sustainable solutions with fiona drummond
Living lighter on the planet
With our current climate emergency we should all find out what our carbon footprint is and how to reduce it. Auckland Council offers a tool to help: https://www.futurefit.nz/. The survey on this web page provides a snapshot of your footprint and how it compares to the rest of New Zealand or around the world. I was a little shocked and disappointed to find that despite driving an electric vehicle and cycling to work, dealing responsibly with food waste, using an effective source of heating and being a minimal user of air travel, I still have a carbon footprint well above the estimated New Zealand average, albeit less than the world average. Let’s take a look at some of the areas the survey focuses on:
Diet/Sourcing Food/Food Waste
Being a meat eater was by far the biggest factor in my carbon footprint. Redoing the survey as a vegetarian brought my footprint down to the national average. A conscious decision to limit or eliminate red meat will have a huge impact on our footprint. Growing your own food, working with a community garden, sourcing food locally and eating food in season helps support local communities and reduces the energy used in food miles. With the average New Zealand family wasting $560 per year on food that’s bought but never eaten, cutting down on food waste is also a win for your pocket, and the planet. Search out Love Food, Hate Waste for inspiration and discover their online seasonal cookbook Easy Choice Family Kai with meal plans for four weeks. Composting using a bokashi bucket, worm bin or compost bin is the best way to deal with food waste. Compost Collective organises workshops and provides instructions on how to compost effectively.
Commuting and travel
Staying at home is a kindness to our environment as far as air pollution is concerned, with less fuel pollution entering the atmosphere, so let’s just all work from home. This won’t work for everyone but has become a new normal for many companies who have found it quite effective. This was an area of the survey where I ranked best, owning an electric vehicle and making cycling part of my weekly commute. Start saving money and see some quick health benefits by using your car less – even one day less makes a big impact. Public transport, carpooling, cycling or walking can reduce your carbon footprint in a big way. Take advantage of the Clean Car Discount while it’s on offer. It provides rebates of $8625 for a new and $3450 for a used import light electric vehicle (less for a hybrid) until December 2021. From January 1, 2022, this discount will be based on the CO2 emissions
of vehicles. See https://nzta.govt.nz/vehicles/clean-car-programme/ clean-car-discount/eligibility-criteria/. Air travel is one of the biggest contributors to our carbon emissions. When you have to take a flight, offsetting your emissions is a good option. Greening up your backyard, community or shared space not only helps improve local biodiversity and encourages more native species to thrive, it also helps to offset your unavoidable emissions.
Heating
The way you heat your water and your house has a major effect on your footprint. If you have a log burner or pot belly stove, add a wetback to heat water. Solar panels can also heat water. Inexpensive changes to your shower head and taking shorter showers to reduce water consumption will also reduce power use and save money. Home insulation limits power use and makes for a healthier home environment. Your use of lighting and appliances can amount to around a third of your power bill, or double that during winter when heating your home, so it’s important to make them eco-friendly. On winter mornings and evenings grid electricity has a higher mix of fossilfuel generation, so being energy efficient with lighting and heating makes a big difference to the planet and your wallet. If you’re living in a damp, cold house or paying too much for power, check your home's insulation. The Home Energy Audit Toolkit (HEAT kit) is available free of charge from your local library with your Auckland Libraries membership. Reserve one by searching HEAT KIT on the library site. HEAT kits can help you find out: • which areas of your home use the most energy • how you can make your home healthier and warmer • how you can save on power bills and reduce your carbon footprint You could also see if your home can satisfy healthy home standards by using the free HomeFit online check at homefit.org.nz.
Shop Responsibly
Consider whether you really need the latest gadget or fashion, whether an existing item could do the job, or whether second-hand might be a better option. This is one of the easiest ways to save serious money and prevent the waste of many usable or repairable things you already own. And don’t forget our kids and grandkids. Our children will inherit our compromised planet. Introduce them to the eco-friendly activities that they might enjoy at https://livelightly.nz/eco-friendly-activities-forkids-at-home.
Despite the recent disruptions The Fringe is still building up to Christmas and the holiday season. We will be giving advertisers the opportunity to profile gift ideas and the products and services that our tens of thousands of local readers need. Editorial space and discount rates will be available to participating advertisers (conditions apply). Have you ever thought you could be a good writer? The Fringe is always interested in hearing from those who have articles to share ... Feel free to get in touch. The booking deadline for advertising and editorial submissions in our November issue is October 15 with artwork due by October 19. Please get in touch as soon as possible. Contact us at info@fringemedia.co.nz.
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