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?

Average European consumer about to join the One did it community

June is the time for of holiday trips and this inspired the writer to pick up some facts about European mobility. Did you know that according to EUROSTAT average European Union citizen travels almost 10 000 kilometres by car, about 1 000 kilometres by bus and almost 1 000 kilometres by rail transport every year? This is altogether 12 000 kilometres and the figure does not even include air travel. To illustrate the travelled distance, 12 000 kilometres is approximately the distance as the crow flies from the northernmost point of Finland to Cape Town, the southernmost point of the African continent. Speaking about statistics, mobility is not the only issue that has kept us busy. We have also checked for example composition of average European diet, household energy use and also how strong is the desire for coffee and tea among Europeans.

At the end of summer we will provide test result of a fictitious average European consumer based on statistical data concerning consumers and households in European Union member states. This will enable users to compare their One did it test results with average European figures. At the time being we have consulted a wide range of reports and statistics and compiled a profile of this average consumer.

There will be another addition forthcoming to the test result page. The total result will be visualised so that it is possible to see what the most important sectors of your personal consumption are. We are sure this split of the total result into sections of housing, mobility etc. together with the reference of average consumer data makes it easier to get the whole picture of one’s own consumption behaviour.In the meantime One did it team wishes you a nice holiday season. We look forward to see you in One did it community in the autumn at the latest.