Micro, Macro and Me

It is clear that our consumption leads to irreversible harm to our world. In this blog post I'll estimate the emissions for a person that lives on subsistence. Merriam-Webster defines subsistence as Another definition would be: The lowest standard of living any human being should have. For Sweden, I've found two sources: The Enforcement Agency (Kronofogden) and The National Board for Health and Welfare (Socialstyrelsen). For simplicity, I'll follow the calculator from Socialstyrelsen that indicates whether one can qualify for subsidence support. The subsistence consists of two parts: Personal expenses for the individual, for example food and clothes. Shared common expenses for the household, for example utility bills and newspapers. I'll calculate the levels for a single adult. Living: The guideline from Socialstyrelsen is one bedroom, one kitchen and one livingroom - roughly 60 square meters. Electricity 1500 kWh per year Monthly Personal Expenses...

I've been busy with our next home - papers are signed and relocation will happen next spring. The impact for this blog will be a slight shift of focus on this blog. I'll still have some discussions about resources on a macro and micro scale but I'll also investigate how to approach a sustainable life in suburbia. I won't move far though. We'll move to a community between Lund and Malmö, 8 km from our current home. During the summer, I've helped out with reviewing some sources for a publication by Extinction Rebellion that is distributed to political leaders around Sweden. I have reached the conclusion that reducing my own emissions won't be enough to stop the ongoing global heating. I need to speak louder and I'm grateful for the opportunity to help XR with the publication. I'll elaborate more on my thoughts in the next blog post. Side note:  My current prediction is 2.3 tonnes of CO2e of personal consumption based emissions for 2019. To...

Summary : The idea behind offsetting carbon emissions is to pay someone else to reduce his/her emissions and to relate that reduction to ones own emissions. It can be a good thing - or a bad thing.  If the purpose is to keep polluting with a green-washed conscience, it is a bad thing.  If the purpose is to reduce your own pollution and help others to reduce theirs, it is a good thing. There are some ways to offset carbon as an individual. Some are credible and others seems to be scams and green-washing.  In this blog post, I'm trying to learn more about offsetting, when to use it and how to do it. Ester hoped that her younger cousin Grace would fall a sleep early this evening - in vain. Three days before the last year project in Chemistry was due and a "B" in STEM wasn't an option. Now, Grace was occupied with a jigsaw puzzle and Ester was able to focus on her project. The smell of kerosene from the lamp was a bit ironic - Ester's project was focusing...