Carbon Conversations


As all my faithful readers will know, I am becoming more interested in being green and saving money but can you do both? What impact does all the consumerism that has been going on have on the world?

I am very interested in this topic. Whilst I first came upon it when I was in search of saving money, I think that you can save the world doing this too. I have over the past year decided that I do not need as much stuff as I already and am slowly parting with it. But I also think that future purchases, I will try to be more thoughtful, I mean we only have one planet Earth. 

I found out about a local class called ‘Carbon Conversations’ ran by the Cambridge Carbon Footprint and I was intrigued. I am also interested in being surrounded by people that share my same interests. They always say that if you want to be successful, surround yourself with successful people. I am taking that one step further, if you want to be green and earth conscious, you must surround yourself with green and earth conscious people.

At first I wasn't sure what 'kind of' people would be in this class and would I fit in. I know I am not the kind of yogi peaceful person like my friend Catherine but I am not someone who is completely the other way either. I was happy to find that I 'fit' in perfectly. All the people came for a range of reasons, either because this was a personal interest or it is something that they studied in and wanted to learn more. It nice to hear the range of views and really think that format helps to get you thinking about your habits.

For the class, we got a well written workbook with some shocking facts about the environment and what is and isn't being done. I was shocked about the effect my home country has on the world. My personal opinion is that they don't inform us enough about how our choices impact others. There are not enough governments doing what they can about the planet and lowering our impact and 'big business' is too busy getting politicians to vote in their favour and not looking at the big picture.

I know a lot of people think, 'why should do anything when everyone else is not concerned?', I think that we should all do our part and when we get together it creates momentum. We also need the people in charge of our country, those people in councils at national and local levels, to put in place the infrastructure so that we can make the real changes but they will only do that if we put enough pressure on them to make the changes needed.

So I am nearing the end of my course and  I have learned a lot. Some personal changes that I am making:
  • putting up shrink wrap on the windows to help keep in the heat.
  • putting up a curtain around the front door to keep the cold air out.
  • looking to buy from more local shops when I can especially when it comes to food.
  • ride my bike to brownies during the summer time to reduce my mileage.
  • Continue on wearing out my clothes to reduce how much I buy.
  • Continue to grow and make changes
 Changes cannot be made over night and I know that. All I can do is be conscious, keep talking to people about this and be informed.

Perhaps if this is an interest of yours, you can sign up for a class or contact a group doing the same sort of work.

All the Best!

American to Britain

Comments