Alternatives

People often look at how much they consume. This is generally brought on not because of the environmental impacts but because of the impact on their hip pocket.

However, when I read an article that has been published on an online environmental website I enjoy reading both for the informative and stupid, wasteful ideas. I get worked up.

The article, here, is about oil consumption, specifically in the US. The question it asks is, where does oil go? Based on the graph the article displays shows that passenger transportation, freight and heating are the biggest factors in oil consumption. In fact, they account for over 70% of all oil consumption based on this information.

How can something so simple consume so much oil?

I posted a short answer in the comments section of the article which made me start to think, how hard is it?

The comment I made referred to passenger travel. Most people travel quite short distances. Since this accounts for the major part of the graph, I'd say walking or riding a bike would be beneficial. And I can relate because I do walk and I do ride. I understand there are times when you can't. You have a heavy load to bring home. Weekly grocery shopping is hard on a bike. Then again, I use to ride a motorcycle and didn't have a car or a license to drive one only a few years ago. I did my weekly shopping on my bike, everything fit in my backpack and it also made me buy wiser. Buy less, which meant that less was thrown out. If I ran out of something, the large and convenient shopping centre was easy to ride down to and pick up the items I need the most.

Since I picked up less items, and I did it locally, I didn't have to purchase things from far away. Since then I've become even more conscious of freight and buy from local farmers. There's no double (or triple) handling of goods. They're not frozen (6 months ago) for my freshness. I pay less for it, and they haven't been freighted around the world or from interstate. If something is out of season, too bad. I just have to wait. Instead of buying imported pineapple or strawberries.

So, I've covered oil consumption for passenger travel. I've covered oil consumption for freight. What about heat. It's a comfort, sure. But is it necessary?

I'm going to say yes. Heating is important. It gets cold in some parts of the world. And while it doesn't snow where I live. It does get to -1°C. 2 weeks into Winter and I'm waking up to 3°C mornings. I turn on the heater only when it is ultimately necessary. Otherwise, and more usually I dress for the occasion. There was once a time when dressing for the occasion, hot or cold meant I wore shorts and a t-shirt. The shorts got a bit longer but usually never past my knees. My winter apparel consisted of long shorts and a t-shirt. Now, as I get older, I still don't turn the heater on unless the house is freezing. But with my place it is never that cold because of the aspect on the block of land. While it's an old house and has inefficient insulation, it goes okay for Winter. Summer is a stinker. It gets hot.

Though for heating, using electricity, oil or gas, which all ends up consuming some form of fossil fuel, I try and keep it to a minimum by putting on a jumper and some jeans or pants. I stay warm, and I haven't turned on a power consuming heater.

Wow. Three simple things I can, and do and I've consumed 70% less oil. I wonder what would happen if everyone did that?