Your ethical feedback (2)

We've had a huge response to our appeal for advice for Ethical Man. They're all being read by Justin and Sara, so keep them coming. We'll continue to publish a selection of your mails here...

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Send your comments

It is hopeless trying to live an environmental lifestyle in a home you chose while you were dependent on a car Will Bramhill

There should be a tax on fuel for aircraft because of the massive cost in terms of CO2 emissions of air travel. Justin should go on holiday locally. Each house should have an energy efficiency certificate with savings for those most energy efficient.
Art O'Malley, Stockport

When watching TV switch off all the lights - you'll see the screen better, movies will be more like the cinema, and it's cheaper Katy Charles

Review where you live. By and large, it is hopeless trying to live an environmental lifestyle in a home you chose while you were dependent on a car (though that might not be so much of an issue in a large city). Too many people make themselves daily-dependent on cars by moving to the country or commuter towns poorly provided with public transport - then squeal when fuel goes up or the government proposes "anti car" measures. Choose where you live!
Will Bramhill, Colchester

You could put up curtains on hinged curtain rails over the doors in your house. The seals around doors are often less than perfect in many houses and a heavy, floor-length curtain can cut these out. Not the most fashionable interior design move but effective.
A Scott, Coventry

Compost toilets are a fantastic idea - believe me, they are really not as horrid as they sound Jane Griffiths

When watching TV switch off all the lights - you'll see the screen better, movies will be more like the cinema, and it's cheaper. When making tea, coffee, cooking, measure out the water you need beforehand - don't cook more. Switch off all lights but those you need to light your way. When waking, if it's already light, don't put lights on. Don't leave chargers on - charge the item and switch them off. Plan washing - use low-energy cycles and ensure you fill the drum. When cooking, use the lowest heats. If you roast meat, cook everything in the same oven - don't boil veg etc separately. To wash, use a dipper and a bowl of hot water - scrub yourself all over first and then rinse off with the dipper - you will get a shower out of half a hand-basinful of water. I did this and my electricity consumption is now down to £8 per month and my gas consumption is very limited. Less carbon. Much cheaper.
Katy Charles, London

It's more economical to use the oven once for one larger meal, than several times at different points during the evening for different meals Tori

I was wondering why the accent on the environment and ecology? Surely that's a very narrow and specific part of being ethical? Surely there are more ethics to an urban man than just what he consumes? How about the ethics of your relationships, your spirituality, or your work? As a journalist you probably don't have any, but the ethics of media must be worth a series in itself.
Andy Grogan, Amsterdam

I don't have one myself, but compost toilets are a fantastic idea. Believe me, they are really not as horrid as they sound. I don't know if you have a garden but you may even be able to use the "output" to grow your own vegetables. Good luck!
Jane Griffiths, Manchester

Think about how you cook your food - it's more economical to use the oven once for one larger meal, than several times at different points during the evening for different meals (ie kids early, parents later). It's more efficient to just use the hobs, or just use the main oven, so combine veg in a single pan on the hob, or use a steamer, or oven bake all elements of the meal where possible. Turn the oven off just before the food is ready - it will retain sufficient heat to continue cooking for quite a bit longer - little things like this soon add up.
Tori

Why not start to recycle your urine by collecting it in a pail and adding it to your compost bin or watering your patio plants with it? Susan Keys

Transport is a major element in the average carbon footprint, so reducing the use of a private car can make a significant impact. Since forming a small community car club a few years ago I drive much less (less than 20% of my previous total). I also cycle and use public transport much more. As a family we now tend to take bikes on trains for our holidays. (Isle of Wight and Norfolk in the last two years.) I subsequently joined the staff team at Carplus - the national charity promoting and supporting car clubs - and we are exploring how to make the concept nationally available.
Philip Igoe, Leeds

It seems to me that you're confusing ethics with sustainability John Pennifold

Why not start to recycle your urine by collecting it in a pail and adding it to your compost bin or watering your patio plants with it? It's full of nitrates which plants love. Ladies, stop dyeing your hair. Also, switch to using eco-friendly cleaning products which are natural and plant based. Good luck!
Susan Keys, Edinburgh

Projects like yours will make people more aware of ethical and environmental issues - that has to be good Vincent Macklin

It seems to me that you're confusing ethics with sustainability. I would have thought that ethics meant that you don't do to other people what you wouldn't want them to do to you. Sustainability on the other hand acknowledges that fossil fuel deposits are finite and will run out, bringing that lifestyle to an end, hence another lifestyle must be found that can be continued indefinitely. There's nothing un-ethical about using fossil fuel, but it is un-sustainable. Subsidising European farmers to dump their cheap produce on the Third World is un-ethical however because it destroys the livelihood and independence of Third World farmers by wrecking their markets and hence their sustainable farming methods. The only people who will survive the end of oil will be those living by sustainable methods. Using fossil fuels will only bring about our own demise, not the poor Third World farmers.
John Pennifold, London

None of us will ever be perfectly ethical all the time, and if we set ourselves tough rules we will soon get disheartened when we fail to keep to them Graham Hughes

Don't think that one man can't make a difference. I installed a wood pellet heating system last year in my log home, and as a direct result three of my friends are doing the same. People need to be educated about energy and its use. I believe that if more people actually understood where the electricity that they use comes from, they would put more thought into how they use it. Projects like yours will make people more aware of ethical and environmental issues - that has to be good.
Vincent Macklin, Monaghan, Ireland

I see things a little differently from many of the correspondents who have already written in, in that I think that ethical living is not about a set of rules but instead is a kind of journey. What may be right for one person, as a rule, is possibly quite wrong for another. So instead I see the challenge, which I adopted for myself several years ago, is to gradually learn to identify the moments of choice in your life and then to try to apply principles to those choices, principles like doing the least harm. None of us will ever be perfectly ethical all the time, and if we set ourselves tough rules we will soon get disheartened when we fail to keep to them. This challenge is not like some giant set of New Year resolutions, we all know what happens to those. So my advice to Justin would be to start with small and achievable steps and concentrate of finding when you could do better. My second point would be to watch out for the times when you are tempted to use your children to justify "unethical" behaviour. During your report I seem to remember Justin saying something about needing to have a two litre engine car because he has two children. This is rubbish. What you need to say rather is that the whole project is important because you have two children. Your children will not thank you in 30 years time, when energy sources are becoming extremely depleted, for driving around in unnecessary luxury when they were two years old. Once you start to look at your interactions with the world through the eyes of someone who will have to live with the consequences of your decisions in 70 years time, then it becomes a little easier to take "good" decisions. It isn't going to be easy, but life does get a whole lot more rewarding the further you get on this journey. Good luck.
Graham Hughes, Guildford

Why not buy a bike and trailer - with this you can carry most household materials Stuart McGinness

If only some of the ideas broadcast are used by only some of the people viewing or reading these entries progress will be made. Try to use public transport, although it is still diabolical no matter what the DPM says. Recycle, buy local organic produce or from farmers markets. Take your holidays in the UK or Ireland, cycle or walk. Cynicism will never win the day. Bravo.
Mike Jones, Manchester

If you want to save energy when cooking, buy a set of steamers and cook an entire meal on one ring of your hob. Potatoes in the bottom with the boiling water, chicken or fish in the next layer and veggies on top. As well as being energy efficient, the steamed meat and fish is the lowest fat way to cook and your vegetables will retain so much more flavour. I think this is a great thing you're attempting and wish you every success. Every little bit that everyone does CAN make a difference. Good luck.
Kath Gibson, Glasgow

Try turning your central heating down a degree or two, and wearing an extra jumper in the house instead Ken Walton

Why not buy a bike and trailer. With this you can carry most household materials. You can also use the trailer to carry building materials. Visit a good bike shop, get healthy and see the world in a new way.
Stuart McGinness, Witney

Try turning your central heating down a degree or two, and wearing an extra jumper in the house instead. You'll soon get used to it, and begin to realise how overheated your office, and various other public buildings, are. If you can persuade the BBC to turn their heating down too, you'll really start making a difference.
Ken Walton, Lancaster

Do things that won't put people off joining in. If you install a compost toilet then many people watching will decide that being ethical is not for them, and they'll make no changes to their lifestyle. However, if they see that living an ethical life does not require them to give up the comforts of modern life, then they may well try to do their part. If you have the choice, always buy locally grown food, and preferably organic. When you have a shower or wash the dishes, do you currently turn on the hot water tap and let the water run down the sink until it's running hot? If so, capture this water in a pan or bucket, and use it to fill the toilet cistern next time you flush. Also consider installing a grey water or rainwater capture system to reduce the amount of mains water you use.
Robin Simmons, Ipswich

I would like to see Justin do an ethical shop on a strict budget, perhaps influenced by the British minimum wage Lianna Hulbert

It's good that you're highlighting the urgent need for people to live more ethically but I wish to complain about a passing comment you made at the end of the discussion - you said there is "the methane issue" for veggies/vegans. Well actually it's the exact opposite - it is FARMED animals that produce vast amounts of methane so if we stopped eating them they wouldn't be there to pollute the atmosphere. I think you should make that clear in future discussions.
Jane Taylor, Rochdale

I suggest you start at the top. Change to wood shake roofing. Wood is the politically correct roofing because it takes carbon out of the atmosphere to make the material, and then it saves about 20% off fossil fuel usage to maintain internal home temperature during the summer. You see, in both manufacture and usage it reduces carbon into the atmosphere. Second: plant as many trees as you can. They take a lot of carbon out of the atmosphere, and help to keep the earth's surface cooler. Make Arbor Day a big deal like it is in Korea where school kids go out to plant trees. Third: eliminate as much cement, asphalt, rock and steel surfacing as possible. These are atmospheric heat generators.
Jim Scott, Rio Linda CA USA

You need to consider joining one of the London Car Clubs and getting rid of your own car Peter Jones

I would like to see Justin do an ethical shop on a strict budget, perhaps influenced by the British minimum wage. I am a student and it seems to me that the higher price of fair trade/organic/non-supermarket goods - and also geographically the areas where one can buy them - can sometimes make ethical living just a luxury for the affluent. Can poorer people in society live by their principles too?
Lianna Hulbert, Cambridge

Strictly speaking, you're embarking on an environmentally-conscious year, rather than an ethical year, surely? I don't disagree that being environmentally conscious is ethical, just that being ethical requires more than just being environmentally conscious.
Mat, Ripon

You need to consider joining one of the London Car Clubs and getting rid of your own car (which you hardly use). Research has shown that car club members reduce the number of vehicles on the road (by sharing car club cars), reduce miles driven, increase their use of walking, cycling and public transport, and reduce CO2 emissions in the process.
Peter Jones, Tavistock

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