My wife, relatives and friends are getting worried about me.

 They think I’m turning into a green zealot and I’m beginning to think they may have a point. Not that I’ve especially worried about the environment for most of my life or really thought much of green ways of life like separating the trash. I never go into a healthfood shop and wouldn’t dream of protesting against nuclear power.

 And for a long time I didn’t really worry too much about climate change either because climate fluctuations have been around since the beginning of time and, besides, there was little an average chump like me could do about it anyhow.
 But over the last year or two something has changed.

Seeing glaciers shrinking. Hearing about Alpine ski resorts worried about their future after so many snow-less winters. Watching hurricanes destroy places like New Orleans. the Nicholas Stern report on the economic impact. Seeing Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth“….If you add it up, it’s hard to imagine anyone who looks at the evidence could have any doubts about greenhouse gases and global warming.
    So what can an average person like me do about it?
    Ostensibly, almost nothing. But on a symbolic level, I’ve found that I can take some tiny, pain-free steps that obviously aren’t going to save the world but might save a few kilos of CO2. I’ve stopping driving or taking the train to work and have been commuting about 40 km a day by bike;  I bought a fireplace oven for heating with wood to reduce reliance on natural gas, and I’m about to sell my car.

 I take the train on long-distance trips rather than flying or driving. I’ve been looking at how far away food at the grocery store has been trucked in from, and go around turning off PCs, copying machines, lights and TVs colleagues leave on at night and weekends. I try to avoid elevators. I did some research and found out our office has an annual electric bill of some 30,000 euros.

Anyone who argues with me when I try to turn off their PC at night gets to hear about that staggering electric bill. Sometimes it works.

 I’m trying hard not to turn into a zealot. My wife reluctantly agreed to let me investigate the costs and feasibility of putting a photovoltaic system on our roof. I hope to have the solar panels up by mid-July and am counting on them negating our electric bill each year.

 But at least for now, it looks like the windmill in the backyard will have to wait.