Category: Counting On …

Reflections and actions during COP26 and going on

Counting on … day 79

28th July 2026

With a few to having a degree of resilience should a crisis cut off our supply of water, we keep stored about 12 -14 litres of water (for a household of three). Rather than opting for a stock of plastic bottled water, we use a mixture of glass bottles and Demi johns, refilling each as we empty them, and rotating them so that they don’t have water more than about a day old. 

We use the water for drinking, cooking and washing up. If the water supply was cut, we would use this bottled water purely for drinking and rely on the water in the header tank in the roof space for washing up etc.

Counting on … day 78

27th July 2026

Collecting washing machine water for the garden.

Over the next few days I plan to share a few ways in which our household is trying to be more resilient in the face of the climate – and other associated -crises.

Last week Thames Water introduced a hosepipe ban which didn’t come as a surprise given a) how hot it has been and b) how little rain we have had these past few months. 

Routinely we try to minimise our use of water – water is a scarce and valuable resource. But now that our several water buts have run dry, we have moved one but so that we can use it to collect the water from the washing machine – 50 litres (5 buckets) per wash. At the same time we switched from us in a laundry liquid to an eco egg which produces less soapy water. This water is then used on plants in the garden – fruit bushes, squash plants, rhubarb etc. 

Counting on 2026 …. Day 77

10th July 

This may not be so readily quantifiable, but there is, I believe, ‘joy in enough’. The consumerist model that urges us to buy more, to buy bigger, and to buy more frequently does not per se makes us happy. Indeed it may cause us stress as it :

  • constantly challenges to keep up with the market ideals; 
  • fills our homes with things we must store, guard, insure etc. 
  • consumes time and many 
  • diminishes our confidence as independent beings.

Without these stresses, we can be happier, we can have more free time to spend with family and friends or out in nature, we can find pleasure in making things for ourselves, and very simply we can more readily enjoy what we already have.

‘Joy in Enough’ is the name of one of Green Christian’s projects. You can find out more here – https://youtu.be/dXX9b-8j0fE?si=8e29R7zjaH6QcUk-

Or – https://greenchristian.org.uk/introduction/action/joy-in-enough/

https://www.ethicalconsumer.org/ethicalcampaigns/corporate-equity-fines?utm_source=ECRA+Weekly+Newsletter&utm_campaign=6c5404e75b-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2026_05_08-equity-fines-subs&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-52b9476e4c-320424697

Counting on 2026 …. Day 76

9th July 

Scientists and health experts are equally agreed that active travel benefits not only benefits the environment but also our own health.

“People who do regular physical activity have a lower risk of:

Research also shows that physical activity can boost self-esteem, mood, sleep quality and energy, as well as reducing your risk of stress.” (1) 

Driving less and using active travel – walking, cycling, public transport – is good for us as well as helping to reduce climate damaging emissions. And the benefits don’t stop there!

https://communityhealthpartnerships.co.uk/sustainability-update-for-tenants-active-travel-and-cycling-feb-2024/
  1. https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/exercise/exercise-health-benefits/

Counting on 2026 …. Day 75

8th July 

Allwood in his book Promise the Earth (1) advises that we not only reduce our consumption of meat and dairy but also of rice in order to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions. (2) Traditional rice growing in flooded paddies produces both methane and nitrous oxide – both powerful greenhouse gases which have a particular high impact on temperatures rises in the short term. Emissions from rice growing have doubled in the last 60 years. (3) Work is ongoing to develop rice growing techniques that reduce emissions and ensure more sustainable water usage. 

Shaping our diet to be both healthy and environmentally friendly does prompt us to think – and investigate – about where our food comes from and its impact on the environment and its contribution to the wellbeing of those who produce it.

For example choosing to eat what is in season and what is grown locally, enables us to reduce resources used and emissions produced in the transport of our food. Buying locally supports our local economy and can help us build up a relationship with those who produce our food. Buying ultra locally could mean we actually see how the produce is grown or how the livestock is reared.

Equally we can choose to buy fairly traded products such as tea, coffee and chocolate so that we can be confident that those who have grown these foods have been well paid within a  safe working environment. You can use Ethical Consumer (4) to research which makes and brands are best. 

For more thoughts – https://greentau.org/tag/fairtrade/

  1. https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/promise-the-earth/31E27442471A864A6582BA751ECD239F
  2. https://www.cambridgebookshop.co.uk/products/promise-the-earth
  3. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-global-rice-paddy-greenhouse-gas.html

(4) https://www.ethicalconsumer.org/food-drink/shopping-guide/tea

Counting on 2026 …. Day 74

7th July 

On the other hand restraint offers many positive outcomes and benefits!

Scientists and health experts all recommend that we eat less meat and dairy products to benefit both the environment and our health – for example in the work of the Lancet Commission with their Planetary Health Diet (https://greentau.org/2025/11/05/counting-on-180/)

We can restrain our lifestyle vis a vis emissions and eat a healthier diet!

For ideas about switching to a plant based diet see https://greentau.org/2025/12/27/eco-tips-swopping-to-a-plant-based-diet/

Counting on 2026 …. Day 73

6th July

Following on from the last post if as a nation we can’t afford – or maybe even more pragmatically don’t have enough time – to electrify our freight network, then we as individuals must curb our consumption of products that require freight transport. 

This might be not replacing household goods as frequently – making TVs, kitchen appliances, mobile phones etc last longer. 

This might be not adding buying as many extra pieces of clothing or pairs of shoes – we can wear what we have for longer, repair or adjust them as necessary, or swop with others.

This might be not buying as many consumables – whether that is books, electric fans, toys and knick  knacks, etc – but rather buying what we need and what we know will have a long life.

This might be choosing to buy local made products, locally grown foods.

Counting on 2026 …. Day 72

3rd July

Nothing in life is ever simple! Allwood highlights this when talking about how we trade off decisions. But this is not local carrots versus organic imports, but more about what we do when the alternative is unaffordable. He gives two examples – one at a national and one at an individual level.

“For example, nationally, if we can’t afford to invest in new infrastructure for electric freight, we must learn to live with less freight.” 

“In households, if we cannot afford an electric car, then we need to start voicing our concern now, to suppliers and to local politicians, to ask for help on our journey to phasing our use of petrol cars, by supporting cost reductions or better provision of public transport.” (Both p. 134) 

Why? Because the environment, the climate cannot accommodate us producing yet more emissions. If we don’t stop, the cost will be temperature increases approaching 4C and the consequences of extreme heat + droughts + severe cold + poor harvests and food shortages + disruption to transport + more climate induced medical emergencies + failing public services etc. 

The trade off tells us that the cost of not cutting emissions will always be more than we can afford, and that restraint will always be the better option.

Might there be merit in deferring action in the hope that things might improve, or that new technologies may come long? Allwood tackles this response through out the book: and no, the science tells us things will not improve if we wait, and no, there is no new technology that is going to be available at scale and in time to address the crisis. 2050 is only 23 years away and in the time scale of technological developments that is minuscule.

Counting on 2026 …. Day 71

2nd July

Thirdly Allwood highlights the importance of ‘gathering good information’ to aid our decision making. (P133). Here the problem can be how to avoid green washing!  And I think equally not being sucked in by advertising generally. Advertising is designed to make us buy more, not because it is good for us, but because it boosts profits.

I find the Ethical Consumer a good source of information – https://www.ethicalconsumer.org/

You might find Mike Berners Lee’s book ‘How Bad are Bananas: the carbon footprint of everything’ a useful read.  https://howbadarebananas.com/

Allwood himself includes a resource section in the appendix. https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/promise-the-earth/31E27442471A864A6582BA751ECD239F

Counting on 2026 …. Day 70

1st July

Allwood next focus is on domestic equipment/ infrastructure. What we have does affect our emissions. A small efficient freezer/ television/ car will produce fewer emissions than a larger one. When we need to replace such items, we can choose one with lower emissions. But equally we should bear in mind  that buying new also has an emissions output, and that making things – phones/ TVs/ clothes etc – last longer can be a good saving off emissions and resources.

The same approach can be used in the workplace.

When it comes to local and national infrastructure, we may wish to lobby local councillors or MPs to ensure that they too are making decisions that a) reduce emissions and b) that make sure such infrastructure is readily available for everyone and not just those who can afford it. eg the cost of travelling by public transport should not be more than the cost of going by car.