On Being Carbon Neutral, What Can Individuals Do?

OE Global 2023 Braiding
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We appreciate so much the OEG Live session last Friday with the conference planners and an energetic and active in chat audience in YouTube (archive is available).

After Sarah Smyth shared some details on the conference design to be carbon neutral, there was an interesting question in the audience chat worth repeating here to collect ideas.

What specific practices are expected of participants to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions especially those of us who will be provided for in hotels?

We heard suggestions from the panel such as using the public transit with passes provided as digital swag, walking where possible, not leaving devices plugged in… but I bet the community here can suggest more.

So what are some things, even small, we can do as individuals to reduce our own carbon footprint? Please reply with ideas.

Also, join us for another OEG Live session September 21 when we explore in more detail the conference vision of two-eyed seeing and braiding.

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The NorQuest team has put together these excellent Sustainability Tips that attendees can use on their way to the conference!

Feel free to add your ideas too!

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Thanks for sharing the info on the conference web site.

I was noting on the conference about page some of the details on this conference’s carbon neutral stance (braid that!) that is being done in conjunction with Ostram Climate, where I visited and found their Offsetters Community Page including a few general tips for reducing carbon for Individuals.

Also, I spotted an emission calculator, where I found my short plan flight to Edmonton still has a carbon cost of 0.22 tons.

You might be curious to run your own calculations, just to be in the know.

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I appreciate the attention the conference is putting on this sustainability question - and look forward to talking with attendees in person about it! Individual actions are more fun when we do them together. For me, expect it’ll be public transit from airport to downtown, and attention to no food waste.
And…I will add a hope that as individuals, the most important thing we can do is when we’re back home, to lend our voice and collective power to creating policies that produce the needed zero-carbon systemic transformations - in our towns, schools, etc. Keep in mind that the framing of “individual carbon footprint” was a (very successful) PR exploit of British Petroleum to divert momentum away from the needed systemic policy changes away from fossil fuels.

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Thanks Curt. I was unaware (but am now) of that BP tactic, a great reminder.

My own efforts are a lot of reuse of things that might go into the refuse and as much walking as possible. Hope we can walk and chat in Edmonton, see you soon.

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I just saw that fossil fuel energy developer Enbridge is a premier sponsor of the conference. I’ll be interested to engage any of their reps on site, and Indigenous people participating in the conference, about our themes of sustainable futures and honoring Indigenous knowledge and sovereignty related to how Enbridge built their new Line 3 pipeline. Here’s a perspective - https://www.stopline3.org/