Climate change: what are YOU doing to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions in New Zealand?

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frednz

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#220368 8-Aug-2017 10:10

Most people now agree that climate change is a serious issue, so what are YOU doing to help reduce our greenhouse gas emissions?

In case you’re not sure what you can do, this article provides a list of 10 steps you can take to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

One practical suggestion is to plan immediately to replace your petrol vehicle with an electric vehicle, preferably a pure electric vehicle which doesn’t have the option to use petrol at all. But of course, you may have done this already!

And are our kids being educated about climate change, an awareness of this important issue (and what can be done about it) should start at a young age!

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430 posts

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#1840953 8-Aug-2017 10:14

Watch: Cowspiracy and then decided what is the easiest way to cut down on greenhouse gases

floydbloke

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#1840956 8-Aug-2017 10:20

I've just invested some money in some more forestry (works out to owning about 3000 tress). Does that count?

Did Eric Clapton really think she looked wonderful...or was it after the 15th outfit she tried on and he just wanted to get to the party and get a drink?

wellygary

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#1840957 8-Aug-2017 10:21

dryburn:

Watch: Cowspiracy and then decided what is the easiest way to cut down on greenhouse gases

But 90-05% of NZ Agricultural production is exported, changing local consumption habits will have negligible impact on our agricultural emissions......

kryptonjohn

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#1840960 8-Aug-2017 10:27

And that, @wellgary is the nub of the problem. We export our production into a market against international competitors. If those competitors are not paying tax on animal emissions then we're just shooting ourselves in the foot and doing nothing for the environment.

The emissions should be paid for where they are consumed. It's not like Saudi is paying for the emissions from the oil they export.

MikeB4

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#1840965 8-Aug-2017 10:33

kryptonjohn:

And that, @wellgary is the nub of the problem. We export our production into a market against international competitors. If those competitors are not paying tax on animal emissions then we're just shooting ourselves in the foot and doing nothing for the environment.

The emissions should be paid for where they are consumed. It's not like Saudi is paying for the emissions from the oil they export.

paying for emissions don't stop emissions. We need to clean up our act.

MikeB4

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#1840966 8-Aug-2017 10:34

As a nation we need to stop clear felling forests and carrying out selective logging.

Geektastic

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#1840970 8-Aug-2017 10:37

Nothing. I'm not concerned.

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frednz

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#1840971 8-Aug-2017 10:39

floydbloke:

I've just invested some money in some more forestry (works out to owning about 3000 trees). Does that count?

Yes, I would say that counts if it helps NZ to increase its number of trees. Can you give any more details about this investment?

I don't know why, but every time I step on an aircraft I feel guilty as I know how much pollution results from flying. Does anyone else share this feeling?

MikeB4

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#1840973 8-Aug-2017 10:46

We are doing more than just things for emissions. We are refusing plastic bags when shopping, buying products which sensible packaging. recycling, composting, planting trees. We only use sustainable fuel when using our fire, that is pine as it is closer to carbon neutral. We keep our vehicles tuned and serviced to ensure emissions are the lowest possible and when our current vehicles are due for replacement in circa 3 years we will be buying EV's

frednz

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#1840975 8-Aug-2017 10:55

Geektastic: Nothing. I'm not concerned.

Now come on, I'm sure you're not serious! Just walking along the beach the other day, for example, I noticed at high tide how much further the sea came in than it used to. That alone makes me concerned and I'm seriously looking at buying an electric vehicle as part of my tiny contribution to the problem!

Wiggum

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#1840980 8-Aug-2017 11:11

Planting lots of trees.

We have a large section in Kapiti and are fortunate to have lots of space. A few years ago we started planting lots of trees and are trying to restore part of our section to natural forest. Its not doing anything to reduce gas emissions, but trees eat carbon dioxide so thats a good thing.

Dratsab

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#1840982 8-Aug-2017 11:19

MikeB4: As a nation we need to stop clear felling forests and carrying out selective logging.

We already do selective logging. We select a forest, then we log it.

kryptonjohn

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#1840986 8-Aug-2017 11:31

frednz:

Geektastic: Nothing. I'm not concerned.

Now come on, I'm sure you're not serious! Just walking along the beach the other day, for example, I noticed at high tide how much further the sea came in than it used to. That alone makes me concerned and I'm seriously looking at buying an electric vehicle as part of my tiny contribution to the problem!

That may be due more to subsidence than climate.

Roughly speaking, Wellington sea level rise is has been linear at 2mm/yr for the last 100 years. The national average is around 1.7mm a year but lucky wellington had 1-3mm tectonic subsidence a year over the last decade.

Excluding recent subsidence, there is no observed acceleration of sea level rise in NZ.

Interesting GRWC report here:

http://www.gw.govt.nz/assets/About-GW-the-region/News-and-media-releases/2012-images/SeaLevelVariabilityandTrendsintheWellingtonRegion2012REPORT.pdf

floydbloke

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#1840987 8-Aug-2017 11:34

MikeB4:

As a nation we need to stop clear felling forests and carrying out selective logging.

The limited high-level research I've done on this shows we're actually pretty good at it. The Resource Management act pretty well forbids logging of native forests and wrt exotic trees the forestry industry is surely smart enough to plant a new tree for every one that it fells.

Wikipedia:

In 2010 31.40% of New Zealand was covered by forest. This does not include orchards or trees in parks. This figure has been slowly but steadily rising since 1998.

NZ Deforestation

Did Eric Clapton really think she looked wonderful...or was it after the 15th outfit she tried on and he just wanted to get to the party and get a drink?

Sam91

620 posts

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#1840989 8-Aug-2017 11:35

We're with Flick. When power prices spike it generally means the country is using dirtier electricity production. When you're with Flick, you adjust your demand in response to the real time price, thereby reducing your consumption of dirty electricity. People on fixed plans don't face these real time price signals, so the demand for this dirty electricity doesn't adjust. A nationwide move towards variable electricity prices would definitely help reduce emissions.

You could actually argue that New Zealanders are better off investing in sea walls etc. both here and otherseas than spending lots of money reducing our emissions. Our emissions are a tiny percentage of global emissions, so any reductions we make will not matter unless other countries reduce their emissions too.

MikeB4:

paying for emissions don't stop emissions. We need to clean up our act.

Emissions charges (tax) do actually lead to reduced emissions. The reason is, each company will decrease their emissions until their marginal control cost per unit is the same as the tax per unit. This is the cost minimising point for the company. Not directed at you, but many people probably think that a tax just means the company will continue to emit as usual and happily pay the tax, which is not the case.

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