off to Melbourne

Going off to Melbourne next week for two weeks! I love Melbourne people very much and may post about them soon.

But this post is about my carbon footprint.

I'm a water-Scrooge: I shower every 1.5 days (at Karen's suggestion and gave up my daily hair wash for the first time ever) and am sad the half flush is ineffective in most toilet designs*. I have refused many kind car-sitting offers and walk or catch a bus. I try to eat things that are low on the food chain / not overly processed. The heater in my room has not been plugged in this year (its cord is too short anyway!). I'd rather fix clothes than create landfill. I go around flicking off lights and appliances in empty rooms. I handwash dishes in a small basin instead of using a dishwasher and scrape off solid fat in the rubbish bin instead of just running water to get rid of the greasy bits. Today, I used the clothes dryer for the first time, but maintain that it's wasteful and overrated (my clothes were still damp!).

But all that seems like "saving cents and loosing dollars" when I fly to Melbourne 2+ times a year (this year, to Thailand too, which consisted of 4 flights). What a total fuel guzzler! Someone told me if I don't use a car for a whole year and jump on a plane at the end of that year, my petrol savings would be spent before I reach the end of the runway.

* The best design I've ever seen was in an Austria toilet. Hygienic, very little splash and good use of flushing water.