KEEPING THE PLANET COOL
10 ways to reduce your carbon footprint
If you are a cyclist then you are almost sure to be aware of the need to reduce our carbon footprint, of which cycling is a good way. To get a quick idea of what else you can do, take a look at the PowerPoint presentation that was used at Marling School. If you have more time, read the supporting notes below that give the background to each of the slides.
“Globally, people are using about 25% more natural resources than the planet can replace. In the UK, we’re consuming three times our fair share of the planet’s natural resources.” (WWF)“A study by the government-funded Carbon Trust puts the annual carbon footprint of the average Briton at 10.92 tons of CO2 - roughly half of the 19 tons of CO2 produced each year by the average American.” (The Independent, 2006). In contrast the average footprint of a Ugandan is 0.1 tons. Here are ten things that you can do……………………….
1) Switch Off Any appliance which runs a transformer, e.g. TV. hi-fi, phone charger etc. is best switched off at the mains when not in use. Some recent appliances have a very low stand-by current and can be left on standby without using too much electricity. This is something to ask for when purchasing a new appliance.
2) Composting About 30% of household waste can be composted. This includes kitchen waste and garden waste such as weeds and lawn-mowings. Cardboard and newspapers can also be added. Bins can be purchased at discount prices from Gloucestershire County Council and Stroud District Council.
3) Meat Raising animals for food creates more greenhouse gas emissions than all the cars and trucks in the world combined. Yet global production and consumption of meat has more than tripled since 1961 and could double again by 2050. Trees, which absorb carbon dioxide, are cleared to create pastureland for animals. As well, animals create methane and nitrous oxide, two greenhouse gases with more impact on climate per kilogram than CO2. Plus, processing meat uses fuel. Producing one calorie of animal protein requires more than 10 times as much fuel, creating 10 times the greenhouse gas emissions, than one calorie of plant protein. By eating meat half as often as you do now, you can prevent 680 kilograms of greenhouse gas emissions form entering the atmosphere. A vegan - someone who does not eat meat, fish or dairy foods - creates 1.3 fewer tonnes of CO2 than a meat eater every year.” (WWF)
Paul McCartney, Chris Martin and Sheryl Crow are promoting meat-free Mondays after the city of Ghent announced a meat-free day.
4) Local and “in-season” food By supporting local food producers you are helping to cut “food-miles”. The transport of food creates a considerable carbon footprint. By eating “in-season” food you are helping to reduce this further. Try to avoid food which has been flown in to the UK. Look for the country of origin when you buy fruit and vegetables. Generally the closer to the UK the better, but not always. Ask questions when shopping. Many supermarkets are starting to support local producers by stocking their products. Alternatively you can visit your local farm-shop or farmers’ market. Some producers are even claiming to produce carbon neutral products e.g. beer.
5) Sustainable Travel The main focus of this is to reduce car journeys. The benefits are less congestion on the roads, less CO2 and other greenhouse gas emissions, as well as a healthier lifestyle. There are many ways to do this. They include lift-sharing, Park-and-Stride, travel planning carefully to avoid unnecessary journeys, using public transport, cycling, and walking where these are viable alternatives.
Sustrans is the charity behind the National Cycle Network, Safe Routes to Schools, Bike It, TravelSmart, Active Travel, Connect2 and Liveable Neighbourhoods.
6) Reduce “Air-miles” "One flight from London to Sydney produces more than two-and-a-half times the amount of CO2 you should be responsible for in over a whole year”. (RadioTimes)
There are alternative ways to take holidays which have a significantly lower carbon footprint. Some people advocate rationing air travel to prevent it from expanding still further.
7) Fashion The throw-away culture has hit the clothing industry in a big way in recent years (fast-fashion). There is also the ethical question of who makes our clothes (child labour). The following information may be useful;
Today there are still about ten ‘rag pulling’ companies in the UK but nowadays clothes recycling often involves passing the clothes onto charities for resale in the UK or use in developing countries. In the UK we sort approximately 250,000 tonnes of textile waste every year and this is sorted into five categories.The top 5% are described as ‘cream’ or ‘as new’ and are usually sold in charity shops in this country. A further 45% are classified as ‘second hand’ and are sent to third world countries or those experiencing situations resulting in extreme poverty. 25% of clothes recycling goes for fibre reclamation and are made into new clothes or other textiles. 15% of the textiles are used for wiping cloths by various industries and the remaining 10% are actual waste. (ukenergy-saving.com)“Cotton isn’t the world’s largest crop, but uses 25% of the world’s agrochemicals; man-made fabrics release chemicals such as dioxins; and azo-dyes poison aquatic systems.” (RadioTimes)Uzbekistan is one of the world’s largest exporters of cotton. In 1918 the Soviet government decided to divert the 2 rivers which feed the Aral Sea (between Kazakstan and Uzbekistan) in order to produce “white gold” or cotton in the desert (now Uzbekistan). This resulted in the world’s fourth-largest lake (The Aral Sea) which is virtually disappearing, together with a huge fishing industry. The whole area has become a man-made catastrophe. The pictures on Wikipedia are worth viewing. Type in Aral Sea on Wilkipedia.
8) Reduce/ Re-use/ Recycle
Reduce: Only buy what you need, thereby avoiding purchases which are going to be thrown away after just a few uses. You may also wish to avoid buying goods which have unnecessary packaging.
Re-use: Websites such as Freecycle are a great way of passing on goods you no longer want. Charity shops and organisations such as the Lions Club serve a similar purpose.
Recycle: The main focus is to stop sending waste to landfill. This is becoming increasingly costly as existing landfill sites fill up and new ones are difficult to find.
Stroud District Youth Council has commissioned some multi-use bins (pictured below), which will be positioned in various parts of Stroud.
9) Insulate Your House 300mm of loft insulation + cavity wall insulation = a warm house = lower fuel bills = lower CO2 emissions.
This is said to be the simplest, most effective way to reduce your footprint in terms of housing. There are grants available and it is easy to get a surveyor out from one of the relevant firms to see if your house qualifies.
This was included in the 10 ways because it is so easy, yet so effective. All students need to do is ask their parents/carers if it has been done at home.
Many students will have seen the TV. series “Grand Designs” which regularly focuses on energy-efficient houses.
10) Switch to Green Electricity It is simple to do and the CO2 savings are potentially huge. You can opt to have all your energy from renewable sources or just 50%. Many of the big energy suppliers offer green tariffs, and some are undoubtedly investing (a small amount of their annual turnover) in renewables. To be really certain that your money is making a difference you can opt to change to either:
· (Stroud-based) Ecotricity, which has built over 8% of England’s wind turbines and spends more per customer building new sources of green energy than any other company in the world and more than all other UK suppliers put together:
· or (Chippenham-based) Good Energy, which guarantees 100% renewable energy and supports smaller producers of renewable electricity by guaranteeing to purchase what they produce.