Original author George Marshall. Read the personal account of environmentalist and founder of the Climate Outreach Information Network, George Marshall’s commitment to fighting climate change.

Introduction

"What can I do about climate change in my own life?" is an often asked question. Some people fear the answer so they avoid the question, but need change be so threatening? In this personal contribution, George Marshall describes his own response to climate change. His story is not meant as a blueprint. Many of us may only get as far as changing the lightbulbs! But we believe it is interesting and inspiring to explore what each of us as individuals may choose to change in response to a problem of overwhelming scale.

Author George Marshall with his daughter, Elsa.

Sections in this article

Years of Apathy

Step One - deciding to do something

Step Two - reducing our impacts

Step Three - multiplying our actions

Step Four- becoming politically active

And what about you?

Where Next?

Years of Apathy

I first became aware of climate change in 1988. After an initial rush of concern, I managed to thoroughly ignore the issue. If anyone had asked me, I would have agreed that it was indeed a terrible problem. Yet I did not allow that awareness to impinge in any way on my lifestyle and, in particular, my determination to fly wherever and whenever I wanted.

 

In ten years I flew over 300,000 km. My flights have had the same climate change impact as 180,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide, the annual emissions of 180 Indians. I could have argued that my work as a forest and indigenous rights campaigner justified this impact- but in reality I never gave it any thought at all. No one flies more than career environmentalists.

Not that I was different from anyone else. As a society we are collectively in denial. We diffuse responsibility hoping that someone else will sort it out. We diffuse blame: it's the fault of those people with big cars or big houses, we say; it's the fault of the corporations, the government, the Americans, or the Chinese.

Step One - deciding to do something

Three years ago I became aware that climate change posed an overwhelming threat to all the forests I had been campaigning to save, in particular the Amazon. I felt a growing anger at the miserably inadequate response from all sectors of society. In 2002 I took the plunge and decided to dedicate the rest of my life to fighting climate change.

With this commitment came a certain inner peace. As the self help gurus say: there are no problems, only opportunities! My decision to actively engage with the issue created for me a lifetime of opportunities and creative challenges.

Step Two - reducing our impacts

I would never be able to persuade anyone to reduce their emissions if I could not do it myself. I embarked on an experiment with my wife Annie (thankfully a willing partner) to reduce our family emissions by two thirds.

In 2000 we started renovating our crumbling 1930's terraced house and took the opportunity to install every energy saving feature we could afford. A new extension and loft conversion are two to three times better insulated than required by building regulations. We fitted high specification windows, a new boiler and a solar hot water panel. All air entering the house was pre-warmed by a sun porch at the rear.

The Back of George's House.

We have also tried to adopt a low carbon lifestyle. We have no car and are determined not to get one. It is a constant struggle given the criminal negligence of public transportation. We source almost all our food locally from a local organic box scheme and our allotment, and buy organic dry goods in bulk. We rarely buy anything new, even for our baby, Elsa, who is dressed head to toe in car boot clothing and has second hand toys. And, of course, her nappies are all re-usable.

Our only remaining area of compromise is flying. Annie is American and we do not feel it is right to deny Elsa access to her American family. At present we offset the emissions of our annual flight by giving away 20 low energy lightbulbs, each one of which will lead to an emissions saving of half a tonne of carbon dioxide over its lifespan.

Step Three - multiplying our actions

The pessimist is right about one thing; individual cuts are pretty irrelevant in the global context. But individual action can become a powerful generator of change when it is publicised and promoted and used to inspire collective action. The paint had scarcely dried before I was writing articles and giving tours of the house. This year I am creating a website on the house and all its features with a small grant from the Lotteries Commission. Later this year I will produce a CD ROM and sniff out a contract for a book. As I said, each challenge produces new opportunities.

Step Four- becoming politically active

I have no confidence that governments or market-based solutions will be able to counteract the trillions of dollars invested in the fossil fuel industry. As history shows us time and time again, transformation requires the sustained pressure of a large and vocal social change movement.

Rising Tide demonstrate in London.

So, in November 2000 I joined the thousands of people protesting inside and outside the Conference of Parties climate negotiations in The Hague. A small group of us regrouped in 2001 to set up a network called Rising Tide to support grassroots climate campaigning. In the UK we have toured the country twice, and set up information stalls at every major environmental festival. We have organised speaker training weekends, national and regional gatherings. Our website, risingtide.org. has had over 40,000 hits and 900 people receive our monthly e-mail newsletter. There are also Rising Tide networks across Europe and in Nepal, Australia and South Korea. It is still very early days, but there are the beginnings of a global opposition.

And what about you?

It is hard to feel able to confront the widespread apathy and denial. I suggest that you start by considering how best to mobilise your personal strengths. Maybe you have a technical skill that can be used to develop practical solutions. Maybe you have a communications skill that can be used to persuade and inform. Or maybe you hold a position of economic or political power that can be used to demand institutional change. Once you have reached a profound and lasting recognition of the depth of this crisis, and committed yourself to taking real personal action, there can be no turning back.

Where Next?

On ClimateX.org

Read other personal accounts of Oxfordshire people who have taken up the challenge to fight climate change in articles such as ‘Be Your Own Generator', and ‘Westmill Windfarm: local windpower'. Profiles of Oxfordshire people taking up the challenge can be found onsite at http://climatex.org.uk/articles/community/Oxfordshire_Faces/ under the ‘Community' section.

External Links

George Marshall now heads the Oxfordshire charity COIN, the Climate Outreach Information Network. The charity organises speaker events and training for people interested in finding out more about climate change and sharing this with others. He can be contacted via its website, http://coinet.org.uk/  . Find out about the rising tide movement by visiting their website, http://risingtide.org.uk/ .

To take a virtual tour of George's house visit the Yellow House website. You can also visit an ecohome in Headington at http://www.sageoxford.org.uk/ecohouse.htm   Another ecohome, this one in Nottingham, can be viewed at http://www.msarch.co.uk/ecohome/ The site has an excellent photo gallery.