Big Foot revisited

Just when you thought going green couldn't get any more complicated along comes the New Yorker magazine with "Big Foot," an article by Michael Spector that raises questions about the assumption that eating locally produced food is always better, in climate change terms, than stuff that's imported from a long distance away, even if it's shipped by air. It's generally assumed that greater distance means more greenhouse gas emissions. Spector argues that's not invariably the case. It's worth a read, although it doesn't deal with the issues raised in our Challenge 3, about the heavy impact of consuming animal products. Here's one example:

"Researchers at Lincoln University, in Christchurch, found that lamb raised in New Zealand and shipped 11,000 miles by boat to England produced 688 kilograms of carbon-dioxide emissions perton, about a fourth the amount produced by British lamb. In part, that is because pastures in New Zealand need far less fertilizer than most grazing land in Britain (or in many parts of the United States.)"

Nevertheless, that still leaves the choice of lamb or not lamb. 686 kilograms is a lot of CO2.

--Peter Gorrie

Treadmill Thoughts

I just came from The Star's gym where I sweated over a bike in spin class for -- cough-cough -- can I say 35 minutes? In front of me was a line of fit joggers whirling on the treadmills.
Now, I'm a big runner most of the time. (Do I admit here that I'm actually 7 months pregnant? So right now, the only jogging I'm doing is for a seat on the subway. Which I rarely get. But that's another rant...) But I've always had a thing against treadmills.
They seem to me like a symbol of our wasteful consumption. And totally contradictory -- like taking an elevator to the gym to spend 30 minutes on the Stairmaster.
So I did a little research. It turns out (according to Treadmills USA) that the average treadmill uses around 1500 watts -- the equivalent of 15 of those old-fashioned light bulbs we've all chucked this week. So, over 30 minutes, you use .75 kilowatt-hours (logic= 1.5 kw x 0.5 hours) -- the same amount you'd use to light up your Christmas tree for six hours. (To check out the amount of electricity you use for appliances, check here.)

According to the Energy Star website, there is no such thing as an Energy Star treadmill. It's called running outside.

-- Catherine Porter