It is possible to be a green and a petrol head?

geordie_joe

DKLS wrote: »

I thought I was, and I didn't mention the number of flights I take a year either which quadruples my carbon footprint.
Realistically the business I am in I need to travel frequently in this country, Europe and long haul. As much as tele/video conferencing technologies have moved on, you cant beat face to face contact. And I usually do about 18-22K a year on company business.

Don't worry, if you weren't doing it someone else would be.

DKLS

I noted yesterday that the local council had delivered a full compliment of recycling bins, general waste, paper/card, garden waste and glass/plastic not bad going is it Feb 2008, and my council starts to push recycling.

Ironically its only the past 4 years I have become a petrol head, my ex insisted I buy sensible small diesel cars with high MPGs, and I did my daily commute on the bus and train and only used the car at the weekends. And had a side line business that was purely based on re-cycling.

But since I dropped the ex and pretty much that entire lifestyle, and found a new job my travelling has increased ten fold.

Taadaa

Energy efficient light bulbs are getting better all the time. You can even get them to work with a dimmer switch now. I bought some 99p ones a few weeks back for a couple of bedside lamps, and I was suprised to note they literally come on straight away, and they are bright to boot.

Re the flights again there is no other way except flying less. Greenpeace don't even bother offsettting, it probably makes such a small difference because the carbon is so high up in the atmosphere. How about getting involved in a local community project for your penance?

My OH is an unrepentant petrol head. You can imagine what our household is like :rotfl:Can you not get a cheap run around thats more petrol efficient for your 'chore' journeys? What kind of car is it?

thescouselander

I love driving and there is no way my car can be described as green with its 3 litre engine. I do sometimes cycle to work though because the traffic round here is really bad. In the end I probably only put out the same amount of CO2 as someone that drives a small car to work every day.

DKLS

Taadaa wrote: »

What kind of car is it?

2litre Turbo Stealth Wagon, with a few discreet mods

If the technology has moved on, and can be used with dimmers, I will give the energy efficiency bulbs another go.
As for the if its yellow let it mellow sorry I just cant do that, its rank and cant see a real benefit as my water rates are cheap.

thescouselander

thepinksugarmouse wrote: »

Hmmm..... maybe not

And why not? My car puts out 217 g/km of CO2. A small car might put out around 120 g/km of CO2. So on that basis if I cycle to work half the time I am actually putting out less CO2 than someone who drives the same distance to work every day in a small car.

cepheus

DKLS wrote: »

So where can I start to make a difference? (That doesnt have a whiff of lentil smoking greenpeace crustie about it)

Increasing the level of house insulation (if you own it) is often the most economic and effective way of reducing CO2, particularly the loft and cistern. Filling cavity walls and sealing cracks can be useful as well.

You could just get a smaller car with a reasonably sized engine (if you have to have a fast car) and go easy on the air conditioning. In theory, using Biodiesel from recycled veg oil is almost carbon neutral if you find a genuine supply.

The other way is offsetting, this has its limitations as already mentioned.

tomstickland

Yes, within reason, you can be a petrolhead and green at the same time. A proper performance car will have been designed by people who know that weight is the enemy of performance. Take something like an Elise or a kit car. The weight has been binned, they're low and have a small cross sectional area.



Petrolheads hate driving on busy roads following those who treat driving as a chore and hence seek to pay the minimum attention to what they are doing.

DKLS

cepheus wrote: »

Increasing the level of house insulation (if you own it) is often the most economic and effective way of reducing CO2, particularly the loft and cistern. Filling cavity walls and sealing cracks can be useful as well.

You could just get a smaller car with a reasonably sized engine (if you have to have a fast car) and go easy on the air conditioning. In theory, using Biodiesel from recycled veg oil is almost carbon neutral if you find a genuine supply.

The other way is offsetting, this has its limitations as already mentioned.

The House i own has 18 inches of sheeps wo0l insulation in the loft topped off with what was originally there when i bought the place.

Looks like the car issue may change, as I may be changing jobs soon and would get a company car, so no doubt I will end up with a dreary sensible fuel efficient diesel

chorlton

I have similar concerns - wouldn't be without my fast and moderately gas guzzling car, but do worry about all the green stuff.
I cycle to work every day, restrict mileage as much as poss, and drive with the computer set to show MPG which is a great incentive!

There'd be no point in having the car I have if i didn't floor it once in a while - but round town I drive like a timid granny.

If I was you - and could afford it - I'd keep the fast car for weekends and get something dull for work.