Walk the Walk II: What to do when every little bit isn't enough

This article was first published in the Skaha Matters Newsletter.

The 2016 German/Canadian study of households found that in households with incomes above $52,000 per year (CAD), environmental attitudes make little difference in people’s actual carbon impact.

Carbon impact for wealthy households comes from

1. Square footage of living space
2. Daily transport
3. Vegetarianism (or lack of) 
4. Vacation flights

If recycling and LED bulbs aren’t cutting it, what would make a significant difference?

Global warming isn’t a personal choice. It cannot be changed by one person at a time. Western civilization has 300 years of preferring (and often subsiding) the carbon economy, therefore fixing it requires political action.Imagine that politics, from local to federal, as being a field full of soccer balls. Somehow, the climate change ball is always getting knocked out of bounds by more immediate needs. More effective than simply voting, call, email or write a letter asking both candidates and politicians how they plan on fighting global warming. So few people do this your letter carries great weight. Benefit: Costs nothing. 

Own your square footage with pride. It’s a major accomplishment to own a home in Canada, even more so to own one in the beautiful Okanagan (and your view is carbon neutral!). Proud homeowners maintain their investment, replacing roofs and invest in their property, remodeling kitchens and bathrooms. You should have the same pride and pleasure in knowing that you’ve reduced you house’s carbon footprint -- getting an energy audit, adding solar. If you’re the competitive type, what’s your HERS rating? Can you cover 90% of your electricity use with solar? Benefit: Saves money, excellent investment.

Take advantage of the BC and federal tax credits to make your second car electric. Yes, you can keep a four wheel drive or a truck. Yes, you might still want a gas-powered car for all those cross-country trips to Ottawa. But to and from town to buy groceries and ferry kiddos? There’s no reason to have anything but electric. Afraid of battery life? That’s what leases are for. Benefit: Saves money.

Become a weekday vegetarian. I love bacon, I love a good steak, but I confess that 90% of the meat I eat is not really very thrilling. What if, rather than having a series of OK meals with your standard meat, you had GREAT meals with prime cuts on Saturday and Sunday, and ate vegetarian Monday-Friday? You could even ramp up slowly from a Meatless Monday, stopping at your comfort zone. Rather than make 10% of us 100% vegetarian, let’s make 80% of us vegetarian five out of every seven days. Benefits: Saves money unless Saturday is lobster. Good for your health if you understand french fries and ketchup do not a vegetarian meal make. 

Carbon offset just your vacation flights. Let’s not freak over every taxi and every frozen margarita. If you are in the income bracket where you can afford flights to Mexico, Disneyland, Tahiti, Cuba, and Thailand, it’s time to start offsetting your vacation flights. It’s easy, it’s inexpensive. One roundtrip flight from Penticton airport to Mexico for one person can be offset for about $50 CAD. And if you want to feel really cool, pick an offset project set in the country you are visiting.



Articles on Teaspoon Energy by Kristy Dyer is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License You may reprint this for free, as-is.