How do you mitigate your geocoin footprint?

[+forthferalz]

Penny and Kona raised a goodpoint that i think deserves its own thread. How do you mitigate your geocoin footprint?

 

Geocaching is certainly not primarily about conservation although to keep enjoying the great outdoors it's a obviously hand in glove so spreading the joy of it and reaching out to strangers is ultimately beneficial imho.

 

When creating coins for sale/trade i was well aware of the problem of using resources for a fairly frivolous pastime but since I am not going to find the cure for cancer and must make my minor contributions to the general good elswhere while enjoying my time on the planet I decided that the greater good was indeed served by making the money go round. In minting offshore I help think i do help to raise the standard of living in China - I certainly help to keep the aussie posties employed and they are ever so thankful! so even in these less properous times we are going ahead with the australia 2009 coin rather than bunkering down.

Poor people can't afford to be clean and green -they have to use cheap dirty fuel, low yielding crops, lousy health care .... what I don't buy as frequently anymore now is dressy clothes, makeup, takeaway food, books, newspapers - and we now choose local produce, sorry won't buy USA oranges.

 

I have always mitigated my coins air freight quietly with a carbon offset planting calculated loosely at 6 square metres of bush regeneration per delivery - i forget what database i used for that but it was surprisingly not a lot. For those without a big backyard there's plenty of local and international groups grateful for a donation if you have a modest profit http://www.carbonfootprint.com/plantingtreesinkenya.html

 

donations wildlife conservation groups are likewise quitely disbursed.

[+Fiery Searcher]

I just finished a lecture for a group of "Upward Bound" kids interested in biology, and our topic for today was simply HOW do we balance human needs and consumption with conservation efforts to sustain biodiversity. There is no easy answer, but there are definitely trends and facts that are not really topics for debate, no matter how much one doesn't like them.

 

Several of my students last semester became what I call "cop-out realists," largely in response to just simply being overwhelmed by the magnitude of human activities and the severity of the impacts from these activities. What I mean is that their argument to everything was, "There's a negative impact to everything we do - it's unavoidable, so just continue on and hope someone really smart figures out a better way in the future." I must admit to entertaining this idea with geocoins. I'm not the only collector, and there's no way around it, so it must be part of passion.

 

The other argument about our interest and dollars improving the quality of life for those in China and other developing nations is tricky. China has been criticized sharply in the news for having policies that address demand for their products exclusively and without any regard for environmental mitigation in those industries that do have negative impacts on biodiversity, clean air, clean water, etc. Moreover, reports of working conditions at toy manufacturing factories (is that redundant?) are just really sad, and without any evidence of improving. I think we would be naive to think that conditions at coin mints are significantly better. So, lots of money going overseas to countries without the same environmental/social regulations that we have in the US doesn't really bode well for sustainable development, IMO.

 

Wasn't there someone on the forums who said he/she would NOT mint their own coin until they could do it in the US? And I believe there are mints in the US who will mint geocoins, but my understanding is that they only do metal coins and very limited enamels...

 

Offsetting our carbon/energy usage is a new concept here in the states, and I definitely need to look into that more. And this is not just relative to coins, as forthferalz correctly pointed out. When I geocache, I go in my car (a Saturn). When I come home hot and sweaty and covered in chiggers, I am so thankful for the air conditioning and the clean running water. I guess the place I'm at right now is that I just try to be an energy/resource minimalist whenever possible but still enjoy (to the fullest!) silly pasttimes and hobbies.

 

Thanks so much for this topic! I know that geocachers are largely interested in the environmental and green spaces...in other words, conservationists at heart!

[+Fiery Searcher]

Man, I really need to shorten my posts - sorry!

 

I was just listening to "Talk of the Nation" and the subject of geocaching came up as a was to fight "nature deficit disorder" in our kids. Another valid point to consider, for sure.

[+Renegade Knight]

....

Offsetting our carbon/energy usage is a new concept here in the states, and I definitely need to look into that more....

Saw this concept on Fox news. They broke down the costs. Expensive. However while they were trying to knock it, the reality is that we need to pay attention as a planet (meaning all countries) and pay the price to get the results we want.

 

Back OT. If the factory buys offsets and you also buy offests, that's double dipping. Right now it's a non issue. In time if we ever did bank enough carbon we could have the opposite problem. Plants like CO2 we need to have it in the air at some level.

[+forthferalz]

hi P&K I'll respond to some of your points:

 

1. "cop out realists" - ( is there a kinder term? Pragmatists? ) not a bad way to go as long as they are educated, well informed and of good heart because it is ultimately the herd purchasing power that drives the direction we go in as long as we have choices - and choice largely means having either political clout or money. Poor disenfranchised people have no choice. Eat today even if it is next year's seed. Cleverer people will and do create solutions a bucket loads of them all the time! I am in awe of these people and I love purchasing their stuff. Change is both a lot slower and a lot faster than I imagined as a teenager - not so much a steady slope as a kind of exponential curve....

 

SO as a teacher you have such a huge influence on the next generation. For every child you teach the ripple effect is enormous. edit: actually at the risk of blowing my own trumpet in case you need concrete evidence- http://www.landcareheroes.com/profile/devo...an-school/6/14/ Now this is cleverer persons at work - but i like to think I helped start it by introducing the lady who is the driving force behind it to the clever folk with the methods for it when we were homeschoolers. It's not her only project - there's another wetlands in the local area being revived and of course there is a cache there

 

2. The mint in China DOES care about conditions both when there is economic incentive and when there isn't (there are some enamel finishes they will not generally use fullstop.) For instance we preferentially do not import silver coloured beads containing lead as kids can swallow them, ditto the glazing on ceramics that are imported .... it's not critical with geocoins but the blanks are not lead cored. I don't think my glasscoins are outright toxic if you accidentally swallow them or drop it in your coke (acid will leach metals out!) but we have to wear masks and wash wash wash paws when cutting the raw material ( ps for those who are worried puleeze do not use crystal beads/glasses/decanters ) Some of these restrictions are mediated at govt. levels.

 

3. if you purchase from a US geocoin designer I guess 100% of artwork, tracking and icon costs and about half your money overall, stays in the US - not sure what you can buy that is better than that? Even the petrol costs for getting my food to me means some of all my purchasing goes offshore. Large mint might like to comment

Edited July 7, 2009 by forthferalz

[+tsunrisebey]

This is a heavy question and not one I'm prepared to answer fully at the moment but a "place holder" answer;

 

I think a large majority of coiners reduce their E-footprint by reusing envelopes instead of grabbing a new one. I've also seen teh reuse of newspaper or some sort ofprinted material as packaging for coins.

 

That's my very minor contribution to the conversation for the moment

[+forthferalz]

hi Renegade Knight,

 

I looked into purchasing carbon offsets - a lot of it looked a little scammy but i trust world vision australia.

Basically getting out into my paddock and putting in 6m of bush is guaranteed, cheaper and it needed doing for environmental reasons - the coins give me a little added incentive.

 

errrr - should I fess up? hmmmm if you know how to collect local native seed ( join a landcare group to do it properly) www.understorey-network.org.au is where i learnt you can then just fling them around bare weedy nasty spots and pray! or raise a batch of seedlings to give away .... cost minimal. I also walk with a five weeds out for each walk - not a lot but a bit. They tend to pop up in the cleared spaces like the carpark and beginning of a track.

[+Fiery Searcher]

hi P&K I'll respond to some of your points:

 

1. "cop out realists" - ( is there a kinder term? Pragmatists? )

 

Thanks for this - I think my empathy of this point of view definitely got lost or not well-expressed at all in my original post, and I agree with your kinder term of pragmatist! For my students that I mentioned, and I can only speak to their case, these were students who visited me after class and were sincerely concerned about some of the issues discussed in class but felt helpless to do anything about it. Their immediate way to "deal" with their conflicting interests (I want a nice house for my family, but I feel a bit guilty for how much more energy it will take to heat/cool it than in other countries...) was to be more realistic and see things as unavoidable. I felt so bad that my lectures had depressed them, and that they were at a point where they couldn't see a silver lining. I would like to be one of those teachers who inspires, and instead I was depressing! I make it a point now to not present negative environmental impacts without also pointing out that there are ways to "manage" these negative effects. In the long run, there's no doubt in my mind that some of them will continue to THINK about these things and how to lessen negative impacts well beyond their college years (the ripple effect...I love this analogy!), and thinking is better than ignoring/denying altogether.

 

And I've not dealt with mints at all, directly or indirectly. I am comforted to hear that there is more concern in China than what I've read, and more information on a topic is always a good strategy.

 

Back to coins and my own interest in them, I am just feeling my own "inner conflict" about this and wanted to see if anyone else in these forums is experiencing this or has experienced it and already come to some "peace" about it. I really like geocoins, I like watching my collection grow, and I think there are some snazzy designs out there! I also know there are others in these forums who enjoy the environment, feel revitalized just by being outside, and who find great inspiration in natural areas. Can we have our cake (or coin) and eat it (or covet it) too? I was hoping to hear how others "deal" with the same inner conflict, or even if there are coiners out there who feel this is an issue at all. Tsun's comment is one way to "deal," and anyone who has traded with me has seen my reused envelopes! I hope to hear more solutions like this. My intention was not to be preachy, and so I'll just need to work harder at my writing clarity!

[+Droo]

Penny and Kona raised a goodpoint that i think deserves its own thread. How do you mitigate your geocoin footprint?

 

One way to mitigate my geocoin footprint is to not shop at WalMart. I also put out more recyclables than I do trash and more importantly I turn off all lights and electronics when I'm not using them (would love to be able to afford solar panels).

[+JAYMEDINC]

As someone who makes medallions for a living, I will give you a hint on how to make the coins lighter weight, in turn reducing your freight cost. Not too mention making the cost of the coin lower. But quality will suffer too.

 

Request your coin to be a zinc alloy cast. I hate these kinds of coins. But if you are looking to improve your footprint, this is the way to go.

[avroair]

Geocoins have a carbon footprint, since I spend 10 hours a day looking at a computer screen... the carbon footprint of that far outweighs that of coins.

[+Zarya.]

I just read an interesting article on the idea of personal footprints. Decided it'd be worth sharing, so I uploaded it in horrendous quality here:

 

http://www.nascency.org/share/

[+forthferalz]

As someone who makes medallions for a living, I will give you a hint on how to make the coins lighter weight, in turn reducing your freight cost. Not too mention making the cost of the coin lower. But quality will suffer too.

 

Request your coin to be a zinc alloy cast. I hate these kinds of coins. But if you are looking to improve your footprint, this is the way to go.

thanks for the hint. they certainly are lighter.

 

but i think the quality certainly need not suffer though - the geocaching dragon v2 was zinc specifically to get teh sharpness of detail out of the die ( die filled and spun like for cast jewelery making not die stamped blank i think is how it goes - someone clarify?) I believe the early german coins from ron de haan were among those that used zinc -at least they were always criticized for being light in the hand - however I loved those coins!

 

not easy being green - I have read that zinc is much dirtier in the mining process and nickel is preferrable. Ditto gold - heavy on the environment, working conditions atrocious in some countries.