Here we are.

It’s New Year’s Eve. The opportunity we all have – and most of us want – to start afresh.

Today’s the day (or night) when we make all those decisions about how we’re going to live a better life in the coming year. Starting tomorrow we’re going to get fit, lose weight, eat healthily, be a better friend…

So how about deciding to make some changes to our lives that will make a real difference to your life – and the lives of your children and grand children, indeed everyone and everything including life as we know it – by reducing our ‘ecological footprint’, and in particular reducing our ‘carbon footprint’ (the amount of climate-damaging gases for which you are responsible)?

Sounds daunting?

What about the alternative? I find the prospect of a world that is inhospitable to life as we know it much more daunting – which is why I am stepping up my efforts.

And reducing our ecological footprint can help us towards other goals we might set for ourselves.

Baby steps

As the saying goes, a journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step.

And we can all take the first step.

We can all take baby steps. Again and again, until we get the hang of things – just like a baby does.

We can all open our eyes, be curious, look at the world afresh, try new things. Again and again – just like children do.

Why?

Nearly every day we see the consequences of damage to our climate unfolding. Massive storms. Searing heatwaves. Debilitating droughts. Ferocious fires – even out of ‘fire season’. Records tumbling. Seas eating our beaches and homes. Nature out of balance and familiar rhythms.

Constant reminders that we’re all in this new reality together.

Yet that also means that we all need to be in on the action to stop damaging our climate, and to deal with the consequences of the damage already wrought.

Why now?

The New Year is a perfect time for turning over a new leaf, for starting something new.

We can make small changes. We can make big changes. We can look at the world in a new light, and with new resolve.

Even deciding to change how we live is a big change – perhaps even the most important change.

And if we don’t succeed at our first attempt? Try, try, try again – just like a baby.

The important thing is that we all do something – that we start to make a start. That’s how we learn to do new things, and to do things differently. Because that’s what we need to do (and hope it’s not too late).

The challenge

Over the next 365 days I will be sharing my efforts towards living a lower carbon lifestyle, living more in harmony with nature…while also adapting to the consequences of our damaged climate.

Blogging for 365 days about low carbon living will be a challenge for me.

First, just writing about anything for 365 days will be a challenge for me. For one reason or another, I have not been able to write much over the last couple of years, so the coming year will be a big challenge for me.

Yet the challenge facing all of us, all of humanity, indeed life as we know it, is much greater – so I am stepping up my efforts to make personal changes and to help other people (like you!) to make changes.

As extra impetus, the Australian Capital Territory (where I live) is stepping forward to start the shift into its next phase of taking action and showing leadership to stop damaging our climate – and I am hoping my daily blog will help show some of what’s possible…and the challenges of low carbon living in a western country like Australia and a spread-out city like Canberra.

Second, will I be able to post something new and interesting every day about my efforts to more in harmony with nature with a low carbon lifestyle? I have already made an awful lot of changes so that I have been living with a smaller footprint on our precious Earth than most Australians for quite a while – but have I made 365 changes? Who knows!

In any case, I still have much room for improvement in my journey to treading gently on the earth and helping to restore her stable conditions that are hospitable for life as we know it – so I have plenty of opportunities to make further changes and share my experiences!

Will I succeed in my challenge? I don’t know – but I’m willing to give it a go.

Join me!

Any change or challenge is easier if you have company along the way.

So let’s embark on this journey together.

• Read my blog every day for ideas, thoughts and experiences for living a lower carbon lifestyle, more in harmony with nature – while also adapting to the consequences of our damaged climate.
• Subscribe to get posts direct to your inbox.
• Commit to taking action yourself.
• Add a comment to let me know you’re joining in the effort to turn around our world so it can remain liveable – and what your experiences are.
• Share with others my posts and what you’re doing – our efforts, progress, experiences and challenges – on Facebook, on Twitter, in conversations with friends, on talkback radio and in letters to the editor.

A problem shared is a problem halved. We’re all affected by the changes to our world so we need to be all in on the action!

Till next time…