Professor Mike Berners-lee writes for the "Daily Mail"

Published: November 19, 2021, 20:31 US Eastern Time | Updated: November 19, 2021, 20:40 US Eastern Time

Now that Cop26 is coming to an end, you may be a little confused about how to do your part for the earth.

If you plan to fly to the sun next year to spend some much-needed family time, does it make sense to stop eating imported fruits?

Is the shower more environmentally friendly than soaking in the bathtub?

To answer these questions—and to help us better understand the meaning of consumer choice—Professor MIKE BERNERS-LEE, professor of sustainability at Lancaster University, calculated the carbon footprint of absolutely everything. .. Draw some surprising conclusions.

Like most people, I don’t particularly like guidance on how to live.

I may have spent 15 years studying the impact of carbon emissions that are slowly heating our planet.

But I also have a lot of practice, but I am not as good as I thought.

We all want to live responsibly, but we must live. This is not to say that we do not need to change our habits. We are indeed. We are in a climate emergency. But a sense of scale is needed.

A friend once asked him how best to dry his hands to reduce the carbon footprint-use a paper towel or a hair dryer? The same person flies across the Atlantic dozens of times a year.

Flying is more important than wiping hands, so my friend is just distracting himself from the real problem.

Professor Mike Berners-Lee: We all want to live responsibly, but we must live. This is not to say that we do not need to change our habits. We are indeed. We are in a climate emergency. But need a sense of scale

The reason I decided to calculate the carbon footprint of everything I can think of is that when you make simple everyday choices, it can help you roughly understand how much carbon is at risk.

Everything we do has some impact-where and how we travel, whether we buy seasonal apples or winter asparagus, whether we take a quick shower or enjoy ourselves in the bathtub.

What is carbon footprint? It measures the impact of our activities on the amount of greenhouse gases produced and released into the atmosphere.

Everything we consume, do, and think at home and at work has a carbon impact—the impact of climate change.

But you might be very surprised by some things that have a large carbon load, and some that don't.

I use a method called "carbon dioxide equivalent" to calculate the volume of harmful gases (carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, refrigerants, and other gases) produced during the manufacturing and consumption of any product or service.

Take tomato as an example: any calculation needs to consider its growth method (natural growth or in a heated greenhouse), the type of fertilizer used (some require complex manufacturing processes, some emit greenhouse gases), and its packaging and transportation methods (By road, ship or air, the latter is a carbon disaster).

As a consumer, you need to take into account that 1 kg of locally grown tomatoes has a carbon footprint of 400 grams of CO2 equivalent, while 1 kg of organic "on the vine" British cherry tomatoes grown off-season in March has a carbon footprint of up to 50 kg .

Choose those tomatoes, they may be the food with the highest carbon content of all foods, even if they are grown here.

Out-of-season cut flowers are bad news for climate change because they either have to be boarded to get here, or they need to be heated artificially-a red rose may be romantic, but it is airlifted in Kenya when grown in a Dutch greenhouse or outdoors. In Europe, compared to the zero carbon of roses grown in your own garden, it will save you 2.4 kg of carbon dioxide equivalent

On the other hand, bananas may have traveled far before entering our fruit bowl, but because they tend to be transported rather than by air, and because they are protected by the skin and require less packaging, they are a low-carbon and nutritious Plenty of food-food.

All flashes are harmful to the earth

Gold and diamonds are precious because of the hard work, industry and resources required to extract them, which makes their carbon footprint surprisingly high, especially for jewelry from afar (the carbon footprint of African gold and diamonds worth £500 is 710 kilograms of carbon dioxide equivalent).

Except for the poor working conditions of some miners. It is much better to wear jewelry handed down from the family, remodeled from existing gemstones or made from natural materials such as shells.

Cut flowers out of season are bad news for climate change, as they either have to be boarded to get here, or they need to be heated manually.

A red rose may be romantic, but when it is grown outdoors in a Dutch greenhouse or Kenya and air-shipped to Europe, it will save you 2.4 kg of carbon dioxide equivalent compared to a zero-carbon rose grown in your own garden.

A bunch of imported flowers can add 1.5 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent per person per year per week.

Plant your own flowers or look for locally grown seasonal flowers (15 stems grown outdoors in the UK are 1.7 kg CO2 equivalent).

Another option is houseplants, which are much less carbon-intensive.

Don't feel guilty about the dishwasher

As long as you are running at full capacity, an efficient dishwasher will always outperform hot water in terms of carbon footprint, especially when you set it to run at night when power demand is low and the grid is more efficient

As long as you run at full load (470g to 600g CO2 equivalent each time), especially when you set it to run at night when power demand is insufficient, efficient dishwashers always outperform hot water in terms of carbon footprint. Dishwashing is low, and the grid becomes more efficient.

Washing the dishes before stacking the machine is the worst option, and it is juxtaposed with ironing your spouse’s socks. If this is your routine, liberate yourself and be sharp.

Order a cup of coffee without milk

The fastest way to reduce the carbon footprint of morning coffee (or tea) is to drink black coffee (instant coffee has 49 grams of carbon dioxide per cup, black filter or American coffee has 87 grams of carbon dioxide per cup, and large cappuccinos have 235 grams of carbon dioxide per cup. gram).

Milk emissions are so high that splashes in tea account for three-quarters of the carbon footprint of a cup of tea. For a large cup of latte (552 grams of carbon dioxide equivalent), you can drink 9 cups of American coffee or 25 cups of black tea.

If you buy takeaway, add 110g CO2e to the disposable cup. At home, use a sturdy cup and wash it only at the end of the day.

How bad are imported bananas?

Bananas reach us far away.

But each banana has only 110 grams of carbon dioxide equivalent, which is actually a good food for anyone who cares about carbon footprint.

They grow in natural sunlight and do not need a greenhouse, they are well maintained.

Therefore, although they are usually grown thousands of miles away from the final consumer, they are transported by ship (about 1% of the carbon footprint of air transport), and they hardly need any packaging because they have skins.

The only really bad bananas are those that you allow to rot in your fruit bowl.

These join the scandal that British consumers classified food as 22%.

Use overripe bananas when baking or enjoy with cream custard.

Go to the store to buy the ugliest apple

Buy the most deformed apple. It encourages the supply chain not to throw away less perfect fruits.

Apples are low-carbon, but preferably local and seasonal (32 grams of carbon dioxide equivalent per kilogram). This will change when the season is over.

The British apples purchased in early summer will be last year’s fruits. They will be refrigerated and therefore require electricity. This makes imported apples (80 grams of carbon dioxide equivalent per kilogram) a better choice.

Although they are usually grown thousands of miles away from the final consumer, bananas are transported by boat (about 1% of the carbon footprint of air transport), and they hardly need any packaging because they have skins.

Perhaps the most carbon-intensive winter vegetable is fresh asparagus (4.7 kg CO2 equivalent per pack) airlifted from Peru.

This is because a mile of air transportation is usually 100 times the carbon impact of a mile of ocean transportation. The same applies to baby corn, baby carrots, mangoes, green beans, fine beans, okra, shelled peas, lettuce, blueberries, raspberries, and strawberries shipped by air.

Enjoy a large amount of English asparagus in the summer (270 grams of carbon dioxide equivalent per pack), and then wait for another year to eat.

The most environmentally friendly ice cream spoon

The soft scoop from the van carries a high-carbon price tag of 500 grams of carbon dioxide equivalent per cone, because vanilla ice cream is based on dairy products and is kept cold in less efficient mobile refrigeration units, which usually emit diesel fumes.

A chocolate chip makes the ice cream footprint high again, although we might agree that it is a necessary evil.

Choose plant-based ice cream for your cone. Even better, buy chocolate ice (140 grams of carbon dioxide equivalent) or popsicles (70 grams of carbon dioxide equivalent) from the store, which has a lower value because of its higher cooling efficiency.

The carbon footprint of shoes varies greatly, depending on their material and service life.

Each pair of running shoes made in China may generate 8 kg of carbon dioxide emissions, but the emissions of professional leather are even higher (15 kg of carbon dioxide emissions).

The lowest end is a pair of Crocs, made of only 250 grams of expanded EVA (foam rubber).

They are sold unpackaged, so the carbon emissions of each pair are just over 1 kilogram of carbon dioxide equivalent.

The carbon footprint of shoes varies greatly, depending on their material and service life. Each pair of running shoes made in China may generate 8 kg of carbon dioxide emissions, but the emissions of professional leather are even higher (15 kg of carbon dioxide emissions). Crocs is sold unpackaged, so carbon emissions per pair are just over 1 kg of CO2 equivalent

Are reusable diapers really that sacred?

Cloth diapers may look better than disposable diapers, but if they are washed and dried at 90 degrees to soften them, they carry a higher carbon footprint (165 grams per diaper) than disposable diapers (130 grams per diaper) Carbon dioxide equivalent).

The option with the lowest carbon content is reusable diapers, which are washed at 60 degrees, dried, and then passed on to the second child (60 grams of carbon dioxide equivalent per diaper).

Up to 20% of the carbon footprint of a disposable diaper comes from the methane it emits when it decays in a landfill.

Biodegradable disposable diapers decompose faster in landfills and therefore release more gas.

Bottles usually have a larger footprint than wine. Transportation is only a small part, so it doesn't matter where your wine comes from.

More important is the road mileage-in your country and country of origin.

For this reason, locally produced wine can reduce its footprint by 20% (1.3 kg CO2 equivalent per bottle from the UK or France), and, strangely, I estimate that Australian wine (in a huge airtight tank) shipped to the UK has The footprint may be slightly lower (1.4 kg) than Sicily (1.65 kg) transported by road bottling.

By purchasing wine boxes or cartons, you can reduce the footprint by about five times.

Cloth diapers may look better than disposable diapers, but if they are washed and dried at 90 degrees to soften them, they carry a higher carbon footprint (165 grams per diaper) than disposable diapers (130 grams per diaper) Carbon dioxide equivalent)

Eat frozen berries when it's cold

The carbon cost of a small 250-gram basket of fresh strawberries or strawberries that are transported by air from South Africa in winter or grown in a greenhouse is staggering, at 3.65 kg of carbon dioxide equivalent.

It is much better to eat English strawberries in summer. Or choose frozen British berries (250 grams of 770 grams of carbon dioxide equivalent), they are rich in nutrients and easier to eat than fresh fruits without wasting, because you can take what you need from the refrigerator.

Never, never fly in business class

Flying, especially long-distance flights, is not good for the earth. Compared with airplanes that burn the same amount of fuel on the ground, the emissions of airborne airplanes have a greater impact on greenhouse gases. Business class seats take up more space and therefore account for a greater proportion of the total carbon footprint of a flight. A single flight is equivalent to using 340,000 plastic bags.

If you are really flying, choose economy class. Go abroad less, stay longer, and only fly to do things you can't do in the UK.

Allocate bathroom and shower time

Give up taking a shower every day, guys-only wash once a week. Depending on your heating system, the rapid drop can be 500 grams to 1.5 kilograms of carbon dioxide equivalent.

It is much better to take a quick shower every day. Five minutes is 160 grams to 250 grams of carbon dioxide equivalent (depending on your hot water system). You can enjoy 15 minutes under a powerful shower, because a hot bath will produce 1 kg of carbon dioxide.

One-click that you should open

With 400 grams of carbon dioxide equivalent per liter, bottled water has 1,000 times the carbon intensity of tap water, so it is indeed worthwhile to discard plastic bottles.

Carbon emissions mainly come from packaging and transportation, but each liter of plastic will increase by 83 grams of carbon dioxide equivalent, and when plastic particles are melted and formed into bottles, it will increase by 20 grams of carbon dioxide equivalent.

Transportation is also important because water is heavy.

Change your car into a train 

Trains are generally more environmentally friendly than cars, but if the cars are full of people, a good gasoline car can beat the carbon footprint of the train. Even if two people travel together, driving an efficient car is better than taking a first-class train.

The carbon cost of train travel depends on the speed of travel (air resistance increases with speed), the number of stops (energy is wasted at each stop), and the type of fuel used (electricity is better than diesel).

The carbon emissions per passenger mile of subway rides are lower than intercity trains (68 grams of carbon dioxide equivalent)-mainly because people are crowded.

You have to eat your (sourdough) crust

Homemade sourdough or locally baked artisan bread has a smaller carbon footprint than mass-produced sliced ​​bread (630 g CO2 equivalent per loaf, compared to 1 kg CO2 equivalent for mass production)

Homemade sourdough or locally baked artisanal bread has a smaller carbon footprint than mass-produced sliced ​​bread (630 grams of carbon dioxide equivalent per loaf, compared to 1 kilogram of carbon dioxide equivalent for mass production).

More than 60% of the emissions from all bread production come from wheat cultivation (most of which are fertilizers used). The third comes from grinding and baking.

If purchased locally, transportation is only a small part. Buy only what you need and always eat the crust! Food waste thrown into landfills is bad news.

Unlike bread, rice is a surprisingly high-carbon staple food (4 to 7.1 kg of carbon dioxide equivalent per kg, depending on the cultivation method).

This is due to methane emerging from flooded rice fields and the frequent application of carbon-excess nitrogen fertilizers. This means that one kilogram of rice causes more emissions than burning one liter of diesel.

Adapted from "How bad are bananas?" by Louis Atkinson Author: Mike Berners-Lee, Profile Books, £9.99. © Mike Berners-Lee 2020. To order a copy for £8.99 (the offer is valid until November 12, 21, free for UK P&P orders over £20), please visit www.mailshop.co.uk/books or call 020 3176 2937

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