Once again blog action day has arrived and always sneaks up on us so quickly. I’m not gonna post an essay or discuss anything in depth but will briefly share my simple strategy for lowering my carbon footprint.
1. Go Digital – Save Trees
Going Digital means cutting out many of the paper based systems we use as business people and many times unnecessarily so. I use almost no paper and I don’t use a printer at all. Take you data assets online and back them up using various mechanisms. It will not only save trees but can drastically improve you efficiency.
2. Work Remotely – Save our Atmosphere
There really is no good reason for knowledge workers to be commuting in their thousands on a daily basis. The web has made it extremely easy to setup online collaboration spaces which help keep remote teams in touch with each other. This can also improve your quality of life and reduce stress, save valuable travel time and reduce carbon emmisions.
3. Less is more – Save our Resources
Or should I say, less is less. We tend to go over the top when we get involved in things and go on spending sprees for our hobbies, work and families. Embrace a more simple life and you’ll be consuming less valuable earthly resources as well as needing less money which leads to needing to work less. Humans can survive very comfortably with very little.
4. Re-use – Save money
I buy everything I own or need on a cash basis, keeps me in a almost permanently debt free state. When I do need to make a purchase, most times I opt for a good quality used item whether it be a car, computer, desk you name it. Why should we be increasing the need for production of more and more when the items in circulation are good enough.
I don’t go around hugging trees regularly nor am I obsessive about every last purchase or action, but a few simple life principles naturally reduces the impact I make as an individual. What are you doing to make a difference? I could do with a few extra bits of advice.
nice article. pleased you’re considering all you are. ‘Reduce, Reuse, Recycle’ says it all. In an age of mass consumerism, we’re all pumped full of advertising telling us we need this stuff, when 99.9% of the time, we really don’t. In an age of consumerism, I abstain. I went that route, got into debt, and it didn’t make me happy. We recycle all we can, provide veggie scraps and other bits to either our worm farm and our garden as compost (we grow our own veggies as they taste better, are cheaper, and we’re not slaves to The Corporation). We don’t eat red meat which has a HUGE benefit to the environment (beef contributes massively to global warming), and eat fish rarely, due to the impact us as race are having on that very fragile resource (most fish stocks are close to collapse and those that remain – mainly in the Pacific are being hit so hard they won’t remain for long). We conserve as much energy as we can and don’t drive unless we have to – all because we love our planet and owe it our debt and love. Do I hug trees? Only if I had more time to get away from my computer 🙂