I look around me and see little evidence of anyone doing anything very much. This seems rather strange in view of the potentially huge threat.
In general, cyclists seem to be a bit more concerned than others. Are you doing anything? Have you any useful tips for the rest of us ??
Global Warming - Are you doing anything ??
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Terry T
Yes, we're doing plenty.
* Shopping locally, by foot or bike, almost all of the time. Lovely now we're known on first-name terms by the greengrocer, bakery, and butchers. Oh, and we're well known by the nice lady who sells the lamb at the farmers market, and the roving fishmonger in his van.
* Good Energy 100% green electricity. More expensive, so we're being careful to turn things off, use low-energy bulbs, etc.
* New condensing gas boiler, lots of new loft insulation.
* Monitoring electricity and gas usage by meter readings once a week (ish). Gas usage about 45% down and electricity 10% down compared with last year
* Two large compost bins, two wormeries.
* Recycle as much as possible, black-bag as little as possible.
* Very rarely go abroad.
Not sure if it's greener, but we now have two chickens (Barbara and Margo, of course!) who give us two "organic" free-range eggs a day.
* Shopping locally, by foot or bike, almost all of the time. Lovely now we're known on first-name terms by the greengrocer, bakery, and butchers. Oh, and we're well known by the nice lady who sells the lamb at the farmers market, and the roving fishmonger in his van.
* Good Energy 100% green electricity. More expensive, so we're being careful to turn things off, use low-energy bulbs, etc.
* New condensing gas boiler, lots of new loft insulation.
* Monitoring electricity and gas usage by meter readings once a week (ish). Gas usage about 45% down and electricity 10% down compared with last year
* Two large compost bins, two wormeries.
* Recycle as much as possible, black-bag as little as possible.
* Very rarely go abroad.
Not sure if it's greener, but we now have two chickens (Barbara and Margo, of course!) who give us two "organic" free-range eggs a day.
Anthony Cartmell (also known as "admin" when posting in a more official capacity on this Forum)
Kangaroo trike, Windcheetah recumbent, Batavus dutch bike, Dawes Galaxy Twin tandem, Pashley unicycle
http://www.fonant.com – Quality web sites.
Kangaroo trike, Windcheetah recumbent, Batavus dutch bike, Dawes Galaxy Twin tandem, Pashley unicycle
http://www.fonant.com – Quality web sites.
Given up on flying.
Don't use the car if I can help it and if I do use it them my car does 70+mpg at cruising speed.
Commute, when i do it, by train or bike.
Looking to get an allotment soon so my food won't need transportation in lorries or storage in heated shops.
Recycle such as I can.
Never use the central heating (much to Mrs Si's annoyance).
etc
Don't use the car if I can help it and if I do use it them my car does 70+mpg at cruising speed.
Commute, when i do it, by train or bike.
Looking to get an allotment soon so my food won't need transportation in lorries or storage in heated shops.
Recycle such as I can.
Never use the central heating (much to Mrs Si's annoyance).
etc
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Dai
Yes dude - I ride my bike whenever possible.
I have taken my advanced driving test and know how to limit the impact of the driving I have to do.
I encourage my family to do the same.
My entire house is lit by energy saving light bulbs with timer switches to shut them off if I forget.
I have the best white goods I can afford with the top environmental ratings.
I compost.
I grow a lot of my own food.
Having been to the Gambia I have learned the value of water and do all I can to limit my use of it.
I constantly lobby my local politicos on green issues.
Short of forcing others to do the same at gunpoint I don't know what else I can do.
I have taken my advanced driving test and know how to limit the impact of the driving I have to do.
I encourage my family to do the same.
My entire house is lit by energy saving light bulbs with timer switches to shut them off if I forget.
I have the best white goods I can afford with the top environmental ratings.
I compost.
I grow a lot of my own food.
Having been to the Gambia I have learned the value of water and do all I can to limit my use of it.
I constantly lobby my local politicos on green issues.
Short of forcing others to do the same at gunpoint I don't know what else I can do.
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malakoffee
- Posts: 9
- Joined: 29 Dec 2006, 11:03pm
Wow, I'm impressed. I hope such virtuous changes manage to gather momentum and spread throughout the unsustainable societies.
Here are a couple of slightly bonkers tips . . . . ( or maybe not so bonkers after all).
I switched off the gas supply for most of the spring, summer & autumn last year. No heating. Only small amounts of hot water from a kettle. During that long hot year I took cold showers only : very refreshing : not a problem. Since November I have used about £5 worth of gas for a quick blast heat and the occasional warm shower.
Not a GW solution, but a scarce resource issue :
I had a water meter fitted. The bill dropped immediately from £200 p.a. to £80 p.a. It's so obvious that users with meters start to think about how they use the water.
I solved the limescale-in-toilet problem by flushing with water from the rainwater barrel. OK, I do have to carry the water in a bucket upstairs to fill the cistern, but we cyclists should seize opportunities for upper-body exercise where we can.
Here are a couple of slightly bonkers tips . . . . ( or maybe not so bonkers after all).
I switched off the gas supply for most of the spring, summer & autumn last year. No heating. Only small amounts of hot water from a kettle. During that long hot year I took cold showers only : very refreshing : not a problem. Since November I have used about £5 worth of gas for a quick blast heat and the occasional warm shower.
Not a GW solution, but a scarce resource issue :
I had a water meter fitted. The bill dropped immediately from £200 p.a. to £80 p.a. It's so obvious that users with meters start to think about how they use the water.
I solved the limescale-in-toilet problem by flushing with water from the rainwater barrel. OK, I do have to carry the water in a bucket upstairs to fill the cistern, but we cyclists should seize opportunities for upper-body exercise where we can.
Last edited by malakoffee on 14 Jan 2007, 12:38pm, edited 1 time in total.
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hubgearfreak
- Posts: 8212
- Joined: 7 Jan 2007, 4:14pm
cycle to work/ offy/ chippy
use greengrocer, baker local shops daily & supermarket only after 4 weeks
A rated fridge freezer/ washing machine
condensing boiler
CFL lights
turn telly of at switch
rechargeable batteries
vegetarian
choose european wine, apples etc. never buy austrlian or american. if forced to, i will buy chilean or south african, if i must. i'd sooner export my money to those countries that need the export income.
grow some of my own food, certainly all my own chilli peppers.
sat here with thick jumper on, in a coolish house.
i've never been outside the EC and then mostly by ferry.
car is 20 years old, and 5000miles pa
only ride old steel bikes.
but one guilty pleasure....disposable nappies
cons.
need to be manufactured & delivered
fill landfill
pros.
you don't have to wash them -
using electricity
using water
using soap
negates the need for a tumble drier
(the extra drying needs would require us to have one)
& you don't have to wash them
use greengrocer, baker local shops daily & supermarket only after 4 weeks
A rated fridge freezer/ washing machine
condensing boiler
CFL lights
turn telly of at switch
rechargeable batteries
vegetarian
choose european wine, apples etc. never buy austrlian or american. if forced to, i will buy chilean or south african, if i must. i'd sooner export my money to those countries that need the export income.
grow some of my own food, certainly all my own chilli peppers.
sat here with thick jumper on, in a coolish house.
i've never been outside the EC and then mostly by ferry.
car is 20 years old, and 5000miles pa
only ride old steel bikes.
but one guilty pleasure....disposable nappies
cons.
need to be manufactured & delivered
fill landfill
pros.
you don't have to wash them -
using electricity
using water
using soap
negates the need for a tumble drier
(the extra drying needs would require us to have one)
& you don't have to wash them
hubgearfreak wrote:disposable nappies
cons.
need to be manufactured & delivered
fill landfill
more cons.
Very expensive (especially with twins!).
Soon to be very very expensive when the landfill runs out and pay-as-you-go rubbish arrives (as in Europe).
Need to throw away smelly parcels.
No incentive from West Sussex County Council (who gave us £100+ worth of nappies!).
more pros.
Slightly less effort to use.
Easier when visiting people or otherwise away from home.
Additional water and electricity usage is minimal if you wash lots of them at once (especially with twins!).
Anthony Cartmell (also known as "admin" when posting in a more official capacity on this Forum)
Kangaroo trike, Windcheetah recumbent, Batavus dutch bike, Dawes Galaxy Twin tandem, Pashley unicycle
http://www.fonant.com – Quality web sites.
Kangaroo trike, Windcheetah recumbent, Batavus dutch bike, Dawes Galaxy Twin tandem, Pashley unicycle
http://www.fonant.com – Quality web sites.
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Dai
-
hubgearfreak
- Posts: 8212
- Joined: 7 Jan 2007, 4:14pm
Fonant wrote:Very expensive
water and electricity usage is minimal
i reckon a few quid a week. not a great deal...as for the electricity and water and soap, i've not measured it, but even an A rated machine is a heavy user of power, i always thought
anyway, i'm not perfect
and i really don't want to be scraping the poo out before it goes in the wash. (does this then get flushed in the loo with another 10litres?) my mum says it is a truly disgusting job, and she's so jealous that they were't available in 1969.
also, even if i was in mind to use re-usables, mrs. hub would never agree
all of our friends who invested in the capital expense soon gave up, we know no-one who persevered
however, i'd be interested to see a proper cost benefit analysis (not sponsored by bosch, persil or huggies
) including all financial and environmental costsYes we used disposables if we went away, otherwise two kids - now 23 & 17 - were both in nappies. My mum gave us some nappies that she had used for my sisters and I. Don't remember much scraping - mind you I didn't do much nappy changing - I was incompetent at it. ISTR the nappies were left in a bucket of something and it all broke down leaving waste to be flushed and relatively clean nappies to be bunged into the washer. Incidentally we still have that washer - 22 years old and still going, it's had almost daily use for those last 22 years. We should buy a new one but being :-
I have always managed to repair the old girl when she has broken down. If I had to pay somebody to come out and fix her she would have been BER years ago.
Today I'm a bit cold and have been outside working so I still have my hat on and no heating. When we were growing up there was no CH in the house, we had a coal fire in the living room, the rest of the house was unheated or rarely heated and if things got really bad there may have been a parafin heater. We never noticed as kids, we were never still long enough to be cold. We weren't unusual - most houses were heated the same way.
I think we all spend too much on having the latest instead of repairing what we have. This is why the bicycle has to be the greatest invention of all time, it is stable technology, easy to maintain and repair and cheap, there is probably not much else to be done to it that will make it better. Lets be honest, paying four digits for a bike is very rarely justified except for ego massaging. Where it falls down is the big marketing companies that build obsolesence in. I was told I would have to buy a new wheel because the bearings needed replacing and Shimano no longer made that groupset. $%^& off Shimano - I have a lathe and sealed ball bearings are available and they won't be getting any money off me for new hubs just yet
TTFN
D
- a) tight
b) mechanically competent
c) kleptomanic
d) reluctant to throw stuff out
I have always managed to repair the old girl when she has broken down. If I had to pay somebody to come out and fix her she would have been BER years ago.
Today I'm a bit cold and have been outside working so I still have my hat on and no heating. When we were growing up there was no CH in the house, we had a coal fire in the living room, the rest of the house was unheated or rarely heated and if things got really bad there may have been a parafin heater. We never noticed as kids, we were never still long enough to be cold. We weren't unusual - most houses were heated the same way.
I think we all spend too much on having the latest instead of repairing what we have. This is why the bicycle has to be the greatest invention of all time, it is stable technology, easy to maintain and repair and cheap, there is probably not much else to be done to it that will make it better. Lets be honest, paying four digits for a bike is very rarely justified except for ego massaging. Where it falls down is the big marketing companies that build obsolesence in. I was told I would have to buy a new wheel because the bearings needed replacing and Shimano no longer made that groupset. $%^& off Shimano - I have a lathe and sealed ball bearings are available and they won't be getting any money off me for new hubs just yet
TTFN
D
Nice topic.
I aim to reduce, reuse, recycle, in that order.
Power down from the mains when PC/printer unused; the Belkin under-monitor surge master with push button switches for each piece of equipment makes this very do-able.
Use NiMH reachargeables and recharge in my solar charger!
Building bikes from used components (saving resources and fuel). Riding them. Go shopping on the hybrid (with four panniers) or, if buying a lot, the tandem. Encourage friends to ride by providing bikes suited to purpose. Taught friends to ride confidently. Gave gift membership of London cycling campaign complete with London maps to brother.
Work close to home.
Buy second hand items for home when they’re available – often the items are as good as stuff currently in the shops, occasionally better.
Fix something when breaks rather than buy another.
Double glazing, 10 inch loft insulation. Wear jumpers in the house. Then set the thermostat.
Cool showers – added advantage of less condensation.
Buy local food often, fresh. Avoid plastic packaging where possible. Compost organic waste.
Low energy light bulbs in each room, (light shades warm the colour of the light).
Take train over plane.
Tell people about all this stuff and get them to go ‘ooh… we could do that…’.
I aim to reduce, reuse, recycle, in that order.
Power down from the mains when PC/printer unused; the Belkin under-monitor surge master with push button switches for each piece of equipment makes this very do-able.
Use NiMH reachargeables and recharge in my solar charger!
Building bikes from used components (saving resources and fuel). Riding them. Go shopping on the hybrid (with four panniers) or, if buying a lot, the tandem. Encourage friends to ride by providing bikes suited to purpose. Taught friends to ride confidently. Gave gift membership of London cycling campaign complete with London maps to brother.
Work close to home.
Buy second hand items for home when they’re available – often the items are as good as stuff currently in the shops, occasionally better.
Fix something when breaks rather than buy another.
Double glazing, 10 inch loft insulation. Wear jumpers in the house. Then set the thermostat.
Cool showers – added advantage of less condensation.
Buy local food often, fresh. Avoid plastic packaging where possible. Compost organic waste.
Low energy light bulbs in each room, (light shades warm the colour of the light).
Take train over plane.
Tell people about all this stuff and get them to go ‘ooh… we could do that…’.
Actually, we do our bit for The Environment. Honest.
Recycling, low energy stuff, composting, CYCLING, public transport, walking, home insulation, etc etc etc.
Oh yes, shopping by bike and trailer. See http://forum.ctc.org.uk/viewtopic.php?t ... s+trailers
Mick F. Cornwall
Recycling, low energy stuff, composting, CYCLING, public transport, walking, home insulation, etc etc etc.
Oh yes, shopping by bike and trailer. See http://forum.ctc.org.uk/viewtopic.php?t ... s+trailers
Mick F. Cornwall