The most potent driver of climate change through man-made carbon emissions might well be shopping. In common with many men, I do not enjoy shopping. There are the things we buy that we truly need, such as food, essential clothing, toiletries. I can do that, as long as I have a list from which I need never deviate (I can’t cope with too much choice). And there are the desire items or ‘luxury’ shopping that we don’t truly need but can’t resist (as the advertisers understand all too well). I can quite easily resist most of that category – but, okay, I’m not perfect. All consumption uses resources, including raw materials, oil-driven transport, power for the manufacturing plants and all their infra-structure. Heightened demand for ‘luxury’ buying fuels use of resources wastefully – I’m still not perfect myself. We know that millions of tonnes of food are wasted every year, for instance. Here we do pretty well. It has to be fairly manky before I won’t eat something rather than waste it. Any ‘waste’ goes into our compost, so isn’t waste at all. I do draw the line at eating things from the compost, however. The worms seem to like it.
We have just passed another Christmas. Sales at this time can be ‘make or break’ for some businesses and so the clamour to spend gets louder day by day, continuing after Christmas with sales upon sales. Christmas has become a very strange time, far removed from its religious origins. It is now a festival of consumerism, marked by this relentless noise of advertising. Poor old Father Christmas has to find more and more expensive goods every year. I am not sure how he has managed to make the transition into the computer age when he still travels in a reindeer-powered sleigh (very eco). It is hard to imagine that this will ever change. I am sure that even cave-dwelling man and woman wanted more and better furs, flint knives, querns and spears. The first wheel would have been a luxury item. And so it has continued – now to the detriment of all of us, a self-inflicted disaster, made over the last couple of centuries.
What has this to do with climate change and HEI? Consumption or rather over-consumption, is a major factor in carbon emissions and environmental damage (from manufacturing, effluents, land use, power generation with fossil fuels, water use, road use). All living creatures consume, it is true, but humans are the worst at over-consuming. If we are to avoid increasingly violent weather, as we have seen recently in the UK, we need to be a little more careful in our shopping habits. HEI has no interest in spoiling people’s enjoyment or seeing shops close but somehow all of us need to think more about how our actions, including shopping, affect the environment and the quality of life of future generations. If everyone consumed a bit less – less travel, less fuel, less meat, less energy – it could make a considerable impact on carbon emissions.
HEI has a few plans that will not hurt. We are working on plans to bring more LED lighting into the village’s community buildings, especially the school. The car club gives you an opportunity to cut your fossil-fuelled mileage and keep your wallet a little fuller. We aren’t going to ask you to make a New Year Resolution but we are asking you to think about your everyday living and habits that could maybe, at a push, if you work at it, be changed for the benefit of everyone. But I am not changing my approach to shopping.