Consumer goods – a hiding place for unexpected CO2

CO₂ is a hidden presence behind almost all products. Paper clips, strawberries or CDs all require energy for obtaining raw materials as well as for their manufacture, transport, storage, sales and ultimate disposal. Taken together, this is known as “grey energy”, because it is “hidden” in the product and is not directly visible. For instance, a truck that transports a product consumes fuel and thus emits CO₂. Grey energy always involves CO₂ emissions.

So CO₂ is also contained in the grey energy of the products consumed during a year. It can make up to a half of our annual emissions.

How does this affect your consumption habits? Here are our tips for grey energy:

1. Throw the throw-away mentality overboard

The longer we use a product and maintain its value, the lower will be the proportion of grey energy, because it is distributed over a longer period of time. This also saves money. If it is quickly thrown away, exactly the opposite is true.

Invest in durable multi-use products and ensure that they last as long as possible. This may also mean repairing defective products or passing on items that are no longer needed (charity and second-hand shops, the Swiss Brockenhaus chain, Internet exchanges, etc.).

2. Consider new purchases carefully

When is the right time for a new purchase? There is no general answer. The rule of thumb when changing over to an energy-efficient refrigerator is that the old one ought to be ten years old. A repair is usually worthwhile for items less than four years old.

Things are more complicated when replacing a new car, because the old one enters the used vehicles market. Our approximate calculations show that purchasing a new car before you really need to is worthwhile only if the new one consumes at least 25% less fuel.

3. Food

It’s actually very simple: meat puts the greatest burden on the climate and plant food the smallest. Milk products and eggs are in between. Japanese scientists have shown that the production of a kilogram of beef generates 25 kg CO₂ (corresponding to a car journey of 100 km). A kilogram of chicken, eggs or dairy products account for 4-6 kg CO₂. Fruit and vegetables make the smallest contribution of about 1.5 kg CO₂.

Summed over the whole year, the CO₂ caused by food comes to quite a lot. Anyone who eats meat only twice a week rather than every day, for instance, reduces his CO₂ emissions by about 500 kg per year.

Another way of saving CO₂ is to buy fresh, seasonal and local food. Strawberries from Israel consume about 25 times more grey energy than locally grown ones. Asparagus from California, transported by plane, causes ten times more CO₂ than the European variety.

4. Electronics

Today, electronic appliances are inexpensive and are treated almost as disposable items. And yet they are technological marvels that contain valuable raw materials and are complex to manufacture. Each kilogram of electronics generates some 30 kg CO₂ in the production process. We should reflect on this when we plan to buy a new appliance. It’s well worth taking special care when deciding on your purchases, investing in high-quality products and using them as long as possible and having them repaired wherever possible.

5. Clothing

CO₂ is also hidden in clothing in the form of grey energy. A cotton T-shirt accounts for three to four kilograms of CO₂, a fleece jacket for about 12 kilograms of CO₂. So it’s worthwhile investing in long-life quality and only buying what you really need and will wear. Textiles and clothing made of bio-cotton have a better CO₂ balance, and some manufacturers even offer CO₂-neutral textiles.

Additional links: