We have been working with the Bristolian zero waste store Smaller Footprints to help calculate the carbon footprints of each product for sale.
Smaller Footprints focuses on decreasing single use packaging by wholesale bulk orders. This means that their packaging footprint is remarkably small. Summated across all 103 products analysed the total CO2e amounts to 1.38% of the total CO2e breakdown. In context, Tesco’s latest report outlines their packaging contribution to be 7% of the stores carbon footprint (20,860 tonnes CO2e).
Due to the storage and product type, food waste is negligible at Smaller Footprints. Food waste by retailers and consumers is estimated to be 9% total food emissions. This is slightly higher than all off the emissions from aviation! This mean if we could reduce our waste it would be the same as taking all the planes out of the air!
Supporting local shops like Smaller Footprints really does help put a dent in these waste and packaging statistics. The big factor is an ever environmentally conscious consumer will mean the big supermarkets battle to gain the headlines in terms of sustainability. Headline such as, “Tesco committing to eliminate 67 million pieces of plastic weighing 350 tonnes a year” and “Sainsburys becoming carbon neutral by 2040”. Although these numbers and claims need improvement the ball has started rolling to get the big players on board. We all need to push for detailed plans on how these claims will be met and evidence that they are completing them. So far the plans are hard to find and vague.
If you would like to read the full report on the work completed at smaller footprints, click here
Benjamin Richardson