Treading the environmental path
Easing the ecological burden of our carbon footprints.
You all know what they say about men with big feet. Large shoes? Roomy socks? I’ll be honest. The answer that flashes across my mind when this archaic smutty quip gets some air play has a lot less to do with metatarsal attire, and a lot more to do with the F word. Footprints. Men with big feet have big footprints. Generally, that is not a problem. But if we are talking about carbon footprints then size is certainly less desirable.
Here is a debate where shallow impact is highly prized, and deep impressions are condemned. Cynics may well chastise the climate debate, brand it as scaremongering and tell us to lighten up. Well, they have the last part right. We need to ease the burden and make our environmental journey through life on tiptoes.
Our carbon footprint is a mark of social conscience that calculates the indelibility of our imprint on the planet. The archetypal demons of the ecological discussion headline the most wanted list for those totting up this greenhouse guilt: gas-guzzling travel arrangements and excessive utility squandering are not hot favourites.
While doing some ground work about our foot work, I learnt the food we eat can be hugely influential depending on the distance goods have traveled - their “food miles” - and how ethically they have been packaged and stored. One scientist calculated that the carbon output from the annual American cheeseburger consumption equaled the pollution output of around 10,000 4×4 cars. Buying locally-grown produce would be one way of befriending the environment. As our ice-cap-melting summer approaches, indulge in the quintessentially British “pick your own” scene. Footsteps through the strawberry beds are green ones indeed.
Total abstention from any form of industrial civilisation is neither practical nor possible. I do actually have a whimsical dream to live a teepee-shrouded bohemian existence, but I am sure I would eventually pine for the days of personal hygiene and with one spray of my ozone-eroding deodorant, I would ruin the fantasy.
Carbon crime will unfortunately always exist and I am the first to admit that I conflict my indulgences with my ideals. A quick long-distance trip in my car here, an imported pineapple or coconut there: the footprint points add up.
We need to dramatically cut down the damage we do, know ways to combat the carbon dilemma and take measures to reduce and remedy it. This is known as the “offset effect”. Planting trees, for example, nourishes our planet and puts back much of the worth we have taken from it.
Conserving energy is a fantastic way for students to make a difference. I am going to channel all my efforts into turning off everything around me. In the coming weeks, I plan to leave no switch un-flicked: join me in this crusade!
Ultimately, we have to compromise for the bad that we cause as, sadly, we cannot erase it completely. Such carbon bargaining is, I think, the best compromise we can hope for at this late stage. No longer can we continue to pound the earth’s surface ignoring our impact on the planet. A green conscience is the way forward.
