A Good Compost 

Make A Change

CARBON FOOTPRINTS

What are they?

The short answer to this question is: The amount of Carbon Dioxide released into the air for each person and company to live their daily lives.

Now if that is simple to understand then you do not need to read any further, but I would be grateful if you did anyway! And I would be more than happy to read any comments on this.

1. If you bought you food from a Farm shop or local food stall, the chances are that the carbon footprint will be about a ¼ , simply because you either walked, used your car or public transport to get there or back and the power that the farm shop uses to keep the food fresh and processed, e.g. Milk, meat, cheese... etc

2. Companies use Nuclear/Solid fuel electric to light up offices, run equipment, travel to meetings, process and deliver their goods. As well as gas and oil to provide food and heating to their staff or corporate members. Not forgetting the Carbon Monoxide that is released to deliver their goods either in this country or abroad.

3. I have heard it said that ‘When they stop dropping bombs or fighting with nuclear arms, then I will do my part to help the ozone layer, all the fighting destroys more than I do.’

Of course I can see the point of this, War does destroy more of the ozone than I do as an individual, but when you put that against all of us as individuals, then the fighting and war are just a small part. If we put all that argument forward there would be very quickly no earth to fight for and we would all be gone!

FOOD MILES

Recently I have heard the phrase ‘Food Miles.’ As I understand it, this has nothing whatsoever to do with how far we have to go to get our food or how far our food has come from. But it does mean how our food got to us. In my simple way of understanding this is how the food and haulage industry are renaming ‘Carbon Footprints’. If I am wrong I would love someone to write in and put me right. If I prove myself to be right then please write in and say so.

Here are three examples to help prove my point of food miles:

1. Sunday Roast from the Supermarket

Beef (Local/Scottish). Farm – Slaughter house – Processors – Warehouses – Store. All powered by solid fuel energy. Not forgetting lorry transport for delivery.

A large amount of Carbon is released.

2. Lamb (New Zealand) Meat is stored and treated using renewable energy e.g. Wind/solar powered energy and in a few areas Hydro powered energy. The meat then comes from there to here by sea freight and delivered to one point for distribution to various areas (Carbon Footprint/Food Miles – Medium due to refrigerated lorry distribution)

Anybody reading this will think that I am trying to promote vegetarianism that could not be further from the truth. I do eat meat and I enjoy it. But let me give you my third example:

3. Vegetables

Grown locally releases no carbon, but it still has to get to the store or our homes and kept in the fridge or cold stores.

Vegetarian produce e.g. Cheese, Soya etc is all done using solid fuel energy.

Specially grown food e.g. Mushrooms, tomatoes, need special conditions controlled by energy to produce all year round.

Some Fruit and Vegetables can only be grown abroad and bought to us by plane to prevent perishing.

So just because you don’t eat meat does not mean that you don’t contribute to carbon emissions, it just means that you do it in a different way

Is there any life saving reason why we can’t survive own locally grown produce? Having read history books and reading about the way that people lived in times past and also listening to my elderly neighbours, we managed to win a war by doing just that! (Remember the ‘Dig for Victory’ campaign?)What ever the reason it can’t be that different now. When did we suddenly change, that we would risk losing everything including our earth to get what we want?

Every year I look forward to September/October for one reason and one reason only, I love Pomegranates! I know I can get the juice any time I want to but that just spoils my yearly treat and each year I wait to buy them just to enjoy them. Is that so wrong? No! I just enjoy them more each year.

We can survive by eating seasonal fruit and vegetables and meat grown locally or at least with a low carbon footprint. Look at the items we buy and ask questions. If the shops are good, then they will know where the food comes from, and if they don’t know, help them to find out or shop where they do know.

Local Produce – Local Industry – Local Jobs – Local Independence – Good Local Economy – National Pride. What’s wrong with that?