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Author Topic: The One Tonne Challenge
paxamillion
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posted 04 May 2004 01:18 PM      Profile for paxamillion   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Personal green house Gas survey.

How'd you do?

I came out at 1.99 -- apparently low.


From: the process of recovery | Registered: Jul 2002  |  IP: Logged
Michelle
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Babbler # 560

posted 04 May 2004 01:33 PM      Profile for Michelle   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Mine is 3.84. But then, I don't have control over most of those household heating and cooling categories since I live in a high rise. Apparently it's still low, though.
From: I've got a fever, and the only prescription is more cowbell. | Registered: May 2001  |  IP: Logged
Briguy
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Babbler # 1885

posted 04 May 2004 01:53 PM      Profile for Briguy     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
I came in at 2.86. It really helps your score when you walk to work every day.

I think that my 'real' score is higher. I run a fan during the summer to keep myself cool at night. The fridge in my apartment leaks cold air like a sieve (yes, I have asked to have it replaced). I do occasionally accept drives from friends to the odd movie, and sometimes grab a cab home from the grocery store. Shame on me.

[ 04 May 2004: Message edited by: Sarcasmobri ]


From: No one is arguing that we should run the space program based on Physics 101. | Registered: Nov 2001  |  IP: Logged
lagatta
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Babbler # 2534

posted 04 May 2004 01:57 PM      Profile for lagatta     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
The site doesn't work for me - The "next question" arrow doesn't move after the first question about location and how many people in my household.

I walk to work most every day too.


From: Se non ora, quando? | Registered: Apr 2002  |  IP: Logged
Amy
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posted 04 May 2004 02:05 PM      Profile for Amy   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
I came in at .57, but I think that's cos I like having the heat turned off, and I compost and take the bus and bike, although none of those are options to me at the moment.
From: the whole town erupts and/ bursts into flame | Registered: Feb 2002  |  IP: Logged
oldgoat
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Babbler # 1130

posted 04 May 2004 02:22 PM      Profile for oldgoat     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
6.46 Well finally I'm above average in something. Living in Oshawa and working in Toronto doesn't help. Both my wife and I use our cars extensively in our work
From: The 10th circle | Registered: Jul 2001  |  IP: Logged
Mr. Magoo
guilty-pleasure
Babbler # 3469

posted 04 May 2004 03:01 PM      Profile for Mr. Magoo   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
2.59

Which seems high to me. No driving, almost no heating (we've used nothing but a small 1500W space heater all winter) no dishwasher, no gas powered toys, no nothin'. Maybe I'm being burned for not turning my hot water heater down to 55.


From: ø¤°`°¤ø,¸_¸,ø¤°`°¤ø,¸_¸,ø¤°°¤ø,¸_¸,ø¤°°¤ø, | Registered: Dec 2002  |  IP: Logged
Michelle
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posted 04 May 2004 03:04 PM      Profile for Michelle   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Well, I also found that if you created less recycling and less composting, that it would raise your score. But what if the reason you create less recycling and composting is because you try not to buy overpackaged stuff, and you only cook enough for one person? After all, the first "r" is "reduce".
From: I've got a fever, and the only prescription is more cowbell. | Registered: May 2001  |  IP: Logged
Alix
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posted 04 May 2004 05:06 PM      Profile for Alix     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
3.07

And what if you don't bloody well get your recycling picked up because you live in the "downtown core" and are therefore ineligible?

(This has been a pet peeve for years!)


From: Kingston | Registered: Feb 2002  |  IP: Logged
Mr. Magoo
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posted 04 May 2004 05:54 PM      Profile for Mr. Magoo   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
I have to run glass bottles across the street to the recycling chute on the city trash can because I live in the core. But did I get any bonus marks for it...? Nooooo.
From: ø¤°`°¤ø,¸_¸,ø¤°`°¤ø,¸_¸,ø¤°°¤ø,¸_¸,ø¤°°¤ø, | Registered: Dec 2002  |  IP: Logged
skdadl
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Babbler # 478

posted 04 May 2004 06:50 PM      Profile for skdadl     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
I had to quit part way through too -- on the little chart that asked about driving (being driven), taxis, and walking, if I tried to fill in more than one, it kept changing the numbers I'd filled in for t'others, or something like that. And then the whole thing froze.

I had a feeling that some of those questions were skewed against people who live alone. I'm sure it is true: we are environmentally inefficient.

Well -- I'm smiling now, but some Green politics already kind of bother me, and imagine what might happen to them in the hands of Ottawa (or other) civil servants if such servants ever decided to administer them severely.

Michelle! Get that compost quota UP!! Break more eggs, girl! lagatta, we realize that you're walking to work, but changing rooms is not walking ENOUGH!!! And so on.

Plus, are we not hearing that all these new-fangled energy-efficient homes are so hermetically sealed that they are contributing to the rising problem of allergies?

We have to have a word with the servants.


From: gone | Registered: May 2001  |  IP: Logged
bonjourananas
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posted 04 May 2004 06:54 PM      Profile for bonjourananas        Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
i'm embarrassed by the amount that i apparently use. i'm surprised by it since i don't own a car, walk to work, make an effort to recycle (although i could do more and compost - but my building doesn't have much for us in the way of composting), and have no major appliances other than the fridge and stove

there were a few things i didn't know off the top of my head and i was filling it out in a hurry before work (before my coffee).

what do you do to keep yours so low?


From: the maritimes | Registered: Apr 2004  |  IP: Logged
globetrotter
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posted 04 May 2004 10:07 PM      Profile for globetrotter     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Several people who have posted their results live in apartments. Mine went up quite a bit since I live in a detached house.
From: canada | Registered: Apr 2004  |  IP: Logged
John_D
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posted 04 May 2004 10:16 PM      Profile for John_D     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
I think living in an apartment might artificially lower one's total. It did for me (1.16 tonnes). We don't have a washing machine in our apartment, but there is one in the basement which we use. However, I suspect a communal washer and dryer might be a bit more friendly than a personal one.
From: Workin' 9 to 2 in the 902. | Registered: May 2004  |  IP: Logged
Agent 204
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posted 04 May 2004 10:27 PM      Profile for Agent 204   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
I got 3.72 t. That seems high given that I replaced all my lightbulbs with fluoros, don't produce a whole lot of garbage, don't drive, etc. Living alone might well be one of the factors they consider, as well as the fact that I live in Ontario (I wouldn't be surprised to hear that Manitoba or Quebec would be given bonus points for having all-hydroelectric power).
From: home of the Guess Who | Registered: Nov 2003  |  IP: Logged
Stephen Gordon
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posted 04 May 2004 10:30 PM      Profile for Stephen Gordon        Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
I don't understand. I got 1.92, and we live a not-particularly-environmentally-friendly suburban lifestyle with 2 cars (one of them a minivan).

I guess it's because there are 5 of us here, so the 9.6 family total looks good on a per-person basis.


From: . | Registered: Oct 2003  |  IP: Logged
The Devil
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posted 04 May 2004 10:50 PM      Profile for The Devil     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
27,798.64. Mostly seems to be home heating. I prefer a particularly sulfurous variety of coal. I have a five year plan to increase this by at least 80%.
From: In the details | Registered: Apr 2004  |  IP: Logged
Timebandit
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posted 05 May 2004 12:40 AM      Profile for Timebandit     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
4.43 -- Detached house that is pre-1946, largely, and more than 60% was heating. I don't drive to work, but I do own a mini-van. We compost everything we can, and recycle.

Thing about the house, though, is there isn't anywhere to mitigate an old house that has been insulated and had the windows redone, sealed and insulated. In an energy assessment we had done, we were told we could cut the cost of heating this old place nearly in half, and we've done a lot of improvement to that end.

Edited to add: Oh, duh, I'm a little slow... Just did the reductions part, which brought us down to 2.68. Vastly low for Saskatchewan. I feel better now.

[ 05 May 2004: Message edited by: Zoot Capri ]


From: Urban prairie. | Registered: Sep 2001  |  IP: Logged
Agent 204
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posted 05 May 2004 12:44 AM      Profile for Agent 204   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Right- that's probably why my total is as high as it was too. The building I live in dates back to the early 20th century.
From: home of the Guess Who | Registered: Nov 2003  |  IP: Logged
Timebandit
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posted 05 May 2004 12:47 AM      Profile for Timebandit     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Yah, our house, too. But we've been slowly upgrading things and insulating. Made enough on the sale of the old house to invest in energy-efficient appliances, too, so that helps.
From: Urban prairie. | Registered: Sep 2001  |  IP: Logged
Lard Tunderin' Jeezus
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posted 05 May 2004 04:53 AM      Profile for Lard Tunderin' Jeezus   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Started out at 4.003, comes down to 3.6 after reductions - the ones we already practise, or we've already undertaken.

Significantly more reductions appear to be tough and extremely expensive, as they involve replacing the furnace, our vehicles with late model hybrids or diesels (and as they really aren't in daily use, I'm afraid the impact from their manufacture would outweigh the emissions reduction), and major renovations.


From: ... | Registered: Aug 2001  |  IP: Logged
Raos
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posted 13 May 2004 02:41 PM      Profile for Raos     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
I came out with 4.46, but as far as reduction I still live at home and from the convienent pie chart given, 87% of this is not my choice to change. As it is, I've already pressure my family into better decisions by get a high effiency furnace instead of a mid. And how come furnace efficiency never came up in that survey, anyway?
From: Sweet home Alaberta | Registered: May 2004  |  IP: Logged
Ubu
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Babbler # 4514

posted 13 May 2004 05:31 PM      Profile for Ubu        Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Where is vegetarianism on the survey ? Much less land is used to support a vegetarian diet, thereby permitting more natural uptake... not to mention that CH4, a much stronger greenhouse gas than CO2, is emitted just once (by us), instead of twice (by the cow/pig/chicken etc. and by us). Believe it or not, CH4 emissions by ruminants are of significance. I'm a vegetarian, living 4km from work and owning a lightly-used, new, compact ultra-efficient Japanese car, yet, somehow or other, I scored a 4.31. It must be my home (and my admission that I don't like turning down the heat. Brrr...)
From: position is relative | Registered: Oct 2003  |  IP: Logged
Mr. Magoo
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posted 13 May 2004 06:02 PM      Profile for Mr. Magoo   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Pardon the quibble, but if a cow digests some cellulose or carbohydrate and makes a little methane, it's in the process of becoming the protein I crave, and when I eat it I won't be converting it to methane. In other words, it only happens once.

Also, of cow/pig/chicken, only the cow is a ruminant.


From: ø¤°`°¤ø,¸_¸,ø¤°`°¤ø,¸_¸,ø¤°°¤ø,¸_¸,ø¤°°¤ø, | Registered: Dec 2002  |  IP: Logged
Ubu
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Babbler # 4514

posted 17 May 2004 01:50 PM      Profile for Ubu        Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Clearly, I was aware of your second point (poor editing). On your first point (it still only happens once), this is correct, but we can't break down the cellulose the way a cow can. If we eat it, the cellulose is released as cellulose in our feces! Eventually, this fibre will break down too (which is similar to your point), releasing the carbon, either as CO2 or CH4, depending on whether our shit ends up in an oxic or anoxic environment. Unfortunately, when the cow breaks it down, it releases methane almost exclusively (methane is 21x as strong on a per molecule basis as a greenhouse gas than CO2) because the breakdown occurs in an anoxic environment. In addition, about 7 times as much land is used to produce our nutrition if we choose to go the cow route for our food (I forget where I read this), so I would argue that far more methane is being released. My final point is less scientific. Are you saying that a vegetarian farts more ? I think I have had a reduction in flatulence since becoming a vegetarian.
From: position is relative | Registered: Oct 2003  |  IP: Logged
windymustang
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posted 17 May 2004 07:25 PM      Profile for windymustang     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
2.48 even though we drive older vehicles and live in a house that is 104 years old. We just installed new energy efficient furnaces (we rent out the upstairs). We've insulated a lot, pipes and attic. Can't do the walls without ripping them out. Our appliances are all pretty new. Also, we don't have to drive very far to get anywhere, so I guess the fact that the cars are older doesn't count much.
From: from the locker of Mad Mary Flint | Registered: Oct 2003  |  IP: Logged

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