In reply to Daithi O Murchu:
I spent 15 years living in London, with no car, cycling/running to work etc. I think it was a more efficient 'per capita' way to live. Since last year, we've moved to the country and have bought a car, and live in a much much bigger house so in some ways our footprint has gone up but is balanced out in other ways.
Pros:
1. I work from home. Conference calls/video conferencing.
2. Only use the car a couple of times per week
3. Wood pellet boiler for central heating
4. We grow our own veg, and compost a lot. Cook a lot with local produce from markets.
5. No children
6. I live in France, so most of my electricity is nuclear.
Cons:
1. I work from home - so I have to travel to other countries by train, air and car every couple of weeks
2. When I do use the car, its for longer journies than usual (50km round trip to supermarket, 320km round trip to airport)
3. House insulation isnt so great - we're working on it.
4. We eat meat, fairly wasteful use of resources on a global scale.
5. We have a dog and three cats - their food consumes a lot protein which is resource intensive to raise.
6. I live in France, so most of my electricity is nuclear.