What we eat represents almost a third of the greenhouse emissions each of us are responsible for. By growing our own food we can all make a contribution to bring down these emissions. Not only will you be doing the planet a favour, but you will also be eating food that is better for you and feeling the pride that only a gardener can feel when eating something produced by your own hand.
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- Kitchen Garden Cherry Tomatoes
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- Kitchen Garden Cherry Tomatoes
Where do all these emissions come from?
The average Australian produces 18.9 tonnes of greenhouse pollution each year (compared to just 1 in India). These emissions can be divided into two categories, “direct emissions” and “indirect emissions.”
Direct emissions refer to greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere by personal consumption like using electricity derived from the combustion of coal, or driving a car powered by the burning of petrol.
Indirect emissions are embodied in the products that we use in day to day living that have used energy in their manufacture, like all the energy required to mine ore, process it into steel, then assemble it (along with all the other components) into a car.
We can control and reduce our direct emissions relatively painlessly as they are emissions we have direct control over. That is, we can reduce our consumption of energy, and we can make use of “Greenpower” and carbon offset schemes to compensate for the CO2 emissions that remain after we have reduced consumption as much as possible.
Indirect emissions are not quite so simple for us to rein in because they are not as obvious. All the goods and sevices we consume in our daily lives represent some energy use and therefore carbon emissions. We can bring the yearly levels of greenhouse pollution produced by our consumption of goods and services down by choosing products that represent lower energy consumption. Governments can legislate for carbon taxes, and provide incentive schemes to encourage businesses to produce products with lower embodied emissions, and consumers (that’s us) can buy goods and services that represent a lower carbon future. Remember, consuming less of everything means less emissions!
Cut emissions by growing your own
Our food consumption currently accounts for 23.3 % of the average annual greenhouse pollution of 18.9 tonnes a year, which means we each produce an average of 5.35 tonnes a year of greenhouse gases to put food on our tables. As you can see there is a great deal of energy used in food production using the current industrialised farming system.
Don’t underestimate your own capacity to reduce your impact on the planet that supports us all. Compost your garden waste and your kitchen scraps, use local organic sources of fertility, use hand tools and a bit of muscle in the garden, and avoid heavily packaged and processed foods. Start small and build up your production as your skills increase and you will soon discover the unbridled joy that growing your own food can give – and you can bask in the glow of knowing you are doing your bit!