Reducing my carbon footprint

— 3 minute read

Like most people my age, I was generally aware that the climate was changing from a young age. Then, around 2019, I became truly concerned about the climate emergency. Since then, I've focused heavily on reducing and mitigating the carbon impact that my lifestyle has, and publishing those efforts periodically in the interest of personal accountability.

Before outlining the changes I've made, I should preface by acknowledging that I am in the lucky situation to be able to spend time and money on the limited decisions available in the market. Broadly, I agree that any real solution to the climate emergency will be systemic in nature over individuals adjusting their lifestyles. While it's obvious that the decisions I've made have radically reduced my carbon footprint, I'm writing this to document my own journey rather than to chastise those who aren't doing the same.

Actions taken

  • I've transitioned to a plant based diet. I first went vegetarian in late 2019, then gradually graded myself into a fully plant-based diet through to 2021. I've found it to be an incredibly positive change to my life, and would remain plant-based notwithstanding my environmental concerns. Eating vegan reduces my food-related carbon emissions by around 70% and my land-use by almost 85%. Given that food systems are responsible for a third of total emissions driving global heating. I count that as a solid win.
  • Whenever I have the option, I get my electricity from renewable sources. If I have an even more granular choice, I prefer to get power from wind and nuclear, which have the lowest carbon and land impacts.
  • I do not own a person vehicle and use transit/electric car co-ops to get around. It's difficult to quantify the difference this makes. Public transit emissions depend on the number of users, and electric car emissions depend on their power grid. That said, event taking a conservative estimate of a 60% reduction, this decision saves 2.7 metric tons of CO2 per year.
  • I'm committed to decreasing my electronic, clothing and white goods waste by reducing my consumption and sourcing from cyclical supply chains.

Carbon offsetting

While I do my best to live a low carbon lifestyle by European standards, the bulk of my emissions come from travel. The best solution here would be to reduce, but as an immigrant most of my travel emissions come from going home to spend quality time with my family, which I am unwilling to give up.

The next best option in the meantime is to offset the carbon I generate through these flights/drives. For this, I’ve selected a great organization called Gold Standard, which supports sustainable projects that enable people in the Global South to transition to green energy sources during their industrialization, skipping fossil fuel burning and preventing carbon emissions in the long term. It isn’t as immediate or quantifiable as “tree planting”, but I think it’s more meaningful to the communities they work with.

I am offsetting 1.5X the estimated carbon tonnage of each flight I take and 0.9X the estimated carbon tonnage of personal vehicle usage.

Political activation

  • I am a single issue voter on the climate emergency.
  • I am proud to engage in climate activism when I can.