Healthy Earth Living Planet   

"Step Lightly"       

Your Carbon Emissions

In today's society, every item we consume is created by an industrial process, and hence has greenhouse gas emissions associated with it. Not just your car and your electricity and gas but everything:

• Your clothes.
• The computer on your desk.
• The furniture on which you sit.
• The food that you eat (unless it was grown, harvested and transported entirely by hand).
• The products you buy.
• The government services you consume (e.g. roads, health services, defence).

Everything we consume has greenhouse gas emissions associated with it. Below is a graphic that shows the 1999 allocation of greenhouse gas emissions to end user sectors in Australia. This is from Australia's National Greenhouse Gas Inventory 1990, 1995 and 1999, End Use Allocation of Emissions. See Table S3 Allocation of emissions to end use sectors (1999).

1.  Decrease the amount of carbon emissions being pumped in to the atmosphere;

2.  Increase the uptake of carbon through carbon dioxide storage (sequestration) methods that lock up carbon in forms such as living organisms (generally trees) and other yet to be perfected techniques such as underground storage.

 In order to encourage and facilitate both of the above, two main ideas are currently being promoted:

1. Carbon Emission Trading - for larger enterprises that create substantial amounts of carbon emissions. For a definition click here

2. Carbon Offsets - carbon credit purchase for individuals through to large enterprises. For a definition click here

Both of these are concerned more with providing a mend rather than preventing the problem presented by global warming. Though they will help us combat the issue neither will offer a complete solution to the global warming issue. In a nutshell we must decrease our output of greenhouse gases.

Our reliance on fossil fuels for energy and other habits of our 'modern' society mean that reducing output in the short to medium term will be difficult. In the meantime Carbon Offsets and investment in to alternative energy research and encouraging the adoption of less impacting technologies offers the most effective result that we can all be a part of.

What Can You Do? It is up to every one of us to make a change in how we think to combat this enormous issue. Any contribution you can make will make a difference.

FOTE has partnered with Healthy Earth Living Planet to create our "Carbon Offset Program for Schools". By donating a sum of money FOTE will fund the production and planting of native vegetation. We do this in conjunction with primary and secondary schools both private and public in Australia.  Money is also chanelled in to the education of teachers regarding sustainability issues and directly involving children with revegetation efforts. See Dawson Park Primary School for an example of a project already underway.

As a result we are not only storing carbon to prevent the problem getting worse we are teaching thousands of children, the future carers of everything, what the issues are and what needs to be done. Increasing the awareness of children increases the likelyhood of community wide involvement in a solution.

It is up to every one of us to make a change in how we think to combat this enormous issue. Any contribution you can make will make a difference.

Together we are everyone. Join us today!  Find out more...

Want to get your school involved? Click here to find out how your school could benefit.