By current estimates, the average Briton is said to produce 10.6 tonnes of carbon a year. Called a carbon ‘footprint’, it is the quantity of carbon dioxide (CO2) emitted through the burning of fossil fuels. It is believed that if everyone’s carbon footprint was lower, the damaging effects of global warming could be slowed down. Last night, the London Lite newspaper ran a thought-provoking piece featuring 20 ways to reduce your carbon footprint.
Much of it is common sense of course, such as washing your clothes at lower temperatures; only boiling as much water in a kettle as you need to make a hot drink; turning down thermostats by a couple of degrees; not using the car for short journeys; taking a shower rather than a bath; not leaving electrical appliances on standby; and buying locally-sourced food wherever possible, as this reduces the transport costs.
Of course, most of those ideas also save energy, as well as reducing the carbon dioxide emitted. The newspaper suggested some other, not so obvious, mildly whimsical actions, including: watching sports fixtures on shared pub televisions; only sending essential emails; blow-drying your hair at weekends; and eating burgers as monthly treat.
By implementing all of these twenty tips, the paper believed that over six tonnes of carbon per person could be saved. What this would do for the planet is unclear, and not all of these ideas are practical. But, I am a firm believer in being more aware of not only the world in which we live, and saving what resources we do have left, but also thinking about just how much environmental impact I am having.
Some things I will find simpler to implement than others; I’ve started to replace all of my light bulbs with energy-saving ones, and of course, I recycle wherever I can. My clothes are washed at lower temperatures, appliances are turned off fully wherever possible, while showers are taken most days. Finally, I only use the car for trips to the supermarket – but maybe that should be the organic farm shop – and to visit family and friends some distance away (and no, I’m not prepared to surrender it yet; I like cars too much).
Of course, the offsetting of air travel carbon is very much a hot and topic at the moment, and can also be applied to house and car emissions. It doesn’t cost as much as you would think, and can be done simply too. Some airlines even ask you if you would it added onto your ticket at the point of purchase. But again, how many travellers are aware of this, and how much difference does it make?
The energy-saving and environmental bug has also recently bitten at work. I’ve become an ‘Environmental Champion’, and along with fourteen others, meet quarterly to brainstorm ideas to promote environmental awareness within the offices, and to help roll out these initiatives. Our first theme is ‘Paper’, and therefore the most obvious idea is to look to reduce the amount the paper used. Duplex printing and asking if it’s essential to print out written communications, are the two most immediate hits. Although, I’ve not been too proactive yet, some good ideas have been put forward for us to look at in the coming months.
So, what is my carbon footprint? Well, a quick tot up of the figures using an online calculator, nets me a yearly figure of between 8.3 and 11.9 tonnes, so the results aren’t exactly scientific. The largest and easiest way of reducing this, my 160-mile round trip on the train to work each day, clearly isn’t terribly practical to reduce. So, I guess I’ll have to do the little things, and feel that little bit nobler. It’s probably too late to undo the damage already done, but if everyone did their bit, however small, the environmental voice could be heard that much louder. After all, every little helps.
Which reminds me. I must stop having drinks in plastic cups from the vending machine at work. And defrost my freezer.
