When you hear big businesses cry wolf to weaken the Government’s response to climate change, remember that they are really asking us voters to protect their profits at the expense of our children’s and grandchildren’s future. The rapidity of climate change threatens our civilisation and in fact our very existence. We are in the early stages of the sixth great mass extinction. A 1ºC rise in Earth’s temperature could see more than 30% of species become extinct. It is estimated that grain production will decline by 10% with a 1ºC rise, but a 5ºC rise is now likely if we take a “protect the polluters” approach. At a 2ºC rise we will certainly loose the Great Barrier Reef because of the acidification of the oceans from higher CO2 levels, as well as Kakadu wetlands and the Murray-Darling basin. The huge Tibetian glaciers that store water for the Chinese and Indian farmers are melting at 7.5% each year, which is predicted to displace 600 million refugees. (Imagine how many “Tampa-like” boats that will generate!)
Australians are the world’s worst polluters: we generate 10 times as much CO2 pollution as the Indians and 2.5 times as much as the European Union. By taking action 10 years ago, the European Union has reduced its footprint so surely Australians are morally bound to carry an even heavier burden than any other country.
Australians have been living in a dream world. We have copied the American dream of “Me first” ignoring the ecological imperative of working with Nature. The American dream is bankrupt. Their “Greed is Good” philosophy has bankrupted their country as it will bankrupt the planet. Using cheap fuel, cheap credit and dining on fast food, this profligate lifestyle has trashed our environment. Australian cars are too large, our houses too big and we have willingly soaked up those massive ad campaigns from those big box warehouse companies like Harvey Norman, Woolworths and Bunnings to buy more and more when we have to get by with less and less.
The solution to climate change is as easy as it is simple: all we have to do is cut our CO2 footprint by 2.5% each year for the next 12 years (30% in total by 2020 after allowing for population growth). How can we be confident it is so easy? Because at least a third of Digger’s staff have already cut their CO2 footprint by 50% now at year 1, and they are not only healthier but happier than those who have yet to take up the challenge.
If we take charge and cut our emissions, our reduced demand will put coal-fired power stations out of business irrespective of the government’s plans; we the consumers have that power.
We need to keep atmospheric CO2 to about 450ppm (parts per million) to keep temperatures to a 2ºC rise only, not the weak 550ppm that Garnault has advocated. That 2ºC rise is in effect 3 times the rise we are currently experiencing with its known impact in Australia on drought, food prices and water supplies.
Why is a solution coming from a tiny garden company? Climate change is all about the recycling of carbon—its something at Digger’s we know a lot about. Carbon is the building block of the plants we grow—it’s the vital element in the soils we improve; but the imbalance in its recycling to the atmosphere will destroy our civilisation.
Here are our strategies to solve climate change:
1. Growing food at home rather than buying it cuts 28.3% of CO2 pollution to our atmosphere (Source: ACF). The modern supermarket is like a suburban coal-fired power station. The supermarket fridge uses up more power than the farm tractor. Semi-trailers delivering tomatoes, mangoes, bananas and pineapples from Queensland spew out huge amounts of CO2 into the atmosphere.
85% of the food we buy is processed and packaged and shipped long distances. By simply switching to fresh fruit and vegetables and meat and avoiding the rows of packaged and refrigerated food in supermarkets will not only cut CO2 , but improve your health and help reduce the forests that are cut down for packaging and the waste that goes into your rubbish bin. I have friends who only fill their rubbish bin twice a year, so the rubbish bin is like the canary in the coal mine - it’s an indicator of our low carbon footprint.
Today we only grow 4% of the food we eat but the Italians and French who grow much more of their own food have less obesity and longer lives and yet produce less than half of our CO2 pollution. We need to be growing at least 20% of our own food by 2020.
Growing your own fruit and vegetables is incredibly easy. It takes just 5 hours of work a week. Space is rarely a problem. You simply dig out the ornamental azaleas, camellias, roses and replace them with edible avocados, oranges and apples. By planting the easiest to grow and most productive tomatoes, zucchinis and lettuce as a first step it’s possible to produce nearly 200 kilos of food using only 20 square metres of space.
By growing your own food at home not only will you cut down CO2 by up to 20% but home grown vegetables use 90% less water than a basket of commercially grown food.
2. Energy – Putting coal-fired power stations out of business
When it comes to energy use from coal-fired power stations we control them - they don’t control us. It’s simple and easy to put them out of business – just:
- Turn down your winter heating to 18-19ºC. A 1.5ºC reduction saves 1 tonne of CO2 each year
- Switch to florescent light bulbs cuts CO2 by 75%
- Save ½ tonne of CO2 by switching to energy efficient refrigerators
- Install solar hot water - they pay for themselves in 5 years – if not, turn down the temperature of your hot water heater.
- Switch to a front-loading clothes washer
- Turn off appliances from standby mode – saves 10% of power
- Turn the power station off by simply switching to renewable Green power – it only costs about $200 per household or install your own solar photo-voltaic panels to convert sun into electricity.
3. Say no to overweight petrol-guzzling cars
Overweight petrol-guzzling cars designed in Detroit and sold as Australian made (sic) family sedans and four-wheel drives use almost 100% more fuel than modern European diesels. (At Digger’s Penny and I drive Citroen C3 and C4 cars that have fuel consumption equal to Toyota’s hybrid Prius, but are $15,000 and $10,000 cheaper.)
European car designers are 20 years further advanced in CO2 reduction than American or Australian designed cars which is a major factor in European CO2 emissions being half those of Australia. European diesel cars are lighter, more aerodynamic and have an engine life that is twice that of petrol cars. Of course, if your budget is not yet ready to change cars you could:
- Walk to the shops
- Use a bicycle – it weighs just 10kg, not 1000kg
- Use public transport
In Amsterdam, 35% of trips are made by bicycle and 25% on public transport, so the car is used on only 40% of occasions.
Growing your own food is the single most important step towards solving climate change. Cutting your energy use and switching to fuel efficient cars is also easy and not very costly.
At Digger’s we have also switched to green power which produces the foundation for the renewal energy industry, and pay to sequester carbon from our cars by supporting Greenfleet. The overall cost of this change is about $500, so you can see a 2.5% reduction in our carbon footprint each year is easy.
