It’s all well and good blabbing on about what we need to do to sort climate change, but I’ve decided I need to starting walking the walk a bit more.  I think I’ve made some significant steps towards a lifestyle that treads more lightly on the planet, but there are certainly some further things I can do.  I’ll keep a diary here of the changes I make personally, and hopefully that will help others do the same.

I’ve stopped commuting and have the solar panels, so a reasonable start.

The other things I need to sort out are further energy proofing my home; avoiding using the car for local journeys (particularly for the weekly shop); greening (literally?) my diet, including buying low or zero emission food where I can’t grow it; reducing my energy use further.

I’m hoping to drag a few of the Transition Town Berkhamsted community along with me.  Is anyone out there reading this who thinks they’d like to join in remotely?  Drop me a line if you are interested.

The eco-teams initiative could help, in which a few have participated (including me).  This is where you get together with a few friends to measure your waste, energy use etc, then take steps to reduce each in turn.  Sounds boring, but actually it’s mostly gassing in the pub, and we still meet up for a curry every so often a few years down the line.  Transition Town Totnes have something similar called Transition Streets.

Or (and/or) we could run a competition to see who can do the best job of reducing their impact.  Robin Williams has suggested such for TTB – I’m up for it.

This week I’m planning to look at food – I’ll let you know how I get along.

John Bell,

Ordinary bloke

PS – Happy Birthday Emma Shallcross!