Green Man helps save the Planet!

Actually it was the annual Sheffield Green Fair, but this year it fell on the auspicious date of 7/7/7, chosen for the international series of concerts aimed at raising awareness about how we as individuals can cut our carbon emissions and help reduce the magnitude of the impending climate chaos.

So the 22nd Sheffield Green Fair organisers were told that their event had been registered as part of the global series of concerts. I therefore hope that Purple Cats, Matt Black and Pink Sharabang feel as good as Crowded House, Genesis and the Black Eyed Peas in their attempts to try to save the planet from our overconsumption. I bet that the carbon footprint of the entire Sheffield Socialist Choir isn't as big as Madonna's, though!

And that's the main criticism of Live Earth. How big was it's footprint? Did people go to see the bands or did they attend because they really care about sustainability? How many of them drove to the gig? How many air-miles did the Red Hot Chili Peppers clock up last year? Now I'm not naturally a cynic, and I'm glad that Kevin Wall had the idea and worked hard to see his dream become reality, and teamed up with Al Gore to make it really big. I believe that if everyone who watched the concerts signed the pledges on the website AND stuck to them, then the energy and resource savings would be huge, far bigger than the carbon dioxide generated during the one day event.

There's also a simple carbon calculator on the website which if you plug in your lifestyle data will give you an approximation of your tonnage, and an 'ECP Score'. So, thanks to Earthlab.com, I was told that I emit 1.2 tonnes of carbon a year and have a score of 126. The normal range is apparently 150 to 350, so my low score gave me a feelgood factor, but not too smug a feelgood factor as I can do more things which would lower my emissions still further.
My easy peasy 'Green Tip of the Week' is to visit http://www.LiveEarth.org and to enjoy the visuals, sign the pledges and try out the carbon calculator. The difficult part of my tip of the week is to stick to those pledges, for the rest of your life. This should, however, give you a bigger feelgood factor than seeing the Beastie Boys perform live!