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REDUCING YOUR FOOTPRINT 1 average is 4 tonnes per person, with wide variation between countries. Approximate national average national Approximate countries. between variation wide with person, per tonnes 4 is average year.global Currently,per the person per tonnes 2 approximately of limit target a for call experts Global in tonnes. (CO Your n n Actions include: , noiseandinjuries. air CO2global to particle butions small emissions, contri major transport’s reduce can technologies benefits. Environmental pitalizations andlesssuffering.2 related injuries will result in fewer deaths and hos - Reduced stress. community reduce and loss hearing from protect will disease noise Reduced (COPD). pulmonary obstructive chronic and asth ma including disease, respiratory less to lead can pollution air Reduced cancer. and teoporosis the lowering of high blood pressure), diabetes, os (including obesity,reduceddisease in result heart benefits. Health Transport 1. applicable totheirown environments. are actions which determine to need will Readers circumstances. social and country specific on depend food, use of energyport, in transthe home, water use, and management. Appropriateness of actions will to related emissions reduce to taken be could that actions regarding suggestions few a are Here health! to beneficial very be can emissions carbon reducing at aimed below,actions noted As footprints. carbon own their reduce to do can everyone much is there targets, agreed reach help to required be will actions individual and system-level both While behalf. your on or you to provided services to related emissions estimated to contribute around 45% of your “footprint”. 1.2. and 3, China 9, Kingdom United 20, is America of States United the for

2 ) produced through the burning of fossil and is expressed as a weight of CO paign/control/takecontrol_en.ht Data in this annex( except where indicated by reference) is adapted from European Commission- Takewebsite- Commission- Control European from adapted is reference) by indicated where except annex( this in Data Try to Try Try one of the following ways to get to or eerh hw ta oe n w ubn urban two in one that shows Research cold. is the when higher portionately dispro are emissions CO2 and consumption are produced. burnt in a car engine, more than 2.5 kg of CO2 transport. school: “ ” carbon REDUCING YOUR CARBON FOOTPRINT CAN BE GOOD FOR YOUR HEALTH YOUR FOR GOOD BE CAN FOOTPRINT CARBON YOUR REDUCING avoid short car journeys car short avoid cycling, walking, car-pooling, public car-pooling, walking, cycling,

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The rest is your “allocation” of system-generated mize theirimpactonemissions. mini to vehicles selecting in care Takeable. afford and convenient safe, transport public systems. transport public Strengthen and routes. accessible and safe walking and cycling paths with transport active for settlements and ies Develop active transport options. . renewable in money you invest and caused emissions have the calculate will that tions organiza are There emissions. carbon “offsetting” your consider then fly, you If sions. emis CO2 of source growing fastest world’s flying. to alternatives Explore ling by train. travel were person this if than km per sions emis CO2 more times three produces alone train! by Travel economical intermsoffuelconsumption. most the are 6th) and 5th (4th, gears Higher 30% compared with driving at 80 by km per hour. consumption fuel increases hour per km CO2. more emits and petrol more uses speeding — speed Don’t can beeasilycycled orwalked. that distance a — km 3 under for is journeys 1

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Individual activities are activities Individual 2 emissions produced lig s the is Flying Prepare cit Make ------2. Food Actions include (depending on geographical n Be careful which settings you use. If you aquaculture-related food supplies, and avoid and social circumstances): set your fridge on its coolest setting, you malnutrition and problems related to water con- Health benefits. Better dietary choices can re- will not only consume more energy; your tamination. The risk of outbreaks of waterborne duce intake of saturated fats, excess sugar and n Turn down the heat. Reducing the tempera- food will not keep fresh for as long because diseases decreases where standards of water, salt and thus lower the risk of obesity, heart ture by just 1 °C can cut 5–10% off your fam- it might be spoilt through freezing. sanitation and personal hygiene are high. ily’s energy bill and avoid up to 300 kg of disease, stroke, diabetes and colon and breast n Don’t put hot or warm food in the fridge. CO2 emissions per household per year. cancers. You save energy by letting it cool down first External (garden) actions n Turn down the cold. Air conditioners are real before placing it in the fridge. include: Environmental benefits. Food production is a ma- energy wasters — an average room air con- n Conserve household water. Identifying jor contributor to global emissions. Reducing to- n Check if your water is too hot. Your cylinder ditioner operates at 1000 W, causing around and encouraging people to collect and use tal global consumption of animal products (meat thermostat does not need to be set higher 650 g of CO2 emissions per hour. Fans might “grey” water for washing, bathing and wa- and dairy foods) can lead to reduced CO2 and than 60 ºC. be an alternative, otherwise use air condi- tering gardens and livestock will help pre- emissions produced by animals.3Using tioners sparingly and look for the most en- n Switch off the lights when you don’t need serve drinking-water supplies. more locally produced seasonal products re- ergy-efficient model. In countries with dry them. Switching off five lights in hallways duces “” and uses less in heat, the room water coolers are as effec- and rooms in your house when not in use n Harvest rainwater (from rooftops). Tanks delivery. tive and draw only a fraction the energy con- can save around € 60 a year and avoid about (butts) to store water as an alternative source of drinking-water so that communi- sumed by an air conditioner. Turn off fans in 400 kg of CO2 emissions per year. Actions include: rooms not in use. ties are not solely reliant on groundwater. n Use energy-saving light bulbs. Just one n n Raise hand pumps to protect drinking-water Reduce intake of animal products in de- n Programme your thermostat so that at can reduce your lighting costs by up to € 60 veloped countries. Industrialized countries night, or while you are out of the house, you and avoid 400 kg of CO emissions over the from flood contamination. need to reduce their meat consumption 2 minimize your heating or cooling use. This lifetime of the bulb — and they last up to n Irrigate home gardens (in dry environ- from the current 224 g/person/day. Global alone can reduce your heating and cooling 10 times longer than ordinary light bulbs. ments). Use barrier methods (contour convergence to 90 g/person/day would use by 7–15%. Energy-saving bulbs are more expensive to bounding, gully plugging, checking dams have a significant effect on carbon levels buy, but cheaper over their life span. and dykes, etc.) to catch rainwater and give n Install good home insulation. This is one of and health. Increasing meat intake in low- it time to soak into the ground (reduce run- the most effective ways to reduce CO2 emis- n Do not leave appliances on standby. Use income countries could reduce childhood off), lifting water tables and hence availabil- growth stunting. sions and to save energy in the long term. the on/off function on the machine itself. A Heat loss through walls, roof and floor com- television set switched on for 3 hours a day ity of drinking-water. n Eat local and seasonal produce. Fresh, lo- monly accounts for over 50% of overall space (the average time Europeans spend watch- Internal household actions include: cally grown, seasonal food generally uses heat loss. Insulate your hot water tanks, the ing TV) and in standby mode during the re- n Boil less water. If you only boil just enough less energy to produce. It burns up fewer pipes of your central heating, windows (see maining 21 hours uses about 40% of its en- water for your cup of tea, you could help food miles, as the distance it has to travel below), roofs, ground floors as well as your ergy in standby mode. save a lot of energy. from farm to plate requires less fuel. wall cavities, and fit aluminium foil behind n Unplug your mobile telephone charger your radiators. In tropical climates (and dur- n Cover your pots while cooking. Doing so n Try not to waste food. Only buy or order when you are not using it. Even when it is ing heatwaves) good insulation will help can save a lot of the energy needed for pre- what you need. not connected to the telephone, it is still keep heat out. paring the meal. n Recycle organic waste. Methane released draining . There are estimates that by decomposing biodegradable waste in n Replace your old single-glazed windows 95% of the energy is wasted when you leave n Avoid drinking bottled water. Where possi- landfills accounts for around 3% of the Eu- with double-glazing. This requires an initial the charger plugged in all the time. ble, avoid bottled water as it has large en- investment, but can more than halve the en- vironmental and economic costs associated ropean Union’s emissions. n Switch to green electricity, if available. By ergy lost through windows and pay off in the with plastic bottles and transport. By your organic waste, or com- doing so, you will help to strengthen renew- long term. posting it if you have a garden, you can help able energy sources. n Take a shower instead of a bath. Doing so eliminate this problem! n Move your fridge and freezer. Placing them takes up to four times less energy. To maxi- n Find alternatives to fuels. Bioen- next to the cooker or boiler consumes much mize the energy saving, avoid power show- ergy technologies, improved stoves with more energy than if they were standing on ers and use low-flow showerheads, which 3. Energy Use chimneys, and cleaner fuels such as kero- their own. are cheap and provide the same comfort. sene liquefied petroleum gas can positively Health benefits. Access to clean and reliable en- n Defrost old fridges and freezers regularly. impact on efficiency and emission concerns n Turn off the tap. If you turn off the tap while ergy can reduce ill-health consequences of in- Even better is to replace them with newer and reduce risks associated with indoor pol- brushing your teeth, you can save several door air pollution (attributable annual mortality models, which all have automatic defrost lution litres of water per person per day. is 1.6 million), outdoor air pollution (attributable cycles and are generally up to twice as en- n Use the washing machine and dishwasher annual mortality 0.8 million in cities >100 000) ergy-efficient as their predecessors. When only when they are full. If you need to use and occupational health hazards, particularly in buying new appliances (not only fridges, but 4. Water Use a machine when it is half full, then use the low income countries. Currently, 2.4 billion peo- also washing machines, dishwashers, etc.), Health benefits. Actions that promote and half-load or economy setting. There is also ple depend on traditional biomass fuels and 1.6 choose those with high energy efficiency preserve water quantity and quality will help no need to set the temperatures high. Now- billion do not have electricity4. ratings. maintain safe drinking-water, agriculture and adays detergents are so efficient that they get your clothes and dishes clean at low for 1 kg of recycled glass, it is 300 g of CO2; temperatures. and recycling 1 kg of paper instead of putting it in landfills avoids 900 g of CO emissions n Use a tumble dryer only when absolutely 2 as well as methane emissions. necessary. Each drying cycle produces over n 3 kg of CO2 emissions. Drying clothes nat- Ensure your local authority provides for re- urally is by far the best way to do it: your cycling options. Lobby for appropriate col- clothes will last longer and the energy pro- lection and disposal facilities. vided is free and non-polluting! n Reduce waste. Most products we buy cause in one way or 5. : Reduce, , another, e.g. during production and distri- Recycle bution. By taking your lunch in a reusable lunch box instead of a disposable one, you save the energy needed to produce new Environmental and health benefits. Waste is an lunch boxes. important contributor to carbon emissions. Re- ducing waste can lead to big emission savings n Reuse your shopping bag. When shopping, and lower land fill requirements, with conse- it saves energy and waste to use a reusable quent reductions in air and land pollution. Waste bag instead of accepting a disposable one in each shop. not only discharges CO2 and methane into the atmosphere, it can also pollute the air, ground- n Choose products that come with little pack- water and soil. aging. Buy refills when you can — you will also cut down on waste production and en- Actions include: ergy use! n Recycle as much as possible. Take used n Buy intelligently. One bottle of 1.5 litres re- glass to the bottle bank and separate paper quires less energy and produces less waste and cardboard, plastics and cans for recy- than three bottles of 0.5 litres. cling from the rest of your waste. Recycling one aluminium can saves 90% of the energy n Stop household burning of rubbish. House- hold burning of rubbish adds to emissions needed to produce a new one — 9 kg of CO2 emissions per kg of aluminium! For 1 kg of and risks releasing toxic chemicals into the atmosphere. recycled plastics, the saving is 1.5 kg of CO2;

References 1. United Kingdom Faculty of Public Health (2008), Sustaining a Healthy Future Taking Action on .London. January 2008. http://www.fph.org.uk accessed January 20 2008 2. Dora C, Racioppi F. Politiques de transport, santé et environnement: vers une synergie [Transport policy, health and environment: towards a synergy]. Rome,����������������������������������������� World Health Organization and Euro- pean Centre for Environment and Health, 3. McMichael A, Powles J, Butler C, Uauy R (2007) Food, livestock production, energy, climate change, and health The Lancet Vol 370: 1253-1263 Oct 6,2007. 4. Modi V, McDade S, Lallement D, Saghir J.(2005) Energy services for the Millennium Development goals . http://www.energyandenvironment.undp.org/undp/indexAction.cfm?module=Library&ac tion=GetFile&DocumentID=576 Accessed Jan 20 2008.

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The messages provided are a global mix, some more applicable to developed and some to devel- oping countries. The World Health Organization (WHO) strongly encourages adaptations to suit local conditions and reach a local audience.