Carbon offsetting... what failed environmentalists do?

Since I started this blog as an undergraduate student several years ago, I have become rather less radically environmental. (Some would say I have taken the "mental" out of environmentalism.)

As a PhD student, I am now faced with the prospect of flying (press the carbon panic button now) to attend conferences. This is an invaluable aspect of scientific research and the opportunities associated with attending an international conference are just too good to pass up. Unfortunately for me, they are usually held outside the UK.

I flew for the first time in 5 years last summer to visit colleagues in the US. It was such a phenomenally eye-opening experience, both in seeing a new and exciting place, and the science that I was involved with there.

I am flying again in two weeks' time to attend an international neuroscience conference and am so excited about the science that I will see and discuss whilst there. But even given how valuable an experience it will be for my work, I can't help feeling dispirited about the carbon associated with air travel.

There has been much written about carbon offsetting previously (Treehugger Carbon Offsetting), so I won't go into details here.

But my personal feeling is
1) We shouldn't really be flying in the first place, until sustainable fuel is available, so carbon offsetting is simply a way for well-meaning middle class people to assuage their feeling of guilt
2) The carbon offsetting industry is not regulated and you cannot be sure the money you are paying will actually be spent on trees in Russia/energy saving light bulbs in India
3) Traditional carbon offsetting is not an appropriate way to "neutralise" the carbon emissions from my air travel

However, I am determined to not let my excitement at attending an international conference override my environmental beliefs. I have decided that my own approach to "carbon offsetting" is to make a donation to the Woodland Trust. This is a UK charity that protects and maintains woodland in Britain, and also plants more trees to make new forests. Although planting trees to act as carbon sinks has not necessarily been proven as an effective method of carbon offsetting, it is nevertheless a symbolic gesture for me that I hope will resonate when I tell colleagues about my own personal carbon offsetting method. Native woodland is important for conservation and protection of not just trees and plants but also wildlife, which is already adversely affected by climate change.

FYI, I'll be getting the train to the airport, rather than a taxi.

Electiongreening

It has been brought to my attention that despite not updating this blog regularly, some people in Oxford have discovered of my internet existence here. And are talking to each other about it. So I thought I should probably post something new to welcome you here and provide some more green food for thought.

What with all the post-election kerfuffle currently going in the UK on I thought I might evaluate where the various parties stand on green issues so you can decide what you think of the hypothetical Lib-Con / Lib-Lab / “traffic light” coalitions, in terms of green policies…

Green party – Obviously the traditional leader when it comes to green issues. Had a fab selection of policies in their manifesto for cutting carbon emissions and some nice liberal policies for education and health etc (they’re not just an environmental party!). However, I didn’t vote for them in this election. WHAT?! I hear you say. And a couple of years ago I would have been horrified at the thought that I would vote for any party other than green. But the green party have a traditional policy of opposing animal testing, including for medical research. And now I’m working as a neuroscientist, I can’t support this. Several of my colleagues are involved in some sort of animal research, and whilst I don’t like animals being kept in cages in labs, I know that a lot of the work these animals are involved with is incredibly, incredibly important for human and animal health, and for furthering our understanding of how brains (not just our own) work. The whole animal research debate is something I won’t go into further now, but this does mean that I didn’t vote green last Thursday. However I DID vote green in my local elections! I think local councils are not so concerned with animal research and more concerned with things such as recycling and waste. Anyway. Back to the party green policy evaluation.

Labour – Have committed to 80% CO2 cuts by 2050, and at the time this legislation was passed it was the most ambitious of its kind in the whole world, ahead of any other Western country. It was, at the time, an unprecedented step and a world leading policy. Whether we in the UK do manage these cuts or not, it highlighted the crucial need to do something to curb emissions drastically, and paved the way for other countries to follow suit in passing similar legislation. However since this, Labour have supported the building of a third runway at Heathrow (although due to huge public opposition this might not now go ahead). They support the building of new nuclear power stations to meet the UK’s energy demand. Although I personally do not like the idea of nuclear power, I accept that it must form a part of our future energy mix if we are to reduce completely our burning of fossil fuels.

Conservatives – Support the cutting of CO2 emissions by 80% by 2050. Opposed the building of the new runway at Heathrow. Recently elected MP Zac Goldsmith is supposedly an environmentalist. David Cameron tried to put a wind turbine on his house in Notting Hill. No further comment.

Liberal Democrats – Even more ambitious carbon cutting targets than Labour (100% by 2050 I believe). Heavily emphasise the need to develop new renewable energy sources in the UK. Against nuclear power, a stance of which I approve in principle, but disagree with in reality given that we will need nuclear power in order to reduce emissions from coal. I think part of the reason the Liberal Democrats are against more nuclear power is because it will take a long time to build the stations, and so won’t contribute to carbon reduction targets in time for 2050. I don’t know enough about nuclear power to know if this is correct or not. Overall the most ambitious green policies of the three main parties, so given their current status as “kingmakers”, may be able to influence a power-sharing party (whether Con or Lab) towards even more environmental policies. Although given the current importance of the economy and electoral reform, environmental policies are likely to be rather low down their list of priorities.

Although the three main parties differ in their attention to detail when it comes to environmental policies, I am hugely encouraged to see that the environment and climate change featured relatively heavily in their manifestos, along with the traditional important areas like health, crime and immigration. This isn’t necessarily based in true altruistic concern for the environment, but I don’t really care, as long as someone in power starts to doing something serious about saving us and preferably as many other species as possible from the dangers of man-made climate change.

Finally, I would like to say a huge CONGRATULTIONS to Caroline Lucas, our first ever Green MP, who was elected in the Brighton Pavilion constituency. Despite their stance on animal research I am still, at heart, a Green, and overjoyed at Caroline’s election. I’ve heard her speak a few times, and always come away feeling energised and enthusiastic, when before I was despondent and doubtful. I can’t wait to follow everything she achieves in Westminster.

Organic Wool

In common with all the coolest people out there I have taught myself to knit and have started making all sorts of funky hats, scarves, mittens, socks, etc. for me and friends. It's really easy to learn and there are lots of free instructions on t'Internet (e.g. http://www.knitty.com). But I was worried about the impact of my newfound creativity. To knit you need pointy sticks and wool - known as "yarn" by proper knitters. Sometimes yarn can be made of acrylic (plastic, basically) or other non-natural materials, and if it is made of natural fibres, like cotton or wool from sheep, sometimes it might be dyed using non-environmentally friendly fibres.

I decided to therefore only knit with what I considered to be "sustainable" yarn and have found this online shop based in Scotland: http://www.newlanarkshop.co.uk. The wool sold here is made of 100% natural fibres, mostly 100% organic wool, and a few things are 90% organic wool and 10% silk. The mill where the yarn is spun is powered by a water-wheel (woop!) so it has a small production carbon footprint. The only qualms I have are that the site doesn't mention whether the dyes used are environmentally friendly or not - and they do have a fabulous range of colours - but the company is certified by the Soil Association as organic so I reckon the dyes would be pretty good. Also, I don't know if the few lines of yarn that include silk involved the killing of silkworms to get the fibres or not. The ethical way to get silk is to let the silkworms grow and chew their way out of their silk cocoon, and then use the leftover cocoon with holes in. This doesn't provide as high a quality a silk, because the fibres are a little broken, but it does mean the silkworms don't get boiled alive. Anyway, overall, I think these New Lanark yarns look fabulously ethical and I bought five balls of wool from them which came the next day.

I have also discovered http://www.cornishorganicwool.co.uk which are certainly at least as ethical, a gorgeous range of organic yarns spun using renewable energy, but a bit more expensive. If you are a creative type check them out.

Dick & James Strawbridge return!

I am very excited about the new series of "It's Not Easy Being Green" on BBC2 (every Wednesday at 8.00). A couple of years ago the Strawbridge family moved to an old house in Cornwall and eco-renovated it to make it as sustainable as possible. They built a waterwheel to power all the lights in the house, started a vegetable garden, and have now installed photovoltaic panels amongst a whole host of other fabulous green renovations. The programme followed them as they made all these changes and in subsequent series Dick (the Dad) and James (the Son) have travelled about the UK to help other households make similar green improvements.

It's such a fabulous programme and despite the title of "It's Not Easy Being Green" Dick and James make the whole process a lot of fun. They also have a lot of original ideas and when I saw a new series was starting I jumped about the kitchen in delight! Watch it!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/lifestyle/tv_and_radio/green/

Woodland Trust ethical clothes at Dorothy Perkins

Talking of the Woodland Trust, there is a small range of clothing produced by the high street chain Dorothy Perkins, of which 15-50% of the cost will be donated to the Woodland Trust. The cotton is supposedly organic. You can see the range online and buy at http://www.dorothyperkins.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CategoryDisplay?catalogId=20552&storeId=12552&categoryId=77405&langId=-1&top=Y. I am very tempted by the flip-flops.

However Dorothy Perkins is owned by Arcadia, the high street conglomerate run by billionaire businessman Phillip Green, and has often been criticised for not keeping a close enough eye on its suppliers. Arcadia also owns British Home Stores and Topshop, who have sometimes been found to not be meeting Ethical Trading Standards (e.g. using sweatshops or child labour in manufacturing).

Still tempted by the flip-flops.

Plant a tree

Trees absorb carbon, obv. If you haven't got a garden, or room in the garden that you do have, you can plant a tree through the Woodland Trust (http://www.woodland-trust.org.uk). They are planning to plant a new forest in Hertfordshire composed entirely of native species, to combat both the ever-declining stock of ancient woodland in the UK, and climate change. If you donate £15 to the campaign, this will buy the land necessary to plant one tree, the actual sapling itself, and resources to look after the tree for 5 years. You can also donate less or more to the campaign if you want to plant more trees.

Watch the campaign video at http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=COLvqjHBWHU

Rehome lonely bikes

If you're desperate to get on the green travel bandwagon and avoid using your car as much as possible, bikes are a great way to do it. If you don't want to spend lots of money on a new bike, or you just like the thought of giving an un-loved bike a home, go to http://www.bumblebeeauctions.co.uk/XcAPViewInCat.asp?ID=24. Bumblebee auctions are the UK Police's way of selling on stolen property that they have recovered, but sadly can't reunite with their proper owners. There are lots of really good bikes on there for very little money that can get you from A to B quickly and greenily.