Footprint evaluation: final take!

It is time to review the goals I had decided to achieve during the quarter. Here's the list again:

1. walk to and from class everyday

2. eat more locally grown food

3. unplug electric devices I don't use

4. switch off useless lights

5. stop using the dryer for my clothes

1. As i mentioned earlier in the quarter, I gave up the part 'walking to class' pretty early, because I just could not be on time in class. I feel like I haven't done too bad on the 'walking home' part though, I'd say I walked home at least 70% of the time. The weather has not really helped motivation, thanks Bellingham spring!

2. I have intentionnally bought a lot of local food and been to the Famer's Market almost every saturday. I eat a lot of vegetables and generally cook at least once a day, so it was nice to eat fresh food!! Although it probably hurt my wallet a little bit more than expected, I guess it was worth the investment.

3. I also unplugged my devices most of the time, but since I do not really know how much money I spent on power every month, the improvement probably does not really reflect in my ecological footprint.

4. I tried really hard to switch off lights in my apartment when no one was in the rooms, but my 3 roommates did not really try to do it although i did talk to them a few times about it

5. Not using the dryer was pretty easy, since I have been doing it in the beginning, because I was scared all my clothes would shrink haha I definitely stopped using the dryer! Although I have no idea how it reflects on my

I started out with 3.3 planets, which was already small compared to other people in the class. I think that most of it was due to the fact that I flew a lot here and that I also accounted for my flights to come here and get home. As I did my reevaluation I ended up with 3 planets. I guess the plane trips did it all, as well as me not really knowing how much I spend on gas and electricity, since I live in Birnam Wood and do not directly pay the bills.

This is it, the end of the journey towards a more sustainable life. I must say it has been rather challenging. Some of my goals I have achieved, some others I had to review because they were impossible for me to realize. I have tried very hard to not take the easy way and consciously be more sustainable. I think that the measures I decided to take are not really easy to reflect on the footprint, and the plane has been the main reason why my footprint has not really decreased. I think I will keep most of the resolution for the next years, although the entire system is different in Switzerland, where most of the buses for example are powered with electricity and not power.

Update on Makower's Sustainability Standard for Business

As we all know, Makower, writer of the GE book we used in class, has been working on developing a standard for business regarding sustainability. Yes, ONE standard, pretty hard task.

On March 28th, he published an article giving an update on this well-kept secret about the standard. The company-level guidelines touch on environmental as well as social and corporate-government issues that could potentially be used by firms as well as government entities and agencies.

After getting some funds from organizations like StopWaste.org in 2003, the project had to be temporarily given up for a few years before taken on again in 2008. To make it simple to understand, Makower liked to describe is at "LEED for companies" (LEED originally has been created for buildings).

Makower only says so much: " The first draft of the standard has now been completed and is beginning a robust process of stakeholder feedback. The plan is to have a final version ready for the marketplace later this year." He also said it will be looking at the entire supply chain as a way to compare companies in their effort to be more sustainable.

The difference with the many standards that are already out there is that this is one of the few programs focusing on company-level. Also, it is accredited by third party evaluations and includes management peformance next to environmental and social issues for mainstream companies and not just small firms.

Since more will be published towards the end of the year, this is definitely an interesting idea to be kept an eye on.

article: http://www.greenbiz.com/blog/2010/05/27/new-sustainability-standard-business

Stand out in the green job hunt

On GreenBiz.com, I found that interesting article yesterday about finding "Green Jobs". Advice is coming from a headhunter specialized in corporate social responsibility and corporate sustainability. Although it is addressed to MBAs apparently, I guess there are useful tips for recent graduates as well.

One of the things that really surprised me is that the green job offer increased by 80% between 2006 and 2007, but decreased by 57% between 2008 and 2009. Two main reasons for this: Obviously, there has been a bigger economic downturn in 2009 than firstly expected by the markets, and also, most of the jobs posted are not really fitted for graduates, more for people with at least five years of experience.

Advice given by the headhunter include looking for intermediate steps to attain the final goal of working with sustainability, and trying to earn some experience before reaching for this final goal. Also, the jobs are spread more widely now than they were a few years ago, since every company and every sector is trying to go green somehow. However, most of the jobs can be found for social marketing in companies, lifecycle analysis or in the non-corporate sector.

Have a look at the article if you are interested.

article: http://www.greenbiz.com/blog/2010/06/01/getting-ahead-pack-your-green-job-search?page=0,0

Flying green?

I look up things on Greenbiz.com a lot, and today I found that article about airlines. Since I've been planning my trip during the summer before I go home, I've bought a couple of plane tickets, which is why this article seemed especially interesting to me.

Greenopia made a ranking based on a six different criteria: fuel conservation practices, recycling habits, green food, progress on alternative fuel types, green building design and carbon offsets.

Due to its fleet that is on average 2 years old, Virgin ends up first in this ranking. Also, Greenopia says that Virgin has made many efforts to position itself as a green company in the airline business. Although many airlines have started to implement green ideas to reduce their footprint, Virgin has been able to rise the level even more, for example serving only fair trade coffee on their flights.

Second is local company Alaska Airlines, with an average fleet age of 3 years, thanks to its efforts to reduce fuel consumption, before Continental Airlines ranked third despite the average age of 9 years. This is mainly due to the fact that Continental has been very transparent about its practices and also used biofuel for its flights.

Good thing I bought two Virgin flights for the summer! =)

article: http://www.greenbiz.com/news/2010/06/02/virgin-continental-fly-high-green-airlines-rankings

Meet me halfway!

Since it is now halfway through the quarter, it is time to evaluate how I have been doing with my goals.

As far as walking to and from class goes, I guess I did not do that bad. Although I reviewed my initial goal after a couple of weeks, deciding to walk home from class only. I have been doing it most of the time, even though I was too lazy a couple of times and still took the bus home. I guess this is still better than if I would drive a car every day. There is still room for improvement, and I am sure it would help if spring could finally be here!

I did only purchase fresh food, no cans, no frozen food, no imported goods. Farmer’s Market being open again, it offered a great opportunity to buy local. Plus, de taste of fresh food is unbeatable! I also kept buying organic food as much as I can, and as much as my wallet can!

I also did a pretty good job at unplugging my devices and also switching off everything I can at night. However, my roommates do not really cooperate yet, there is a light on somewhere all the time at my place. But I will keep bugging them until I get so annoying that they will switch lights off just to escape me!

Finally, I thought of a fifth goal I will add to my list. I will stop using the dryer for my clothes, and simply have them dry with air. It will certainly take more time, but the result will be the same!

Oil Spills

As one of the biggest oil spills the US ever had to fight against is dangeroulsy approaching the coasts of Louisiana as well as Texas and the Mexican coasts, the drama remains the same. Dozens of oil spills, and humans did not learn anything from it. Always seeking for more oil, large corporations build off-shore platforms with very few security requirements. The quest for black gold dominates everything else.

Causing the death of about a dozen of workers and affecting the animal life in and around the oceans, no one seems to be able to stop the oil from propagating, not even the Navy!

Although President Obama said last week that the US will ''use every single available resource at our disposal' in response to the spill, will it be enough? BP, the company owning the platform that sunk almost two weeks ago, is working on a giant lid that could be placed in about a week, because the platform still contains and leaks oil. Indeed, about 5000 barrels a day escape from the platform. The average US mileage being 27 miles per gallon, 5.67 million miles could be covered with this amount of oil, that is about 2350 times the distance New York - Seattle.

Obama also declared that BP is responsible for this catastrophe and that it will have to pay for the damage. But what are oiled birds, fish, and other ocean inhabitants supposed to do with BP's billions of dollars?

videos:

What happened

Its effect on the ocean

Interview with the president of BP America

(sources: businessweek.com, google.com, youtube.com and nytimes.com)

Give Earth a Hand!

Video posted by Greenpeace International for Earth Day last thursday

Reducing, reducing, reducing...

I have to say that I feel like I don't do that bad at reducing my footprint. My roommates are not really cooperative about switching off the lights when no one needs it, they somehow always want to have a light on everywhere. I will just keep annoying them until they get it, they will not get rid of me that easily! I also decided to switch off my phone during the night, small step but still a step to decrease my power need..

Even though last weekend I went to Whistler, I bus-pooled with about 40 other people (the bus was packed) which made me feel better. Random surprise, the sushi place I went to had re-usable, plastic chopsticks. I found that great, so first there's no risk to eat wood that comes off of it, and second it is better than chopping down trees for chopsticks =)

I bought my vegetables and bread for the week at Farmer's Market yesterday, I doubt I need some more grocery shopping this week. If I do need it, the Food Coop is close ^_^

Toxicity report: Head & Shoulders Classic Clean

Active Ingredients: Pyrithione Zinc (1%) (Anti-Dandruff).

Inactive Ingredients: Water, Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Sodium Lauryl Sulfate, Cocamide MEA, Zinc Carbonate, Glycol Distearate, Dimethicone, Fragrance, Cetyl Alcohol, Guar Hydroxypropyltrimonium Chloride, Magnesium Sulfate, Sodium Benzoate, Magnesium Carbonate Hydroxide, Ammonium Laureth Sulfate, Benzyl Alcohol, Sodium Chloride, Methylchloroisothiazolinone, Methylisothiazolinone, Sodium Xylene Sulfonate, Blue 1, Red 4.

The overall hazard of this product is 5 out of 10, which does not seem too bad to start with. Looking at the toxicity levels of the ingredients, the top three are the following: fragrance has a score of 8, benzyl alcohol 6 and methylchloroisothiazolinone scores 6 as well.

This last ingredient sounds entirely unfamiliar to me, which is why I decided to do some more research on it. According to the EWG website, this component raises concerns about allergies as well as organ system toxicity while violating restrictions. The ingredient itself is used in shampoos, body wash or facial cleansers and can cause cancer too.

Researching a bit more about it, I found four other names that sound even more complicated than this one but also an explanation about what it is used for. Methylchloroisothiazolinone is a preservative found in many personal care products as well as cosmetics. It can cause skin irritations or chemical burns if the concentration is too high, and is not used in most cosmetic products anymore. It has not been removed from products that are only in contact with our skin for a limited amount of time, such as shampoos for example. Although the ingredient is currently not on the list of possible human carcinogens held by the IARC (International Agency for Research on Cancer), approximately 1.7% of individuals have allergic reactions to it. Some research is there saying that it can cause cancer, but no scientific data is available to prove it.

I cannot really imagine how I could eliminate this product from my personal care. However, there must be some better alternatives that would satisfy the same need. As I looked for a better shampoo on the EWR website, the first appearing on the list says ‘Pet/Human’, which does not really appeal to me. However, there are a few other alternatives with a score of 0 or 1, even though none of these brands sound familiar to me. Since I have very sensitive hair, I would be ready to give this product up if any of them is easily available and works as well as the product I currently use.

the bus thing

I can't cheat and I have no idea how to lie, but there's one bad thing I am good at: being late!

So taking the bus to go to school is vital for me if I want to make it to class somehow on time. I have to review my objective about that and state that I will walk home from school, but if I walk to school, I'm going to be late. all the time.

My Ecological Footprint, take 2!

As you may or may not know, I'm not from Bellingham, or even close to here haha It takes about 13 hours by plane and at least one stop in the middle for me to get home, or at least closer to home. That might not sound really eco-friendly, but that's not the purpose here.

You might have noticed that when you took the EF quiz, you could choose your location. Did anyone else than me wonder why there were three to choose from? You get United States, Calgary and Switzerland. Well, obviously for the purpose of the class, I answered United States, as you can see on my first article.

But my curiosity got stimulated, so I took the quiz again by selecting Switzerland. Even if the questions were slightly different since they were adapted to the offering of the place as far as services, food supply etc. goes; I tried to answer them the same way as I did the first time. (the picture is in french, but i guess everybody can compare it to the english version and figure out what each term refers to)

Well, here's the result:

United States: 3.3 planets

Switzerland: 1.9 planets

I wanted to know where these differences come from, so I started by reading the super long and super boring PDF file about how the footprint is calculated. This resulted in about 55 formulas, and 67 explanations, I gave it up.

I decided to contact the footprint network, hoping they would be willing to answer my questions, and they did!

First of all I asked why these three locations were there to choose from. The reason is simply that the Footprint Network has done work with these areas that have allowed them to do the necessary research to produce specific footprint calculations. They also said: '' We are hard at work to expand the locations for which we have footprint calculators. Keep your eyes peeled in the next 2 weeks for many other countries to be added! ''

They also were kind enough to make all those calculations a bit simpler for me and mainly explain the differences between both of my results to me.

Basically, besides your own answers, it considers the 'services' in your country, such as public services, government assistance, roads and infrastructure or the military, which obviously varies between the countires. This makes the 'services' part of the footprint, every citizen is allocated his own part of all these things and this cannot be changed. That's one of the reasons why the footprint can sometimes not be under one planet.

The woman who answered my e-mail also raised some concerns about the fact that besides changing everyones personal footprint, they are trying to influence some higher instances such as the government as well. A large portion of the footprint comes form the way national infrastructures are designed, how goods are produced and how public services operate. '' In order to allow their citizens to achieve a lifestyle that fits within one planet, governments need to dramatically improve the efficiency of the built environment and invest in renewable energy and smart lande-use planning''

I hope we all learned something new! =)

(thanks to Nina Brooks, Finance & Database Associate at the Global Footprint Network)

You wanna dance?

You guys like to party ? (i'm pretty sure I know the answer to that question)

Look what we’ve got in Europe! =)

Yes, it does really exist, and it’s called the Sustainable Dance Club. (I know, super creative) It’s in Rotterdam, Netherlands.

Here’s the way it works:

When people dance, or even when they just walk, vibrations are produced. The floor in this club is able to transform these vibrations into energy and also reacts to the dancer. The reaction is expressed through individual lighting depending on the way people dance, so you basically make your own light! I have friends who went there a couple of months ago and said it's definitely worth it!

See the video! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzb3VFi3Sew

And here’s the link to the club’s website : http://www.sustainabledanceclub.com/

My Ecological Footprint

If everybody was living like me, we would need 3.3 planets for our lifestyle.

I have to say, I am a litte surprised, but just a little. While taking the quiz, the first question asked about my location, which made me think there must be some kind of adaptation of the score depending on the region. In fact, I took the test again but entered Switzerland as a location, answered the same as I did before, and ended up needing only 1.9 planets for my lifestyle. It also said that the average swiss person needs 2.4 planets to live, that made me feel better =)

Another thing related to my score is probably the place I live in and the miles I had to fly lately.

Most of the land I use is for energy, most likely related to the fact that I don't really know how much energy I use in general, before Forest Land, because I live in an appartment building made of wood.

The category of consumption contributing the most to my footprint is Services, related to the busses I use and the planes I took a lot recently, before goods and food.

I must say I had to think for a while before coming up with actions that would effectively reduce my footprint, but here are the main ones I chose:

1. Walk to and from class everyday. I have classes at noon and spring is supposed to be coming at some point, so that should not be too much of a challenge.

2. Eat more locally grown food and shop at Farmer's Market. Even if the prices are a little bit higher than in a grocery store, I think it is a good investment. I'll try to get half of my food from local or organic sources.

3. I already unplug all electric devices when I am away for a long period, but I will try to not have my computer be on all the time when I am home, or at least not have it plugged in non-stop when I use it. I need and use my computer a lot, but I will change the energy economy settings and only plug it in when the battery is empty.

4. Be aware of the lights on in my appartment and motivate my roommates to switch them off when no one is in the room or during the night. For some reason, my roommates like to have a light on somewhere during the night, but I don't think it is necessary.