22 June 2011 - Starting the experiment: before the pain begins!

Hi everyone! I’m Brenno from Australia.

I’m part of a group of environmental governance students from Freiburg uni doing a 4-week sustainable living experiment. I’m really looking forward to the challenge of the experiment – to see just how hard (or easy – unlikely!) it is to live more sustainably in Freiburg. We often hear about the importance of changing our consumption patterns in our environmental governance classes, however no-one ever tells you what that really means in a day-to-day sense.

Going into the experiment I would have to admit that I probably think I am a more sustainable consumer than I really am. I don’t really ever check the origin of the food I buy, and most of the time I just go for the cheapest and most convenient stuff. I guess I am more conscious about energy use. I try to minimize energy wastage as much as possible by switching off appliances and lights that I’m not using and that kind of thing (doesn’t seem like much when I type it down though!).

I hope this experience will give me a better idea about the practicalities of sustainable consumption, and force me to learn ways to consume more sustainably in the future.