Bringing down your carbon footprint
Many people in the ubuntu and wider FOSS community I would say have higher than average ethical ideals.
The problem is that the use of computers, gadgets and other electronic devices will put us above the normal carbon footprint for the average person who is often less ethically minded. (obviously there are always exceptions)
So you might think i’m about to tell you to stop using all your gadgets etc but i’m not, technology is ever increasingly part of the way mankind is evolving and it has a permanent place in society almost certainly is a big part in providing solutions to climate change.
The major problem is that a lot of our stuff hasn’t been designed with energy efficiency in mind. There is too much in the media about climate change and tackling it, but far too little on what people can actually do, so here is a list of things i’ve noted can save quite a bit of energy.
| Action | Energy Saving | Comment | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Install powernowd/other on demand cpu frequency scaling software | ~30 watts based on an AMD 64 3500 scaling from 2.2GHZ to 1GHZ | Enter your BIOS at boot and make sure Cool’n'Quiet (AMD) or SpeedStep (Intel) is enabled for you CPU - Not all CPUs have the ability to do this. Then get your scaling software running. The majority of the things i do on my PC don’t ask for much cpu usage. I was supprised at how infrequently it clocked up to 2.2ghz during normal use. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Don’t leave leaky stuff switched on | Energy Saving by switching off:
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| Close curtains and Doors at night | Depends but can be significant in heating costs | According to Aus research 25% of heat losses in a house can be put down to draughts. Closing the curtains reduces radiant heat transfer | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Boiling the kettle | Depends on how much you use it | It is estimated that, on average, we boil twice the volume of water needed every time, instead of filling the kettle from the tap I fill up my mug with the cold water and then pour that into the kettle, there are products which make this much easier | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Reduce | Depends | For example reduce your dependence on cars Car Share network, Car Share plus Share a Car Lift share My lifts Use public transport when possible, Don’t use plastic bags, Don’t leave lights on and Use energy efficent lighting | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Reuse | Depends | Freecycle is currently the best way to do this, A lot of things arn’t worth the time to sell, with freecycle you can just email your local list and see if anyone wants them, they can then arrange with you to come and pick up the item. I’ve personally given away many things on freecycle and recieved many things too. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Recycling | Depends | The majority of our rubbish can now be recycled | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Grow your own food | Depends | You can’t get more local than your garden and it’s sustainable, it’s also very satisfying | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Take the train/boat | Depends | You can get almost everywhere by train or boat including abroad, it’s less stressful and provides a real sense of travel. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Eat less/no meat products | Depends | Unfortunately for you avid meat eaters, it takes more energy to produce meat than you can get from it. Various things cause this to be true; Inefficient energy transformation, space inefficiency, transport inefficient, wasteage, pollution from cattle, species manipulation and in some parts rainforest destruction | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Turn the termostat down/make sure central heating is off in warm weather | Depends | When you change the termostat down you may feel the cold more, but that, aslong as you haven’t changed it down too far will just be time for your body to adapt, research sugests that a ~2*C change is not generally noticable also turning it down gradually helps. 18*C is said to be the minimum comfort level. 22*C is recommened | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Addition 20/10/07: Don’t use battery power when you don’t have to ! Quite a bit of energy is lost in the charging process. Also try and buy electronic devices, especially fridges and freezers (the devices that count towards the majority of your electricity usage) that have good energy ratings, all should be marked with a rating guide A being the best. That’s about all folks, Please add your comments on other ways people can save energy.
June 7th, 2007 at 7:41 pm
[...] Care of Planet Ubuntu-UK, I’ve just read Michael Wood’s post about Bringing down your carbon footprint. [...]
June 7th, 2007 at 7:59 pm
Hi Michael,
Good suggestions. You’ve inspired me to write some green-geek tips of my own.
More generic reducing-footprint things to add to your list though: composting and washing clothes.
You’re right in saying a lot of waste can be recycled - exactly what depends on the facilities offered by your local council - but not many councils currently offer recycling of green waste, either from the garden or from around the house. Many people think composting is only for keen gardeners with acres of land but you don’t need a lot of space for a compost bin or a wormery (there are kitchen top wormeries for those with no outside space at all). You can compost loads of stuff from around the home - not just veg scraps. If you produce more compost than you need, you can offer it to friends/neighbours/local allotmenters etc - anything is better than it just going to a dump.
And (machine) washing clothes. Unless they’re heavily soiled, most clothes don’t need to be washed any hotter than 40degrees - if they are really heavily soiled (muddy or whatnot), take them in the shower with you and stamp out the excess mud before putting them through the washing machine. Also, while I’m not advocating excess stinkiness, the more clothes are washed, the quicker they wear out since washing them is usually quite a rough experience - so only wash them when necessary to avoid wasting water/electricity and to preserve your clothes for longer. Cutting down on detergents is also obviously good too - investigate soap nuts which are a natural alternative to powders.
-louisa
July 4th, 2007 at 10:58 pm
Hey dude,
Nice article - like it
H
September 20th, 2007 at 10:50 pm
In many areas of the UK there are schemes which subsidise compost bins. Ordering online you can get one for as little as £7 (this may even include a free kitchen caddy!) see http://www.recyclenow.com/compost to find out if the big scheme is operating in your area. If it’s not you may be able to get a subisidised compost bin through your council.
Write to local councillors, MP’s, NHS Trust, Police, Firebrigade etc. and ask them what they’re doing to reduce Carbon. For a sustainable future we should be using 2 tonnes of CO2 a year. In UK each person’s share of carbon from services provided on our behalf (from the people listed above and others) is 5 tonnes. Many people in UK are producing 8 to 10 tonnes themselves so it’s still worth doing your bit but you can make more of a difference if you also talk to policy makers etc. They do say we get the politicians we deserve!
‘Nobody made a greater mistake than he(or she) who did nothing because he (or she) could only do a little’ Edmund Burke