At Monetaria we want to make you aware of your carbon footprint, with each purchase you add to your carbon footprint.
We all have an environmental footprint as we go through life. We take action which alters the environment around us, we use up the planet's resources, we alter the landscape, we use up precious water and natural resources. Some resources are renewable, some are not, some have a long renewable cycle.
Our consumer society is driving climate change, we all have an impact on our planet through the things we eat, buy and consume.
Our planet has a natural Carbon cycle which has been disrupted recently by human activity, CO2 concentration in the atmosphere has been on the rise, this is a measurable result of our collective environmental footprint.
Our carbon footprint is one way to measure our impact on the natural world, this is just one part of our environmental footprint which also consists of land use, water use and material waste like plastic. Using our app you can track your carbon footprint based on the purchases you make.
What does a sustainable lifestyle look like ?
In 2015 nations came together to sign the Paris agreement which sets out targets to reduce global warming and climate change to well below 2 degrees Celsius by the year 2100 and aims to drive policies which keep temperature rise below 1.5 Celsius. Nations and Companies have adopted the Paris agreement and have set targets to reduce their emissions.
On a personal level we can also take this to heart and aim to reduce our emissions inline with the Paris agreement. In the UK the average person has an annual carbon footprint of 12 tonnes CO2 if we are going to reach the 1.5 Celsius target we need to more than halve this amount to 5 tonnes.
How do we calculate your carbon footprint ?
We measure your carbon footprint in Carbon Dioxide Equivalent (CO2eq) which is based on the lifecycle analysis (LCA) of the product or service you buy.
Each product or service we use emits greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. There are multiple greenhouse gases, in order to be able to compare emissions these are all converted to CO2 equivalents which allows us to have a common unit of measure. Lifecycle Analysis takes into account the whole life cycle of the product or service from raw material inputs, labour, transport and consumption, at each stage emissions are calculated and added up, this is a very complex process which is performed by specialised research groups and organisations. This is taken one step further to equate CO2 to money spent so we can estimate the emission of each pound (GBP) spent. As you can tell it is a lengthy and complex process and there is a margin of error, this will improve over time and we will always strive to give you the most accurate number possible.
We currently calculate emissions for each purchase category and over time we will add the emissions for specific brands which will make our calculations much more accurate. You will be able to compare shopping at Tesco vs Sainsbury for example or buying clothes from Next vs Primark.
As an illustration we calculate that a 250 GBP flight has a carbon footprint of 940 kg CO2, and a 45 GBP weekly shop at your local grocery store will have 12.6 kg CO2 emissions.
What actions can you take to reduce your footprint ?
At Monetaria we believe that the best way to reduce your footprint is to reduce your spending, this not only helps the environment but also helps you to reach your financial goals. Set yourself a monthly budget for your spending and your carbon footprint and aim to stay within this budget, use our app to track your progress.
Think about offsetting any excess carbon you might have accumulated in order to reach a net-zero lifestyle. By donating to projects which help you offset your carbon footprint you are helping to rehabilitate the natural landscape and also fund research into carbon capture technologies. Measuring offsets is challenging the same way measuring the carbon footprint is so there will always be an error in measuring the exact amount of carbon offset, we aim to select high quality projects for you so you can rest assured that you are investing in the highest impact projects available.