Packets of cheese and onion Walkers crisps have recently embraced a world no one thought possible: the daring new notion of carbon labelling.
These timeless favourite crisps have had their carbon footprint measured by Carbon Trust and since last year, have been back on the shelf looking gorgeous in royal blue packaging and bearing it all with the statistics printed for all to witness.
One bag of crisps produces a carbon footprint of 75g which may not be shocking until you consider it is almost double the weight of the pack (34.5g). Two other products were measured by Carbon Trust, including Boots Botanical Shampoo at 148g for a 250ml bottle, and Innocent Smoothie at 225g for a 250ml bottle.
If thinking about the carbon footprint of a bag of crisps seems bizarre, overly complicated and in the end, a waste of time, don't worry. There are mixed feelings about this new wave of labels.
Carbon Trust argues carbon labelling will bring awareness not only to the consumer but to the producers. By having their products measured, companies can realise where their carbon flaws lie and begin to quickly fix any problems.
This week, seven more companies signed up to have their products measured. Tesco has so far labelled 30 of their own brand products including Orange Juice, light bulbs, detergent and some vegetables. Cadbury and Fosters have jumped on the bandwagon as well.
The goal of the whole project is to set a single standard not only for food but for a wide range of sectors and products. For example, Halifax bank just measured their Web saver account and has labelled it online at 204g.
In the future, Carbon Trust hopes to calculate the carbon footprint of a product from beginning to end and everything used in between. This means that for the bag of Walkers crisps, everything from the fertilizers used in the soil, to the disposal of the package after use, to the emissions from the recycling or landfill process, will be counted for when measuring the carbon footprint.
If this seems complicated, think about a food with more ingredients, like soup, or a pizza. It's an ambitious idea but also an extremely perplex one. But will these labels, really help reduce C02 emissions? Or will it simply fade into the background behind the usual mob of labels like "fair-trade" and "organic".
The point to all of this is to help consumers who often feel confused and powerless when it comes to carbon footprints. But also to bring light upon the product for the producer; to reward them for doing well or show them where they went wrong.
There is a foreboding feeling when we think about the amount of carbon that has been emitted from producing the food we gobble down in five minutes. I suppose only time will tell if carbon labelling makes us think twice.
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Posted under Articles, Environmental News
This post was written by Christine Pinella on April 7, 2008