The CO2 we produce comes from what we eat, the mode of transport we use and our daily lifestyle choices. This is called your carbon footprint.
Fuel colossus BP offers an online facility that allows you to calculate your carbon footprint, and the Mail & Guardian asked a range of people to use the facility to do so. Responses ranged from expressions of guilt where their scores were significantly above the national average, to surprise, where their lifestyle choices boost their carbon score.
A colleague says she produces five tonnes a year, less than half the national average of 12,81. “I think it’s because I live in a small flat, switch off lights, recycle and walk to work,” she says, adding that she will be doing more recycling of wine bottles to help improve her score.
Another colleague uses 20 tonnes. “I do have seven people living in my household, though,” she explained. “Mind you, these are all middle-class people, so using the word ‘average’ is at best misleading and at worst dishonest.”
A third found his carbon footprint to be 10 tonnes a year. “I am going to have to do more recycling to bring my score down.”
Harald Winkler, a senior researcher at the energy research centre at the University of Cape Town, says phrases such as “average middle-class person” are misleading, as what individuals produce is dependent on “lifestyle choices”.
Key contributors to a high carbon score are air travel, car and transport choice, heating choices, energy use — such as whether you leave lights on when not in a room — and water usage: do you shower or bath?
Environmentalists have coined a phrase — food miles — to describe the distance food travels before it gets to your plate. The distance the food has travelÂled and the mode of transport used are also factored into the amounts of gases produced.
So next time you buy an imported beer or soft drink that has made the long trip from the Far East, Europe or elsewhere, know that it has a carbon cost.
Buying South African can be thought of as being protectionist, but it also has an impact on global warming.
Crucially, the type of vehicle you drive is important. Whether you drive a standard car or a sports utility vehicle (SUV) determines the amount of CO2 you produce. A bigger engine produces more CO2 than a smaller engine, which may explain why a colleague, who drives a Jeep Cherokee, produces 21 tonnes a year, nine tonnes more than the South African average.
The local average is 12,81 tonnes per annum and a tonne of CO2 emissions occupies 556m3 of space at 25°C, standard room temperature. This is enough to fill just more than two Olympic-size swimming pools with CO2.
The United Kingdom produces just more than 10 tonnes on average, Australia just more than 14 tonnes and the United States about 20 tonnes, enough to fill four and a half Olympic-size swimming pools.
To calculate your carbon footprint, go to www.bp.com, click on the “Environment and society” tab, select “BP and Climate Change”, then “Carbon reduction” and, finally, “carbon footprint calculator”