Rather to my surprise I was sent in March on a two day (Zoom) carbon literacy course with a number of clergy and laity across the province. This course was less to do with cutting down plastic use and more to do with our carbon emissions, for example from our heating (by using insulation or changing power supply), or our food waste, or indeed how we buy our food and how far it comes to reach us. It would be difficult to sum up the course here, but instead I’ll offer a few facts and thoughts I took away from it aside from the general statistics of global warming.
A kilogram of tomatoes produces a certain amount of CO2 equivalent, which varies depending on the tomatoes:
If they’re grown locally, in season, and are a variety that is appropriate for our climate – 1.3kg
If they’re grown in UK summer or Spanish winter and are a variety that needs more heat/light, e.g. baby plum tomatoes – 4.9kg
If they’re brought out of season from heated greenhouses – 28.2kg.
It’s worth checking to see if your bank and pension funds are still investing in fossil fuels.
One person travelling from Glasgow to London will travel most efficiently by coach. After that, the modes of transport we looked at are ranked as train, then small electric car, then efficient small petrol car, then plane, then worst of all an SUV.
Some churches have cut down their meat consumption (cows and sheep are particularly bad producers of methane) by having default vegetarian meals on their social occasions – that is, vegetarian unless meat is specifically asked for.
Hierarchies of waste and carbon:
Best
Waste prevention Avoid emissions
Preparation for reuse Reduce emissions
Recycling Substitute with low-carbon alternatives
Recovery Sequester emissions
Disposal Offset emissions
Worst
Some places to find information:
Tearfund Climate Emergency Toolkit (www.climateemergencytoolkit.com)
Centre for Alternative Technology (Wales) (www.cat.org.uk)
Ecodrive.org – hints and tips on how to drive more ecologically, also with information on courses.
Some books:
Mike Berners-Lee: How Bad are Bananas? The Carbon Footprint of Everything
Ruth Valerio: Saying Yes to Life
Nicolas Holtam: Sleepers Wake – Getting Serious about Climate Change
Nicola Mills