"1.62 degrees - we are all dead Roy"

https://www.earthday.org/

This week I've had some down time from work; some valuable time with the family recharging the batteries so to speak. As it's Earth Day today, I'm sitting here reflecting on our week off and our impact on the planet. Apparently yesterday I killed the planet via the Financial Times climate game as highlighted by my colleague Michelle, so time to make amends and set the record straight...

We've had some days out this week, taking the car, had some meals out and made some home improvements. It's surprised me actually just how much I do think about our impact now as we do these various activities.

In the car, I do enjoy a good "hoon." Cars were meant to be driven etc and I've always been a bit of a petrolhead. However, the current cost of oil driving up petrol prices and the media coverage around the climate crisis has definitely permeated my grey matter. In fact I know it did several years ago and has been building ever since.?I drive a lot more economically now than I used to. Yes, I do enjoy despatching the odd slow-moving car where conditions allow of course, but on balance I favour economy and safety more than expedience. We also do our best to combine journeys; do several things in sequence to save multiple single journeys.

Dining out, I'm more aware of my choices. I do like a good steak, but I've been educated just how much our dependence on beef really impacts our planet. At home and for several years now, my lovely wife has been driving a more planet-sympathetic diet for us; still some meat, but less of it. We use Oddbox to save on wasted wonky and misshapen veg. We now eat far less red meat than previously and I find myself going veggie in restaurants much more frequently. I'm genuinely curious about all the various meat substitutes from companies such as Beyond Meat, Impossible Foods etc (other plant-based burgers are available and operators are standing by...). What about seitan anyone? These new creations actually taste pretty good, but I'm sorry, I have to draw the line at Tofu though. No. Just, no. Tofu; go stand in the corner.

At home we've been on a bit of an eco journey for a few years. When we moved into our forever home the house had draughty windows, little loft insulation and no cavity wall insulation. We've since rectified all that and used the excellent Tado Smart heating system to keep the gas boiler heating costs down.? On our home improvements this week, where abilities allow, I've done most of the work myself and all packaging has been recycled. In fact we regularly find our green recycling bin is full far quicker than our black bin waste.

Tomorrow my wife picks up her first hybrid car and this is a big deal as she's been a petrolhead too for years. She hates driving an auto and prefers "a stick" (yes, she's part American) as she likes to drive a car, but she too recognises we all need to change behaviours and preferences to make a difference. All hybrids and EV's are automatics and whilst this is clearly a very "first-world" problem, if my missus can make a change about something she's been passionate about, we all can.

In a couple of months my petrolhead tendencies?will give way to a full EV, with the business case making more sense for me than my wife who does fewer miles but we recognise full EVs are still just far too expensive for most families. Hopefully as the tech matures, battery efficiency is improved and supply chain issues are solved the prices will come down.

We also have Solar PV being installed soon from the excellent folk at Spirit Energy along with a backup battery to make use of the excess generated electricity overnight. The innovators at Octopus Energy providing a range of tariffs encouraging us to use off peak energy usage, reducing peak demand on the grid overall and resulting in less dirty coal and gas fired power stations kicking in to cover the peaks. Our goal, lower our dependence on the grid, generate as much from solar power as possible and use that to charge the cars, reducing our dependence on fossil fuels to close to zero. More on that in a later article...

Now all these choices cost money and in some cases a lot of money and for me it's not always about saving money; it's about making the right choices. I know we're very fortunate with where we are in life right now and obviously not everyone will be in the same place to make such investments especially with the rising cost of living right now. But the point is, everyone can make a small change; from recycling a bit more, to driving differently, to eating differently.

The Earth Day website has some great ideas for how everyone can contribute. Do take a look. Don't believe the climate deniers. All our changes will add up to make a big difference. We all just need to start. Now.

Doing my bit to reduce my 1.62 degrees effort to something safer.

#EarthDay