Have I lived eco-positive the past year? 2023/2024 edition

Every year in September I look back at the period of exactly one year. I answer the question: how many earths do we need if everybody on the planet lived like me? In other words: am I taking more than my share when it comes to the earth’s resources? Or am I living an eco-positive lifestyle? The goal is to have a score of 1 earths or lower. That equals to 257 points or less in the test I am about to take. Last year I had a score of 1,01 earths and so, I didn’t make it. I am shitting myself for this year. Have I lived eco-positive the past year? 2023/2024 edition. Let’s take a look.

Past scores and the test

I’ve been measuring whether I live eco-positive or not since 2018. If you want to learn more about my previous scores, look in the category ‘What is an eco-positive lifestyle?’ under the ‘home’ tab. All previous posts can be found there. In this post I’ll also show you the trend in scores from my previous years. I always list the score of the average Dutch person and from myself. This score is from exactly 1 year time, from the 1st of September 2022 till the 31st of August 2023. Out of the 5 times I took the test the past years, I made it only twice below a score of 1 earth.

The test I’m taking is developed by Linda from Zaailingen.com. It’s a combination of The Hidden Impact calculation by Babette Porcelijn and a calculation from CE Delft. The test includes the 10 categories in which Dutch people make the biggest negative impact. Each category gives me a certain amount of points. I need a score of 257 points or lower to have lived eco-positive. 257 points means that we’d need 1 earth. I highly recommend you to take the test too, because most Dutch people think their score is really good, when this is not the case.

Category 1: Stuff

The past year I spend 223,75 euros on new stuff. That’s 200 euros less than last year. I exclude consumables like shampoo, make-up and other things that are not stuff. I also exclude secondhand stuff here, since I think the impact should go to the person which buys something new. If you’re buying secondhand, you’re make use of someone else’s trash. I think that’s a good thing, but of course I try to minimize all my purchases, secondhand and new. Below you see everything I bought new the past year. This category gives me 32,521 points this year and that’s the lowest score ever! I feel proud.

When you look at the list below (of only 7 items!), you might think that I stopped counting in 2024. That is not the case. I just stopped buying new things. The thing is: I get better at this every year. I think that’s because I already own enough and get better at buying secondhand. In the list below I made 4 items bold, those items are gifts. It’s the biggest share of the items. I try to tell the people around me all the time that I don’t want new items. They don’t seem to get it. And that’s on me. I say it often, but never when I receive the gifts. That would be rude, so I always thank someone on that moment.

I bought only three new items myself the past year. A light for my bike, which was a mistake. I didn’t think a dynamo light could fit on the back of my bike. But eventually it did, so I replaced the light with a Reelight. I hope this item will last me a lifetime, it’s a lamp with a dynamo in it. And last: I bought the iPhone charger new because I needed a new one very fast, there was no time for choosing secondhand. I don’t regret it. Off to a score of 0 next year!

The list of things I bought new the past year:

1 Powerbank (September 2023), 150 euros
2 A light for my bike (November 2023), 5,75 euro
3 Paper calendar (November 2023), 5 euros
4 Reelight (November 2023), 19 euros
5 Jug (December 2023), 19 euros
6 Set game (December 2023), 10 euros
7 iPhone charger (December 2023), 15 euros

Category 2: Meat

This category is extremely short compared to the last category. I have been a vegetarian since 2016 and a vegan since 2017. After 8,5 years I am still going strong and I would never go back. My bloodwork looks amazing. Here’s why I think it’s unethical to consume meat. Since I don’t eat meat this category gives me 0 points.

Category 3: Household Energy

I moved in the past 12 months. I left Amsterdam and now live with my in-laws. And I did it exactly at half of this year, in February 2024. So, the first 6 months of the past year I lived in a student flat with 13 others and the last 6 months I lived with my in-laws (just the 4 of us).

Let’s talk about the first half year. I had no insight in my energy bill when I lived in the student flat. There was just no way to see any numbers. So, last year, when I also lived there, I took 80% of the average score. 80% of the average for the whole year is 1271 kilowatt-hours of electricity and 488 square meters of gas. Since I lived there for half the year, I’m taking half of this. 636 kilowatt-hours and 244 square meters of gas. It’s probably very high, since I managed to never turn the heat on (f*ck you, Putin). But since I don’t know, I don’t want to be too optimistic.

Then the second half of the year. I found the household numbers and then divided this by four (since we live with four people). That gives me 976 kilowatt hours and 255 square meters of gas. I also divide this number in two since I lived here for half a year.

These numbers give me 28,078 points in the first half year and 46,317 point in the second half year. That in total makes 74,395 points in this category. Waaaaay more than I want. The trend in this graph is going the wrong way.

Category 4: The Car

At the end of every week, I list all my car rides of that week. This makes that when I do this calculation once a year, it’s a piece of cake. My feeling says that I traveled a bit more than last year by car. That’s because I don’t own a car, but now that I live with my in-laws I always have two cars which I may use. It makes me lazy. If you have it, you use it more. I try to avoid it, but I am slipping up more than I want. Let’s take a look.

The past year I traveled 1579 kilometers with 2 persons in total in the car. I traveled 1894 kilometers in total with 4 persons in the car and I traveled exactly 700 kilometers with 5 persons in the car. As you can see, I never travel alone and travel the most with 4 persons in a car. The times I traveled with 3 persons, I listed it as 4, to not be too optimistic. This makes a total of 4173 kilometer by car. That’s the distance it takes to get from Amsterdam to Beirut in Lebanon! It’s too much I’d say. But I say that every year. This category gives me 14,343 points. More than last year, but still okay-ish. I hope to improve when I move to my own apartment again.

Category 5: All other foods

Meat, dairy and eggs are specific categories. That’s because these products create an immense amount of negative impact. This category contains all the food that’s left. The average Dutch person eats 2521 grams of food each day. I find this category quite hard to calculate but I’m going with a higher score than last year, 60% of the average score. 70% of the impact in this category is caused by drinks, like coffee, tea and soft drinks. For health reasons, my personal goal is always to drink water and so I think I’m doing quite good in this category. But now that I live with my in-laws and am not in charge of all groceries, I eat a lot less organic food. That’s why I am going with 60% this time, instead of my usual 50%. 60% of the average is 44,66 points. 

Category 6: Flying

In 2019 I finally stopped flying. That means that this is the sixth year in line that I haven’t flown. Yes! I am happy with this. But, I have a lot to make up for. From age 8 till 21 I flew about 20 times. For now, I am doing good and I am determined to stretch this no-flying rule for as long as I can. If electric flying is a thing one day, maybe then I’ll consider it again. Right now though, we’re in a climate crisis. This category gives me 0 points.

Category 7: Clothing

Contrary to last year (when I bought a lot of new underwear), I ‘bought’ only 2 new clothing items the past year. I say ‘bought’ because I did not buy them myself. Both of them were gifts from my mom. A pair of socks in November 2023, which I think cost 14 euros (I had to look it up) and a crop top in August 2024, which cost 4 euros. That means I spend 28 euros the past year on new clothing. For the calculation I’m also supposed to give up the weight, where each item is 500 grams, except for socks and underwear, which is 250 grams. That’s why I gave up 500 grams for the socks and the crop top.

Even though they were gifts, I do account the costs and impact to me. Just like I do with the category stuff. I am the person using the items and it’s also up to me to make sure the people around me know that I don’t want any new clothing. My mom is just too sweet, she wants to buy me something every once in a while. That’s usually secondhand, but she’s not perfect either. And that’s okay. This category teaches me that life is full of unexpected moment and you can’t control everything. I am fine with it. This category gives me 3,058 points. It’s the same score as in 2019/2020, but it’s not my lowest ever. I am still keen to get it to 0 next year. I’ll just try again.

Category 8: Dairy and eggs

Back to a good category! I went vegan in 2017 and I still am vegan today. In one month I will be vegan for 7 years. For now, I just want to say: I will stay vegan and so this score will not change. This category gives me 0 points, as I don’t eat dairy or eggs.

Category 9: Water

In this category I’ll do the same as with household energy. I’ll split the year in half. Half of the year I lived in a student flat and half of the year I lived with my in-laws.

For the first half year I don’t have any insight into my water usage. For now, I took 80% from the average Dutch person’s score for this half year. I do that because I have been able to measure this water score once (in 2020/2021), when I lived with my boyfriend for a year. Our score was quite low back then and my behavior hasn’t changed much. I try to be conscious with my water use. 80% of the Dutch average for 6 months is 18m3 of water.

The second half of the year, like I said, I lived with my in-laws. I can see exactly what we use as a household. I then dive this by four and divide it again by half, since it was only half a year. This gives me also 18m3 of water.

So, in total 36 m3 of water. That’s just below the average and gives me a score of 13,397 points.

Category 10: Public Transport

Onto my personal biggest category. Public transportation is always a big one for me, as I don’t fly and try to minimize my trips by car. In the beginning of this year I had a long distance relationship, but lived close to my job. The second half year I lived together with my boyfriend but I live far from work, about 2,5 hours for a single trip. I also live about 2,5 hours from my family and I made a huuuge interrail trip in 2023. Let’s see.

The past year I traveled 25.205 kilometers by public transportation. That’s more than from Amsterdam to Kaapstad and then back. I more than half of the earth’s circumference. Insane. This category gives me 116,598 points. Surprisingly, it’s not my highest score ever. But it’s almost the same.

I think I’m getting to the limits of this category. I actually do want to travel less. Less to work. I want to move closer to my job and the plans are there for the coming months. Then I hope to cut this category down. But that’s the only thing. Cutting down on holidays is just not an option for now. I’d rather cut down in other categories if I have to.

My end score

I am going to tell you straight away. My end score is 298,972 points. To be able to live an eco-positive lifestyle I need 257 points or less, so that means I did not make it. I have almost 42 points too many. A score of 298,972 points equals to 1,2 earths. If everybody on this planet lived like me, we’d need 1,2 earths. Gosh, I am so disappointed. We only have 1. And what I am very worried about is the trend you see in my end scores since 2018. I kept going down until 2021, but from 2021 onwards I just keep getting higher scores.

In the trend you can see that I’ve been focussing on a few categories, which really declined. That’s flying, the car and stuff. I have cut down flying to zero. The amount of kilometers by car also shows a downwards trend. Same goes for stuff. And I am really proud of that to be honest, it’s been a journey. This year was my lowest score ever for stuff and I am sure I can keep that going.

My impact vs. the average Dutch person

What’s funny is that I have a whole other top 10 than the average Dutch person. Besides the fact that my impact is much lower (even though it’s still too high). I’ve made a table to make this more visible.

My personal top 10	Score	The average Dutch person’s top 10*	Score
1. Public transportation	116	1. Stuff	319
2. Household energy	74	2. Meat	209
3. All other foods	45	3. Household energy	90
4. New stuff	33	4. Car	89
5. The Car	14	5. All other foods	74
6. Water	13	6. Flying	54
7. Clothing	3	7. Clothing	37
8. Meat	0	8. Eggs and dairy	30
9. Eggs and dairy	0	9. Water	16
10. Flying	0	10. Public transportation	5
Total	298	Total	924

Why didn’t I make it?

But the question for this year is: what kept me from getting to my goal? Of course, all categories matter. But in this year’s score you really see two massive scores: public transportation and household energy. Together they give me already 191 points. That’s 74% of my budget of 257 that I have. That’s just too much. It leaves only 26% for all the food I eat, water use, the car, clothing and stuff.

What really bugs me here is that over the household energy I have no influence right now. The first half of the year I had no insights, so I took 80% of the average score. But I know that’s high, because the one year I did measure it (2020/2021), I had a really low score. And I never used the heating. But since I don’t know, I think 80% is fair. The second half of the year I lived with my in-laws. I have no control over 75% of this number, because I live with three other people. My in-laws manage the heating and electricity. I take ownership by never turning on the heating myself in the house and use as little electricity as possible. But the rest is out of my control. The size of the house and so how much energy we need to heat it is not up to me (heating is the biggest share of the household energy).

The solution and plan for next year

I am not willing to give up public transportation. It’s my only way to travel, as I don’t fly and avoid the car as much as possible. But what I can do is move. Once I move, I live closer to my job and that’ll make a difference. 204 kilometers a week to be precise. About 8000 kilometers a year. That saves me 36 points already. Then I still need to cut down 6 more points.

The solution for the last 6 points is the same: I need to move. I am very grateful that I am able to live with my in-laws while my boyfriend and I don’t have a home. But it’s not what we want and we are currently looking for a small home of about 50/60 square meters. Last time we lived together in such a small space we used a looooot less energy. I think I can cut down the category household energy by about 75%. In that case I’d easily stay below the 257 points. But unfortunately, I can’t do much more to move out fast. The housing market in The Netherlands is awful. We’re searching together with our realtor and doing everything we can. I hope it will happen soon, but I can’t say.

Final words

I feel a little bit powerless this year. Most categories I can influence are quite low. The ones I can’t influence that much, are really high. But still, I chose to be in this situation. Nobody forced me to live with my in-laws. And I am looking for a place to live in Utrecht, which has high scarcity in homes. I could also choose to live elsewhere, which is not so popular. So that 1,2 earths is on me. And I am honestly very guttered by it. It’s the second year in line that I did not stay below the 1 earth. The best I can think of is that I’ll have to compensate a lot the coming years, so that over 10 years time the average is lower than 1. But that’s not a good solution. My structural lifestyle should be sustainable, within the earth’s capacity. That’s it. I need to do better. For all of us.

Yours sincerely,
Romee