Our low carbon lifestyle - Alison Hill and Andy Chivers

(this article is based on one published in ph.com, the Faculty of Public Health's quarterly newsletter, March 2006)

Having offered to write about our attempt to live a low carbon lifestyle we approached it with some trepidation. We are trying to minimise the amount of carbon we put into the atmosphere, but in trying to write about it it is difficult not to appear holier than thou and rather preachy. We are also setting ourselves up for a good bit of ridicule because what possible difference can we make on this headlong rush to use up our fossil fuels?

So why do we do it? Well, we have no doubt used up more than our share of carbon over the first 50 years of our lives: we have at times had a car each; we have done several long haul flights; we do lots of travelling for long distances; we have a big house with only two of us living in it. By the time we die we want to feel that we haven’t been major contributors to greenhouse gas emission, at least in the latter part of our lives. And it would be good to know also that it is possible to lead a fulfilled life without those big carbon commitments.

And here is the holier than thou bit… global inequalities in access to fossil fuels and the differential impact of climate change on poor people and poor countries are major drivers for us, plus the fact that it is probably the greatest public health issue of the next century. And we are also having fun in trying to reduce our carbon emissions.

What do we do? We have stopped flying for our holidays. We own one car between us, travel 4,000 miles a year, of which 1,000 are for work, and use bio-diesel. We cycle everywhere we can, and we do our shopping by bike or internet. Between us we cycle about 5,000 miles a year. We have had regular lodgers to share the warmth of our house, we have a solar panel for our hot water (of some use even in winter) and minimise our heating by dressing warmly, burning waste wood on a wood burning stove, and only having the radiators on in the rooms we are using. We buy our electricity from Good Energy (which obtains all its energy from renewable sources).

But even so our annual carbon dioxide emission (for personal energy use, not including our share of industrial and commercial energy use) is still two tons each — under half of the average household, but still a way to go to reach the recommended level that will combat global warming — one ton each.

And why can we do it? We both live in a city with excellent public transport links. We both have jobs in the city in which we live. We are both cyclists. We can afford to travel by train. We don’t have children to ferry to and fro and to plead with us to make the school trip when it’s raining. We aren’t fans of really hot weather and love our northern European cycling holidays.

This list of things is why you can feel a bit less guilty and have a bit of a chuckle at the absurdity of our lifestyle.But if this article does make you have a twinge of guilt then why not set yourself a small target for changing some aspects of your lifestyle? Do your own carbon audit. Raise it as an issue with others and at work.

And best of all get on your bike.

Alison Hill (ph.com Editor) and Andy Chiver