Interesting Facts
TRANSPORT
The average petrol car emits around 4 times more CO2 per passenger than the average bus. Help save CO2 emissions by opting for public transport when possible!
Opting for the train instead of driving reduces your emissions for that journey by around 80%.
In 2019, transport as a whole accounted for 27% of the UK's carbon emissions - higher than any other sector.
In 2019, cars accounted for 18% of the UK's carbon emissions.
WASTE
Paper accounts for 26% of waste at landfill. Reduce amounts of waste by only printing what you need!
It takes 10 litres of water to produce one piece of paper.
44% of plastic rubbish found in the ocean is associated with take out food and drinks. Help reduce this by bringing your own food in reusable containers when going on campus etc.
In the UK, we use 7.7 billion plastic bottles per year. That’s an average of 117 bottles per person, per year. Make sure to bring a reusable bottle with you to lower this amount!
8 million tonnes of the world’s plastics end up in our oceans each year, creating a garbage patch three times the size of France.
More than 28 billion glass bottles and jars end up in landfills every year, which is the equivalent to the Empire State Building filling up every 3 weeks.
Plastic bottles can take around 500 years to decompose.
If we keep consuming plastic at the same rate, its estimated by 2050 there will be more plastic in the ocean by weight than fish.
The UK creates 250 tonnes of waste from coffee cups a day - equivalent in weight to 50 elephants. Only 0.25% of this is recycled - the rest go to landfill. Reduce this by buying a reusable coffee cup!
Around 300 million plastic bags end up in the Atlantic Ocean alone each year. Stop your contribution to this - be sure to remember a reusable bag when shopping!
ENERGY
Using a lid on your pan while cooking can save your energy use while cooking up to 90%!
Each extra mug of water adds 45 seconds of boiling time. Save energy by only boiling for the number of mugs you need!
A study found 14 million people in Britain leave at least one light on when leaving the house for the day. Collectively, this causes CO2 emissions equivalent to around 45 long haul flights a day! Be sure to turn off all lights when leaving the house!
FOOD
The amount of edible food that is thrown away in the UK is equivalent to 15 billion meals - around enough to feed the UK population 3 meals a day for 11 weeks.
Worldwide a third of all food is thrown away - while 10% of the global population are malnourished and don't have proper access to food.
The amount of CO2 caused by food waste from UK households each year is equivalent to flying from London to Perth over 4.5 million times.
In the UK, 20 million slices of bread, 4.4 million potatoes and 280 tonnes of poultry (equivalent in weight to around 70 elephants) goes to waste every day.
The production of beef emits 250 times more greenhouse gas per gram of protein than legumes such as beans or peanuts. Try replacing beef in your diet with vegetarian alternatives!
If food waste were a country, it would have the third biggest carbon footprint after the USA and China.
The meat and dairy industry is responsible for around 14% of global emissions - and animals raised for slaughter outnumber wildlife to a ratio of around 15 to 1! We need to reduce meat production by reducing meat consumption!
In terms of carbon emissions, water usage and land use, dairy is significantly worst in all areas.