How Bad Are Bananas? (eBook)

Mike Berners-Lee is founding director of Small World Consulting, an associate company of Lancaster University (UK) specializing in organizational responses to climate change. His research, often in partnership with Lancaster University or the Crichton Carbon Centre, includes the development of leading footprint tools based on environmental input-output analysis, life cycle analysis, and hybrid methodologies. Berners-Lee's commercial client work is focused primarily on enabling realistic and credible understanding of greenhouse gas impacts for the purposes of practical decision making. Berners-Lee's clients include major supermarkets, architecture firms, and numerous small- and medium-sized businesses interested in reducing their carbon footprint, including farms, hotels, and breweries.

Acknowledgements****Introduction****A quick guide to carbon and carbon footprints ****Under 10 grams / 1 ounceA text message A pint of tap water A web search Walking through a door An email Drying your hands A plastic carrier bag ****10 to 100 grams / 1 ounce to six ouncesA paper carrier bag Ironing a shirt Cycling a mile Boiling a liter of water An apple A banana An orange An hour’s TV ****100 grams to 1 kilo / 6 ounces to 2 poundsA mug of tea or coffee A mile by bus A diaper A basket of strawberries A mile by train A 500 ml bottle of water A letter 1 kg of carrots A newspaper A pint of beer A bowl of porridge A shower An ice cream A unit of heat A unit of electricity Spending $1 1 kg of trash Washing up A toilet roll Driving 1 mile A red rose 1 kg of boiled potatoes A pint of milk 1 kg of cement ****1 kilo to 10 kilos / 2 pounds to 20 poundsA paperback book A loaf of bread A bottle of wine 1 kg of plastic Taking a bath A pack of asparagus A load of laundry A burger A liter of gasoline 1 kg of rice Desalinating a cubic meter of water A pair of trousers A steak A carton of eggs 1 kg of tomatoes 1 kg of trout Leaving the lights on 1 kg of steel ****10 kilos to 100 kilos / 20 pounds to 200 poundsA pair of shoes 1 kg of cheese A congested commute by car A night in a hotel A leg of lamb A carpet Using a cellular phone Being cremated ****100 kilos to 1 tonne / 200 pounds to 1 tonLondon to Glasgow and back Christmas excess Insulating an attic A necklace A computer (and using it) A mortgage ****1 tonne to 10 tonnes / 1 ton to 10 tonsA heart bypass operation Photovoltaic panels Flying from Los Angeles to Barcelona return 1 tonne of fertilizer A person ****10 tonnes to 100 tonnes / 10 tons to 100 tonsA car crash A new car A wind turbine A house ****100 tonnes to 1 million tonnes / 100 tons to 1 million tonsHaving a child A swimming pool A hectare of deforestation A space shuttle flight A university ****1 million tonnes/tons and beyondA volcano The World Cup The world’s data centers A forest fire A country A war Black carbon The world Burning the world’s fossil fuel reserves ****More about food How the footprint of food breaks down Low-carbon food tips A guide to seasonal food ****Further information Assumptions revisited The cost efficiency of selected carbon-saving options Where the numbers come from Carbon tables for countries, people, industries and products ****Notes and references ****Index