Tag: eco-friendly

Counting on …. Day 93

25th April 2024

Earth Overshoot Day is the day on which our global ecological footprint exceeds the earth’s bio capacity. (This year’s date has yet to be announced).

“Humanity is living beyond its means, which results in an environmental dilemma – because it is living at the expense of the Earth. Every year, the consumption of resources outstrips the natural regenerative capacity of our planet.” (1) So reports myclimate.org 

The day on which we have consumers one year’s worth of resources and tip into the red, is known as as Earth Overshoot Day. Last year, 2023, it fell on 2nd August, which means that in the whole of that  year we consumed resources that were equivalent to 1.7 earths! Clear this is cannot be sustainable on an ongoing basis. 

To create a sustainable lifestyle that safeguards our future, we need to address three key things: 

“Efficiency: better usage of resources so that goods are produced with less energy and resources.

Consistency: linear production replaced by the circular economy, which minimises waste. Renewable energy is key here.

Sufficiency: A sustainable change in lifestyle under which the economy is geared to moderate consumption of resources rather than constant growth. The goal is to fulfil the wishes and requirements of our society without disproportionate waste or consumption.” (1)  

For further information – 

https://overshoot.footprintnetwork.org/about-earth-overshoot-day

The Green Tau: issue 45

(1) https://www.myclimate.org/en/information/faq/faq-detail/earth-overshoot-day-how-do-we-handle-our-resources/

Counting on … day 92

24th April 2024

Ecological footprints are a measure of how much of the earth’s natural resources needed to sustain human life – ie how much clean water, clean air, soil for growing crops, oceans for fish, trees for timber, water/ wind/ fossil fuels etc for energy, land for buildings, etc needed for each human. This footprint will vary from person to person depending on their lifestyles – how much and what they consume, and how much and what sort of waste they produce. 

The ecological footprint of someone who lives off the grid, growing their own food and recycling their waste, will have a smaller ecological footprint than someone who owns multiple homes, flies and drives a large SUV, eats a meat rich diet, and buys lots of clothes and other consumer goods.

Ecological footprints are also measured in terms of global hectares per capita (see yesterday’s blog).

Using information from https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/ecological-footprint-by-country, 

USA – 8.04 gha

Australia – 7.77 

Oman – 7.29 

France – 4.6

UK – 4.20

China – 3.71

Brazil – 2.81

India – 1.19

Zimbabwe – 1.03

Democratic Republic of Congo – 0.01

You might like to use an online calculator to estimate your carbon footprint (these can be very rough and ready rather than precise but give a ballpark idea). These calculators are not just measuring your carbon footprint but your ecological footprint – how much of the earth’s resources your lifestyles uses.

https://www.footprintcalculator.org/home

https://footprint.wwf.org.uk

Counting on … day 59

5th March 2024

If we wish, we can calculate our individual – or household –  carbon footprint. Various groups offer online carbon footprint calculators. Some are very quick to work through but are more rough and ready.  More complex calculations will be more precise. We can use this information to identify areas of our lifestyle where we could make adjustments to achieve a more sustainable life style.

Suggested carbon footprint calculators: 

https://footprint.wwf.org.uk

https://www.carbonfootprint.com/calculator.aspx

Generally our carbon footprint is proportionate to our income. Of course it does depend what we buy. Spending £1000 on air travel will have a far higher carbon footprint that spending £1000 on planting a small woodland. Mike Berners Lee has produced a book, “How Bad Are Bananas? The Carbon Footprint of Everything.” This  details the carbon footprint of a wide range of products and  activities and can thus help us choose less carbon-costly lifestyles. 

A report produced by the Guardian in conjunction with Oxfam, the Stockholm Environment Institute and others, reported that “The richest 1% of humanity is responsible for more carbon emissions than the poorest 66%, with dire consequences for vulnerable communities and global efforts to tackle the climate emergency.” https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/nov/20/richest-1-account-for-more-carbon-emissions-than-poorest-66-report-says?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

Further articles –

Green Tau: issue 12
The Green Tau: issue 17
Green Tau: issue 15

Counting on … day 5

5th January 2024

Refills for groceries and other household items

Following on from the principle that reducing waste is good, the growing market for refill shopping enables us to avoid single use plastic bottles and other packaging. One of the oldest schemes must be the refillable milk bottle – and this has been making  a  comeback over recent years, boosted by Covid.

Many milk delivery services offer more than just milk in refillable bottles with, for example, fruits juices, yogurts, washing up liquid, shampoo and even Coca Cola available in returnable, refillable bottles. (https://www.milkandmore.co.uk/)

There are also high street shops offering refill options for goods as diverse as sultanas , peanut butter, tahini and basimati rice. Locally in south west London I use the Source Bulk Food store – https://thesourcebulkfoods.co.uk/ . Whilst for coffee beans, our local Artisan Café, has its own refill scheme. 

Refill schemes are also being trialed by various supermarkets, coordinated  by the Refill Coalition group – https://www.refillcoalition.com/