Sustainable Life: Carbon neutral family

Posted on 11 April, 2018

Global warming looms like a tribe of rampaging giants.

Sea levels rising, extreme weather events and mass ecological extinction. It’s easy to feel like there isn’t much you can do to make a difference. How does one person stand up against the tide to make a change when the problem is so big?

Just as climate change is a challenge that was created by the actions of people, it’s a challenge that people will need to solve. I’m optimistic about the future of our planet. Around the world, people are standing together to make a difference on climate change. In Australia, 1MillionWomen are building a lifestyle revolution to save the planet. Our very own ACT government is also taking action. They’re on track to be carbon neutral by 2020.

I’ve set my family a goal, to live carbon neutral in 2018, and the journey has surprised me. Things that I had expected to feature in our carbon budget, like flights and gas heating, are small fry. The vegetables that we eat are actually the single largest contributor to our family’s carbon budget.

Here’s a snapshot of our journey so far.

Step 1: Carbon budget

Using a carbon calculator provided by the Carbon Neutral Charitable Fund I took a close look at my family’s carbon emissions over the last year. This took me about an hour as the calculator asked me to provide information on my electricity and gas bills. It showed just how much our family contributes to global warming.

Our family’s carbon budget looks a bit like this:

• Electricity – 5 tonnes/ year
• Vehicle – 3 tonnes/ year
• Gas – 0.03 tonnes/year
• Waste – 0.2 tonnes/year
• Food – 8 tonnes/year
• Air travel – 2 tonnes/year

The low result for gas heating surprised me. It’s even smaller than the contribution from waste. Our family car, the enormous seven seater diesel with a five-star safety rating, is actually pretty fuel efficient… but it’s still a substantial proportion of our carbon budget.

Food was the big surprise for me. It’s the single largest contributor to our family’s carbon budget.

Step 2: What we’re going to change (or not)

Electricity’s a big part of our carbon budget and it can be provided carbon neutral in so many ways. I telephoned my electricity provider and asked if I could have ‘green power’. That means that I pay the additional cost for my electricity provider to source renewable energy through the grid. To supply my house with green power, it would cost me an extra $396/year.

I could also trim the trees outside our home, we could install solar panels. These could provide our electricity and, if we generate more electricity than we need, might offset our emissions. My initial research showed the cost of solar panels between $4,000 and $6,000 for a reputable supplier, accredited by the Clean Energy Council. I’ll be looking into solar panels.

Our family car is the second big source of carbon emissions. I’m going to focus on riding my bike, rather than driving… where possible. That’s starting with my yoga class, just a 10 min bike ride from home.

But when it comes to food, however, I’m not making a change. Within food, vegetables were the biggest contributor. Close behind were meat and dairy. We don’t eat much meat. Our portions are small and we only have meat a few times each week.

Step 3: Offset the difference

Here’s where I’m coming unstuck. There’s quite a bit of choice in the offsets market. At the expensive end, WWF has partnered with a certification body, gold standard, that create carbon credits from projects that have co-benefits, like improved biodiversity and women’s empowerment. Gold standard credits will set you back about $25/ tonne. There are cheaper options available, including carbon credits created in Australia. Greenfleet has options for about $15/ tonne.

I went for the gold standard to offset the first 10 tonnes of our budget. At the end of the year, I’ll work out the actual amount and purchase the remaining offsets at the end of the year.

Going carbon neutral… and eventually carbon positive… is the change I’d love to see in people’s lives across our planet.

Together we can turn the tide of climate changing, rampaging giants. Living carbon neutral is just a few steps away.