A bad reputation
| VIEWPOINT |
We're all told to watch our carbon footprint these days, but some so-called "environmental nasties" are not as bad as you might think - at least from a carbon point of view, says Mike Berners-Lee.
With so much heated debate about the carbon footprint of things, it would be easy to feel guilty about everything or just to give up caring. Reducing carbon dioxide emissions is seen as a key way to reduce climate change by a number of experts, but calculating those footprints can be hideously complicated.
However, with a few provisos, we can actually afford to chill out about certain carbon footprints, which aren't as bad as many of us might think. The figures don't need to be too precise before people can start making sensible, carbon-savvy choices. Even quite a basic understanding can lead to surprising conclusions.
 |
1. Plastic bags really are nasty in so many ways - we use too many, they litter our streets, invade ecosystems and cause problems for wildlife. However, if you do end up walking home from the shops with a couple of carrier bags, the chances are only about 1,000th of the carbon footprint is in the carrier bags - 10g carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) - and the rest is in the shopping.
2. Using electric hand driers beats reusable towels because it avoids laundry and comes in at three to 20g CO2e per go. The Dyson Airblade is best because it doesn't heat the air. The footprint pays its way by reducing the burden on health services - fewer germs usually mean less illness. The real story here, though, is that if you drive or fly you should forget the hand drying and save your effort for something more significant.
3. At a mere 20g CO2e for a mug of boiled water from the kettle, we don't need to cut back on the luxury of hot drinks. The simple efficiency of only boiling what you need makes life better, not worse, because you get your tea quicker. The shock is that adding milk at least doubles the footprint of a cup of tea, but if this helps to make your life feel worth living, you can enjoy it without guilt.
4. New Zealand apples may come from the other side of the world, but they are still fine as low carbon food - and healthy too. The point is they travel on a boat which is around 100 times better than a plane. A New Zealand apple eaten in the UK comes in at around 100g CO2e. The same good news story goes for oranges and bananas. Of course, local, in-season apples are even better.
 A 'lower carbon leisure activity' |
5. Watching TV turns out to be one of the lower carbon leisure activities. No driving involved. Even an hour in front of a 42-inch plasma screen works out similar to about a one-mile drive in a very efficient car - 220g CO2e. A smaller screen is even better; watching a 15-inch LCD for an hour comes in at 34g. If you watch as a family or invite your mates round, it's even better still. The Royle family has a fine low carbon lifestyle.
6. A typical book comes in at just 1kg CO2e - the same footprint as driving just two miles in a fairly efficient car. Although it takes a lot of energy to make paper, a good holiday read will pin you down for hours, distracting you from all the more carbon-intensive pastimes you might otherwise be indulging in - especially any that involve driving. Ideally, pass it on when you are finished.
7. Drinking a fine bottle of wine comes in at around 1kg CO2e, even if you get through three per week - which is pushing the limits of a healthy lifestyle. The impact will be about 1% of a typical UK person's annual carbon footprint of 15 tonnes. To cut this in half without compromise to quality, buy it in a carton - decant into a jug if the ugliness offends. Wine is heavy to transport, so British or French are better than Australian or Californian.
 | TACKLING CARBON FOOTPRINTS  The everyday products we buy make a major contribution to our carbon footprint. In fact, the production, transit, use and disposal of the products and commodities we use accounts for approximately 50% of our carbon footprints. That's why the Carbon Trust Footprinting Company has created a carbon labelling scheme. Every product or service that carries the Carbon Reduction Label has had its carbon footprint measured and is committed to reducing it. Already the label is on 65 brands, across 5500 individual products with combined annual sales of almost £3bn. Simply by choosing everyday products and services that carry the label shoppers can make a difference and help tackle climate change.  Euan Murray Carbon Trust Footprinting Company |
8. Getting cremated is likely to be less than a 10,000th of your life's carbon footprint, at 80kg CO2e. On this one occasion you can treat yourself to whatever form of disposal you prefer, safe in the knowledge that you have already done the most carbon-friendly thing possible.
9. A year off travelling would normally send carbon alarm bells ringing. But it isn't necessarily so bad, assuming it involves travelling in the way I understand it - you live on a shoe string, buy only what you need and waste almost nothing because you can't afford to. The big carbon hit is the flying. About 5 tonnes CO2e should get you around the world economy class, stopping off in a few key places. If, on the other hand, you spend the whole year hopping from place to place, never really seeing anywhere, skiing, speed boating and living the high life, things will be very different.
10. Keeping your old car can be a good carbon trade off. A new car has a footprint of between six tonnes (a small Citroen C1) and 35 tonnes ( a Landrover Discovery, say). Making cars for UK drivers has about half the footprint of the fuel they burn. So if your old car is safe and reliable, you mileage isn't too high and it's not a gas guzzling disaster, keeping it is probably the low carbon option. If you feel you need a new status symbol, spend any spare cash on solar panels or a wind turbine.
Mike Berners-Lee is the author of "How Bad Are Bananas? The Carbon Cost of Everything".
No comments:
Post a Comment