Carbon Footprint and Global Warming
Sustainability has been on the agenda for quite some time, and as a word, it probably has as many interpretations as there are people. Nevertheless, it’s more important than ever to live it. Within the sustainability umbrella, there are a number of important factors to be aware of. What we know for a fact is that today we are living beyond our Earthly assets. We only have one planet, so we need to find a sustainable way of living.
No doubt you have heard the terms carbon footprint and CO2 emissions. You probably also know that these things impact the environment and our planet. But why? Let’s begin by taking a look at some basics in sustainability.
Global warming. No one has missed the ongoing debate on global warming. But what is the greenhouse effect and how does global warming happen? Well, the greenhouse effect is a natural process. Energy is coming from the sun in the form of radiation which is mostly reflected back into space. But some of that energy gets absorbed by greenhouse gases, like CO2 and methane. This energy gets reemitted back to Earth by the greenhouse gases, making our planet warm enough for us to live. As long as the amount of greenhouse gas was stable, it was ok. But, when we began to use fossil raw materials and energy, a lot of fossil CO2 were released into the atmosphere, changing the balance of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. By having more CO2 in the atmosphere, absorbing energy and reemitting it back to Earth, the temperature will continue to increase and cause the climate to change.
So, what can we do about it? One way of slowing down global warming is to switch from fossil to sustainable bio-based and renewable sources including waste, supporting a circular economy.
Switching to renewable and waste sources means reducing the carbon footprint, which is the amount of fossil CO2 equivalent that is emitted into the atmosphere. The switch to sustainable resources to reduce carbon footprint is absolute key to minimizing global warming and climate change.
