I’m not perfect, and none of us is. But maybe this list will give you some inspiration and insight on what each of us can do to keep our planet cleaner, colder and at least aim to end poverty in the world.

Energy

My home and office is powered with renewable energy by Polarstern, a small independent social company that has committed itself to act as social business. I try to reduce power consumption as much as possible by turning devices off completely instead of stand-by mode. We also don’t own a TV, we watch selected films on our laptop instead.

Heating

I live in a flat (in a house with 6 flats) with my partner and heating is powered by a new Gas engine. We weren’t quite happy with that because a real wooden firewood oven creates a different type of heat and atmosphere. So we installed a wood oven.

We now cut our own trees to source firewood from a sustainable forest that we also cultivate. In 2019/20 we heated our entire flat solely from the oven (6kW) and save a lot of energy and costs while having the advantage of being outside for wood working during winter.

Electronics

I try to avoid electronic waste. My (only) Android test device is the Fairphone 1 which still serves its purpose great as it’s an older, not so capable phone. For my main devices I think Apple is still a great choice when it comes to environmental and social responsibility as they at least care a little bit about it.

Banking

I use a social and ecological bank account at GLS Bank in Germany. I also own shares of the GLS cooperative to support their business and social engagement. All personal and business accounts are all with the GLS bank.

Hosting

My personal projects are hosted on Uberspace, a small company that cares about their employees. Their servers are using green energy only. My DNS and domains are managed by OVH, an eco-friendly hosting partner.

Donations

I actively support the EFF, Wikipedia, CharityWater, and some more organizations that help creating the better, fairer society I want to live in.

Food, Coffee

I mostly buy local, organic food. Besides the ideological reasons the food usually tastes much better and is healthier than the cheap food from a discounter.

In 2017 I started farming and now grow nearly all vegetables during summer on a small field. It’s done natually (not certified) and in mixed cultivation.

Since 2020, you can get food from my CSA if you live south of Munich, Germany. We grow special and old varieties of vegetables locally and with a lot of manual work and care so it’s healthy and environment friendly. As a member of the CSA you get a weekly box full of fresh stuff from our fields during crop season.

I buy my Espresso beans either from my most local roastery röstperle or from Van Dyck (»Ehrenfelder«) Both are organic and fair-trade coffees with a great taste.

Travel

Travel-wise, I prefer riding my bike for small distances. For all other travels I prefer trains over planes and use my BahnCard 50 (Green/Eco) to get to my destination. But I’m living in a small village now and thus need a car for a couple of things.