Carbon Fast Days 13 & 14

Oops I’ve got a bit behind!

Day 13

Landfill sites are a major source of methane emissions in the UK. Today’s action is to reuse and recycle your waste and compost your food waste to reduce the rubbish destined for landfill sites.

Start here: www.recyclenow.com. If you don’t have somewhere to compost then investigate alternatives with your local authority. Some councils now collect food waste.

I am trying to recycle more. It frustrates me that most of my county has doorstep recycling, but my village doesn’t Apparently there are 2 schemes – one in the north of the county, one in the south, and my village is in between the 2 scheme!! Anyway, I shouldn’t let that stop me should I? We do have a village recycling point, and I should make more of an effort to use it. I haven’t really been thinking about composting, mainly because I don’t really do gardening and thought that as I don’t need compost there’s no point … I hadn’t really thought food waste was so much of a problem as after all it decomposes. But anyway, I’m sure I could make more of an effort there.

Day 14

The action today is to avoid buying products that have lots of packaging. Choose loose products and buy refillable containers where possible.

The average carbon dioxide emissions per person in the UK is 9.8 tonnes, in China 3.2 tonnes, in India 1.2 tonnes and in Malawi less than 0.1 tonnes. The poorest and most vulnerable people are being hit hardest by the impacts of climate change.(Source: The Little Green Data Book, World Bank, 2008)

Well, I shall try, but it is hard. I was thinking about this last time I was shopping and buying apples … I can see that I should avoid the ones where they have 4 nice apples in a kind of carton with plastic wrapped round, but I hope it’s ok to buy a “family bag”? Has a plastic bag but no worse than buying them from the loose apples pile – you’d still need to put them in a bag wouldn’t you? Anyway, this is making me think. When I come to get things for the children for Easter, I will be  thinking carefully about the Easter eggs I get, and hope I can get nice gifts but with less packaging.

Carbon Fast Day 11

Today’s action is to defrost your fridge and freezer to maintain efficiency. Allowing space for air to circulate will also help them to run more efficiently.

I’m going to be honest … I’m not doing this. Not today. Maybe sometime.

Carbon Fast Day 10

Take action today by wrapping up: Investigate how you can better insulate your home – cavity wall, solid wall, floor and loft insulation – in some cases this can be subsidised and will help with Home Information Pack and Energy Performance Certificates for landlords and home sellers: www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/Home-improvements/Home-insulation-glazing

Around 50 per cent of heat lost in homes is through the walls and loft (if they are not insulated) so insulating wall cavities and lofts helps keep the heat in. (Source: Energy Saving Trust)

This is definitely something I want to look into. We have cavity walls I think, and as far as I know the cavities are empty. We do have loft insulation but it may not be as thick as they recommend these days. I am going to go and have a look at the above link now.

Carbon Fast Day 9

Today’s action is to close the curtains to keep the cold out and the heat in.
Bonus: line your curtains to reduce heat being lost.

Well I do usually shut most of our curtains. So I’m doing ok. Mind you, some of our windows don’t have any curtains, so maybe I should do something about that … hmmm.

Carbon Fast Day 8

Act justly: the world’s poorest people are suffering the most from climate change yet they have contributed the least to the problem. Go to  www.tearfund.org/carbonfastaction to speak up for action in the UK and other rich countries to cut their emissions and for help for poor communities to adapt to the changing climate.

Take it further: Tell one friend about the Carbon Fast and encourage them to take today’s campaign action. You can find out more about Tearfund’s climate change campaign at www.tearfund.org/climatechange

Well, blog readers – consider yourself encouraged to take today’s campaign action – go click on that link up there. I’m going to do just that now.

Carbon Fast Day 6

Yes, you’ve not gone mad, I skipped Day 5 because it was about doing something at Church and I’m not currently doing Church … so it seemed a bit pointless to include it! So, onto today’s action:

28 per cent of the UK’s carbon dioxide emissions come from energy use to run our homes. Today’s action is to get a home energy check at www.energysavingtrust.co.uk or call 0800 512 012.

Ok I’ve done the energy check online. Well I am not sure I got all the answers right as I admit I don’t actually know what kind of walls my house has, or how thick the insulation in the loft is, but hopefully I’ve got it vaguely right so the results will be useful.

Later: It took a while before I got the results by email, but it has now come. It’s not too bad – they gave me a D rating with a potential increase to a C rating. We could increase the thickness of our loft insulation and put in cavity wall insulation to save more energy. Something to think about …

Carbon Fast Day 4

Look at what food you throw away this week. Aim to reduce it by a third by eating leftovers and shopping more carefully – using a list and planning your meals.

Hint: Reduce your waste in the long run by using a smaller bin or moving it further away. This makes you more conscious of what you’re throwing away and allows you to make smarter decisions about packaging and quantities while shopping.

Ok I am going to work on this. I have to admit that I don’t plan meals at all! I’m a working mum, and at the end of the day when I get home I cook whatever I feel like doing. I have no plan. This doesn’t make me particularly wasteful because I use my freezer, and generally use frozen veg. But things like fruit do get wasted as we don’t eat them up quick enough. And often if I use half a tin of something and put the rest in the fridge, but forget to use them. I’m going to try and be a bit more careful.

Carbon Fast Day 3

More than 150 billion litres of bottled water are sold worldwide every year. This contributes significantly to landfill and transport emissions. Say no to bottled water today and drink tap water – buy a refillable washable bottle to use instead.

Well I don’t buy bottled water on a regular basis, but I did buy a few bottles of flavoured water a while back and put them in my drawer at work for thirsty moments. I’ve only got one left now, and I’ve kept all the empty bottles and I’m reusing them. So I will aim not to buy any more but refill the old ones instead.

Carbon Fast Day 1

Day 1

Welcome to the Carbon Fast!

The first action is to remove one light bulb from your home and live without it for the next 40 days. This will decrease your energy use and act as a reminder of what you are doing during Lent.

I didn’t get round to doing this as I was very late home after going to a gig after work, so I will try and do it tomorrow. (And if you are wondering I am writing this bit tomorrow, but dating it yesterday!!)

Carbon Fast?

I’m going to have a go at doing the Tearfund Carbon Fast during Lent. I’m not sure if I will manage to do all the actions but I’ll give it a go. Will try and blog about it as I go.