Dear Human of Planet Earth,
Over 2023, my biggest drivers towards more sustainable living were circumstances beyond my control.
I’ve laid out my report below and I sincerely hope your personal reflections are more inspiring!
Consumption Driven Down by Circumstance, Not Conscience
This year our family recognised we were living beyond our means. So we examined our spending patterns and cut back in all sorts of ways, with the following results:
Spending less at the grocery, incidentally reducing the quantity of plastic packaged items bought. This intervention also led to some unplanned but welcome weight loss!
Unnecessary purchases postponed.
A few necessary purchases made second-hand.
Some long-shelved items finally put to good use.
Air travel plans crossed off for 2024 - except my husband’s, who as an only child, will visit his elderly father.
Family members using my husband’s monthly travel pass when he doesn’t need it, rather than driving or paying directly for public transport. (This is legal as there’s no photo-ID involved).
Walking more for short journeys and driving less.
This year, for the first time, there were days I had the time to take the bus, but didn’t, because incurring the bus fare when I already had petrol in the tank would put added pressure on our strict budget.
This year, for the first time, most of my ‘driving less’ efforts were motivated by economic rather than climate concerns:
Save petrol, save money - rather than save petrol, reduce carbon emissions.
The experience helped me make sense of the futility of imposing climate costs on people who can’t afford it. Climate costs are what people think about after their basic needs are met. We were budgeting to correct overspending. But many people are struggling just to meet basic needs.
The Road To Hell, Despite My Best Intentions
Any reduced driving I managed was more than cancelled out by circumstances that led to extra driving on other occasions:
My daughter’s more advanced swimming lessons were further away than the old swim school.
My son doesn’t travel lightly enough to take the train to and from his university. So that’s 160 miles of petrol to be burned at least three times a year.1
Illness, death and its consequences required more frequent journeys by car to provide emotional and practical support - 100 miles of petrol per journey.2
Looking at the hard figures, we’re driving that one family car more than ever. While I’m certain I’ve been more conscientious in the last few years, the figures show we’ve burned more petrol, not less.
Note the figures around 2020.
Lockdown - a government imperative - and a tough economy, proved to be stronger forces in reducing our driving and general consumption than pure good intentions.
Grim!
Finally, A More Efficient Boiler!
Internal corrosion meant our boiler was deemed a safety hazard in 2023. The engineer estimated its efficiency was down to 60% at best. Though it still worked, safety regulations required our landlord replace it.
Our new boiler runs with A-class efficiency of at least 92%. The house warms up quickly and there’s no longer an unpleasant exhaust of incompletely burned methane pouring out of the side of the house - near our neighbour’s fence - whenever our heating is on.
Don’t thank us. Thank good government regulations which require new boiler installations to be efficient (and therefore to burn less gas) and insist landlords hold annual inspections to confirm gas and boiler safety.
That, my friend, illustrates why governments and responsible governance matter.
I Didn’t Follow Through on Any of My Intended Sustainability Goals
Here’s what I wrote a year ago:
I made zero progress growing herbs or anything else. We had some success taking the bus to school, till the morning traffic became unpredictably heavy and we decided not to chance running late. I listen to more podcasts than ever - so whether or not I use my phone more mindfully, I’m not using my phone any less.
I’m still banking with Nat West, despite my intentions to switch to a greener bank. I tried to open a business account with Starling but don’t earn enough to qualify. I haven’t given up. I’ll take up their offer to open a personal account with them instead. But why rush? If I haven’t got much money, what does it matter?
My son is ahead of me. Without even considering green credentials as a priority, he opened a new account with Monzo. I’d never heard of Monzo. When I was under-18, I would never have opened an account with a bank my parents had never heard of but Gen Z does things differently.
Monzo declares the following:
“Monzo only invests customer deposits safely and ethically. Today, the majority of our deposits are held at central banks. Our investments are only in safe, high quality government bonds and quasi-government bonds (such as development banks). We do not invest in fossil-fuel-based energy companies, arms companies or tobacco companies.” - Source
They don’t quite meet Bank Green’s high standards but they rank better than Nat West!
Undaunted, I’ve set myself some sustainable goals for 2024
I’m keeping it simple.
I will start growing herbs and maybe other things too. This year, I’ll prioritise a crucial element to overcoming the inertia: taking time to work out the ‘how’ of getting started.
I’ve been inspired by Nancy Birtwhistle’s Clean and Green, 101 Hints and Tips for a More Eco-Friendly Home, to give cleaning without harsh petrochemical-based products a try. I made some changes in the last few years - eg switching to eco-friendly cleaning brands and using washable cleaning cloths, rather than replacing plastic-based sponges and J-cloths - but I want to step it up.
Window cleaning with vinegar, instead of buying a new bottle of window cleaner, will be my first step. Or technically, my son’s, as I’ve delegated the internal window cleaning to him.
I’ve Relapsed into Regular Tea Drinking with Milk But …
I’ve maintained most of the other shifts I’ve implemented over the years.
I count that as a win. Staying still is better than going backwards.
I know we’re not talking about the kind of changes that will save us from ourselves. So, why bother? That’s a discussion for another day - one we’ve had before and probably will have again.
And Finally, A Great Big Thank You for Reading!
A year later, and my ‘once-a-month’ newsletter now has three times more readers and maintains an email open rate that I’m proud of.
So, thank you for reading! I hope you get some value, some stimulation, some inspiration - and when I’m not being terribly grim, maybe even some encouragement.
Here’s a not-so-random thought. It might feel a bit random and an abrupt change of gear, but it’s been on my mind for most of 2023:
If you can remember one thing, remember strong connected communities and human relationships remain the stuff resilience is made of.
Remember that, as we move into a New Year,
With Love,
Your Friendly Neighbourhood Radical,
Croydon,
London,
That patch of earth known today as the United Kingdom
Lat +51.51 Long, -0.118
More about my efforts towards more sustainable living:
I wrote this one in 2019 on Medium:
Turning My Eco-Anxiety into Action, C for Effort and F for Impact
My end-of-year newsletter last year summarised my 2022 efforts as well:
I know. We could have been more committed and signed up for swimming lessons we felt less confident would serve our daughter’s needs. We could have insisted our son travel lighter and take the train - which by the way costs more than the petrol.
Dear pedants, I know petrol can’t be measured in miles, though it’s sometimes measured in miles per gallon. But I’m being metaphorical. That might be irritating but surely you know what I mean.