We reckon things would be simpler if we all had a better idea of the carbon emissions we’re responsible for and how much we need to reduce them by. So we thought we’d show you what we think a guideline daily allowance (GDA) of CO2 should be.

how do we work out a daily allowance?*

The UK Government has recently amended its recommended target for reductions in our CO2 emissions from a 60% reduction in emissions from 1990 levels by 2050, to a target of an 80% reduction. This works out as an allowance of 7.6 tonnes of CO2 emissions per person in 2008 (compared to the current average of 11 tonnes), although don't get comfy this allowance will go down year on year. So what does this look like on a daily basis? Well if we divide this by 365 days in a year...

…then our daily allowance of CO2 is 20.8 kilograms. This needs to include the carbon from absolutely everything we do, from driving cars and heating homes, through to that trendy t-shirt you just bought.

how does my food and drink fit into this?

Research undertaken by the Carbon Trust shows that 13% of each person's annual emissions are attributable to the manufacturing, transporting and consuming of food and drink. So…..

So if our guideline daily allowance for carbon is 20.8 kilograms, we will use 2700 grams for carbon associated with food and drink. Not that different to the amount of food calories you're recommended to stick to each day. We reckon that if you can think of it this way, the amount of carbon emitted to make your cheese sandwich and your innocent smoothie will make much more sense in the grand scheme of things.

Right now we can’t say what the carbon amount is for other food and drink products (even that cheese sandwich), because although there are lots of companies doing great work in this area, there isn’t one standard agreed method for working out their carbon footprint just yet. That's what the Carbon Trust are working on.

So we can’t tell you what the perfect carbon breakfast, lunch or dinner looks like, but we can tell you that sharing a carton of innocent smoothie between friends if you are all together is more carbon friendly than a bottle each. And that while our part of your daily allowance is not all that high, we are certainly committed to reducing our carbon footprint as much as possible.

*Carbon measurement is an evolving science. These figures use the best information currently available. Rather than wait for everything to be perfect we thought we'd start talking about it now (after all, the sooner we all start reducing emissions the better), and we'll let you know if things change.

ways to improve your footprint

There are lots of ideas floating around on how to minimise your contribution to global warming, Here are a few of our favourite pointers, some more obvious than others. Please keep in mind that your total daily allowance for CO2 for absolutely everything you do is 22kg:

want to know more?
here are a couple of the best carbon calculators out there to help you work out your personal carbon footprint. www.carboncalculator.org
www.carbonfootprint.com