Ellen Tout - How to Reduce Your Carbon Footprint: Practical Ways to Make a Real Difference

How To Reduce Your Carbon Footprint

Ellen Tout

First published in the UK and USA in 2022 by

Watkins, an imprint of Watkins Media Limited

Unit 11, Shepperton House, 8393 Shepperton Road

London N1 3DF

Design and typography copyright Watkins Media Limited 2022

Text copyright Ellen Tout 2022

Artwork copyright Watkins Media Limited 2022

The right of Ellen Tout to be identified as the Author of this text has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act of 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review.

Commissioning Editor: Ella Chappell

Managing Editor: Daniel Culver

Managing Designer: Karen Smith

Designer: Alice Coleman

Production: Uzma Taj

A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN: 978-1-78678-648-7 (Paperback)

ISBN: 978-1-78678-649-4 (eBook)

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Typeset in Brandon Grotesque

Printed in the United Kingdom by TJ Books Ltd

www.watkinspublishing.com

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ellen Tout is self-employed and splits her time between writing and gardening work, specialising in sustainability. She is also the author of The Complete Book of Vegan Compleating: An AZ of Zero-Waste Eating For the Mindful Vegan , which shares practical and creative ways to reduce food waste and make the most of ingredients. Ellen is Psychologies magazines former Eco Living Editor and has written for publications including Pebble , DIVA , The Great Outdoors and Plant Powered Planet . She has also worked with various environmental charities and organisations, such as Friends of the Earth, Coastal Guardians and The Natural History Consortium.

Ellen lives in Kent with her girlfriend and rescue dog. When shes not writing or reading, she loves to be outdoors walking, gardening and swimming.

KEY TO SYMBOLS

Behaviour change

Purchasing decision

Long-term payback

Short-term payback

DIY

Specialist needed

Major change

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

Weve been hearing about carbon footprints for a while in the news, at school and from scientists. The concept isnt new but until recent years, your carbon footprint might not have felt so tangible. The Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdowns, COP events, Extinction Rebellion protests and IPCC reports, to name just a few examples, have shown that the climate crisis is a very real factor in our daily lives.

This introduction, and entire book, could be a series of terrifying statistics, quotes and scenarios. But I dont think that would help. If youre reading this book, the chances are that you are already, at least somewhat, aware of the challenges facing our planet, communities and wildlife. Instead, this book gives you the tools to make evidence-based changes some of them being little tweaks to your daily routine, others being bigger DIY or gardening projects, and everything in between.

For the last five years, I have written about sustainability as a journalist and author. This started as one single page in a magazine, but the more I wrote, the more demand there was for it. Writing about these issues made me feel more empowered. I was doing something about it. It also showed me the many, many amazing people also doing something about it: from interviewing the founder of my local zero-waste shop, to speaking at vegan markets about waste-free cooking; or receiving emails from readers keen to make changes, and finding community groups cleaning beaches, organising rallies, and saving green spaces.

The fact that almost every area of human activity contributes to our carbon footprint might sound like an overwhelming problem. But this means that there is scope to reduce our footprint in every aspect of our lives. Every single little positive step each of us takes does make a difference it has a ripple effect, inspiring more people, sparking more small tweaks and adding up to real change. While many of those in power are failing us, we can also vote with our actions, sending a message to businesses, brands and governments that we demand better.

This book is packed full of changes you could make. These are suggestions and advice. Dip in and out, try one a day, week, or month. Take control for yourself but dont feel that you need to check every single one off. Doing this should not feel like a burden make it fun, be creative and slow down. Remember the quote by zero-waste chef Anne-Marie Bonneau: We dont need a handful of people doing it (zero-waste) perfectly. We need millions of people doing it imperfectly.

WHAT ACTUALLY IS A CARBON FOOTPRINT?

The phrase carbon footprint may not be a new concept to you but its not always easy to know where to start when trying to measure or reduce it. A carbon footprint is the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) emitted as a direct or indirect result of an activity. Almost everything we do results in carbon emissions from breathing to travelling, warming our homes or buying food.

Human and other forms of life impacting the environment by emitting carbon dioxide is a pattern as old as the hills; life itself has always depended on and affected the planets carbon cycle. All organic matter contains carbon, and this is released and reabsorbed in a continuous flow. Whats new is the scale of the impact humans are having, and the imbalance its causing in the biosphere.