Reduce
For our local area, this shows up as the highest factor in our carbon footprint according to the Impact Calculator – 30% of our total emissions. Basically, it is the carbon footprint for all the “stuff” that we buy excluding food, energy and travel – including services. This is a huge area, that has many different solutions, so some of the things we discuss here and on our Facebook group may not apply to your household. This is where you need to consider your own Personal Plan.
Why is reduce always the first recommendation? Put simply, if you don’t get it in the first place, you don’t have to worry about what happens to it next! Every single item and service has an environmental footprint, whether that be resources or energy. With changes in lifestyle and improvement to technological processes, we now have access to more things than ever before! The rise of plastic and areas such as fast fashion means that consumers are going to have to make drastic changes in the way they shop to reduce the impact we’re having on the planet.
We can generate a life cycle assessment for every manufactured product. This allows us to look at the impact on the environment from a product over it’s entire life.
- extracting and processing the raw materials
- manufacturing the product and it’s packaging
- using the product during its lifetime
- disposing of the product at the end of it’s useful life.
Each stage also includes information about transport, energy consumption and the release of waste substances, such as greenhouse gases, into the environment. Here’s an example of how that works from TedEd.
Reuse
With the help of the internet, we now have many options when it comes to reusing our items. Whether you’re reselling clothes on Vinted, getting rid of old toys on Facebook marketplace or even donating old technology for use in developing countries, there’s so many options of how we can get that little bit more out of an item.
Simple changes such as remembering to take your carrier bags to the supermarket with you all add up! Since the introduction of the carrier bag charge, single use carrier bag usage has dropped by 98%! A controversial one here, what about reusing that tea bag to make a second cup!? You’d put more water in a teapot right? We’ll have lots more ideas on the Facebook group for you to consider – we’d love to hear your suggestions too!
Recycle
So we’re all used to putting stuff in the green bin for it to be recycled right? But that’s only a narrow selection of the waste we generate and sadly, even some of that doesn’t actually get recycled.
According to DEFRA, British households currently create over 26 million tonnes of waste each year. This means the average person throws away around 400kg of waste each year; 7 times their body weight! It’s not just about things going to landfill and wasting resources, it wastes energy too. Recycling one single aluminium can will save enough energy to power a TV for up to three hours. More interesting facts here.
We’re going to be researching ways to recycle a wide range of items that don’t go in your green bin, and we’ve even found some that will get some cash back into your pocket! Find out more.
