Posted: 2007-01-11 14:00:00
Oh my goodness, my footprint is 2.4 We would need 1.3 planets if all lived like me....
Let me grow my own veges, stop eating meat and oil up my bicycle!
Thanks for the headsup of a great quiz. I am now going to post it on my MySpace account!
Posted: 2007-01-18 16:36:00
Sorry to strike a discordant note, especially as I am all for encouraging us all to think about our effect on the planet BUT I don’t think this is a very well considered quiz.
Q1 Fish is mentioned at the top but doesn’t come into any specific answer – is the effect on the planet of eating fish exactly the same as eating meat? How convenient!
Q2 There is NO answer that is correct for me. Most of the food I eat is unpackaged and unprocessed. I wish I could say it was locally grown but quite a lot is not.
Q10 ‘as a driver or passenger’ ??? Do you really think the extra effect of me sitting beside my wife in the car is equal to that of her going on her own?
Q11 ‘to get around?’ – what does that mean? I go for a walk most days for exercise and pleasure. Is that ‘getting around?’ I don’t need to go and the alternative would be not to go. Is the planet affected?
Q16 How can this question possibly relate to question 10?
I like the motive behind the quiz but spurious science won’t help anybody much.
--- Grieve not for that which you cannot do but rejoice in that which you can.
Posted: 2007-01-19 13:39:00
David, you miss the point of the survey and "calculator", it is not a quiz neither a test.
It calculates roughly how many hectares are used or wasted by our way of living. Shared equally, there is only 1.8 biological hectares available per person on the globe but those living in the west and in big cities need much more. The survey shows that we are obviously destroying our earth using too much energy and producing too much pollution.
Q1: animal farming requires much more energy and produces much more pollution than plantations and fields growing grain, vegetables and fruit.
Q2: none correct? Choose “very little”. Even if you own your cow you still use a little packaged goods like salt, butter, chocolate, beer....
Q10: If you use lift-clubs or car-sharing you are saving energy and reducing pollution. How far do you drive or get driven each week (rough average).
Q11: Walking or biking short distances does the world good!
Q16: not found!
Try again and share the result with us. Living in the country, I’m sure your “footprint” is less than the 5.3 British average? The media files at www.earthday.net are informative.
Posted: 2007-01-24 19:32:00
I don't apologise for coming again on this topic as it seems probably the most important we have ever discussed - thanks for starting it, Gard. Rudy, you are fully entitled to your opinion and I'm equally entitled not to share it.
Although I got one page wrong, I don't think I did miss the point. I think perhaps I didn't explain my own well enough. I'll try again.
1 I agree that it is a good idea to make us all think about our effect on the planet - and how we could do less harm.
2. I think that any set of questions designed to calculate an individual footprint must make sense.
3. Using the same criteria for deciding the carbon footprint of the driver and the passenger of a vehicle CANNOT make sense.
Although the article on the subject in today's Guardian newspaper [http://environment.guardian.co.uk/ethicalliving/story/0,,1997277,00.html#article_continue] is surrounded by cartoons and is written, at times, with humour, I personally find it far more creditable. Have a look at least. The website mentioned in the article [http://chooseclimate.org/flying/] is also worth a look.
Cheers
David
--- Grieve not for that which you cannot do but rejoice in that which you can.
