Are you keeping within your recommended daily CO2 allowance?

Do you know how many kilograms of carbon was emitted to make your sneakers? If you’re anything like me, then you probably fluctuate between guilt and ignorance. So you've offset the carbon emissions from some of your flights? Sure, you didn't understand too much of the detail but you’re grateful that the airline gave you the option. You might even know that the average American’s carbon footprint is 16 tons (against a global average of just four tons), but that still doesn’t mean much on a daily basis.

Your days of ignorance might be coming to an end if food producer Quorn has its way. The UK-based company manufactures meat-substitute products made from mycoprotein, and has partnered with the Carbon Trust to add carbon footprint data to its best-selling products such as Quorn Mince, Quorn Fishless Fingers and Quorn Vegan Nuggets. The brand aims to highlight the gap between its products and traditional meat-based ones. For example Quorn Mince has a footprint of 1.3kg CO2e (carbon dioxide equivalent) per kilogram; by comparison UK beef mince’s footprint is 27kg CO2e per kilogram.

Peter Harrison, chief commercial officer of Quorn Foods, said “this is about giving people the information needed to make informed decisions about the food they eat and the effect it has on our planet’s climate – in the same way that nutrition information is clearly labelled to help inform decisions on health.” He adds, “currently no Recommended Daily Allowances exist for carbon emissions, but we hope that if other food brands follow suit, we will be able to make better comparisons in our shopping baskets.” 

Control, data and storytelling 

As humans, we love to feel in control. We strive to progress. Data is a powerful tool to help us feel empowered to take action: we count our steps, we track our sleep, we compare calorie counts. But the environment and the looming climate crisis is an area where we don’t feel informed or empowered. Take clothing for example: only one in ten of us feel well informed about the environmental and societal impacts of clothing manufacturing.

Quorn is not the first brand to attempt this. Back in 2007, the supermarket chain Tesco’s announced similar plans, only to drop the plan five years later citing costs and complexity. These hurdles have reduced as the volume of emission data has grown and become more accessible, and an entire industry has grown up around providing third party certifications. 

Back to the opening question. Is 7.6 kg CO2e (carbon dioxide equivalent) a lot or a little for a pair of sneakers? Today, only a handful of people can answer that question. Allbirds, the sustainable shoe pioneer who became the first producer to list the carbon footprint of its sneakers, helped people understand what this data means by comparing it to the industry average of 12.5 kg CO2e for a pair of sneakers. The brand also gave some additional context: 7.6 kg CO2e is similar to driving 19 miles in a car or running 5 loads of laundry. As Joey Zwillinger, cofounder of Allbirds said,

“We need something so simple that everyone could look at it, just like the calories on a food label.”

Data creates knowledge, and knowledge inspires action. As people become more familiar with carbon data, they will have a greater understanding of what ‘good’ and ‘bad’ amounts are, and shape their behavior accordingly.

Many of you will be resistant. You'll point out that the very concept of a carbon footprint was invented by the oil giant BP as a way of getting individuals to worry about their personal impacts rather than holding the dirtiest and industrial polluters to account. You are right. But this is where I take an optimistic view. Publicising this data is the first step in understanding that we can know this information. And if our carbon footprints can be counted, so can BP's. It's time for a judo move. In the Future Normal we, the guilty, can become the accusers!

Here are a few thought-starters to ask yourself as you consider the implications of carbon counting.

What if...

👑 You were the first in your industry or market to disclose the carbon footprint of every product and process? 

🎨 Your next hire was someone who could craft compelling stories from your carbon footprint data? 

🕵🏽‍♀️ You engaged an independent carbon auditor, as well as a financial one? 

💪 You could use this data to better understand your inputs, boost your resilience, and find sustainable competitive advantage? 

🔍 You applied the same level of transparency to not just carbon but to all your processes, such as working conditions, race & gender information, and algorithmic impact? 

**************************************

Ridiculous? Or revolutionary?

The Future Normal asks what the world could look like as we move out of our current fracture.

We'd love your feedback, tips and advice. Will carbon counting be the new calorie counting? Can we trust CO2 labels? Will we ever really be able to process this information meaningfully? Is it actually damaging the fight against global heating to ask people to take personal responsibility for their carbon footprints?  

Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!