How Many Planets Do You Need? - By: Anita Lyon

A housemate recently arrived home with a bag full of health shop products and told me I had to calculate my carbon footprint, as she’d done earlier in the day. She was horrified as the online calculator had told her that in order to maintain her current lifestyle, she’d need the regenerative capacity of four planets. Shock, horror! The bag of products was bought to replace all the chemical cleaners and detergents we have in the cupboards, which was her first step in going green.

I figured that since I don’t eat meat or dairy, drive a Hummer, throw garbage out the window or light bonfires in my backyard every weekend I’d have a sparkly clean slate and look like an eco warrior of note. So I visited a site called earthday.org and took the test. After selecting my location and language the quiz took me right into the most important part of any green lifestyle question these days…

What do you eat?
When you look at the planet’s health, food production is a vital factor which contributes to its degeneration. According to a United Nations report entitled Livestock’s Long Shadow, the livestock industry generates more greenhouse gas emissions than the entire global transport system combined. The scary part is that global meat production is set to climb from 229 million tonnes to 465 million tonnes by 2050, which means the emission factor will grow substantially too. It is also interesting to note that grazing occupies 26 percent of Earth’s surface, while crops grown to feed cattle use up about a third of our arable land.

How do you live?
Next, the quiz asked me about my home. How many people live in it, how much electricity we use and what types of energy we invest in. Carbon footprints vary depending on regions, but homes use a vast amount of money and energy on heating and cooling alone. The products we buy and the appliances we use directly impact the amount of emissions our homes give off. Buying locally made products, energy efficient products and by insulating our homes correctly, we can save on the amount of energy we use.

What do you drive?
Lastly, I had to specify what transport I use, how far I travel and what other forms of transport I use, if any. While the food industry contributes about 18 percent of emissions, the transport industry is the second largest at 13 percent with air transportation responsible for a deeper carbon footprint than driving. More people are beginning to drive every day however, and the numbers are rising.

After a quick calculation, my results showed that if everyone lived like me, we’d need two and a half planets in order to sustain my current lifestyle. Eco warrior fail! Although I thought my contribution was small, the quiz got me thinking that there is always more that can be done to improve the way I live. Tomorrow, I’m off to buy some more, locally made, health shop products and organic goodies to fill the shelves with, and am getting greener by the day.

About the Author

Anita Lyon is a Professional and experienced freelance SEO Copywriter and writes on various topics. She is currently showing a great interest in healthcare and the lifestyles adapted by people. She has invested a lot of research time in order to understand healthy organic foods and how health shop products help the body.

Article Directory Source: http://www.articlerich.com/profile/Anita-Lyon/124783

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