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Think Global, Act Local

New Ground 61
Summer 2001

We all face dilemmas in life, never more so than when trying to live in a more sustainable way. I want to recycle but that means driving to the recycling point. I don't want to take the kids to school in the car, but is it safe for them to walk? I want to travel and experience other cultures, but that means flying thousands of polluting air miles.

There is now a web site that can help to quantify some of these problems, developed by the environmental charities Global Action Plan and Forum for the Future.

www.carboncalculator.org measures households' direct carbon dioxide emissions - through energy used at home for heating, cooking, lighting and use of electrical equipment, and through private and public transport. It then provides the knowledge required to reduce these emissions - which often saves money in the process.

Bearing in mind that President Bush recently abandoned the USA's Kyoto carbon dioxide reduction targets, it is understandable if people's attitude to reducing individual carbon dioxide emissions is - what difference can I make? The aim of the Carbon Calculator is for the public to demonstrate to world leaders that they believe this is an important issue and that they are willing to do something themselves, despite political and social restrictions. If a significant number of individuals show a commitment to reducing carbon dioxide emissions, a precedent will be set.

It is also understandable that people often think climate change is all industry's fault. However, to supply us with the energy we need to heat and light our homes, run our cars and power our planes we are burning an ever-increasing amount of fossil fuels such as coal, gas and oil. This process creates carbon dioxide, which is leading to 'global warming'.

In 1995, UK households produced over a quarter of our national carbon dioxide emissions. Just lighting the UK's 22 million homes emits 146 million tonnes of carbon dioxide each year. So, although industry has a major role to play, any real change starts with individual demand.

Users can return to the Carbon Calculator time and again to measure improvements and compare against national averages and averages for their particular type of household. Users can also voice their opinions on local public transport facilities.

It has been designed to make the process as quick and simple as possible. All calculations are made automatically, and it provides sub-scores as you progress. If you would like to get a flavour of how the site works you can make a few simple calculations. Let's take the example of energy use in the home; most people's homes are heated and lighted by gas and / or electricity.

In order to make a more accurate calculation you will need your last four quarterly gas and / or electricity bills. For electricity, add together the number of kilowatt-hours used in each quarter. You will find this on your bills - kilowatt-hours are sometimes referred to as Units. If you don't have your last four bills, www.carboncalculator.org has contact details for all UK energy suppliers. Multiply the annual total by 0.45 to calculate your annual household carbon dioxide emissions from electricity in tonnes.

For gas, follow the same procedure as above, but multiply by 0.2 rather than 0.45. By adding together your emissions from gas and electricity, you have calculated your household's annual carbon dioxide emissions from home energy usage.

Average UK emissions from energy use in the home are 6,200 kilograms of carbon dioxide (6.2 tonnes) per household. To get a visual idea of how much this is - just one kilogram of carbon dioxide would fill 73 party balloons.

www.carboncalculator.org also calculates your carbon dioxide emissions from private, public and air travel to give you your total annual carbon dioxide emissions. The average total annual carbon dioxide emissions in the UK are 8,870 kilograms per household - that's enough to fill 650,000 party balloons!

Carbon dioxide is not the only gas that is causing climate change, but it's a good place to start. This site offers people a simple link between their own lives and the abstract problems of climate change. It demonstrates to decision makers that individuals are willing to make changes if the knowledge and support is available.

For more information contact Global Action Plan at 020 7405 5633 or all@gapuk.demon.co.uk.

Find the website at www.carboncalculator.org, which site was developed with funding from the DETR, the JJ Charitable Trust and the Mark Leonard Trust

Also see www.globalactionplan.org.uk and www.forumforthefuture.org.uk