logged old-growth tree on Vancouver Island, CanadaApril 22 is Earth Day and has been for the past 38 years now – once the day of days for patchouli munching hippies, the concept of environmentalism or more recently climate change has leapt into the international lexicon. Carbon footprints, recycling, hybrid cars and peak oil are all standard dinner table conversations the world over. Where once only leftist longhairs were talking about these issues even the most devout neo-cons are begrudgingly admitting that, “yes ice is melting up in the north.”
As a travel writer and therefore a frequent traveler the irony is not lost that one major factor in the climate crisis is the pollution created and the oil consumed by international air travel. So what am I doing to offset my impact? Well for starters I’m doing things around my home to lessen my footprint. My wife Sophie and I share a car (gasp!) and unless we are driving to the grocery store or an unreasonable distance we commute by bicycle. We recycle everything that we can, we have a worm farm to get rid of our organic wastes, we buy as little pre-packaged food as we can, eliminating post consumer waste. When the rubbish truck comes around we have the grand total of one bag – every fortnight! I’m a vegetarian, we grow some of our own vegetables, we take our own bags to the grocery store and we don’t accept junk mail. When I travel for work, Lonely Planet offsets my carbon emissions through climatecare.org - have a look and think about doing the same for your next trip. Does this all counteract getting on a jet and flying across the world? Probably not to be honest, but it’s a start.
So should people stop traveling? Has the golden age of gallivanting globe trotting been and gone? I hope not – those who have seen the wonders of the world are the ones who really do put the effort in to save them. By experiencing the world we will be empowered to save it, the more you travel the more you realize that people around the world aren’t that different – we all want the same things and the same things for the next generation.
I guess the essence is that no matter how careful we are and how much we do, there is still more to be done. If we work together we can make a difference, one light bulb, one plastic bag, one planted tree at a time…
Have a look at this brilliant video that has been all over the net recently. The logic behind the argument is undeniable and the evidence is compelling…
Cheers,
Scott
As a travel writer and therefore a frequent traveler the irony is not lost that one major factor in the climate crisis is the pollution created and the oil consumed by international air travel. So what am I doing to offset my impact? Well for starters I’m doing things around my home to lessen my footprint. My wife Sophie and I share a car (gasp!) and unless we are driving to the grocery store or an unreasonable distance we commute by bicycle. We recycle everything that we can, we have a worm farm to get rid of our organic wastes, we buy as little pre-packaged food as we can, eliminating post consumer waste. When the rubbish truck comes around we have the grand total of one bag – every fortnight! I’m a vegetarian, we grow some of our own vegetables, we take our own bags to the grocery store and we don’t accept junk mail. When I travel for work, Lonely Planet offsets my carbon emissions through climatecare.org - have a look and think about doing the same for your next trip. Does this all counteract getting on a jet and flying across the world? Probably not to be honest, but it’s a start.
So should people stop traveling? Has the golden age of gallivanting globe trotting been and gone? I hope not – those who have seen the wonders of the world are the ones who really do put the effort in to save them. By experiencing the world we will be empowered to save it, the more you travel the more you realize that people around the world aren’t that different – we all want the same things and the same things for the next generation.
I guess the essence is that no matter how careful we are and how much we do, there is still more to be done. If we work together we can make a difference, one light bulb, one plastic bag, one planted tree at a time…
Have a look at this brilliant video that has been all over the net recently. The logic behind the argument is undeniable and the evidence is compelling…
Cheers,
Scott
No comments:
Post a Comment