Carbon Labels

In addition to in-home gadgets that help consumers gauge energy consumption, those with an eye for carbon footprint reductions are also focusing on food miles, or the amount of greenhouse gases emitted in growing, processing and transporting foods from the source to your table. Distributers such as Tesco, in the UK, label select products with information regarding how much carbon and other greenhouse gases were emitted in the process of getting the food on the shelves in the market. According to a recent article in the Irish Independent,

"Tesco has begun putting carbon labels on around 30 of its own-brand products, ranging from vegetables, to fruit juice, to crisps and light bulbs."

It is difficult and complicated to quantify the greenhouse gas emissions attributable to producing and transporting a single green pepper, for instance. Not only must transport be considered, but also the gas emissions from fertilizer use and the energy used in cleaning, sorting, quality control, refrigeration, and display of the product must all be taken into consideration.

In the United States, we are often urged to "buy local", not only to support local farms and businesses, but also to limit the amount of energy consumed in transporting products from foreign countries to the local supermarket. In response to this seemingly green decree, I would implore consumers to think rationally before going out of their way to purchase local foods. In many cases, it may very well be more carbon intensive to drive an extra 15 minutes to whole foods or to the farmers market than it would be to shop instead at the Safeway that is within walking distance or a 5 minute drive. The aggregate of millions of consumers driving 15 minutes to the farmers market, plus the energy expended by farmers driving between rural farms and farmers markets, would likely add up to far more carbon expended than if those millions of people drove 1/3 of the way to purchase produce that had been shipped en masse via boat, truck or plane, even from another country.

Ultimately, carbon labels are a great way to educate consumers about the implications of their purchases, and also to provide consumers with a way to make environmentally conscious decisions about how they wield their buying power.