Confessions of a Carbon Addict
by Isabelle Clements, Project Coordinator, Tweedgreen
As I sit on the 9.30am train to London, I have plenty of time to reflect. This has been a long journey. Physically and metaphorically.
A few weeks ago, I booked a plane ticket to London. That’s what I normally do if I have to get from Peebles to London. It’s the easiest and cheapest option, the one I am familiar with. I am a busy mum, with two pre-school children, a husband who works away from home and a part-time job. I have a lot of responsibilities to juggle. I’ve scheduled a training session with volunteers in Peebles on Wednesday morning and I need to be at the conference in London on Thursday morning. I arrange to stay with my sister in Brighton, a quick train journey from Gatwick, to avoid accommodation costs. Having initially considered the train, prompted by the peer pressure of my greener friends, getting on the plane seems to be the only option in order to fit it all in. It’s also cheaper than the train. I can totally justify this internal flight. It’s the only way I can meet all my responsibilities, and makes my life easier.
Here comes the twist. This time I am going to London as Project Coordinator for Tweedgreen, a group of community volunteers working towards a self-sustaining Tweedale. The primary objective of Tweedgreen is to reduce the carbon footprint of our community. Moreover, I am going to London to attend a conference on Communicating Climate Change.
Tweedgreen’s donor, Climate Challenge Fund (CCF), contacts me to highlight the anomaly of the flight: they only fund flights under exceptional circumstances. Their policy is to encourage sustainable travel, in line with the overarching objective that we are all working towards: carbon reduction. I justify the purchase of the flight on the grounds of my hectic work schedule. CCF accept this and agree to fund the flight. However, Tweedgreen will have to factor the carbon emissions from my flight into our calculations of the carbon savings we make as a result of our projects in Tweeddale.
In order to accurately reflect the impact of Tweedgreen’s work, we need to quantify the carbon savings made as a result of our projects but we also need to include carbon calculations for project running costs. This gives the honest picture of the efficacy of our work. In the day to day running of our projects, we endeavour to minimise our carbon output: we use recycled paper, we lift-share to meetings, we use telephone conferencing where possible, I cycle 3.8 miles to work once a week … But flying to a conference, where avoidable, is clearly not appropriate.
I make some calculations on the carbon I personally am responsible for if I take this flight. On the 800 mile round trip to London, by plane I have emitted 277kg of carbon. The same trip on the train emits 80kg. The plane emits over 3 times as much carbon. I cannot justify this. It feels morally wrong.
Suddenly, the irony of the situation becomes overwhelming. I cannot promote a low carbon lifestyle and not live a low carbon lifestyle myself. I feel as if I would have to stand up at the climate change conference and confess my sins: “I came here on a plane. I am a carbon hypocrite!”
So after much agonising and soul searching, I have an epiphany: my priority has to be upholding the principle of a low carbon lifestyle. If, in order to do this, something has to give, then so be it. I clearly need to rearrange my priorities. I ask my colleague to run the training course in Peebles on the Wednesday morning so that I can get on the train to London instead. She agrees and I book my train to London. This feels right.
So here I am on the train. How did it take me so long to get here?
I am just like most people: I have a busy life, with too many demands. I am resource poor and time poor. I try to do the best I can under my circumstances. I try to do my bit for the environment: I grow my own vegetables in containers, I use environmentally friendly products, I compost and recycle…. I started working in the environmental sector recently. This has prompted small changes in my lifestyle choices: I have stopped my Asda deliveries and now get a weekly local box scheme to support the local economy; I eat a meal from locally sourced food once a week; I fill the kettle half way; I’ve turned down the thermostat; I no longer leave the tv on standby. But there’s so much more I could do to live a more sustainable lifestyle. What this experience has shown me is that when push comes to shove, I’m not as green as I’d like to be. I automatically go for the easy transport option: the car, the plane. I’m not as committed to reducing my carbon footprint as I should be. I don’t even know what my carbon footprint is!
I admire people who make difficult choices based on their principles. I know people who never take internal flights, despite busy lifestyles, children, hectic jobs. There are many people out there who are truly committed to reducing their impact on the environment. But I’m not one of them. Yet.
So this is my first big step. It’s been a difficult personal journey. Behaviour change is hard. The process can feel positively painful. But here I am. On the train to London. And you know what? The train is great. It’s on time, the seats are comfortable, with lots of leg room. There’s even a plug for my laptop and wireless available. I haven’t had to endure security queues at the airport, I didn’t have to weigh my luggage or decant my toiletries into 100ml bottles. Taking the train is actually a relaxing experience. I have 4.5 hours uninterrupted hours to do my work, check my emails then read a magazine. And I feel really good.