In the present day, we have everything ready for consumers, to businesses, to industrials, trading and infrastructures and from countries and to the world. It's all about demand and supply.
Craving for food? Let's say a burger. Whether you crave for a quality one or for a cheap yet yummy flavored street burger, all you have to do is walk right to your favorite stall, pay up and get your burger. Its as easy as that! Living in the city? Even easier, you don't even have to worry about store hours, there are still so many option even in the middle of the night. However, what we do not see are the whole logistics happening to make everything this accessible.
Did we need transport to get to the fast food stall? How about the burger, how was it made? What is the patty made of and where? Was it processed in a local facility? Or was it processed from the US or China and then shipped in bulk (hence cheap & affordable)? How about the lettuce? Was it locally grown by a nearby farm or did it come from the next province, or even further? How did it arrive here? How about the buns, ketchup and other sauces? Each and everything comes into play. Although, a lot of businesses are turning to faster supply chains where most produce be found with 1 supplier that handles everything (but each and every item will still go through that whole lifecycle of logistics chain), this does not mean they choose the best environmental option. Most likely the cheaper price and most convenient in ratio to the desired quality needed.
Why are we rambling about this? Because in this world of convenience, everything has a hidden cost. The environmental one. And while, businesses are commonly busy thinking about profit-making, it is up to us, consumer, to remind them that it matters by supporting or not their produce.
"Everything has a carbon footprint. Carbon footprint is a value derived from the total amount of greenhouse gases (such as CO2, methane, nitrous oxide) produced from activity, product, company or country adds to the atmosphere. This includes the emission of the lifecycle from production, to consumption and its disposal." - Wikipedia
Let's start with an example, a farmer. This farmer wants to grow different types of produce. The farmer needs a land to begin. He would need to purchase a land (commonly a wild space forest), he needs machines to deforest the land (leaving the wildlife animals to be forced out of their homes), he needs to till the land with equipment or buffalos that can step hundreds to thousands of times to make the ground ready for plantation. He needs to setup water irrigation to have continuous water supply. He needs to purchase seeds that may come from different places - then to plant, nurture and grow them. As competition of yields and costs come to play, pesticides and other toxic materials are added to avoid pests feasting on their produce yet creating bigger than the usual as crops mature. Months after months when the harvest time reached, machineries and transport logistics comes to play to deliver the produce as fresh as possible. The bigger the land the bigger the harvest (usually), this plays a role in the business market share. Some provinces or areas that have more yields will make an impact on where your local produce are sourced (can be as far as Mindanao, or maybe in Baguio). These produce are transported in the form of ferries, air freights, and trucks to ship it to your local market. Each and every step creates carbon footprint, and this is only 1 industry of the many.
In the Philippines, a person on an average creates 1.2 tons (1200kgs) of carbon emissions per year! - Statistica
Years back, I worked hard as an office employee with the goal to earn enough, to create a better way of living and to secure for the future. I believe that everyone will agree that over time, convenience becomes a "need" into our daily life. You prefer taking a car to drive than taking public transport, you get food whichever you desire (over home cooked food), get coffee, tea or shakes in plastic or in "paper" cups (over homemade drinks in a reusable bottle), purchase a new outfit once or twice a month, spend a weekend getaway with family and friends and go for parties or getaway trips. We aim to be fulfilled with our wants and still look for more without knowing or somehow neglecting how much carbon emissions it creates and how the environment suffers and the climate severely gets affected. In Asia Pacific, an average of carbon emissions being emitted is 4 tons per capita per annum (source). While some countries are higher, like Japan with 8 tons, and the US with 16 tons. As we release carbon dioxide, the plant world, absorbs some and release oxygen. This is how the planet is made to be kept in balance. But as we started releasing so much emissions, how can it keep up? A mature or fully grown tree absorbs anywhere between 10 to 40 kgs of carbon which can depend on the type, location and environment.
The greater question to ask ourselves is obvious: "Is there enough trees or other carbon sinks for 8 billion people in the world?"
If we continue the same trend over the next several years, we expect to have 2-3 degrees celsius rise in temperature due to climate change. To give context in the Philippines, where our summer period reaches an average of 33°c ( this year of 2024 even reached over 40°c), with the added rise of temperature, every Filipino will feel like having fever every single day and for sure will react by being even more addicted to their A.C., thereby negatively contributing by spewing even more carbon emissions.
Other notable impacts such as warming of oceans and acidification, melting of polar ice, more and severe typhoons, increase in droughts, more wildfires, decline of food availability, loss of species, more health risks are to be expected based on climate change impacts studies.
This is not about giving information about false hope but a reality check. It is not too late. The goal is to understand our emissions and how to reduce them. Each and everyone of us is important in this world. One can make a lot of difference. And if everyone joins in, imagine the impact.
Would you like to get started? Have you ever tried calculating your environmental impact? Click on the link below to visit our calculator.
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