On Monday 9th August 2021 the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) produced it’s latest report on how climate change is intensifying.
We are all keenly aware of the impact of climate change all around us. The Covid19 pandemic being spread by human global movement. Wildfires burning across Turkey, Greece & California. Extreme temperatures in Northern America. Our UK Summer being the wettest & warmest in years. The list goes on.
However, the IPCC Working Group 1 report Climate Change 2021: the Physical Science Basis, has unequivocally cited human activities for at least 1.1° C of warming since 1850-1900, & finds that averaged over the next 20 years, global temperature is expected to reach or exceed 1.5°C of warming (1)
This is a stark report with an equally stark projection. However, what can we do as individuals to help combat the changes to our climate & how as humans can we make changes for the better?
As many people adjust to the new normal & begin the process of returning to the workplace or hybrid working patterns; how can individuals make small changes, which if adopted on mass, could have an impact on reducing advancing climate change?
Once such way, albeit seemingly simple, is to make your own lunch!
A recent report by Scientists from the University of Cádiz, Spain found that fast food takeaway & takeaway food packages accounted for over 80% of 12m items recorded from 36 databases across the globe, polluting rivers & oceans.
The research, published in the journal Nature Sustainability & funded by the BBVA Foundation & Spanish science ministry, concluded: “In terms of litter origins, take-out consumer items – mainly plastic bags & wrappers, food containers & cutlery, plastic & glass bottles, & cans – made up the largest share.” (2)
This is alarming & easily rectified with a simple investment. A lunchbox & re-usable drinking bottle.
According to a 2019 article, research from the environmental charity Hubbub estimated that UK workers were generating 10.7bn separate items of waste over a year by purchasing ‘lunch on the go’, from sandwich boxes to crisp packets & napkins. (3)
The survey of more than 1,200 workers found an average lunch purchase included four packaged items, with 76% of shoppers picking up a main item such as a boxed sandwich, 70% a packet of crisps or another snack & 65% a napkin. (3)
Therefore, imagine how many ‘lunch on the go’ waste item’s an average UK working person might get through a year if say they worked on average 48 weeks of the year, 5 days a week? If each ‘lunch on the go’ meal constituted of 4 packaged items this averages 48 weeks x 5 days a week = 240 purchased ‘on the go’ meals & 4 item’s of waste per day = 4800 pieces of food packaging waste per person, per year & this is only from lunch!
If these same workers invested in a lunch box, maybe a salad box & a re-usable drinks bottle, they could reduce their individual packaging waste by up to 4797 pieces per year. If 100 people adopted the same idea, this would be 479,700 less pieces of packaging waste per year. If a million people adopted the idea, this would be 479,700,000 less pieces of packaging waste per year.
It is a seemingly simple change, but one that could make a huge impact on the amount of takeaway food waste packaging clogging up our seas & rivers.
A lunch box, maybe a salad box & a re-usable drinks bottle. Your small way to combat climate change. Simple really.
Written by Katy-Jane Mason for & on behalf of Virtually Smart.
- https://www.ipcc.ch/2021/08/09/ar6-wg1-20210809-pr/
- https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/jun/10/takeaway-food-and-drink-litter-dominates-ocean-plastic-study-shows
- https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/may/14/lunch-on-go-habit-generates-11bn-items-packaging-waste-year-uk
