carbon footprints

[Headfry]

Just a wee snippet I heard at a council meeting....

We have a really great record in our area for recycling, so much so that the landfill people are worried.... what to put in the bleddy great holes they have made by digging out sand and gravel for developments and industry! they actually need our rubbish, they 'import' it from other areas now.
MADNESS!

[bluemoon]

for clarification, methane breaks down into carbon dioxide and ozone

Methane (CH4) cannot possibly 'breakdown' into Carbon dioxide (CO2) and Ozone (O3) It's possible that methane + ozone reacts to produce carbon dioxide, oxygen and water and presumably this accounts for how methane destroys the ozone layer. To be honest I haven't really looked into it, I just know that the chemistry of what you suggest is impossible.

On another note, the land which is now the USA was once covered with bison, herds were several million strong. Massive numbers of wild grazing animals also once covered the entire continent of Africa and are now reduced to a few on nature reserves. I would have thought that the loss of their vast numbers has to a certain extent offset the domesticated animals we now rear, although I do accept that land used for these animals could be put to far better use.

[Polly Fouracre]

Never used one, but I've seen instructions how to make one on SS-ish... Have you used one and if so was it any good? Say I wanted to cook bacon or an egg, how quick qould it be? Also, what about in the winter you get sun granted, but surely the cold air would stop it heating up to cook anything?

Yes,they are very effective once you get used to them and no, they are no good in winter or indeed whenever there is no sunshine. For bacon and egg or a quick cup of tea etc. a stick fire is the answer.
Four bricks or whatever and an old oven grid and away you go. You may get odd looks from your neighbours.Just say "Carbon Footprints" and before you know it they'll be as Green as you are!!
Solar ovens work on the same principle as a slow cooker,more or less,put your ingredients in,go to work or whatever and everything will cook slowly.(ish)
It's trial and error really. You can actually bake bread in them as well, you just have to get used to them.

[Starchild]

We also cook on a Rayburn and burn mainly wood. This with a small woodburner in the sitting room also heats the house.(no central heating,just a well insulated loft and doors kept open.

I may be seen as mad but I love getting up on a cold morning and racing downstairs to get the rayburn up and running for the morning cuppa. I absolutely hate heated bedrooms.

As for reducing footprints....Tea, Coffe, unless you grow your own, very big foodmiles. (although you can get tea grown in Cornwall and coffee will grow in a greenhouse)

[rainbowbrite]

i agree that we should be aware of the world we live in but i think a lot of what we are told is not entirely accurate and by that i mean things such as we are causing global warming and are at risk of a major ice age, last i heard as nature has it we are massively overdue an ice age by a good few years now!!!

that said i'm terrified of it all and intend to attempt self sufficiency so that i will not be so effected by the monetry melt down that we appear to be having. but what really really gets my goat is when i'm trying hard to be careful about how i live on this planet and other people just couldn't care less!

[Tigerella]

On another note, the land which is now the USA was once covered with bison, herds were several million strong. Massive numbers of wild grazing animals also once covered the entire continent of Africa and are now reduced to a few on nature reserves. I would have thought that the loss of their vast numbers has to a certain extent offset the domesticated animals we now rear, although I do accept that land used for these animals could be put to far better use.

Hi

Even this country was once covered with many more trees than now, and so were many other countries.
The numbers of people on this planet has been rising since time began, and is in no danger of reversing. The earth cannot support the numbers on this planet now. So we need to decrease the population, or make the present population use much fewer resources.

T

[lynda66]

Methane (CH4) cannot possibly 'breakdown' into Carbon dioxide (CO2) and Ozone (O3) It's possible that methane + ozone reacts to produce carbon dioxide, oxygen and water and presumably this accounts for how methane destroys the ozone layer. To be honest I haven't really looked into it, I just know that the chemistry of what you suggest is impossible.

oh yeah lol ......... i knew something sounded wrong ........ damn that's why i only just scraped my chemistry A level lol ...... oh well i knew it had someting to do with it

[lynda66]

Lol, but seeing as they play a vital role in the decompostion of dead plant stuffs etc, I guess maybe we shouldn't

ahhhhhh but then we could burn all the wood and we still wouldn't produce so much, and the Americans could live in their cardboard houses without termites eating them

[Starchild]

Hi

Even this country was once covered with many more trees than now, and so were many other countries.

T

Are you going to tell Natural England, National Trust and the National Parks Authority that they should replant trees over Dartmoor, Exmoor and every other Moor that was once forested?

[Headfry]

Not my views - but some would argue that our future on plant earth is already written

2012!

should I worry?

[Mikey]

But Mikeywillis - do you have Jeruselem Fartichokes or Asparagus there instead? Or infact Parsnips. Mr Shortie swears by Parsnips for adding to the Methane levels

No shortie, I don't have any of the above, mainly to do with the fact I am not totally cultivated yet, but the latter will be there next year. I must admit though I don't recall ever being gaseous from eating parsnips.

[The Doctor]

Also i heard that because we eat too much meat - these animals are contributing to greenhouse gases tenfold because they f..t a lot. .......

I can assure everyone that if I was forced to eat a vegetarian diet the methane levels would not reduce, since I would produce more than enough to make up for a hell of a lot of the cows I might eat!

[Shortie]

I can assure everyone that if I was forced to eat a vegetarian diet the methane levels would not reduce, since I would produce more than enough to make up for a hell of a lot of the cows I might eat!

Lol!


No I think the meat thing is more to do with the amount of water and food crops used to produce 1kg of meat vs the same weigt in food crop. Met, especially beef apparently is very water and crop heavy to produce

[Gwyndy]

Has anyone tried any of the on-line carbon footprint calculators?

20 years ago I had cavity wall insulation installed (before it was fashionable and when it was an expensive exercise); I increased my loft insulation; I installed new and very accurate heating and hot water controls; I use low energy lamps; I do not leave equipment on standby; I drive less than 5000 miles per year; I have taken one long haul flight in 12 months; I walk in to town whenever I can; I grow as much veg as I can; I compost my green waste and I sort and recycle anything else that I can.

Yet despite all these things these silly carbon footprint calculators still tell me that I am worse than the average!!! What else can I do? Live in a mud hut with no lighting, heating, and sanitation and only a donkey for transport? One of the calculators, having condemned my entire lifestyle (or so it felt) could only suggest that I increase my loft insulation (at an estimated cost of around £150) yet again which would generate savings of - wait for it - £12 per year!! The calculators give me no incentive whatsoever to make any further improvements. So watch for the big black carbon cloud roaming round the world. Underneath it will be me enjoying myself and destroying the planet!!

[Starchild]

Lol!


No I think the meat thing is more to do with the amount of water and food crops used to produce 1kg of meat vs the same weigt in food crop. Met, especially beef apparently is very water and crop heavy to produce

Yes but there is a hell of a lot of land where arable crops cannot be grown. Besides, Food crops are fine, but what are we going to wear, after all artificial fibres are oil consuming and cotton had "clothing miles".