The picture at the top of the page is a cereal packet, shipped to Kathmandu from somewhere in India. Open the box and the first thing you find is 1/3 air. This means that for every 3 chocolatey truck-loads, a fourth journey could have been made unnecessary. It is, in theory, a pretty huge saving.
What's at stake is the box real-estate, the in-store advertising to the thirty-something kiddies walking buy. Its hidden waste, not like a dripping tap, a light left on or the heating on with the windows open.
For me, reading the press frequently, it seems like we (who are we) have come a long way in terms of awareness, things are changing but dreadfully slowly. Habits change particularly slowly, few want to downgrade their choices or put effort into changing behaviour: doing the right thing is often trumped by the easy thing.
Having said that, there are opportunities to improve scattered around all over the place. You just have to look carefully to see them, and then do something about them.
If you want to do something now, you could email Kellogg in India and ask them briefly why they are transporting so much air? Let me know if you get a reply.
By the way, this is my flatmates cereal.
ReplyDeleteA very thought provoking thought
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