Monday, 25 August 2008
EDF Energy Birmingham Half Marathon
Checkout the EDF Energy Birmingham Half Marathon website where there's some home energy efficiency training advice by yours truly. Sign up for the race on October 26th and I'll see you there - and get more energy efficient in your home in the meantime!
Saturday, 5 July 2008
New environmentally friendly training gear
Looks like technical training clothing is changing for the better. A company in the US - Green-Layer clothing - is designing and selling performance and technical gear - so far mainly for running (but watch this space, there may be some cycling and tri kit at some point...) made from renewable sources. All clothing contains at least 50% renewable fabric content, whether recycled polyester, soy-based, organic cotton or bamboo. And it looks good! Check them out! Start replacing your lycra/polyester running kit today...
www.green-layer.com
"There are 5 layers of skin and our apparel acts as the natural 6th layer. It blocks us from rain, wind, sun, cold, and abrasions. This final layer must act naturally like your skin, like your own body. It must be functional, comfortable, flexible, and allow the athlete to focus on their sport, not what they are wearing. The added benefit to our apparel is that it feels technical enough to train for a marathon, yet comfortable enough to wear around town on the weekends. Peak performance fabric and inspiring designs, all with at least 50% renewable fabric content.
Greenlayer delivers a unique blend of athletic apparel and lifestyle product. What makes our apparel unique is the content of the apparel that is made of organic and environmentally friendly fabrics. Any amount of non-eco friendly fabric removed from a garment helps save the environment and our planet's natural resources. We strive to maximize eco-friendly material usage in all of our apparel and donate a percentage of our gross margin sales to environmental causes.
We have a full product range of base layers, outerwear, and accessories that race directors, screen printers, corporate clients, and retail accounts can purchase. Already have a merchandising team? We can help you source. Please contact us for more details. Our products are made from a variety of standard performance fabrics to eco-friendly fabrics, such as Bamboo, Bamboo Carbon, CoCoNa, Polyester Repreve, and Organic Cotton.
Color. Innovative Fabrics. Affordable prices. Sustainable materials. Design."
www.green-layer.com
"There are 5 layers of skin and our apparel acts as the natural 6th layer. It blocks us from rain, wind, sun, cold, and abrasions. This final layer must act naturally like your skin, like your own body. It must be functional, comfortable, flexible, and allow the athlete to focus on their sport, not what they are wearing. The added benefit to our apparel is that it feels technical enough to train for a marathon, yet comfortable enough to wear around town on the weekends. Peak performance fabric and inspiring designs, all with at least 50% renewable fabric content.
Greenlayer delivers a unique blend of athletic apparel and lifestyle product. What makes our apparel unique is the content of the apparel that is made of organic and environmentally friendly fabrics. Any amount of non-eco friendly fabric removed from a garment helps save the environment and our planet's natural resources. We strive to maximize eco-friendly material usage in all of our apparel and donate a percentage of our gross margin sales to environmental causes.
We have a full product range of base layers, outerwear, and accessories that race directors, screen printers, corporate clients, and retail accounts can purchase. Already have a merchandising team? We can help you source. Please contact us for more details. Our products are made from a variety of standard performance fabrics to eco-friendly fabrics, such as Bamboo, Bamboo Carbon, CoCoNa, Polyester Repreve, and Organic Cotton.
Color. Innovative Fabrics. Affordable prices. Sustainable materials. Design."
Thursday, 13 March 2008
Council for Responsible Sport
Mass participation athletic events (marathons, triathlons, bike races, etc) often do not consider environmental impact when making event planning decisions. Generated waste may be substantial, materials are often used once and discarded, and the distances traveled by participants are increasing. At the same time, the number of participants is increasing, certain destructive practices are becoming common, and the items employed to stage events are becoming standardized in favor of profit margin.
With growing awareness of environmental responsibility in mainstream habits and mass media, these events provide the opportunity for a deliberate, high-profile realignment of views toward a planning model that takes into consideration sustainability and environmental impact. At the same time, responsible event production can build value for the event, its participants, and its host community.
A new US non-profit organisation, The Council for Responsible Sport (CRS), provides independent certification for sustainable athletic events. By defining realistic objectives and providing a framework for achieving them, CRS enables event directors to incorporate environmental responsibility into their events while informing consumers which events adhere to these standards.
CRS have produced a set of Draft Standards which assesses an event's footprint along five categories of sustainability: waste, climate, materials/equipment, community/outreach, and health promotion. These proposed standards and the comments offered will be folded into a published standard, set for release in March/April 2008.
Throughout 2008, a set of "seedling" races will guinea-pig the certification process. If seedling events reach defined levels of sustainability set forth in the standard, certifications will be awarded.
They have selected twelve events to take part in a pilot program which will establish standards and processes for a sustainability certification for athletic events - all triathlons in 2008 - representing large and small events in a variety of geographic locations, and including both first-year and established races. The following events make up the "seedling" pilot program:
CB&I Triathlon (May 3, Woodlands, TX)
Keuka Lake Triathlon (June 8, Keuka Park, NY)
Philadelphia Insurance Triathlon in Fairmount Park (June 21-22, Philadelphia, PA)
Deschutes Dash (July 19-20, Bend, OR)
Boulder Peak Triathlon (July 20, Boulder, CO)
Urban Epic (July 26, Portland, ME)
Oregon Trout City of Portland Triathlon (August 31, Portland, OR)
San Francisco Triathlon (November 9, San Francisco, CA)
USA Triathlon Age Group Nationals (September 20, Forest Grove, OR)
Peregrine Charities Triathlon (September 28, Waterloo, IA)
Land Rover Pumpkinman Triathlon (October 18, Las Vegas, NV)
Marin County Triathlon (October 26, San Rafael, CA)
This is great news - improving standards among races in the USA. Hopefully European races will follow suit... At the moment there's no hard and fast rules among the different Ironman franchises for example about sourcing more eco-friendly materials, or reducing the carbon footprint of the races. I hope they take the initiative!
Checkout CRS at www.responsiblesporting.org or if you are in the US - go support the programme by entering one of the pilot races!
With growing awareness of environmental responsibility in mainstream habits and mass media, these events provide the opportunity for a deliberate, high-profile realignment of views toward a planning model that takes into consideration sustainability and environmental impact. At the same time, responsible event production can build value for the event, its participants, and its host community.
A new US non-profit organisation, The Council for Responsible Sport (CRS), provides independent certification for sustainable athletic events. By defining realistic objectives and providing a framework for achieving them, CRS enables event directors to incorporate environmental responsibility into their events while informing consumers which events adhere to these standards.
CRS have produced a set of Draft Standards which assesses an event's footprint along five categories of sustainability: waste, climate, materials/equipment, community/outreach, and health promotion. These proposed standards and the comments offered will be folded into a published standard, set for release in March/April 2008.
Throughout 2008, a set of "seedling" races will guinea-pig the certification process. If seedling events reach defined levels of sustainability set forth in the standard, certifications will be awarded.
They have selected twelve events to take part in a pilot program which will establish standards and processes for a sustainability certification for athletic events - all triathlons in 2008 - representing large and small events in a variety of geographic locations, and including both first-year and established races. The following events make up the "seedling" pilot program:
CB&I Triathlon (May 3, Woodlands, TX)
Keuka Lake Triathlon (June 8, Keuka Park, NY)
Philadelphia Insurance Triathlon in Fairmount Park (June 21-22, Philadelphia, PA)
Deschutes Dash (July 19-20, Bend, OR)
Boulder Peak Triathlon (July 20, Boulder, CO)
Urban Epic (July 26, Portland, ME)
Oregon Trout City of Portland Triathlon (August 31, Portland, OR)
San Francisco Triathlon (November 9, San Francisco, CA)
USA Triathlon Age Group Nationals (September 20, Forest Grove, OR)
Peregrine Charities Triathlon (September 28, Waterloo, IA)
Land Rover Pumpkinman Triathlon (October 18, Las Vegas, NV)
Marin County Triathlon (October 26, San Rafael, CA)
This is great news - improving standards among races in the USA. Hopefully European races will follow suit... At the moment there's no hard and fast rules among the different Ironman franchises for example about sourcing more eco-friendly materials, or reducing the carbon footprint of the races. I hope they take the initiative!
Checkout CRS at www.responsiblesporting.org or if you are in the US - go support the programme by entering one of the pilot races!
Thursday, 10 January 2008
12 steps to a sustainable food 2012 London Olympics
"The Soil Associations 12 Steps to a Sustainable Food 2012 Olympics 12.12.07
Feeding the Olympics from the Soil Association, Sustain and nef calls on London to deliver the promise to be the greenest and healthiest Games in terms of the food they provide, and sets out how this can be done."
http://www.naturalchoices.co.uk/The-Soil-Associations-12-Steps-to?id_mot=7
Some great guidelines and targets here... let's hope the 2012 committee consider them. The points are also quite a good guideline for individuals as well - see the steps below (or follow the link) - eg marine stewardship fish to avoid overfished stocks; buying local and organic food as part of your normal shop.
QUOTE
The Olympics are a truely staggering event, not just in terms of the outstanding sporting performance but also in the logistics needed to keep the organisation, sport people and audience going.
Food served at the Sydney Olympics included: Milk 75 000 litres Eggs 19 tonnes Cheese 21 tonnes Bread 25 000 loaves Seafood 82 tonnes Poultry 31 tonnes Meat 100 tonnes
The Soil Association have come up with 12 great ideas to ensure that the 2012 London Olympics really live up to their claims as the greenest games ever.
1. The Food for Life targets of 75% unprocessed, 50% local and 30% organic food should be set as a minimum standard for catering contracts.
2. Food outlets should be encouraged to use 100% UK vegetables and 80% UK seasonal fruit.
3. 65% of the food sold should be vegetarian or vegan, with meat used sparingly in meat-based dishes; 100% of meat and dairy products should be organic and from the UK.
4. Only fish from certified Marine Stewardship Council sources should be used.
5. All tea, coffee, chocolate, and fruit and juice (where imported) should be Fairtrade certified.
6. There should be minimal food packaging, with all waste reused, recycled or composted; 100% composting of organic waste; 100% reuse or recycling of packaging.
7. Free drinking water fountains should be installed throughout all Olympic sites.
8. All possible avenues that would allow local, small and medium sized enterprises to participate in catering activities during the construction phase and the Games themselves should be vigorously pursued.
9. Before and at the Games, there should be visible and engaging food marketing, that inspires and informs the public on the merits of healthy eating and its role in sports, an understanding of seasonal, local and organic produce available and the benefits of various eating habits for the local and global environment. This should include high-profile athletes promoting healthy and sustainable food.
10. All catering staff should be trained in preparing fresh and healthy dishes, and communicating this to their present and future customers, which will provide a sustainable catering legacy.
11. As part of the legacy of the Games, all residents in the new communities should have retail access to fresh, healthy and sustainable food within 500 metres. The new developments should provide space for street markets, farmers’ markets, food-growing spaces (at ground level and on rooftops) and allotments.
12. Building on the Vancouver 2010 Games’ commitment to create 2,010 new food-growing sites, 2,012 new food-growing spaces should be created across London, including community gardens, allotments and roof gardens.
UNQUOTE
Feeding the Olympics from the Soil Association, Sustain and nef calls on London to deliver the promise to be the greenest and healthiest Games in terms of the food they provide, and sets out how this can be done."
http://www.naturalchoices.co.uk/The-Soil-Associations-12-Steps-to?id_mot=7
Some great guidelines and targets here... let's hope the 2012 committee consider them. The points are also quite a good guideline for individuals as well - see the steps below (or follow the link) - eg marine stewardship fish to avoid overfished stocks; buying local and organic food as part of your normal shop.
QUOTE
The Olympics are a truely staggering event, not just in terms of the outstanding sporting performance but also in the logistics needed to keep the organisation, sport people and audience going.
Food served at the Sydney Olympics included: Milk 75 000 litres Eggs 19 tonnes Cheese 21 tonnes Bread 25 000 loaves Seafood 82 tonnes Poultry 31 tonnes Meat 100 tonnes
The Soil Association have come up with 12 great ideas to ensure that the 2012 London Olympics really live up to their claims as the greenest games ever.
1. The Food for Life targets of 75% unprocessed, 50% local and 30% organic food should be set as a minimum standard for catering contracts.
2. Food outlets should be encouraged to use 100% UK vegetables and 80% UK seasonal fruit.
3. 65% of the food sold should be vegetarian or vegan, with meat used sparingly in meat-based dishes; 100% of meat and dairy products should be organic and from the UK.
4. Only fish from certified Marine Stewardship Council sources should be used.
5. All tea, coffee, chocolate, and fruit and juice (where imported) should be Fairtrade certified.
6. There should be minimal food packaging, with all waste reused, recycled or composted; 100% composting of organic waste; 100% reuse or recycling of packaging.
7. Free drinking water fountains should be installed throughout all Olympic sites.
8. All possible avenues that would allow local, small and medium sized enterprises to participate in catering activities during the construction phase and the Games themselves should be vigorously pursued.
9. Before and at the Games, there should be visible and engaging food marketing, that inspires and informs the public on the merits of healthy eating and its role in sports, an understanding of seasonal, local and organic produce available and the benefits of various eating habits for the local and global environment. This should include high-profile athletes promoting healthy and sustainable food.
10. All catering staff should be trained in preparing fresh and healthy dishes, and communicating this to their present and future customers, which will provide a sustainable catering legacy.
11. As part of the legacy of the Games, all residents in the new communities should have retail access to fresh, healthy and sustainable food within 500 metres. The new developments should provide space for street markets, farmers’ markets, food-growing spaces (at ground level and on rooftops) and allotments.
12. Building on the Vancouver 2010 Games’ commitment to create 2,010 new food-growing sites, 2,012 new food-growing spaces should be created across London, including community gardens, allotments and roof gardens.
UNQUOTE
Tuesday, 8 January 2008
Healthy living 'can add 14 years'
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7174665.stm
"Taking exercise, not drinking too much alcohol, eating enough fruit and vegetables and not smoking can add up to 14 years to your life, a study says."
Tell us something we didn't know. Hopefully these extra 14 years are economically productive, not too much of a burden on the NHS and socially beneficial....
"Taking exercise, not drinking too much alcohol, eating enough fruit and vegetables and not smoking can add up to 14 years to your life, a study says."
Tell us something we didn't know. Hopefully these extra 14 years are economically productive, not too much of a burden on the NHS and socially beneficial....
Friday, 24 August 2007
Sustainable consumption - clothing
If you're looking for some lifestyle tri wear which will help save the planet and be fair to cotton farming communities, check these guys out:
at Not only is the cotton organically sourced so there's no chemical pesticides (studies show organic farming gives more income back to the farmer aswell), and only natural dyes are used, 5% of the retail price goes back into direct action projects involving underpriveledged kids and sport. And plus it is cool too.
To quote their website:
"We offer quality 100% organic casual clothing that captures the spirit, passion and dedication of Ironman triathletes, and triathlon enthusiasts the world over.art of tri triathlon clothing is the ideal choice for post and pre training sessions, and a must have for any triathlon race day!Our triathlon clothing reflects the pride we feel in our performance, and the exhilaration we experience when we cross the finish line, whatever our time and whatever our event.Whether you are a novice triathlete starting out racing sprint triathlons, or a seasoned veteran of Olympic Distance, Half Ironman or Ironman art of tri triathlon organic clothing has a range and design just for you.All art of tri triathlon clothing is made from 100% organic cotton, and packaged using 100% biodegradable materials."
At the moment they are available in some stores in the US, or by mail order until it appears in stores near you!
Tuesday, 22 May 2007
Clif Bar review
Follow this link... http://www.organicearthday.org/go/CLIFBar
Clif bars seem to have a pretty good rep:
"Clif Bar recently became the first major energy bar to be certified organic, using 70 percent organic ingredients such as organic rolled oats, organic roasted soybeans and organic honey. This not only provides a better product for consumers, but also represents a step toward safeguarding the nation's soil and water... Supporting organic agriculture is just one part of the sustainability journey. In addition to the use of organic ingredients, the company is working to reduce its ecological footprint by supporting a wind farm to offset its CO2 emissions, purchasing certified organic cotton for its promotional T-shirts and incorporating “green” office practices."
Clif bars seem to have a pretty good rep:
"Clif Bar recently became the first major energy bar to be certified organic, using 70 percent organic ingredients such as organic rolled oats, organic roasted soybeans and organic honey. This not only provides a better product for consumers, but also represents a step toward safeguarding the nation's soil and water... Supporting organic agriculture is just one part of the sustainability journey. In addition to the use of organic ingredients, the company is working to reduce its ecological footprint by supporting a wind farm to offset its CO2 emissions, purchasing certified organic cotton for its promotional T-shirts and incorporating “green” office practices."
Organic Athlete
Found this great site from the US - www.organicathlete.org
Members of OrganicAthlete's Pro-Activist Team are elite and professional athletes from many different sports who live and support a vegan diet and lifestyle. They're using their collective voice to champion the benefits of a healthy plant-based diet for athletes of all ages and abilities. Whilst I'm not saying that you need to be vegan (I don't think I could ever do it!), the website clearly takes a look at some of the trickier issues with getting a balanced diet from organic vegan sources.
Well worth a look around... saves me duplicating too much of it!
Members of OrganicAthlete's Pro-Activist Team are elite and professional athletes from many different sports who live and support a vegan diet and lifestyle. They're using their collective voice to champion the benefits of a healthy plant-based diet for athletes of all ages and abilities. Whilst I'm not saying that you need to be vegan (I don't think I could ever do it!), the website clearly takes a look at some of the trickier issues with getting a balanced diet from organic vegan sources.
Well worth a look around... saves me duplicating too much of it!
Tuesday, 10 April 2007
Travelling to races
The problem: Air tavel emits massive amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, and the cost for this to the environment is not being covered by the airlines or the passengers.
So for me, my flight UK to Napier, NZ, then to Christchurch, then from Queenstown to Sydney, and back to Napier, and then a return to London will amount to
Using http://www.climatecare.org/calculators/flight/ to calculate my CO2 emissions, (approximating for the short haul as not all the local airports are available), my jaunt to NZ and Oz will have emitted 6.85 Tonnes of CO2. WOW. That's a lot of gas!
The answer:
- go local: race somewhere nearby, travel by public transport or rent a hybrid car! (see below or ask your usual car hire company for a Prius)
- where this isn't possible ... that international race has Hawaii slots, the UK weather is just too miserable to spend the whole day racing in etc etc then choose to offset you carbon emissions.
What You Can Do
* Purchase wind certificates. Organizations such as WindCurrent (http://www.windcurrent.com/), NativeEnergy (http://www.nativeenergy.com/), and Renewable Choice Energy (http://www.renewablechoice.com/) allow customers to purchase certificates, sometimes known as green tags to offset emissions caused by automobile or air travel. Some of these sites have CO2 calculators that estimate your impact in tons.
* Plant trees. Forests take CO2 out of the atmosphere and lock it away in wood, where it stays until the wood rots or burns. US-based Trees for the Future (http://www.treesftf.org/) offers a "Cool Car Certificate" that plants 300 trees (the estimated amount of trees it will take to offset one vehicle's emissions in a lifetime) for $30. You can offset air travel through its "Trees for Travel" program ($1 will offset a round-trip domestic flight, $3 an international one).
UK Future Forests (http://www.futureforests.com/) plants trees in more than 80 forests in the U.K., Mexico, India, and the U.S. A global flight calculator determines how many trees you need to plant to offset a flight—two trees, for example, for a New York-to-London round trip, or $30—as a part of the CarbonNeutral flight program. Note that the jury's out on temperate sequestration through afforestation: this may lead to a local warming effect which negates the CO2 absorption.
* Support other offset programs. U.K.-based Climate Care (http://www.co2.org/) provides a mix of offset strategies with programs that save energy, that encourage clean energy, and that remove CO2 (sample donation: $11 to offset a New York-to-L.A. round trip).
In the US, the Better World Club (http://www.betterworldclub.com/), an eco-oriented auto club, offers members who book plane tickets through its in-house travel agency free carbon offsets on two domestic and one international flight each year. Nonmembers worldwide can purchase offsets—$11 for a domestic flight and $22 for an international flight.
* Drive a hybrid car. In the US, EV Rental Cars (http://www.evrental.com/), offers eco-friendly cars at eight metropolitan locations including, Los Angeles, Phoenix, San Diego, and Washington, D.C., through its partnership with Budget (http://www.budget.com/). Enterprise Rent-a-Car (http://www.enterprise.com/) also has a fleet of Toyota Prius models for rent in select U.S. cities.
My choice: I went with Climate Care... 80% of their offset projects are currently from sustainable energy projects, but the reforestation they do do is is Ugandan rainforest. So I get to guarantee that the reforestation is in the tropics, avoiding the sticky issue that reforestation in temperate climates can act as a heat store, so offsetting the carbon store effect of the growing forest.
The cost? Rounding to 7 tonnes of CO2 the cost is £52.50. While this may seem a lot (though on what relative scale I'm not sure), 7 tonnes of CO2 is a large amount of CO2. Quickly comparing to some average consumption figures for a UK resident:
£10 = 1.3 tonnes CO2 - Offsets 4,000 miles of driving in an average sized car (35 mpg, petrol).
£30 = 4 tonnes CO2 - Offsets 3 short haul and 1 long haul flights.
£40 = 5 tonnes CO2 - Offsets emissions from the average annual UK home energy use.
£90 = 12 tonnes CO2 - Offsets one person's portion of the annual UK emissions.
ie that long haul airtravel is seriously costly in terms of emissions relative to other activities that I could do.
Done - credit card details via WorldPay and its all done.
Hopefully in the future, airlines will offer offsets automatically when you purchase a ticket online (I think Virgin Blue started this in Australia this year for example), and eventually include it in the cost of tickets so that it is mandatory; until then, there's climate care!
So for me, my flight UK to Napier, NZ, then to Christchurch, then from Queenstown to Sydney, and back to Napier, and then a return to London will amount to
Using http://www.climatecare.org/calculators/flight/ to calculate my CO2 emissions, (approximating for the short haul as not all the local airports are available), my jaunt to NZ and Oz will have emitted 6.85 Tonnes of CO2. WOW. That's a lot of gas!
The answer:
- go local: race somewhere nearby, travel by public transport or rent a hybrid car! (see below or ask your usual car hire company for a Prius)
- where this isn't possible ... that international race has Hawaii slots, the UK weather is just too miserable to spend the whole day racing in etc etc then choose to offset you carbon emissions.
What You Can Do
* Purchase wind certificates. Organizations such as WindCurrent (http://www.windcurrent.com/), NativeEnergy (http://www.nativeenergy.com/), and Renewable Choice Energy (http://www.renewablechoice.com/) allow customers to purchase certificates, sometimes known as green tags to offset emissions caused by automobile or air travel. Some of these sites have CO2 calculators that estimate your impact in tons.
* Plant trees. Forests take CO2 out of the atmosphere and lock it away in wood, where it stays until the wood rots or burns. US-based Trees for the Future (http://www.treesftf.org/) offers a "Cool Car Certificate" that plants 300 trees (the estimated amount of trees it will take to offset one vehicle's emissions in a lifetime) for $30. You can offset air travel through its "Trees for Travel" program ($1 will offset a round-trip domestic flight, $3 an international one).
UK Future Forests (http://www.futureforests.com/) plants trees in more than 80 forests in the U.K., Mexico, India, and the U.S. A global flight calculator determines how many trees you need to plant to offset a flight—two trees, for example, for a New York-to-London round trip, or $30—as a part of the CarbonNeutral flight program. Note that the jury's out on temperate sequestration through afforestation: this may lead to a local warming effect which negates the CO2 absorption.
* Support other offset programs. U.K.-based Climate Care (http://www.co2.org/) provides a mix of offset strategies with programs that save energy, that encourage clean energy, and that remove CO2 (sample donation: $11 to offset a New York-to-L.A. round trip).
In the US, the Better World Club (http://www.betterworldclub.com/), an eco-oriented auto club, offers members who book plane tickets through its in-house travel agency free carbon offsets on two domestic and one international flight each year. Nonmembers worldwide can purchase offsets—$11 for a domestic flight and $22 for an international flight.
* Drive a hybrid car. In the US, EV Rental Cars (http://www.evrental.com/), offers eco-friendly cars at eight metropolitan locations including, Los Angeles, Phoenix, San Diego, and Washington, D.C., through its partnership with Budget (http://www.budget.com/). Enterprise Rent-a-Car (http://www.enterprise.com/) also has a fleet of Toyota Prius models for rent in select U.S. cities.
My choice: I went with Climate Care... 80% of their offset projects are currently from sustainable energy projects, but the reforestation they do do is is Ugandan rainforest. So I get to guarantee that the reforestation is in the tropics, avoiding the sticky issue that reforestation in temperate climates can act as a heat store, so offsetting the carbon store effect of the growing forest.
The cost? Rounding to 7 tonnes of CO2 the cost is £52.50. While this may seem a lot (though on what relative scale I'm not sure), 7 tonnes of CO2 is a large amount of CO2. Quickly comparing to some average consumption figures for a UK resident:
£10 = 1.3 tonnes CO2 - Offsets 4,000 miles of driving in an average sized car (35 mpg, petrol).
£30 = 4 tonnes CO2 - Offsets 3 short haul and 1 long haul flights.
£40 = 5 tonnes CO2 - Offsets emissions from the average annual UK home energy use.
£90 = 12 tonnes CO2 - Offsets one person's portion of the annual UK emissions.
ie that long haul airtravel is seriously costly in terms of emissions relative to other activities that I could do.
Done - credit card details via WorldPay and its all done.
Hopefully in the future, airlines will offer offsets automatically when you purchase a ticket online (I think Virgin Blue started this in Australia this year for example), and eventually include it in the cost of tickets so that it is mandatory; until then, there's climate care!
Friday, 6 April 2007
Being a sustainable triathlete
So I DNF'd last weekend at IM Australia. Bummer. I had a lot of travel time and reflection this week as I took a coach down the east coast of OZ to Sydney, hopped on a flight to Aukland then into a rental car with my mom and drove the final 500 km to Napier. It got me to thinking about diversification. I've spent a lot of time and energy in the last year or so working out what I want from life. Training and triathlon is a big part of that... an outlet to keep me healthy and release my competitive urges. I've also be workingon getting my career back on track through trying to return tostudy and back to sustainable development which has always been my promary interest. But with a job in the city over the last 5 years, my personal practice of living sustainably - a small carbon footprint etc - has lost focus and wandered a bit.
So, I'm going to get back on track. I am going to work out how to reduce my ecologial impact, whilst being a triathlete to the best of my abilities and getting all I want out of life in general.
So the reason I've started this blog is to make me accountable. But its also to make me try to find solutions to athlete specific impacts. For example: is there a decent alternative to lycra (the majority of my kit has lycra in it) - ie a non-petroleum based fabric that works just as well?? What is the best way to offset the inevitable flights to races (recent evidence suggests planting tress to offset your carbon emissions from airtravel etc is best done in the tropics, not in temerate latitudes where new forest can actually act as a heat store... what's the right thing to do?)?
So I'm going to go about becoming a better athlete - one step at a time. Seeming as travel is big on my agenda at the moment, I'm going to look into carbon offsetting first...
So, I'm going to get back on track. I am going to work out how to reduce my ecologial impact, whilst being a triathlete to the best of my abilities and getting all I want out of life in general.
So the reason I've started this blog is to make me accountable. But its also to make me try to find solutions to athlete specific impacts. For example: is there a decent alternative to lycra (the majority of my kit has lycra in it) - ie a non-petroleum based fabric that works just as well?? What is the best way to offset the inevitable flights to races (recent evidence suggests planting tress to offset your carbon emissions from airtravel etc is best done in the tropics, not in temerate latitudes where new forest can actually act as a heat store... what's the right thing to do?)?
So I'm going to go about becoming a better athlete - one step at a time. Seeming as travel is big on my agenda at the moment, I'm going to look into carbon offsetting first...
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