Green Man's not a 'Fossil Fool'

Terminal 5 benefits

This was just a small step, a token gesture towards reducing our combined impact. But there is talk of encouraging this to happen more often. There are so many players in the 'reduce climate change' movement... and the latest surprise addition is British Airways! They have successfully managed to completely muck up their opening days of the new Terminal 5 and have had to cancel hundreds of flights. Good on 'em! I hope it continues! My glee is mainly because most of the canceled flights are short-haul: these are ones which are easiest to replace by less polluting methods of travel, such as the train. And from today, over-60's get free (local) bus transport... which could, in theory, replace a short-haul flight! Pensioners who use this new opportunity can get a series of connecting services between towns and cities and travel the length of England, slowly and for free. The rest of us could do the same, but would have to pay for the privilege....

Travelling overland

So, you're committing to reducing to cut your negative impact on the Planet. Stopping flying is one way to do this. Amongst others, http://www.idontfly.com/ and http://www.seat61.com/ can both help you find alternatives. Idontfly has a list of UK destinations as well as journey planners within Europe and North Africa, whereas Seat61 has long distance train and ship travel too. The benefits of travelling overland are not just reduced carbon emissions, but you get to see the country you are travelling through, and you meet people on the bus or train and can have some amazing interactions.... although the best camaraderie in my experience is when the train is overcrowded, standing room only! At least with advance warning, you can book a seat and with luck, sit there!

Fossil Fool's Day

I'm not the only person to be getting hot under the collar about humanity's addiction to oil and the resultant global warming. Today is 'Fossil Fool's Day' in many ecoactivists' diaries, so expect to see imaginative protests and the messages about how important an issue this is splashed all over our (electric) televisions tonight, and in our (recyclable) newspapers tomorrow... My bit of 'direct action' is a little more sober, I'm at a management meeting of York Rotters which has got another year's funding from City of York Council to promote home composting as the most effective way of reducing bin weight and volume, and polluting emissions from landfill.

Greening your life

I still haven't had enough feedback from blog readers who are actively trying to green their lives. However I was pleased to hear from a social worker in South Yorkshire who was researching woodstoves and how this would help him rely on fossil fuels less and use more renewable fuel. I was able to put him in touch with my friend Robin who has a Dunsley Yorkshire Woodstove, a smoke-free behemoth of a stove which has a boiler within it to run central heating.

I am only too happy to answer readers' queries about any aspect of ethical and green living. This is what makes this job worthwhile, knowing that what I'm doing makes a difference!