Getting Concrete: No impact culture
No Impact Man passes along the rules for the Riot for Austerity. It’s a solid list of guidelines for reducing your personal carbon emissions by 90%. A great list, but hard to achieve if doing so isn’t a full-time occupation. For example:
Electricity:
1,100 kWh per HOUSEHOLD, per YEAR
I just grabbed the latest electric bill off my desk, and looked back to the winter months: 2634 kWh in February. We’ve got CFLs in the house. We’re in New England and rely on a heat pump/forced air system in the winter. We’re also on the first floor of a 130 year-old building and the basement below us is unheated. (And forget about all the diapers we’re going through with a 6 week-old baby!)
This is a big dilemma many green-minded citizens face. Circumstance doesn’t always support change, and reality must be contended with. Home building certainly isn’t a wasteless endeavor either. I’d love to design, build, and live in an efficient, zero-sum home, with solar, wind energy, designed for passive heating and cooling. But I’m making a difference by putting an existing structure to use as well. I’m also paying for GreenUp credits on my electric bill.
Though a bit disconcerting — can you ever do enough? — the list is worth reading to see where you can cut back and make a difference: http://noimpactman.typepad.com/blog/2007/06/getting_concret.html
Modern Homes New England » How NOT to Build Green said,
July 8, 2007 @ 10:37 am
[…] And I again find myself faced with the dilemma of reality vs. theory that I touched upon No Impact Man’s passed along guidelines for reducing personal carbon emissions by 90%. Let me share with you just how badly I want to live according to this list: […]