.png)
My green resolutions got me thinking hard about what small things I can do to minimize my impact upon the environment without really having to make any significant changes to my lifestyle; there must be loads of things. Birdwatching close-by is one of those that I have already taken to (Birdwatching near Beverley).
Boiling the kettle this morning got me thinking about the energy used for my morning cup of tea. Obviously I only boil as much water as I need, but what about the method of boiling it? Is it more energy efficient to use the kettle or boil it on a gas ring? Well, apparently electric kettles use far less energy to heat any given amount of water than it does by using gas. This is good news for energy conservation as well as convenience!
However, when I thought more deeply about it I wondered if I really needed that cup of tea anyway, what are the options for a morning drink? I could go for water, but I find the taste pretty wierd first thing in the mroning. The obvios choice would be something like orange juice or apple juice, but the amount of water used in producing these is unsustainable, not to mention the pesticides that were probably used . Furthermore, these juices always come in a carton or a plastic bottle - not too good - think of the air miles too. On the other hand tea nor coffee exactly come from down the road do they? Tea and coffee plantations are major players in tropical deforestation too. This isn't at all easy.
Milk sounds like a good option, it's healthy, it doesn't run out, it can be bought locally and, if the milkman is used, the bottles get reused. That's REUSED, not recycled, but reused, wow! Still, dairy farmers use massive amounts of fertilizer to improve the grassland for cattle and there is often slurry run off into surrounding watercourses, sometimes resulting in the eutrophication of rivers and the elimination of fish from them. AAAAAArgh! It gets even worse too - flatulant cows are a major source of methane which is a potent greenhouse gas. Therefore, drinking milk melts the polar ice caps, poisons rivers, raises sea levels and contributes to the extinction of polar bears. Bloody cows.
So, drinking tea is not a green option, nor is coffee, fruit juice or milk, so what is left? I could lick the dew from the morning grass, but I don't have a garden, and anyway it might upset the delicate ecological balance of the lawn, if I had one. There is always beer. In the past people used to drink large amounts of beer. Producing beer can be done at home, reusing the containers required for the brewing process - excellent. The hops and barley (good for corn buntings) can be grown locally, reducing dramatically the travel miles involved and I'm sure I can find a yeast culture growing somewhere in the kitchen. The only other ingredients I need (I think) are water and molasses. Sadly I'll have to buy the molasses, but I can easily walk to the shops, and I can harvest enough rainwater for my needs.
It seems that the environmentally friendly alternative to a cup of tea is a pint of homebrewed beer. Hmmmm beer! This is one green resolution that I can easily stick to.
Boiling the kettle this morning got me thinking about the energy used for my morning cup of tea. Obviously I only boil as much water as I need, but what about the method of boiling it? Is it more energy efficient to use the kettle or boil it on a gas ring? Well, apparently electric kettles use far less energy to heat any given amount of water than it does by using gas. This is good news for energy conservation as well as convenience!
However, when I thought more deeply about it I wondered if I really needed that cup of tea anyway, what are the options for a morning drink? I could go for water, but I find the taste pretty wierd first thing in the mroning. The obvios choice would be something like orange juice or apple juice, but the amount of water used in producing these is unsustainable, not to mention the pesticides that were probably used . Furthermore, these juices always come in a carton or a plastic bottle - not too good - think of the air miles too. On the other hand tea nor coffee exactly come from down the road do they? Tea and coffee plantations are major players in tropical deforestation too. This isn't at all easy.
Milk sounds like a good option, it's healthy, it doesn't run out, it can be bought locally and, if the milkman is used, the bottles get reused. That's REUSED, not recycled, but reused, wow! Still, dairy farmers use massive amounts of fertilizer to improve the grassland for cattle and there is often slurry run off into surrounding watercourses, sometimes resulting in the eutrophication of rivers and the elimination of fish from them. AAAAAArgh! It gets even worse too - flatulant cows are a major source of methane which is a potent greenhouse gas. Therefore, drinking milk melts the polar ice caps, poisons rivers, raises sea levels and contributes to the extinction of polar bears. Bloody cows.
So, drinking tea is not a green option, nor is coffee, fruit juice or milk, so what is left? I could lick the dew from the morning grass, but I don't have a garden, and anyway it might upset the delicate ecological balance of the lawn, if I had one. There is always beer. In the past people used to drink large amounts of beer. Producing beer can be done at home, reusing the containers required for the brewing process - excellent. The hops and barley (good for corn buntings) can be grown locally, reducing dramatically the travel miles involved and I'm sure I can find a yeast culture growing somewhere in the kitchen. The only other ingredients I need (I think) are water and molasses. Sadly I'll have to buy the molasses, but I can easily walk to the shops, and I can harvest enough rainwater for my needs.
It seems that the environmentally friendly alternative to a cup of tea is a pint of homebrewed beer. Hmmmm beer! This is one green resolution that I can easily stick to.
1 comment:
Thanks for the kettle post, very useful
Jane W
Post a Comment