"One Tonne Life" challenge family making progress, drops CO2 emissions 64% in three months

In January, we wrote about the Lindell family as they embarked on their ' One Tonne Life' challenge outside of Stockholm, Sweden. Now, a little over three months into the project, the family has reduced its carbon emissions by a whopping 64 percent, dropping from 7.29 tons of CO2 emissions per person per year to 2.7 tons. Transportation and electricity consumption were the two areas in which the Lindells made the most progress. This is thanks in large part to the home, equipped with energy efficient appliances, built for the project which runs on solar and wind power and the electric Volvo C30 provided to the family which cut their transportation emissions by a tremendous 93 percent. As mother Alicia said:

So far we haven't had to make any major compromises in our everyday lifestyle. The advanced technology has made the hunt for a carbon dioxide-leaner lifestyle easy and enjoyable. The difficult sacrifices are probably still to come. The last stretch down to one tonne will be far more difficult.

Aside from leaving their home and vehicles for six months, the Lindells have also made changes to their diet, shopping, and consumption habits. Although there are still improvements that can be made, they family does have a fixed 900 kg per person per year of emissions to account for the manufacture of items that the family uses, including clothing, the house and all its eco components, furniture, and the vehicle. Yet, Nils, the father remains optimistic saying, "We'll do the best we can. Our know-how and our motivation are growing day by day!" For those of you who want to see the full breakdown of the new, lowered CO2 emissions (and to possibly get ideas for your own family), the One Tonne Life site has a nice interactive chart with all the data.

[Source: Volvo and One Tonne Life]