Carbon Resolution 2.0

Last January I shared my thoughts on reducing my carbon footprint and proposed carbon footprint reduction as a New Year’s resolution. Now that we’re in the early days of 2017, how did I do? And if you committed to reducing your carbon footprint, how did you measure up? If it was anything like my resolution to exercise more, eat better food (or should I say less bad food), it didn’t go as well as I hoped.

Image Source: Castlerockhomebrew.com

My wife and I burned up a lot of carbon flying to Milan in March. We had a great time and, unfortunately for the planet, we are planning another trip to Europe this year. As a family we also built up a little extra carbon debt when my wife flew to California for a hiking trip with some friends. My only condolence this past year is that I did not have to take a single airplane trip for work. However, I did manage to drive quite a bit. So, I didn’t make much progress toward my goal of carbon footprint reduction in regards to travel. However, we did manage to avoid cruise ships, which are not a favorite of mine when it comes to sustainability.

One big change in our lives was that our twins “boomeranged” home after college this summer. One of the silver linings of their return is that they both love to cook, and our dinnertime offerings have improved greatly. However, the food bill has gone through the roof. But, more of us are sharing the house which makes heating and cooling more efficient. No more apartments to support, so I see it as an increase in sustainable living. However, the prospect of my children never leaving the nest is too much to contemplate, regardless of how sustainable it is!

Image Source: lamag.com

In regards to an electric car, the economics didn’t add up, but my latest car purchase is a recycled car. Well …pre-owned … okay … second hand. Since it’s an Audi I believe the correct term is pre-owned, premium brands just aren’t second hand, if you believe the marketing. All kidding aside, buying a 4 year old well-made car with low mileage is a very good option. Reusing the embedded energy in a product the original owner no longer wants is always a good thing. The only caveat being this 4 year old car only gets 25/30 city highway mileage, which is not so great. However, one of my kids just started carpooling with me several days a week so my mileage per person is way up – I count that as a small victory. But that said, as a family, my wife and I put way too many miles on our cars each year, which seems impossible to reduce given the locations of home and office.

Other issues such as buying local, and local being a relative term, is still a challenge. Any electronics – smart phones, tablets and the like, are mostly still imported and have all sorts of nasty chemicals embedded in them, so I don’t see many real options there if you want to live in a connected world – just don’t trade up every year or so. Clothing in this country is, for the most part all imported, but I keep looking for domestically made products. Obviously, you can turn down your thermostat and try to buy clean energy … solar panels anyone? Do you have any other ideas or strategies that work? If so, please share!

My well-meaning attempt to reduce my personal carbon footprint did not go so well last year. Onward in 2017! Maybe this will be a better year to try harder? But, without moving into a cave and eating nuts and twigs, it is almost impossible to have much impact on a daily basis. Now, big decisions have big impacts, such as how many plane trips you take, the kind of vehicle you drive (if you own one), how you get to work, the size of your house or apartment and where you go on vacation. But the day-to-day products you buy and where they came from, less so. I like Italian wine and imported cheeses, so on the one hand, I am supporting the global market, on the other, I’m not supporting my goal to reduce my carbon footprint. Frankly, unless there is some sort of carbon tax on products, and possibly even services, it will continue to be very difficult to get your hands around the individual carbon footprint of products.

This whole issue of carbon footprint is something I have wrestled with for some time now and have come to the conclusion it comes down to lots of individual choices during the course of a year. Trying to actually track a quantifiable number seems off in the future for now. So basically, I try to be an informed consumer, consume as little as possible while doing the best I can whenever possible and hope that we leave future generations a planet worth living on. What’s your commitment in 2017?