Cut out meat and dairy, especially beef and lamb. And make sure you eat everything that you buy: food waste accounts for eight per cent of greenhouse gas emissions, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization. Avoid air-freighted food, such as vegetables like berries, mange-tout or asparagus, when they are out of season.
Transport’s biggest source of emissions are planes, then cars. For a family of four, a return trip from the UK to Australia emits 12 times more carbon than running a car for an entire year. So if you fly a lot, this will be the biggest part of your carbon footprint by far. Fly less or, better still, stop. To cut your car emissions, try walking, cycling, public transport, car shares, working from home. You can ditch the car altogether or get a smaller one and drive it carefully. At 95 kilometres per hour (60 miles/hr) you burn through 30 per cent less fuel per kilometre than at 128 kilometres (80 miles/hr). If you need a new car, buy an electric or plug-in hybrid, if you can. But remember the industrial production of the car itself emits around a third of the footprint of driving so there is also a good argument for keeping old, efficient cars on the road.
