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i have always changed my life to account for climate change as soon as i discovered that i was contributing to the problem.

• since the 1990s i have been buying my clothes from charity shops
• in 2000 i stopped driving
• in 2001 i became pescatorian (gave up eating non-marine creatures)
• in 2003 i moved my personal banking to the co-op
• in 2004 i started sourcing food locally from independent suppliers
• in 2004 i began to recycle everything that i possibly could
• in 2005 i changed my electricity & broadband providers to eco-friendly suppliers
• in 2007 i resolved to not use planes wherever there was a viable alternative
• in 2008 i started my business banking at the co-op
• in 2008 i became vegetarian

i’m not out to claim any kind of sainthood here, when it comes to something as serious as climate change i keep my ego well out of the way. i’m simply saying that from the start i recognised that fighting climate change was as much my responsibility as the politicians. when i hear that arctic sea ice might only last another 10 years and then i walk outside to see a bunch of selfish fucks sitting queuing in their cars on their way to work because they refuse to accept the tiny, tiny sacrifice involved in walking, cycling or taking public transport there instead, inside i get properly, properly angry. like, really fucked off.

so if i’ve a message on this blog action day its this: don’t leave it all to the politicians, take some responsibility yourself:

• get rid of your car
• stop shopping at supermarkets
• stop jumping on budget airline flights
• stop giving money to companies who use it to destroy the climate

believe me, you’ll be surprised at how little effect it will have on your life. for instance, when i became pescatorian i was worried about the change it would have on my life. but what was the effect? it turned out that i spent less that 1% of my day eating meat, so the effect was miniscule to the point of being nearly unnoticed.

if you’re one of those people who say they could ‘never give up meat’ because they ‘enjoy it too much’, give yourself a week away from it as a trial. you’ll be amazed at how little your life changes. and once you’ve tried that try cycling to work regularly. you’ll be equally amazed at how the increase in fitness improves your happiness too.

Tags: blog action day, climate change

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 15th, 2009 at 7:07 am and is filed under generic. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.