I was reading an interesting article yesterday by Mike Berners-Lee of the Guardian Newspaper. Across a range of his articles, Mike looks at how cycling and using mobile telephones, for example, can have a significant impact on our carbon footprint. I found it interesting to know that if we use our mobile for an hour once a day for the year it would be the equivalent of flying one way to London to New York in Economy Class! It isn’t necessarily the usage alone that is causing such an impact, it’s the energy required to transmit calls across networks. In 2009, 2.7 billion mobile phones were in use, which means mobile calls account for about 125 million tonnes CO2e, which is just over one-quarter of a per cent of global emissions.
We’re not suggesting you stop using your mobile phone, nor are we trying to make you feel guilty for doing so! But there are a few lower-carbon options instead you could put into practice instead such as text messaging or using a land line, because it takes about one-third of the power to transmit a call when you have a fixed landline network than it does when both callers are using a mobile.
As for cycling, Mike highlights the positive things about cycling to work every day instead of driving:
Ø Healthier lifestyle
Ø Lower your carbon footprint
Ø No need for petrol money
Ø Burn some carbs!
Ø No queuing in traffic reduces carbon emissions. (Mike says: “It's a little-known fact that a car on a congested road can produce as much as three times the amount of CO2 as the same car travelling at a steady speed.”)
And he also goes on to explain how cycling is a low-carbon way to travel – but it depends on what you eat.
To read the full article about cycling and measuring your carbon footprint in the process click here.
To read about the carbon footprint of your mobile phone, click here.
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