We can all play a part to help the planet
By Justin Rose
(From The Times)
December 16, 2008
Monday, December 15, was a big date for me. It was my second wedding anniversary. While Kate, my wife who is pregnant, is back home in Orlando, Florida, I have been at Fancourt at my house in George, South Africa, for a week's practice. My mother and brother were there and so was my grandmother, whom I don't see that often. She spoilt me, as she always does.
Yesterday I flew from George to East London, an hour away, and then was driven for 45 minutes to the carbon-offset project I have been associated with this year.
I know we all have to travel by plane or drive by car, but if we can do something that is less damaging to the environment than something else, that is a good thing. At home, Kate and I are as conscientious as we can be.
We recycle household stuff. We turn lights off when we leave the room. We are careful about the air-conditioning. We have chosen a car that is not a gas guzzler, a BMW X6, an active hybrid. Single-handedly none of us can save the planet, but together we can.
It all started just over a year ago when Tradition, one of my sponsors, pledged to offset all the carbon emissions generated by me and my team in 2008. That was a big announcement and it attracted quite a lot of interest. I think I was the first golfer to do this and one of the first sportsmen.
The carbon emissions of Team Rose are offset by purchasing CERs (Certified Emissions Reductions) from a specifically sourced project in Stutterheim, near East London.
The project requires the construction of a factory that will produce bio mass bricks (clean burning bricks) intended to replace traditional coal. The bricks will be manufactured using wood-chip waste, which would otherwise rot and emit methane gas into the atmosphere. Replacing traditional coal in local industries will also eliminate the burning of fossil fuels. In addition, the factory will create jobs and self-employment opportunities for 20 families, in an area where communities suffer from an 80 per cent unemployment rate. The project will be registered with the United Nations under the Kyoto Protocol to ensure that the emissions reductions are of a high international standard.
How about that? Not bad, eh?
Now to my golf. This week is my last event of the year, the South African Airways Open in Paarl. I know very little about the course other than it is designed by Jack Nicklaus and it will be very windy down there. I am keen to play and even keener to play well. I had a good few days' practice at Fancourt last week. Brandon, my brother, brought three friends down from Johannesburg and as I had three English friends over, we played a two-day SA v England match.
The standard was good. Brandon, who was a pro, is off four now. The highest handicap among us was 13. I am pleased to say England triumphed, so we've got the bragging rights for a year.
I feel that my hard work back home last month did not pay off at the Nedbank Golf Challenge two weeks ago, where I finished ninth. I had only two birdies other than on the par-fives all week, and that is nothing like good enough. I did not feel as comfortable as I felt I should have. Things didn't click, but I am feeling better now. I am getting closer to what I want, which is feeling that I can play golf without having a long list of checkpoints. What I really want to be able to do is to get up there and hit it.
Then I fly back to the United States to spend Christmas with Kate. It will be our first Christmas in the US and is going to be a new experience - I gather that they don't stint on the lights. I got her present organised before I left and she gave me a pile to take to friends and relatives in South Africa. I miss Kate. We talk once each day and text one another a lot. It has been a long three weeks since I saw her. She says she is well, though, and well looked after by her friends.
We will be at home for Christmas before we take off for a few days down on the coast afterwards. I am due to see Nick on January 2 and I play my first tournament of 2009 at Qatar. Next year is going to be better than 2008. It has to be.