The first Sustainable Lifestyle Awards for high school students has recently started. This means that selected pilot high school student groups from Finland and Germany try out a new concept and tools to learn about and get active on sustainable lifestyle. The pilot project is organised by One Did It and the UNEP/Wuppertal Institute Collaboration Centre on Sustainable Consumption and Production, CSCP.
Die ersten Preisausschreiben zu nachhaltigen Lebensstilen für SchülerInnen weiterführender Schulen haben begonnen. Das bedeutet, dass ausgewählte Schülergruppen aus Finnland und Deutschland ein neues Konzept und Hilfsmittel zum Lernen und Aktiv werden für nachhaltige Lebensstile ausprobieren. Das Pilotprojekt wird von One Did It und dem UNEP/Wuppertal Institute Collaboration Centre on Sustainable Consumption and Production, CSCP organisiert.
We are very excited to hear feedback and experiences from the participants. Our aim is to further develop this concept and make it accessible for larger audience around Europe.
Wir sind gespannt auf Feedback und Erfahrungen der Teilnehmer. Unser Ziel ist es, dieses Konzept weiterzuentwickeln und einem größeren Publikum europaweit zugänglich zu machen.
In the pilot phase the concept is based on following features:
In der Pilotphase basiert das Konzept auf folgenden Grundzügen:
1. An introduction to the sustainable lifestyle issue. We prepared some material for this purpose. You can find the material in English, German and Finnish. You are free to use it but please let us know what you and your students think about it by sending your comments to Marja Salo (firstname.surname@onedidit.com).
1. Eine Einführung in das Thema Nachhaltiger Lebensstil. Wir haben dafür Material vorbereitet. Sie haben Zugriff zu dem Material auf Englisch, Deutsch und Finnisch. Sie können es gerne verwenden, aber bitte geben Sie uns Rückmeldung, was Sie und Ihre SchülerInnen davon halten, indem Sie Ihre Bemerkungen an Marja Salo senden (Vorname.Nachname@onedidit.com).
2. The features of the One Did It website, especially the eco-backpack test, eco-actions and the recently released groups feature.
2. Die Angebote auf der One Did It-Website, insbesondere der Ökologischer-Rucksack-Test, die Öko-Aktionen und das kürzlich dazugekommene Gruppen-Feature.
3. Activity of the students to take eco-actions and come up with new ways to contribute to more sustainable consumption and lifestyle.
3. Das Aktiv werden der SchülerInnen über Öko-Aktionen und Ideen für neue Möglichkeiten, zu nachhaltigerem Konsum und Lebensstil beizutragen.
There will be also a little competition between the student groups since the most active group will be awarded with a special prize after the pilot phase of the project is finished. We’ll look forward to share the first experiences of the project in a conference called “The Future of Sustainable Products and Services” in Essen 28.-29.9.2009. The winner of the pilot phase and outcomes of the project will be presented in December in Brussels.
Es wird auch einen kleinen Wettstreit zwischen den Schülergruppen geben, da die aktivste Gruppe mit einem besonderen Preis ausgezeichnet wird, wenn die Pilotphase des Projekts beendet ist. Wir freuen uns darauf, auf der Konferenz „The Future of Sustainable Products and Services“ in Essen vom 28. bis 29.09.2009 von ersten Projekterfahrungen zu berichten. Die Gewinner der Pilotphase und die Ergebnisse des Projekts werden im Dezember in Brüssel vorgestellt werden.
Before that we wish good luck for all the participants!
Bis dahin wünschen wir allen Teilnehmern und Teilnehmerinnen viel Erfolg!
Friday, September 11, 2009
Monday, August 17, 2009
The weight of kilowatts in our eco-backpacks
It is easy to say that I eat vegetarian two times a week or that I rode 100 kilometres by bike this month. What about energy? How many kilowatts did you save today? The truth is that we need better metering systems to keep us better updated about the energy use at home. While we wait for the smart systems we should still pay attention to energy use. Turn down the thermostat, plug out, switch off and turn off the (hot) tap. But how much does the energy use add weight to our eco-backpacks?
Energy makes about one fifths typical EU citizen eco-backpack. This means roughly 6000 kilograms. This includes heating, electricity use, gas etc. If you’d like to save some kilograms and kilowatts and make a difference you could for instance:
Turn off one 40 W light bulb for 10 h and save almost 1 kg
Wash one full load of dishes instead of two half loads and save more than 2 kg
Cut off hot water for one minute and save almost 1 kg
Wash laundry in 40⁰C instead of 60⁰C and save about 1 kg
Hang dry one load of laundry outdoors instead of tumble drier and save more than 5 kg (it is true that it consumes multiple times more energy to dry your laundry than to wash it).
Have you came across with the news from Vermont U.S. where rebellious people fight for their “Right To Dry” clothes outdoors? Watch the news clip.
Join the rebellious clothesline movement and pick a few other eco-actions to drop off few kilograms from your eco-backpack.
Energy makes about one fifths typical EU citizen eco-backpack. This means roughly 6000 kilograms. This includes heating, electricity use, gas etc. If you’d like to save some kilograms and kilowatts and make a difference you could for instance:
Turn off one 40 W light bulb for 10 h and save almost 1 kg
Wash one full load of dishes instead of two half loads and save more than 2 kg
Cut off hot water for one minute and save almost 1 kg
Wash laundry in 40⁰C instead of 60⁰C and save about 1 kg
Hang dry one load of laundry outdoors instead of tumble drier and save more than 5 kg (it is true that it consumes multiple times more energy to dry your laundry than to wash it).
Have you came across with the news from Vermont U.S. where rebellious people fight for their “Right To Dry” clothes outdoors? Watch the news clip.
Join the rebellious clothesline movement and pick a few other eco-actions to drop off few kilograms from your eco-backpack.
Monday, August 10, 2009
Where does all the stuff come from – the Story of Stuff
Have you already heard about the video called The Story of Stuff? Even the New York Times wrote a front page story about it. What is it all about? As the title of the film says, it is a story about the stuff we consume. What is actually needed along the lifecycle to produce, distribute and get rid of it? And even more importantly, why do we consume so much stuff?
The 20-minute well made film with clear and simple arguments illustrates well the material flows, pollution and social inequalities related to production, consumption and disposal of stuff. The video shows all the issues that are hidden from us when we go shopping. In that sense the idea goes hand in hand with the ecological backpack concept, make visible the hidden flows required to produce a certain item.
The point is that we don’t actually pay the full price for the products we buy. The externalities like environmental costs and inhumane working conditions of production are not included in the price tag. What is even more important in my opinion is the critique towards the consumer culture. The current pace of buying and getting rid of stuff is certainly not sustainable. Telling people not to consume is not very efficient if people really believe they need all the new gadgets, larger homes and so on. But when you realise how the needs actually created by the advertisements and the pressure of the consumer culture, it is much easier to ask oneself if the needs are real or not.
The SoS film has been widely used by teachers in the United States to supplement the traditional materials because of the lack of important information about pollution and climate change. When we have presented the One did it concept in conferences, every time people ask when our site will be available in other languages and how they could use the site and material for education purposes. We know that some teachers have already used our site on their classes but wanted to provide something more.
During the Finnish sustainable consumption campaign week (Nuukuusviikko) in spring 2009 we provided some material for schools and other interested organisations to arrange a simple contest to raise awareness about ecological backpack concept. At the moment we are working together with the UNEP/Wuppertal Institute Collaborating Centre on Sustainable Consumption and Production, CSCP on a pilot project for introducing some electronic material and new concepts to bring sustainable lifestyle issues to high school classes. The pilot project will start in September 2009 in Germany and Finland. The learnings will be presented in two conferences in Germany and Belgium before the end of the year. We look forward to launch the concept for a wider audience after the pilot phase. We’ll keep you updated about the developments.
The 20-minute well made film with clear and simple arguments illustrates well the material flows, pollution and social inequalities related to production, consumption and disposal of stuff. The video shows all the issues that are hidden from us when we go shopping. In that sense the idea goes hand in hand with the ecological backpack concept, make visible the hidden flows required to produce a certain item.
The point is that we don’t actually pay the full price for the products we buy. The externalities like environmental costs and inhumane working conditions of production are not included in the price tag. What is even more important in my opinion is the critique towards the consumer culture. The current pace of buying and getting rid of stuff is certainly not sustainable. Telling people not to consume is not very efficient if people really believe they need all the new gadgets, larger homes and so on. But when you realise how the needs actually created by the advertisements and the pressure of the consumer culture, it is much easier to ask oneself if the needs are real or not.
The SoS film has been widely used by teachers in the United States to supplement the traditional materials because of the lack of important information about pollution and climate change. When we have presented the One did it concept in conferences, every time people ask when our site will be available in other languages and how they could use the site and material for education purposes. We know that some teachers have already used our site on their classes but wanted to provide something more.
During the Finnish sustainable consumption campaign week (Nuukuusviikko) in spring 2009 we provided some material for schools and other interested organisations to arrange a simple contest to raise awareness about ecological backpack concept. At the moment we are working together with the UNEP/Wuppertal Institute Collaborating Centre on Sustainable Consumption and Production, CSCP on a pilot project for introducing some electronic material and new concepts to bring sustainable lifestyle issues to high school classes. The pilot project will start in September 2009 in Germany and Finland. The learnings will be presented in two conferences in Germany and Belgium before the end of the year. We look forward to launch the concept for a wider audience after the pilot phase. We’ll keep you updated about the developments.
Monday, August 3, 2009
Break the routine
We love the holiday season don’t we? Especially the possibility to break routines is great. You know spend time and effort on things we really love to do. The change in routines can be either positive or negative from the environmental perspective but that is not the main point here. Important is that during holiday we have time and energy to question some the locked-in habits of our everyday life.
It would be great to see the routine breaking mindset more often out of the holiday season too. When following discussions about sustainable lifestyles and practices there is no debate without comments like “sounds like a good idea but in Normal life of Normal people it is impossible”. I bet there are definitely normal people telling their stories about slow travel, bicycle commuting, reusable nappies and vegetarian (or even vegan)cooking to take a few examples.
Even if we are not ready to turn our whole life upside down at once we can find some of the issues so inspiring that we decide to break our routine and take a try. We all are familiar with the feeling that we want to do something better or differently. It is much easier to break the habit if we have some concrete advice to start with. Small changes don’t need to be complicated we just need the holiday type of mindset to make the (pro-environment) change. Let’s hold on to the open-minded attitude while we are back to our desks and everyday life.
It would be great to see the routine breaking mindset more often out of the holiday season too. When following discussions about sustainable lifestyles and practices there is no debate without comments like “sounds like a good idea but in Normal life of Normal people it is impossible”. I bet there are definitely normal people telling their stories about slow travel, bicycle commuting, reusable nappies and vegetarian (or even vegan)cooking to take a few examples.
Even if we are not ready to turn our whole life upside down at once we can find some of the issues so inspiring that we decide to break our routine and take a try. We all are familiar with the feeling that we want to do something better or differently. It is much easier to break the habit if we have some concrete advice to start with. Small changes don’t need to be complicated we just need the holiday type of mindset to make the (pro-environment) change. Let’s hold on to the open-minded attitude while we are back to our desks and everyday life.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
How to work out your sports eco-backpack?
We’ve learned how important regular exercise is for us. While running through the green parks and forests we appreciate the natural environment around us. But do we ever think if your sport routines have any impact on the environment somehow. The impacts are obvious if we have a large motor boat to cruise around. If boating is not the thing for you, there are still few rules of thumb to keep in mind to avoid adding too many kilograms to your eco-backpack while taking your regular exercise.
Transport, how to get there?
Use your muscle power to get to the sports facility. Public transport is almost as good but doesn’t make a good warm up exercise. If connections are poor maybe you can take turns with your friends and share a ride.
Transport, don't go far
Take advantage of sports facilities near by our home or place of work to cut down extra kilometres.
Sports facilities
The less constructed, heated or cooled space is needed, the better. Building of sports facilities require natural resources and heating and cooling consume energy. Basically if you go jogging or play football outdoors it probably it adds fewer kilograms to your eco-backpack than swimming in swim hall or playing ice hockey indoors. Remember still that usually if you swap a car ride to the site to bus or bicycle ride you probably save more than by giving up your favourite indoor sport for jogging.
Shoes, bats, and other equipment
Equipment does not usually cause so much pressure on the environment compared to sports related mobility and sport facilities. Same rules apply for sports equipment like for other stuff. Use the things you already have as long as possible, share goods, go for second hand items when you need to buy something.
Add exercise to your everyday routine
If can cycle to work or grocery store it helps you to keep fit but it also saves time since you don’t need to dedicate so much time for “doing sports”. The new routine might drop off few kilos from your waist and eco-backpack too.
We provide some sports related eco-actions to help you lighten your sports eco-backpack. Summer is good time for all the sports with light eco-backpack. Enjoy!
Transport, how to get there?
Use your muscle power to get to the sports facility. Public transport is almost as good but doesn’t make a good warm up exercise. If connections are poor maybe you can take turns with your friends and share a ride.
Transport, don't go far
Take advantage of sports facilities near by our home or place of work to cut down extra kilometres.
Sports facilities
The less constructed, heated or cooled space is needed, the better. Building of sports facilities require natural resources and heating and cooling consume energy. Basically if you go jogging or play football outdoors it probably it adds fewer kilograms to your eco-backpack than swimming in swim hall or playing ice hockey indoors. Remember still that usually if you swap a car ride to the site to bus or bicycle ride you probably save more than by giving up your favourite indoor sport for jogging.
Shoes, bats, and other equipment
Equipment does not usually cause so much pressure on the environment compared to sports related mobility and sport facilities. Same rules apply for sports equipment like for other stuff. Use the things you already have as long as possible, share goods, go for second hand items when you need to buy something.
Add exercise to your everyday routine
If can cycle to work or grocery store it helps you to keep fit but it also saves time since you don’t need to dedicate so much time for “doing sports”. The new routine might drop off few kilos from your waist and eco-backpack too.
We provide some sports related eco-actions to help you lighten your sports eco-backpack. Summer is good time for all the sports with light eco-backpack. Enjoy!
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Do small things matter?
Every now and then the potential of small everyday pro-environment choices and actions are questioned. People claim that if we only do small things we’ll only achieve small changes. The importance of high level agreements to cut emissions is of course crucial. Similarly no one can question the need for regulations for more sustainable buildings, energy production, transport systems and city planning.
However, we might feel powerless in front of the huge environmental challenges we face and get frustrated about the slow pace of change in the high level decision making. But our everyday life matters too. Food, mobility, housing and energy use at home make up the majority of the weight our personal eco-backpacks. Why wouldn’t we take control over our choices in our everyday life? We can start right away to make improvements. Take a walk or ride your bike, cut some off the meat every now and then, and turn down the thermostat. These are easy, quick and inexpensive ways to make a difference.
The opponents of green consumption have a point criticising the potential of green products. It is true that if we buy more just because it is greener we are fooling ourselves and green washing our own life. But when it comes to renewable energy for instance we have a green product to go for. Most of us would still like to heat our homes and run computers, right?
Behaviour change is what we need. We believe that small is better than nothing but it is true that also huge changes can be made in personal life if we look at food, mobility and housing. Cutting down kilometres and questioning the need for bigger homes are definitely big changes and the ones we urgently need for. The good news is that by taking these decisions we are adopting overall pro-environmental practices, not just tackling one single issue like reducing air pollution for instance.
Making individual and informed choices does not mean you have to manage it all alone. There is something between individual choices and high level decision making, communities. It gives you much more confident and powerful feeling when you find other people doing their bit too. The supporting community can be consist of your real life friends, neighbours or people you around the world you know through the online communities. Have you already challenged your friends to take some of the One did it eco-actions?
However, we might feel powerless in front of the huge environmental challenges we face and get frustrated about the slow pace of change in the high level decision making. But our everyday life matters too. Food, mobility, housing and energy use at home make up the majority of the weight our personal eco-backpacks. Why wouldn’t we take control over our choices in our everyday life? We can start right away to make improvements. Take a walk or ride your bike, cut some off the meat every now and then, and turn down the thermostat. These are easy, quick and inexpensive ways to make a difference.
The opponents of green consumption have a point criticising the potential of green products. It is true that if we buy more just because it is greener we are fooling ourselves and green washing our own life. But when it comes to renewable energy for instance we have a green product to go for. Most of us would still like to heat our homes and run computers, right?
Behaviour change is what we need. We believe that small is better than nothing but it is true that also huge changes can be made in personal life if we look at food, mobility and housing. Cutting down kilometres and questioning the need for bigger homes are definitely big changes and the ones we urgently need for. The good news is that by taking these decisions we are adopting overall pro-environmental practices, not just tackling one single issue like reducing air pollution for instance.
Making individual and informed choices does not mean you have to manage it all alone. There is something between individual choices and high level decision making, communities. It gives you much more confident and powerful feeling when you find other people doing their bit too. The supporting community can be consist of your real life friends, neighbours or people you around the world you know through the online communities. Have you already challenged your friends to take some of the One did it eco-actions?
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
How are we doing?
We’d like to thank all active One did it members for letting us know what you think about the site! I picked up some of the issues mentioned in your feedback since they might be of interest for others too:
“I don’t know how much energy I use.”
In case your landlord pays for your electricity, heat and gas it is not easy to know the exact amount of consumption. This is why we have added the EU-average buttons on the test. The estimate gives you a rough idea about energy use and lets you proceed with the test. However, energy use has a major contribution on the test result so finding out your personal figures and updating test might change your result. If you can follow up your energy use it is also much more rewarding to save energy.
“It was difficult to measure the amount of kilometres travelled.”
We seek for solutions to make it easier to estimate the travelled kilometres. If you have a car, maybe you have an idea how much you drive during one year? If you use public transport do you know if your daily travel is closer to 10 or 50 kilometres. The exact numbers are not so much important as the magnitude.
“In the extended test, why do you measure the meat, fish and dairy consumption by calculating the number of days these products are consumed?”
We have used FAO statistics to estimate the EU average meat, fish and dairy consumption per day per capita in grams. It is true that daily consumption varies from person to person. That’s why we have mentioned the estimated daily intake of these foodstuffs (in grams). If you know your exact meat, fish and dairy consumption in grams, check the reference values on the grey info texts when filling in the extended food section.
“I’ve already measured my carbon footprint.”
The amount of carbon emissions released by our actions is one aspect of environmental burden of our everyday life but not the whole story. One did it and the ecological backpack concept concentrates on the natural resource use. How much renewable and non-renewable resources your lifestyle consumes? Taking the One did it test helps you to get an idea which consumption sectors more important than the others. The next step is to take the eco-actions to lighten the eco-backpack of one’s lifestyle.
In general people find the test easy and useful. The comments show that there is a need to prepare a FAQ section on the site. To prepare this we look forward to getting more valuable feedback, questions and comments from you. Especially we’d like to know what do you think about eco-actions and other features of the site in addition to the test. What kind of features you’d like to see on One did it site in the future? What would best help you to adopt more sustainable lifestyle? Please use the feedback form to drop us a line about your thoughts.
“I don’t know how much energy I use.”
In case your landlord pays for your electricity, heat and gas it is not easy to know the exact amount of consumption. This is why we have added the EU-average buttons on the test. The estimate gives you a rough idea about energy use and lets you proceed with the test. However, energy use has a major contribution on the test result so finding out your personal figures and updating test might change your result. If you can follow up your energy use it is also much more rewarding to save energy.
“It was difficult to measure the amount of kilometres travelled.”
We seek for solutions to make it easier to estimate the travelled kilometres. If you have a car, maybe you have an idea how much you drive during one year? If you use public transport do you know if your daily travel is closer to 10 or 50 kilometres. The exact numbers are not so much important as the magnitude.
“In the extended test, why do you measure the meat, fish and dairy consumption by calculating the number of days these products are consumed?”
We have used FAO statistics to estimate the EU average meat, fish and dairy consumption per day per capita in grams. It is true that daily consumption varies from person to person. That’s why we have mentioned the estimated daily intake of these foodstuffs (in grams). If you know your exact meat, fish and dairy consumption in grams, check the reference values on the grey info texts when filling in the extended food section.
“I’ve already measured my carbon footprint.”
The amount of carbon emissions released by our actions is one aspect of environmental burden of our everyday life but not the whole story. One did it and the ecological backpack concept concentrates on the natural resource use. How much renewable and non-renewable resources your lifestyle consumes? Taking the One did it test helps you to get an idea which consumption sectors more important than the others. The next step is to take the eco-actions to lighten the eco-backpack of one’s lifestyle.
In general people find the test easy and useful. The comments show that there is a need to prepare a FAQ section on the site. To prepare this we look forward to getting more valuable feedback, questions and comments from you. Especially we’d like to know what do you think about eco-actions and other features of the site in addition to the test. What kind of features you’d like to see on One did it site in the future? What would best help you to adopt more sustainable lifestyle? Please use the feedback form to drop us a line about your thoughts.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Green twist of celebration
Summer is the time for celebrations. And celebrate we do! We enjoy barbecue with friends; family get together parties; graduation celebration; weddings and many more. Great people, food and drink, music and dancing makes the party.
In our everyday life we try to minimise the size of our eco-backpacks, take the bus, save electricity and go for the seasonal food. How about the special days, do we forget environmental conscious choices then? Or is it even necessary to think about the environment on those special occasions? They say it is much more important what you do in your everyday life since you don’t have a party each day. But if you are the host you have a great opportunity to affect the eco-backpack of the occasion.
Few simple rules make it easy to lighten the eco-backpack of the party. First of all, transport. If you have 20 guests and they all travel 100 kilometres back and forth it makes total 2000 passenger kilometres. If you can, choose the venue so that travelling of the quests is minimised. In addition to travelled kilometres, it is important that people can use the public transport. If not possible would it be worth to arrange bus transportation for instance?
Another important thing is food. Remember that the eco-backpack of one kilogram of beef is about 46 kg and one kilo of apples carries a backpack of only 2 kilograms. Go easy on the meat and cheese and enjoy the delicious and fresh veggies, fruits and berries of the season. There is no need to turn your feast totally vegetarian or vegan but pay attention to the meat and cheese vs. veggie ratio.
What about the gifts? If you feel you have everything you need, let people know about it. Guests can be asked to bring some food or drink instead. If it is more formal event maybe you can ask people to donate some money for a charity you appreciate. The real eco-geeks could say that best present for them is that people take the bike, bus, train or shared ride to come to the party.
If you are not the host but the guest, what can you do then? Always respect the choices and wishes of the host. If a gift list is awailable it is good idea to stick with that to avoid giving stuff not needed. When it comes to dining, maybe you can ask in advance if a vegetarian choice will be available on the menu? Probably the best thing you can do to lighten your eco-backpack is to go for public transport or ask someone to share a ride with you.
True eco-warriors can find numerous ways to make their celebrations even more green. However, taking into account the few points mentioned here you are already doing significant actions to lighten the eco-backpack of your party. Have fun!
In our everyday life we try to minimise the size of our eco-backpacks, take the bus, save electricity and go for the seasonal food. How about the special days, do we forget environmental conscious choices then? Or is it even necessary to think about the environment on those special occasions? They say it is much more important what you do in your everyday life since you don’t have a party each day. But if you are the host you have a great opportunity to affect the eco-backpack of the occasion.
Few simple rules make it easy to lighten the eco-backpack of the party. First of all, transport. If you have 20 guests and they all travel 100 kilometres back and forth it makes total 2000 passenger kilometres. If you can, choose the venue so that travelling of the quests is minimised. In addition to travelled kilometres, it is important that people can use the public transport. If not possible would it be worth to arrange bus transportation for instance?
Another important thing is food. Remember that the eco-backpack of one kilogram of beef is about 46 kg and one kilo of apples carries a backpack of only 2 kilograms. Go easy on the meat and cheese and enjoy the delicious and fresh veggies, fruits and berries of the season. There is no need to turn your feast totally vegetarian or vegan but pay attention to the meat and cheese vs. veggie ratio.
What about the gifts? If you feel you have everything you need, let people know about it. Guests can be asked to bring some food or drink instead. If it is more formal event maybe you can ask people to donate some money for a charity you appreciate. The real eco-geeks could say that best present for them is that people take the bike, bus, train or shared ride to come to the party.
If you are not the host but the guest, what can you do then? Always respect the choices and wishes of the host. If a gift list is awailable it is good idea to stick with that to avoid giving stuff not needed. When it comes to dining, maybe you can ask in advance if a vegetarian choice will be available on the menu? Probably the best thing you can do to lighten your eco-backpack is to go for public transport or ask someone to share a ride with you.
True eco-warriors can find numerous ways to make their celebrations even more green. However, taking into account the few points mentioned here you are already doing significant actions to lighten the eco-backpack of your party. Have fun!
Thursday, June 25, 2009
The travel paradox
Travelling is my passion and this is something I spend time thinking especially during the holiday season. I cut down my energy use, stick mainly to vegetarian and vegan diet and use bicycle to move around but when it’s about travelling I take a cheap flight to head to a far away destination every now and then (and complain about the poor energy efficiency and recycling facilities at the destination...). I hear these stories a lot. One of my friends even said that she moves around either by bike or takes a flight. This is true for many of my peers in their twenties or thirties. Cheap flights allow us to travel huge distances fast and at low cost.
Travelling contributes to your social status. You know the stories about how someone travelled to a place where no other traveller has ever been to. After that you may think your wonderful three day trip to the neighbouring town is not worth mentioning about. But should it be this way?
Travel also adds to our environmental burden. One long haul return flight may generate more greenhouse gas emissions than an average person in some developing country generates in five years or so. But it is not only about long haul travel. If you spend several hours in your car every weekend to travel away from home you will notice that on your ecological backpack too.
Many of us are passionate about travelling, what can we do then to make it more of an experience and less an environmental problem? The oh so trendy slow movement has introduced the concept of slow travel. That is a loose bundle of thoughts about how to get involved with real pace of the society you are staying at. Spending time and getting to know more than the hot spots. Sounds good? While I have been trying to figure out how to combine the passion to travel and explore without adding too much weight on my eco-backpack I came to the following simple guidelines I try to stick with:
- For short breaks, from one day to few weeks, explore places where it is reasonable to travel by bike, train or bus.
- Since I’m probably not voluntarily willing to give up long haul travel, I’d at
least love to take more time once on the road and travel less often. I hope I have
learned the patience to arrange enough time for a long trip when I decide to make one.
This summer I’m going to spend all of my summer holiday it in Finland. It will be some hiking in Lapland and exploring Helsinki and surroundings. I look forward to it all! I’ll get back to you about my first Finnish holiday experience at the end of this summer.
Travelling contributes to your social status. You know the stories about how someone travelled to a place where no other traveller has ever been to. After that you may think your wonderful three day trip to the neighbouring town is not worth mentioning about. But should it be this way?
Travel also adds to our environmental burden. One long haul return flight may generate more greenhouse gas emissions than an average person in some developing country generates in five years or so. But it is not only about long haul travel. If you spend several hours in your car every weekend to travel away from home you will notice that on your ecological backpack too.
Many of us are passionate about travelling, what can we do then to make it more of an experience and less an environmental problem? The oh so trendy slow movement has introduced the concept of slow travel. That is a loose bundle of thoughts about how to get involved with real pace of the society you are staying at. Spending time and getting to know more than the hot spots. Sounds good? While I have been trying to figure out how to combine the passion to travel and explore without adding too much weight on my eco-backpack I came to the following simple guidelines I try to stick with:
- For short breaks, from one day to few weeks, explore places where it is reasonable to travel by bike, train or bus.
- Since I’m probably not voluntarily willing to give up long haul travel, I’d at
least love to take more time once on the road and travel less often. I hope I have
learned the patience to arrange enough time for a long trip when I decide to make one.
This summer I’m going to spend all of my summer holiday it in Finland. It will be some hiking in Lapland and exploring Helsinki and surroundings. I look forward to it all! I’ll get back to you about my first Finnish holiday experience at the end of this summer.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Skip the useless stuff, say no to freebies
Haven’t we laughed at the “free gifts” you are supposed to get when ordering something from the TV-shop. Bundle of useless products are told to offer value for your money. Really?
All sorts of gifts are also mentioned when you get a call from an enthusiastic salesperson. While listening you wonder if he is selling you the magazine or all the cosmetics, jewellery and stuff. If the gift is very stylish and you think the magazine is ok maybe you decide to make the subscription. At least you get the nice designer handbag if the magazine is no good.
Even if I try to be very conscious and say no thanks for gifts I honestly don’t need, it is not always easy. For instance when buying some cosmetics it is difficult to say no for samples you think are useful, well at least useful in a sense that cosmetic samples can be.
The freebies question was recently brought up by one of my friends in Facebook. She wrote on status update that she got some goodies from a bakery for free and raised the question why we are so happy about the things we get for free. While we are trying to figure out rational reasons for this very primitive behaviour the marketing agencies take a full advantage of all this. If the samples, gifts and freebies wouldn’t encourage us to buy more, there would be none of them available.
Basically there are two points why the rational person in me is irritated by the gifts. The first thing you come across when you are about to move and need to pack all your stuff. Many of those lovely gifts you find from the bottom of baskets and the back end of the closets, right behind a jacket you haven’t used for five years. You wonder why on earth you have accepted to take all this stuff even if you knew from the beginning that you would never make use of it. The next destination of all this stuff will be the recycling centre where customers wonder who in the first place decided to have an item like that. At some point, the lovely gifts will end at the landfill or incineration plant.
The second point is that even if the gift is ok, is the product itself something you’d really need? A good question to ask oneself is if you’d skip the gift, would you still buy the product?
My strategy is to let the salesperson to know that I don’t want the gift; I’m only interested about the real product. This also works on the other way round; if the original product is very poor you can say that the freebie doesn’t make it better. What is your strategy?
All sorts of gifts are also mentioned when you get a call from an enthusiastic salesperson. While listening you wonder if he is selling you the magazine or all the cosmetics, jewellery and stuff. If the gift is very stylish and you think the magazine is ok maybe you decide to make the subscription. At least you get the nice designer handbag if the magazine is no good.
Even if I try to be very conscious and say no thanks for gifts I honestly don’t need, it is not always easy. For instance when buying some cosmetics it is difficult to say no for samples you think are useful, well at least useful in a sense that cosmetic samples can be.
The freebies question was recently brought up by one of my friends in Facebook. She wrote on status update that she got some goodies from a bakery for free and raised the question why we are so happy about the things we get for free. While we are trying to figure out rational reasons for this very primitive behaviour the marketing agencies take a full advantage of all this. If the samples, gifts and freebies wouldn’t encourage us to buy more, there would be none of them available.
Basically there are two points why the rational person in me is irritated by the gifts. The first thing you come across when you are about to move and need to pack all your stuff. Many of those lovely gifts you find from the bottom of baskets and the back end of the closets, right behind a jacket you haven’t used for five years. You wonder why on earth you have accepted to take all this stuff even if you knew from the beginning that you would never make use of it. The next destination of all this stuff will be the recycling centre where customers wonder who in the first place decided to have an item like that. At some point, the lovely gifts will end at the landfill or incineration plant.
The second point is that even if the gift is ok, is the product itself something you’d really need? A good question to ask oneself is if you’d skip the gift, would you still buy the product?
My strategy is to let the salesperson to know that I don’t want the gift; I’m only interested about the real product. This also works on the other way round; if the original product is very poor you can say that the freebie doesn’t make it better. What is your strategy?
Monday, June 8, 2009
Challenge Europe – taking part on work of the Finnish climate advocate team
The new Finnish climate advocate team has been chosen for the Challenge Europe project and I'm one of the lucky team members. The project of the British Council brings together young professionals around Europe to work on ideas and actions to promote low carbon future.
The first meeting of the new team was absolutely great. The team consists of 15 young professionals with various backgrounds from marketing and communication to energy, meteorology and architecture. Before we started our first exercise to quickly come up with our future visions of low carbon communities and practices Tuuli Kaskinen from Demos Helsinki gave us an inspiring presentation about how drastically we need to change the course and cut down the carbon emissions. We were glad to have the documentaries John Webster joining the meeting too. He is one of the two members from the last year’s team who will support the work of our team also this year.
I got a good feeling about the project with so many active people and great support from the British Council. It is a privilege to be member of the team! The examples from last year’s projects were interesting too. For instance the team was involved with the Operaatio maa (Operation Earth) TV series presented in Finland during last winter.
Our first task is to come up with three project ideas to make an impact on the climate change debate. In September the real hands-on work starts. I look forward to an inspiring summer with great ideas to suggest when the team formally meets again after the summer holidays. The best way to come up with new ideas is to change thoughts with old and new friends, family and anyone more or less interested about the topic. So be aware, you know what will be my favourite topic this summer during the picnic lunch and evening with sauna and some barbeque.
The first meeting of the new team was absolutely great. The team consists of 15 young professionals with various backgrounds from marketing and communication to energy, meteorology and architecture. Before we started our first exercise to quickly come up with our future visions of low carbon communities and practices Tuuli Kaskinen from Demos Helsinki gave us an inspiring presentation about how drastically we need to change the course and cut down the carbon emissions. We were glad to have the documentaries John Webster joining the meeting too. He is one of the two members from the last year’s team who will support the work of our team also this year.
I got a good feeling about the project with so many active people and great support from the British Council. It is a privilege to be member of the team! The examples from last year’s projects were interesting too. For instance the team was involved with the Operaatio maa (Operation Earth) TV series presented in Finland during last winter.
Our first task is to come up with three project ideas to make an impact on the climate change debate. In September the real hands-on work starts. I look forward to an inspiring summer with great ideas to suggest when the team formally meets again after the summer holidays. The best way to come up with new ideas is to change thoughts with old and new friends, family and anyone more or less interested about the topic. So be aware, you know what will be my favourite topic this summer during the picnic lunch and evening with sauna and some barbeque.
Monday, June 1, 2009
Finish up your meal or I’m going to make you pay!
Have you recently had a buffet meal? I love them since in most cases they offer a good value for money during the lunch time especially. What makes me feel bad in buffet restaurants is that people do not only take advantage of eating as much as they can but also to take as much food on their plate as they can handle and then leave some or even most of it untouched.
Because of this I was really impressed about the news (in Finnish) about a restaurant where people are charged extra if they leave some food on their plate when they choose the buffet menu. Way to go I thought. People would need to think more carefully about how much they could actually eat. But what do the customers say? I also took a sneak peek on the discussion forum of the news and almost to fell of the chair.
The first comments set the scene: “Cheating!”, “Customers pay for and can do whatever they want with the food!” Well, this might be the truth. What can you do if a grown up people do things that are not illegal but only stupid? All the food consumed, eaten or trashed, is in any case paid by the customers.
Bad service they call it. It is true that this kind of pricing policy should be clearly indicated before the customer is charged or starts to eat. A more rewarding pricing policy would be to give some discount for people leaving with a clean plate instead of charging extra for the leftovers. I can understand, but not accept, the misery of the people told to pay for the food left on their plate after they’ve finished. I would definitely choose a restaurant with this kind of pricing policy. At least if they offer vegetarian and vegan dishes too.
The food waste issue in restaurants is interesting. I’d like to know if it is in the kitchen or in the dining hall where most of the food waste is generated. According to WRAP, in UK one third of the food bought by households is wasted, but what is the case in restaurants? I’d also like to know what customers can do to minimise waste in addition to taking a plastic box for the leftovers (not talking about the buffet meals in this case).
By the way, do you know which one is better if you want to minimise food waste, to go for a buffet meal or a la carte?
Because of this I was really impressed about the news (in Finnish) about a restaurant where people are charged extra if they leave some food on their plate when they choose the buffet menu. Way to go I thought. People would need to think more carefully about how much they could actually eat. But what do the customers say? I also took a sneak peek on the discussion forum of the news and almost to fell of the chair.
The first comments set the scene: “Cheating!”, “Customers pay for and can do whatever they want with the food!” Well, this might be the truth. What can you do if a grown up people do things that are not illegal but only stupid? All the food consumed, eaten or trashed, is in any case paid by the customers.
Bad service they call it. It is true that this kind of pricing policy should be clearly indicated before the customer is charged or starts to eat. A more rewarding pricing policy would be to give some discount for people leaving with a clean plate instead of charging extra for the leftovers. I can understand, but not accept, the misery of the people told to pay for the food left on their plate after they’ve finished. I would definitely choose a restaurant with this kind of pricing policy. At least if they offer vegetarian and vegan dishes too.
The food waste issue in restaurants is interesting. I’d like to know if it is in the kitchen or in the dining hall where most of the food waste is generated. According to WRAP, in UK one third of the food bought by households is wasted, but what is the case in restaurants? I’d also like to know what customers can do to minimise waste in addition to taking a plastic box for the leftovers (not talking about the buffet meals in this case).
By the way, do you know which one is better if you want to minimise food waste, to go for a buffet meal or a la carte?
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
One Did It challenges European Parliament candidates to measure the weight of their ecological backpack
Elections in the European Union take place June 4.-7. 2009. Elected every five years, the European Parliament is a major and powerful player in European Union decision-making. One Did It challenges the candidates to measure the weight of their ecological backpacks and publish blogs of candidates that have measured eco-backpacks in this blog.
The challenge is simple
We still encourage all candidates to calculate their eco-backpacks, as it is important that the candidates are aware of their own ecological backpacks and have at least a hint how to reduce the environmental burden of their lifestyle. As the European Parliament leads by example and it is planning to cut its CO2 emissions by 30% by 2020 the individual MEPs should act as an example to all EU citizens.
More about European Parliament CO2 emission reduction action plan
The challenge is simple
- Take the One Did It ecological backpack test
- From test result page save results by creating an account
- Pick the embed badge code under your backpack picture
- Post the code to your own site or blog and tell us your URL by commenting this post
We still encourage all candidates to calculate their eco-backpacks, as it is important that the candidates are aware of their own ecological backpacks and have at least a hint how to reduce the environmental burden of their lifestyle. As the European Parliament leads by example and it is planning to cut its CO2 emissions by 30% by 2020 the individual MEPs should act as an example to all EU citizens.
More about European Parliament CO2 emission reduction action plan
Monday, May 25, 2009
Wants or needs?
The Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs has launched a campaign “What does a person need”. According to the site the purpose of the campaign is to “inspire people to think about their everyday choices and their effects on the lives of people in other parts of the world”. What Finns believe they can do to affect the wellbeing of people in other nations? According to the survey prepared for the campaign, on top of the list was recycling. You know, not trashing the goods you don’t need any more but taking them to charity, recycling centres etc.
It is nothing new about this actually. Every time Finns are asked about what they think they can do to tackle the climate change for instance, recycling and sorting waste is high on the list. It is actually great that the reuse and recycle mantra has reached people. However, did we forget the first R, reduce? There would be much less recycling to worry about if we’d reduce first.
In my opinion, this is what the campaign is all about. We are reminded about the possibility to reduce consumption and to reconsider what we actually need instead of what we want. The question of needs and wants was a current one for me on last weekend. I was wandering around clothing stores searching for a suit for my companion. I didn’t question his need for a new suit (no doubt needs are based on social norms too) but I had difficulties questioning my own wants rising from colourful summer collections. Would I need a dress suitable for temperatures above 30 ⁰C if I’d stay the whole summer here in the North? At the end of the day my companion got the suit he was looking for but I managed to leave all the wants behind. I was proud of myself.
Next day I took a little cycling tour around Helsinki and got myself photographed in the fields of Viikki, a beautiful area with an arboretum, nature conservation area and the fields of the faculty of agriculture and forestry. When I returned home and arranged my photos, accidentally two almost identical photos appeared next to each other. In the first one I’m in Bucharest city centre in the autumn 2007 and the second one presents the recent moment in Viikki, where I’m trying to make friends with one of the cows on the field. I’m holding almost the same position and wearing the same outfit. Only the background is different. The two almost identical settings made me think if I should have bought a new outfit since I seem to have the same clothes in every photo a year after a year.
But in the end, did I really need the new outfit? I had enjoyed both of the Kodak moments a lot: the company, location, weather, and especially the freedom of a Sunday afternoon. How a trendy outfit could have made it better?
So what’s the difference between a need and a want? The need for something develops slowly and you won’t get over it easily. According to my experience the items you wanted might quickly end up on the pile of things waiting to be taken to the charity but the things you actually needed you will keep until they tear apart.
It is nothing new about this actually. Every time Finns are asked about what they think they can do to tackle the climate change for instance, recycling and sorting waste is high on the list. It is actually great that the reuse and recycle mantra has reached people. However, did we forget the first R, reduce? There would be much less recycling to worry about if we’d reduce first.
In my opinion, this is what the campaign is all about. We are reminded about the possibility to reduce consumption and to reconsider what we actually need instead of what we want. The question of needs and wants was a current one for me on last weekend. I was wandering around clothing stores searching for a suit for my companion. I didn’t question his need for a new suit (no doubt needs are based on social norms too) but I had difficulties questioning my own wants rising from colourful summer collections. Would I need a dress suitable for temperatures above 30 ⁰C if I’d stay the whole summer here in the North? At the end of the day my companion got the suit he was looking for but I managed to leave all the wants behind. I was proud of myself.
Next day I took a little cycling tour around Helsinki and got myself photographed in the fields of Viikki, a beautiful area with an arboretum, nature conservation area and the fields of the faculty of agriculture and forestry. When I returned home and arranged my photos, accidentally two almost identical photos appeared next to each other. In the first one I’m in Bucharest city centre in the autumn 2007 and the second one presents the recent moment in Viikki, where I’m trying to make friends with one of the cows on the field. I’m holding almost the same position and wearing the same outfit. Only the background is different. The two almost identical settings made me think if I should have bought a new outfit since I seem to have the same clothes in every photo a year after a year.
But in the end, did I really need the new outfit? I had enjoyed both of the Kodak moments a lot: the company, location, weather, and especially the freedom of a Sunday afternoon. How a trendy outfit could have made it better?
So what’s the difference between a need and a want? The need for something develops slowly and you won’t get over it easily. According to my experience the items you wanted might quickly end up on the pile of things waiting to be taken to the charity but the things you actually needed you will keep until they tear apart.
Monday, May 18, 2009
Enjoy green vacation on summer residence
On vacation it is recommended to relax and get out of daily routines but you might still make eco-friendly choices while chilling. If you have summer cottage or planning to rent one, here are some great tips you can take into consideration.
The first move is to think about how you transport vacationers from home base to the point of relaxation. It is always recommendable to use bus or train instead of personal car, sometimes routes to isolated cottages are out of reach of public transport. When renting a summer residence, you can choose location near your home or from area that can be reached by public transport. If you can’t choose location and transportation requires personal car, you can drive outside big traffic jams, and save some fuel and be much less frustrated. Try to get everybody into one car, with every seat taken; environmental pressure is divided among several passengers.
Take a new look at heating this summer and try to substitute at least some of resources with ecological ones. If you use electricity, check your electricity supplier and make sure you use electricity that is produced with wind power or other eco-labeled resource. Try to find some waste or residue fuel wood instead of primary wood and turn electricity off for a while. The heating issue is even more important during the cold season. Even if the cottage is not used, some people prefer to keep the temperature above the outside temperature. It is worth considering if the heating is really needed during the winter, it can be quit costly too.
One Did It registered users can use extended ecological backpack test to add several energy sources in secondary residence. Just take the test again after registering and you’ll see extended sections highlighted.
To keep room temperature nice and warm, check visible insulation every year, the mice and birds might have taken something to their own purposes during low maintenance time. When sealing up cracks in the cottage, keep an eye out for spider webs. Spiders like to weave them in the path of airflow to catch insects.
If you need to renovate, do it with recycled materials. Using recycled materials is a great way to save money and avoid wastage. It is important to take measurements of the things that you need before you start going out to buy materials. Visit around local recycling centers, buy-sell& trade -places, garage sales, demolition places and even local dump. Make it like an adventure and meet local people. Getting to know the people who deal with recycled materials can aid you, as many of them can give you tips on where you can find materials that you need.
Maybe the biggest influence you can do is getting to know local people and neighbors when you need builders, remodelers and developers and buy locally harvested and manufactured materials and groceries. Consider what types of resources have a local industry and make sure that your products actually come from there. And think about what veggies and herbs you can grow in your own garden. Remember to collect rainwater to water your plants. You can spread out the word with neighbors about local work and utilities, change good tips and influence consumption habits in a bigger scale than your own yard.
After you have read all this you might end up thinking how much work your own cottage requires. Renting a cottage is not a bad idea at all and it is ecological too. One Did It registered users can use extended ecological backpack test to fill the whole amount of people using the secondary residence with you.
We have gathered a few links for further reading on Finnish, and we would be interested if our readers would share similar liks to us and other readers.
Further reading in Finnish:
Report about the environmental impacts from electricity use in summerhouses and possibilities to reduce electricity use through the means of alternative heating systems. (PDF)
Tourism MIPS – Consumption of natural resources of tourism (PDF)
Sustainability in leisure time housing (Website)
Summerhousing as a lifestyle (PDF)
Should we go to summer cottage? (PDF)
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