CO2 Emissions: Walking v Driving

After my last post (Footprints: Acting on CO2), I was slightly worried by the headline on spluch.blogspot.com that states, walking to the shops damages the planet more than going by car. The report focuses on a research survey comparing the carbon footprint of someone who walks to the shops to the footprint of someone who drives. The report (compiled by Chris Goodall, campaigning author of How to Live a Low-Carbon Life) works out how much CO2 is emitted in intensive food production methods then calculates how much of this energy is expended in producing the calorific requirements to propel the walker, or driver to his destination. Report recommendations concluded; the climate could benefit if people avoided exercise, ate less and became couch potatoes. A counter argument for sloths maybe …

On the other hand, it was (once) suggested that we ‘walk too much’. This comment came from a neighbour who had (kindly) offered us a lift in her car on our daily walk to the local shops (a round trip of one mile). We just like walking. As we both work at home, walking’s not only an opportunity to get fresh air and exercise, it’s a chance to see things in close-up; the sparrows diving into the privet hedge next door, the starlings on the telephone wires. Its an occasion to spend time counting how many street light covers are loose, see if the sheep are lying under the old tree in the field; find out if the church car park has flooded again after last nights rain; read the notices outside the Post Office; the headlines on the news stand or browse the special offers at the hardware store. If we drive to the shops we might use less calories, but we probably also engage less brain cells. Walking is visually and mentally stimulating. Add the calorific stress of driving and parking to the opposite side of the equation and the premise of the research crumbles like the extra biscuits we didn’t eat when we got back from our walk.

Footprints: Acting on CO2

My size 39 footprint is pretty green. I discovered this after stumbling upon the flash Act on CO2 calculator the government has set up so that everyone can work out what their carbon footprint is. The site calculates CO2 emissions at individual or ‘home’ level based on information inputted by the user that covers three sections; the house (age, construction, fuel consumption), domestic appliances (energy ratings) and the way you travel (frequency of travel and modes of transport). Separate CO2 scores are calculated for each section. My travel footprint came out at 0.0 which makes up for the shameful amount of fossil fuels we burn on the stove (3.84 tonnes of CO2 emissions per year). Congratulations, said the message, (I’m paraphrasing here because unfortunately the site didn’t save my details and my plan of action print-out came out blank) you don’t have a car, you use public transport whenever possible and walk or cycle journeys of less than a mile. To be fair I’m green by default - I haven’t flown for the past four years because I can’t afford to and we haven’t got a car because it failed its MOT and had to be scrapped. But though I’m revelling in the size of my carbon footprint, I think I might need a new pair of shoes. Aah, any excuse.

Three Men in a Float

Dan Kieran and Ian Vince spent three weeks last year travelling from Lowestoft to Lands End in a 1958 milk float at speeds, they say, ‘that did not quite match the velocity of a bee. We know this because one overtook us’. Here’s a link to their website if you want to find out more.

Slow Travel

I started thinking seriously about slow travel in 2000 when the Guardian published a Weekend special devoted to the slow movement. In the early 90s we had a friend who would refuse the offer of a lift in our car. He preferred to cycle - it was, he said, the only way to travel other than walking. Another couple used to cycle to France but chose to do it as slowly as possible, using quiet routes and stopping as often as they wanted to. Resisting the urge to get somewhere as quickly as possible is difficult, but reorganising your time so that you don’t have to rush is the first step in redefining an approach to travel that results in a more enjoyable and stress-free journey. We’ve had more interesting adventures travelling within a fifty mile radius of home than we might have had travelling by jet to some exotic location and met some interesting people along the way. In this blog I’ll be providing some inspiring links as well as posting photographs and relating some of our own adventures in slow travel on journeys from A2B.