As far as I know, this is it for us. The one planet that we all call Earth. For all life, this is all we will ever know. We evolved here, and like water in a puddle, the environs are perfectly suited to our needs.
As much as I would like to, I can’t save the planet for Homo sapiens. Yet, collectively, we seemed to have made a right mess of it. We all know it, even those who deny the impact on climate, they know that the planet with us on it is a mess.
I want to do my bit to reduce my impact on the world around me. For the household that Michael and I share, that means reducing our carbon footprint. To that end, we have gone all electric. We ditched the gas stove, central heating and hot water. Put some solar panels on the roof, double-glazed the windows, bought a battery to use our own energy overnight and got an electric car.
This is what we can do, not every one can do that.
We did this to do our bit in reducing the impact of our lifestyles on the world around us. It’s not much, and single-handedly we won’t be stopping climate change.
There’s those who don’t get it, that say it will never pay for itself. The battery, for example, only lasts 10–15 years and we will never recoup that cost.
I think that’s the wrong approach. If the only reason you are installing solar panels, heat pumps and batteries is to save money, then you may need to question your motivation.
The planet needs saving from us, and those of us that can afford to do our bit, should do it. Yep, it’s going to cost you money. Yep, it will help the environment.
All the money in the world won’t help when the Earth becomes inhospitable to Homo sapiens.
Image by WikiImages from Pixabay
Well said. We all need to do our bit. We’ve gone solar, though converting to all electric is going to take some time with more limited financial resources. It is on the wish list though.
However, probably my biggest contribution to saving the planet is ditching the car altogether. My primary transport is an e-bike, which I ride for approximately 150km/week. This is a matter of simple physics – less mass to move around means less resources to generate and store the energy, with the bonus of increasing my overall fitness (even though that was already excellent beforehand). With the addition of panniers and a trailer, I’m able to do much of my shopping and transport work equipment and other things with little effort. As a bonus, I also save a lot of money on petrol, rego and insurance.
That’s great, Tony: I too have an e-bike. I ride it to and from work every day, about 15k round trip. We are a one car family now to further reduce our impact.
I ride my bike everywhere, if I have to travel a distance, I catch a train, then ride to my destination.
Thomas Edison is reported to have said in 1920: “I’d put my money on the sun and solar energy. What a source of power! I hope we don’t have to wait until oil and coal run out before we tackle that. I wish I had more years left.”
We should listen to clever people more…
Hello Gregory, I enjoyed reading what you and Michael are doing to reduce your ecological footprint. In fact, we can all do something to stop the earth from warming any further. My contribution? I am a tenant in a house that is only three years old and is therefore very well insulated. I don’t own a car, TV or clothes dryer. I also no longer fly and switched from a vegetarian to a vegan diet a few years ago, one of the best decisions in my life. Warm greetings from Germany.