no (or, well – less) impact

In another… hrm, six weeks… I’ll be starting a job that means I’ll travel constantly. That’s an impact on the environment I’m not used to having – though I do drive a 20 mile commute to and from work most days now, so it’s not like my business travel is zero impact to begin with. Anyhow. Air travel is generally considered supremely lousy for the environment, in case you haven’t heard.

I suppose I could buy carbon offsets, but do those actually work? I have no idea. Their main selling point seems to be education, and I already know that flying around isn’t great for the environment. And of course, I’ve ruled out the things that are unreasonable for me (that is, not taking the job or selling my house and moving to each place I work).

So. I’ve been reading about ways to reduce my footprint further (beyond the small things I’ve talked about here before). The No Impact Project has some interesting ideas. And some major liberal guilt. It’s pretty cool, though, to see people suggesting – and then going and enacting – changes that sound pretty extreme to me. I like shampoo, okay! Hair washing is awesome. Let’s do it all the time. [Sidenote: I continue to debate with myself whether it's better to have shampoo in bar form shipped to me or to buy it in plastic bottles closer to home. Currently the shipping solution is winning, because the volume of plastic in my life disturbs me.]

My thought here is that, in exchange for the travel, I need to step it up from what I do now (which, honestly, is what all caring people with money should be doing – none of my habits inconvenience me). Use my shampoo thing as an example: make bars of the stuff myself. I’ll try some of this stuff out and see what sticks. I figure the concern at least is a step in the right direction.