Why? It’s gives us a tangible target for the year ahead.
SOBERING FACT
If everyone were to suddenly rise to American living standards, it would take five Earths to provide enough resources for everyone on the planet.
To keep global warming at a habitable level, the UN agreed on a goal to limit the average rise in Earth’s temperature to 1.5 - 2°C. That doesn’t sound like much of a rise, but the impacts are seismic. This means we have a global budget of c.750 billion tonnes of CO₂ until the year 2050 to achieve it. In practical terms, that means individually we have a budget too. We’ve all got to get on the programme if we are to have a fighting chance.
At present, the average person in the UK has a carbon footprint of around 15 tonnes (though the figures vary widely and are difficult to precisely pin down). Mike Berners-Lee, a UK carbon expert, recommends a 10-tonne target for 2020 as a realistic starting point. An easy way to picture what these tonnes of CO2e actually look like, is to imagine a large hot air balloon 10 metres wide. That’s 1 tonne. So basically we all need to to get down to little balloons.
Ok got it. So how do I take action?
We road-tested a bunch of carbon calculators and this one was our fave. It’s easy, well-designed and backed up by useful tips each step of the way, plus you get a good summation at the end of exactly how you fared. Takes all of about 5 minutes to do, so let’s get to it!
Once you’ve got your results (and recovered depending on how you fare!), identify the biggest culprit of your footprint. Choose one action that will make a significant impact and start there. Aim for a 10% reduction. Scan through our Directory if you want some specific ideas.
But will it cost me more money?
No, they’re all free.
We…
Aimee: My diet is good (mainly veggie nowadays) and my house is energy efficient and uses renewable energy but having my best friends in Australia and a long daily commute aren’t helping me achieve a small footprint - c.18 tonnes!! I need new friends (or they need to move here) and I need to work from home more…
Sonia: I was so horrified by my results, I’m not going to share my score with you. I’ve made so many changes in the course of creating Let’s Do This Together, I thought I might get a little star. Deluded. Basically 2 long-haul flights this year (my family are on 4 continents) and having a car (which I don’t drive very much) blew mine out of the water. Going to have to rethink.
“How low can you go?
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Photo by Ali Yahah