The surprising truth about your carbon footprint
Want to make a small change that makes a big difference? According to Act On CO2, if all drivers in Britain reduced their driving by just 5 miles a week it could help avoid up to 2.7 million tonnes of CO2 per year.
So, if you think flights are the only significant contributor to your CO2 emissions, think again. All aspects of day-to-day life can contribute to your carbon footprint. It’s time to rethink the small stuff.
How your CO2 emissions add up
In the UK our individual activities account for around 40% of CO2 emissions
| Household
kg CO2 | Individual
kg CO2 | Total |
Space Heating | 2,473 | 1,055 | 24.8% |
Water Heating | 1,197 | 511 | 12.0% |
Lights | 358 | 153 | 3.6% |
Kitchen | 952 | 406 | 9.5% |
Study | 249 | 106 | 2.5% |
Entertainment | 384 | 164 | 3.9% |
Other Electricity Use | 71 | 30 | 0.7% |
Personal CarTravel | 2,607 | 1,112 | 26.1% |
Motorcycle Travel | 23 | 10 | 0.2% |
Other Transport | 267 | 114 | 2.7% |
Flights | 1,395 | 595 | 14.0% |
Total | 9,976 | 4,256 | 100.0% |
Cars are one of the biggest contributors to personal CO2 emissions
You might think that trucks and trains are bigger carbon villains than cars. Not so. It’s car travel that accounts for more emissions than any other form of transport in the UK.
Save energy at home and you could save money
Big projects such as loft and cavity wall insulation have the greatest effect on your bills and carbon footprint. You could cut your heating bill by up to £115 a year and save roughly 610kg of carbon by installing cavity wall insulation.
Even small changes are worthwhile. Investing in an insulating jacket for your hot water tank could save you up to £35 a year.
According to Jon McGowan of the Energy Saving Trust, "If every UK household fitted a jacket on their tank tomorrow, we’d save around £130 million of energy every year."
Almost a third of our food and drink is thrown away
This contributes to the equivalent of 20 million tonnes of CO2 every year. Taking the time to plan our meals and shopping smarter could reduce this waste.
Think about what you’re throwing too. Over 30% of the contents of the average UK bin could be composted at home. Tea bags, shredded paper and vegetable peelings can all be used to help grow your own fruit and veg, instead of being dumped in landfills.
Key Fact
- 33% all car trips in the UK are under five miles
Quick Links
Energy Saving Trust:www.energysavingtrust.org.uk
Act On CO2:www.direct.gov.uk/actonco2
Team Green Britain and London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games Ltd (LOCOG) do not endorse any of the products, companies, organisations, opinions or websites that have been mentioned in this article. The content of this article has merely been provided as background to, or discussion on, various topical issues relating to the environment and it is not necessarily representative of the views of Team Green Britain and LOCOG. Further, any figures and calculations noted in this article are estimates (unless otherwise specified), and may vary in light of numerous factors and readers are advised to undertake their own research in relation to the facts and figures applicable to their particular circumstance.