Carbon footprints

Earth quickly becomes warmer. More greenhouse gases in the atmosphere - carbon dioxide, methane and water vapour - results in a bigger greenhouse effect, and a warmer planet. We humans need to stop releasing greenhouse gases, for the global warming to stop. I don't release anything. I have no car, and I wheel my chair when I'm going somewhere.

With my own muscles. Yes... that's true. Let's look a little deeper, though. That...

apple? Where does it come from? From the shop... Yes. This must mean that the apple has been transported to your local shop.

How was it transported? A lorry, probably. And a lorry burns petrol and emits greenhouse gases. Before the lorry fueled up, oil was pumped from the ground, refined into petrol in a refinery, and transported to the filling station. All such work requires energy and emits carbon dioxide.

The apple grew in an orchard. And in the orchard they might have used tractors, and various irrigation systems that need energy. Not to mention the emissions contributed by the manufacture of tractors and irrigation pipes. You see. Even an apple has an environmental effect.

It leaves traces, and contributes to the emission of carbon dioxide in several long chains. We call the chains a carbon dioxide footprint. Is it possible to do something that doesn't leave a carbon footprint? Read books? That's a good idea, but how is the book produced?

Trees have been cut down to produce paper. The book was printed in a printing office... transported with a lorry to the local book store. All that requires energy. Everything leaves traces, and contributes to emissions.

So, it is fun and educational to read books, but they do have a footprint. A small one. Just like your glasses, your cell phone or... your shoes. Everything we consume leaves a footprint on the environment.

This might sound hopeless? But keep something important in mind: Different apples leave different carbon footprints. This apple went with a lorry, then a ship, then a lorry again to the store. And then car from the shopping mall to a kitchen. Large carbon footprint.

This one grew nearby. It went with a lorry a short distance to the convenient store. It was carried home on foot, before it was eaten. Small footprint. This apple is also grown nearby, but in a greenhouse that uses certain lamps to make the fruit grow faster.

The lamps require energy, so this apple leaves a rather large carbon footprint, although it grew in the vicinity. And this... ... no one ate it. This apple has a carbon footprint, totally in vain. Large emissions, yet nobody was fed.

Which apple would you say is the best for the climate. Which is the worst? Almost everything we do, every thing we consume, results in a carbon footprint. We can't escape that. Ceasing consumption is not something we can do.

We have to eat; and very few of us can produce all our food by ourselves. But we can reduce our carbon footprints by making smart choices. And stop wasting. That's definitely something we can do.