Minimising Environmental Impacts…….how good are we at Crann Og Eco Farm?
We have just calculated our current environmental impacts for our whole Eco Farm. We are 3 households, 1 main house and two upscale recycled mobile homes, with 6 full time residents. We take in an average of 350 guests per year in our two wood cabins, yurt and A-frame cabin and various events. We also give three yoga classes per week almost all year round and operate our workshop equipped with many electrical tools.
According to www.carbonfootprint.com our total carbon footprint is 13.98 tonnes of CO2, or 2.3 tonnes per capita (6 people, not including all our guests!)………the Irish average per capita is 10.4 tonnes. The average for industrialised nations is 11 tonnes per capita. The average worldwide including the poorest nations is 4 tonnes per capita. So per capita, we come in at around half the world average and 22.4% of the Irish average. A fine result indeed!
And how do we fare in other ways?
With the six of us and all our guests we generate just 12 X 120 litre wheelie bins of refuse per year and our electrical charges are a fraction of what you might expect. In the period reported below we used just 3765 kWh (Irish average household uses 5,300kWh per year) at a cost of €1300. Please see the graph below and remember we are 6 people and loads of guests (and that workshop!). The spike from April to June 2014 is when we were doing a lot of metal welding and cutting.
We are really excited about these statistics, it demonstrates to us that our reduce, reuse and recycle methodologies are working very well indeed! How do we do it? Visit our website and check out our Ecotourism Values and Environmental Management pages for the low down!
How do you fare in comparison? All are welcome to visit us at Crann Og Eco Farm to see and learn how simple it is to reduce your own environmental impacts and live a much more sustainable lifestyle……we look forward to meeting you soon!