London London London!

What is my life like in London?

It is more than I could ever hope for. I work in a fulfilling job, finishing on time everyday working efficiently, have lovely flatmates to laugh with and eat dinner together, and also able to find balance playing kendo 3-4 times a week. It's almost too good to be true. All the boxes are ticked. I am at a point where I'm expecting there must be a catch to all this.

But that's not to say I'm complacent. I want to prove that I'm manager quality and able to lead others, as well as being an undisputed expert in my field of work.

But I'm really thankful to be flat-sharing. London is such a lonely place if you don't know anyone...I knew this already, and purposely chose to do roomsharing. After all these years living abroad by myself, I don't really need privacy anymore. In fact, having another person there can make you more disciplined and considerate, and that can't be a bad thing.

What's more, my flatmates are real characters : )

First is my Italian neighbour ---- Nakai Macri!!! AAAAAAAAAA!! A self-proclaimed 'typical Napoli boy' - loves women, futbol, cars, music and eating, in that order. Nakai is here in London to work and learn English (starting from hello, literally). Oh and did I mention he is a DJ!!

Downstairs is Murtaazaa, from Tanzania!! Of Indian descent, he is a nurse at a local hospital....and rarely see him at home. However he's got the biggest room in the house, with a combined living and bedroom. He is absolutely amazing because whenever the rubbish bin fills up, the next day it's gone!!! He is a real Gandhi in the house.

My roommate is Steven, who is a typical "Shanghai" Chinese...they say. Quiet, but helpful and nice. Seems like he's got a side-business going, there are shoes and bags all over the house and Nakai bought a pair of Pradas from him for 4 pounds....

Final member of the house is Cici, pint-sized girl from China. I am forbidden to speak Mandarin to her cuz she's practising English...

World of Product Carbon Footprinting

So here I find myself, after my Masters course and by some miracle or fluke, have a job!! I definitely think my investment into this blog has been worth it, and I owe it to it to continue writing : ).

From now on, I will live and breathe product carbon footprinting. I know it doesn't sound sexy, but yes, I've been convinced and now believe in the mission of consumption end carbon reduction. I'd like to even believe that I'm helping saving the world!! haha.

In a nutshell, the world of carbon is semi-regulated and from the production end. This means that carbon emissions 'leaks' to those countries where carbon is not regulated at point of production. In essence, emissions from regulated countries may decline but in fact rise overall because emissions are outsourced elsewhere, and imported back in through products.

Hence the need to reduce carbon from point of consumption. Because this will trace the emissions all the way to the unregulated countries. If companies see it in their interest to decarbonise their supply chains, then carbon reduction can be made in non-regulated countries.

It's such a huge, mind-blowing project. In order to make this all happen, we first have to measure the embedded carbon in all products that we consume, and then make a business (or marketing) case for reducing them. Just the measurement part requires a definitive encyclopaedia of all production processes, inputs, raw materials and emission factors that are universally applicable by all companies so that the end numbers are meaningful and can be compared.

Yep, this is what I will be doing. Mapping out the carbon flows of the entire world, from the engine of a Boeing 747-400 to dried manure kept indoors for 3 months.

But yes, with me, it will be done!