Playing around with the UK Government's new carbon calculator, Gareth Kane asks are we being honest with ourselves?
Last week I tried out the UK Government's swanky new Carbon Calculator. I threw in my stats and got a grand total of 3.82 tonnes - compared with a national average of 4.48t - pretty good but helped by the fact that I haven't flown in over a year. The calculator is very swish and easy to use, but I was concerned with what it didn't count - food, clothing, other products, work, waste disposal etc, etc.
This got me thinking. Environmental author Chris Goodall reckons that if you take the UK's total carbon dioxide emissions and divide them by the population, then you get 12 tonnes each, not 4.5tonnes. So we are responsible for almost three times as much carbon dioxide what the Government is telling us we are responsible for. But is that the whole picture?
If you fly to Vegas, stay in a hotel with the world's most powerful light on top and drive around Arizona in an open top sports car (I wouldn't dream of it...), then that carbon belongs to the US rather than your 12 tonne footprint. If you buy lettuce from Israel, the energy required to plant, fertilise, water, harvest, package and transport that lettuce doesn't get allocated to you either. And if you buy a plastic toy made in China that isn't your problem either, despite the fact we have effectively exported our big dirty manufacturing industry there.
So just how big is our true carbon footprint?
"Huge" is the only answer I can give you - and much, much bigger than anyone will tell you, 'cos it appears to be a secret. So the next time someone smugly tells you "There's no point in us doing anything about climate change, because China...", then you have my permission to scream "hypocrite" at them very loudly indeed.
Until next time,
Gareth
Gareth Kane
Eco-living Blog
Terra Infirma
From: BEST OF 2008: Eco-friendy and sustainable shoes