Climate Justice

"How Bad Are Bananas: the carbon footprint of everything"

This is the title of a book by Mike Berners-Lee which sets out to help the reader get a grasp of how much carbon we are “spending” when we buy various goods and services in our everyday lives. Just as we have a sense of the money value of things, we need to develop a sense of their cost in terms of the impact they have on the climate.

He points out that attributing a carbon cost to any particular item is not an easy calculation, but at best a realistic guess. For instance, to use the example of a driving a car, “the true carbon footprint includes not only what comes out the tailpipe, but also the emissions that take place when oil is extracted, shipped, refined into fuel, and transported to the gas station, not to mention the substantial emissions caused by producing and maintaining the car” (p. 7) So while the figures cited are rough estimates, they are better than having no guidelines at all.

Currently, the average carbon footprint of a North American is 28 tons. For the Chinese it’s 3 tons. Berners-Lee proposes the 10 ton lifestyle as a realistic target for us. While he notes that this is not a sustainable level if everyone in the world were to use this much, it represents a 65 percent reduction from our current levels.

Berners-Lee suggests looking at our footprint in the context of a year’s worth of 10-ton living. “For example, a large cheeseburger, with a footprint of 2.5kg CO₂e, represents about 2 hours’ worth of a 10-ton year. If you drive a fairly thirsty car 1000 miles, that is 850 kg CO₂e, or a month’s ration.” (p. 12)

Once a month the bulletin will list the carbon footprint of an item, service or activity, both in terms of an estimate of the amount of CO₂ in kgs, and a description of some of the factors that went into the estimate. The goal is to get a feel for how much carbon is at stake in the simple choices we make.

Notes on the CO₂ figures.

1.      CO₂e – The “e” refers to “equivalent”. CO₂ is not the only gas that contributes to global warming. Methane (CH₄) and nitrous oxide (N₂O) also have significant impacts. For the sake of simplicity, the convention is that quantities of these two other gases are expressed in terms of CO₂ equivalents (i.e. the amount of CO₂ that would have the same impact).

2.       A range of figures is given for the carbon footprint of various items. For instance, if an item is locally sourced, its footprint is much less than if it were shipped several thousand miles, so both figures are given, as well as an overall average.

Trinity-St. Paul's is participating in "Greening Sacred Spaces', a program initiated by Faith and the Common Good, an interfaith coalition. An energy audit of our building has been done, and we are seeking ways to "green" the building. Information sessions have also been organized to help members of the congregation learn about ways to "green" their homes. For further information see Greening Spaces at www.faith-commongood.net