happier and meaningful than your average Australian lifestyle. Make the start on the journey by seeing where you currently are using the WWF Ecological Calculator as a tool.
The WWF Ecological Footprint Calculator is one of many online calculators that you can use to work out how sustainable your lifestyle is. I like it because it is Australian, visually attractive and easy to use and the result is in something I can visualise rather than tonnes of CO2(which I find hard to visualise). After you answer questions on your house size and construction, diet, transportation , consumption and waste management choices it gives you a result in how many worlds it would take if everyone in the world lived like you.
Australia has one of the highest per capital ecological footprints in the world. If everyone in the world lived like the average Australia we would need 5.4 Earths.
Using the WWF calculator as a tool achieves four things
1) shocks you out of complacency
2) gives you a tool to change various aspects of your life to see the difference you can make. With a few clicks you can see the difference between a meat and vegetarian diet, between a local holiday and an overseas one and changing your consumption.
3) It gives you a "before" figure so you can see the affects of your changes as you continue on your journey of sustainability.
4) The aspects that you find hard to change shows you where to put your energy for systemic change.
Individual change is not enough. If we had started 40 years ago then getting individuals to drop their emissions by 3% a year would have been feasible. But now we need to drop our emissions by about 15% a year. This isn't possible without government regulation.
Look at the parts of your lifestyle that are hard to change. I cannot put solar on the house or insulate it because it is a rental. What is needed to fix this? Minimal standards of energy efficiency for all houses and grants to retrofit houses. Likewise if 40 years ago the government had started changing electricity generation from coal to renewables turning on the power would not be an issue.
Walking the 1.5 km to the shops is harder psychologically than driving the car because there isn't a footpath all the way. So working to get council to put in footpaths is something I need to do. Buying local, plastic free food is more expensive than buying imported, plastic covered food from the supermarket. This shows us we need to campaign for companies to do better.
Doing low carbon living should not be something that only well off home owners can do. It needs to be affordable, easy and the default choice to make.
It is possible to get your footprint below one Earth and you don't have to sacrifice or live in a cave to do it. If anything, a low carbon life is more fun, happier and meaningful than your average Australian lifestyle. Make the start on the journey by seeing where you currently are using the WWF Ecological Calculator as a tool.
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