Do minimalists have a carbon footprint?
A carbon footprint is the total amount of greenhouse gases that are generated by our action.
When you live as a minimalist, you strive to only use things that serve a purpose. It's about living simply and having only what you need to go about your daily life.
Recently I encountered a website that helps to calculate your carbon footprint by assessing your response to a series of lifestyle questions. The questions mainly pry into your consumption patterns for areas like food, goods and services, energy usage, commuting methods among others. At the end, you receive a bar chart which shows your carbon footprint in about five categories relative to the average in your country.
Having seen the data. It occurred to me that the main causes of a large carbon footprint and consequently harm to our planet may be oversumption caused by a growing population or growing wealth.
It's hard to imagine someone struggling to find food to eat accessing a site to calculate their carbon footprint. On the other hand I can definitely see how you could guilt someone into paying for harm to the environment they may have caused through overconsumption and a lavish lifestyle. It makes you wonder how many of us can afford to contribute, but feel justified thereafter to continue on our pre-calculation consumption path.
Perhaps the real minimalists are those who have no choice.
No Poverty and Increased Consumption
These days you can't go anywhere without seeing references to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).On one hand we are working hard to save the environment while on the other we are justifiably concerned about people and the society.
Although those two hands are connected to the same body, it would appear that we are stuck between a rock and a hard place. I hope we can find a way to establish some kind of balance somehow. That of course will require a continuous multipronged action on the part of individuals as well as organisations like companies and governments.
Most would agree that the recent challenges in global health have chipped away the progress made in the area of poverty reduction, I pray that our efforts will continue so that no child, no family and no community is left behind.
Stay connected, stay safe.
Hello @bearmol,
You've touched on an important topic of how those practicing minimalism help to reduce their carbon footprints and more. It's actually an advantage from living a minimalist lifestyle.
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Thank you @hive-194848.
I wasn't sure if my topic matched with the current #KISS challenge so I was reluctant to make the post directly to the group. Thanks for the reblog.
Yes, not this week's topic, but feel free to write regular posts about minimalism to the community. Just don't use the #KISS tag then. Maybe you'll have more to present on the subject, if this topic should come up in one of the weekly #KISS.
Will keep an eye out.
Ok:)
You're very welcome:)
When I was a little kid in the '50s and '60s, I'm quite sure my family lived below poverty level. But I hadn't heard of the poverty level, so I didn't know about it. I just know we made do with what we had, grew most of our food on a small hobby farm, and didn't buy much at the store because there wasn't enough money for it. Many of those make-do habits have stuck with me. But, having lived in poverty, I don't obsess over minimalism and carbon footprints. I continue to live thriftily as well as comfortably. I believe the needs of people are more important than fussing over the environment. We wouldn't be so dependent on foreign oil if the environmentalists would calm down about accessing and using the natural resources right here in America.
Hello @scribblingramma
Thanks for sharing your perspective with us. I agree that the needs of people are very important. I also commend you for your ability to live both thriftily and comfortably.
Thanks for taking the time to leave a great comment on this post.