In our previous post, we highlighted climate change causes, which broke down significant role players on the impact of climate change on our environment. It went on to conclude that consumption is a driving factor if not the only one, that got us into a hole which we are trying to dig ourselves out of, i.e. climate change.
We divide our consumptions habits into two subsections, transport and household. In this post, we will be looking deeper into how household consumption plays its part in the climate change problem and how we could reduce or shift our consumption habits.
Basic categories of household carbon footprint
According to research conducted by the University of Surrey, Centre of Environmental Strategy (read more here), it seems that two basic categories cover household carbon footprint. The first is direct emissions that arise due to immediate energy use in the home (such as gas appliances and gadgets). Secondly, 'embedded' emissions, such as those that arise from the manufacture of goods, for example, the manufacture of a TV or mobile phones in China. When you buy your iPhone, iPad, Samsung HD TV set, this all adds to your household carbon footprint.
“Embedded emissions along supply chains (arising domestically and abroad) account for the majority (around 60 -70%) of the carbon footprints of western households.”
Life is all about BALANCE
How do you define balance? According to the Oxford dictionary, balance is a situation in which different things exist in equal, correct or proper amounts.
How does this apply you might ask… Well, we cannot stop or even think about trying to prevent people from buying or consuming, as it is a habit, we are all accustomed to once we have some disposable income. However, what we are trying to do here at WAFE, is to enable you to make well-informed choices in the products you decide to buy or consume. Choosing wisely about what you buy or consume is key to solving this complex problem as well as reducing your overall level of consumption.
Our vision here at WAFE is to ensure the eco-friendly products we provide creates, as little impact on the environment through our green supply chain operations. This operation will not be smooth and will come at a cost, but we know this is necessary to ensure that we practice what we preach and create a cleaner healthy environment.
Reducing Consumption or Shift in Consumption
Reducing our consumption is relatively simple to implement. Just STOP buying...lol.
As we all know, this is easier said than done, but this is why it is a question we all have to ask ourselves, what do we need vs what we want.
This change in behaviour is something that will take time, but must and can be done if we all think about the bigger picture here. We feel that we all have gone past the stage of trying to prove or dismiss whether climate change is real. The empirical evidence out there says it all from, increasing frequency of extreme temperatures, rising sea levels, melting ice sheets, disappearing Arctic sea ice, increasing the risk of bushfires. The evidence is all there, and if you do not want to take our word, we encourage you also to carry out some research on google to find any contrary evidence on this topic.
The more mentally challenging solution in our opinion regarding our habits or behaviour is a "shift in consumption". This phrase means switching from high emission services or goods to low emission services or products. An example of high emission goods will be animal-based foods while lower emission goods will be plant-based foods (More on this in our future blog). Example of high emission services would be driving a petrol/diesel-powered vehicle while low emission services will be driving a fully electrified car. We aim to expand on this in our next blog, in which we break down how transportation has a significant role to play in solving the climate change problem.
In conclusion, we plead with anyone reading this, ask yourselves what are you willing to change or reduce for the greater good of our beloved planet.