Sustainable Transport
- Biking along a congested route can halve your exposure to air pollution compared to driving
Recent research conducted in the UK city Leeds showed that cyclists are the least exposed to air pollution when commuting daily in a congested city centre. Although cyclists may breathe more rapidly as they exercise, they will be less exposed to pollution particles as they travel for a shorter period of time than cars and buses on a congested route. Air pollution can reach relatively high levels inside vehicles, therefore people in cars and buses are spending the longest time in toxic air. The same happens to walkers unless they make detours to avoid main roads.
- In the European Union over 32 billion individual trips are made by bus each year.
The most widely used form of public transport in the EU is bus. Buses are the most flexible mode of public transport and the most cost effective as launch of new routes require minimal investments.
- From March 2020 Luxembourg will be the first country in the world to make all public transport free
The objective of the measure is two-fold. In addition to improving the environmental impact of transport and reducing congestion, making all public transport free is also a social measure to reduce the gap between rich and poor in the country.
- In Hong Kong over 90% of all trips are made on public transport, the highest usage in the world
As Hong Kong is a small and densely populated city, the use of public transport is strongly supported in the public transport strategy. With limited road space, developing public transport allows Hong Kong to address road congestion and air quality issues.
Going from physical to digital:
- In high income countries, paper and cardboard makes up one quarter of all solid waste.
Waste types depend on a country’s level of income as it reflects different consumption patterns. High-income countries generate more recyclable dry waste such as plastic, paper, cardboard, metal and glass, and less food and green waste. On the contrary, middle- and lower-income countries will have a higher share of food and green waste and much less dry waste.
- Carrying 1,000 business cards adds around 1.7kg to the weight of a bag.
Standards size of a business card: 90mmx54mm
Standard paper weight for business cards: 350gsm
Calculation: 0.090 x 0.054 x 350 = 1.701g for one card
See the calculation methodology here
Reducing avoidable waste:
- Of all the plastic ever produced, just 9% has been recycled
As of 2015, the quantity of plastic waste generated is approximatively 6,300 million tonnes of which only 9% had been recycled, 12% had been incinerated and 79% was accumulated in landfills or in the nature. Following current trends, it is estimated that by 2050 around 12,000 million tonnes of plastic will be in landfill or in the natural environment.
- Two billion tonnes of solid waste are produced every day, enough to fill over 45,000,000 lorries
- The maximum load rate for articulated vehicles in the UK is 44 tonnes.
- The World Bank 2018 What A Waste 2.0 report predicts that by 2050, the world is expected to generate 3.40 billion tons of waste annually, increasing drastically from today’s 2.01 billion tons.
- In Germany around two-thirds of solid waste are recycled
Countries leading in recycling practices have all established effective policy levers such as:
- Enabling people to recycle through comprehensive recycling schemes
- Establishing clear policy objectives and performance targets
- Funding option for recycling including government funding and extended producer responsibilities
- Encouraging citizens to recycle using incentives including deposit refund schemes, different ‘Pay As You Throw’ and residual restriction
Making sustainable choices:
- The livestock sector is responsible for 14.5% of all manmade greenhouse gas emissions.
Cattle (reared for beef, milk, manure and draft power) are responsible for around 65% of the livestock sector’s emissions. Pig meat represents 9%, buffalo milk and meat 8%, chicken meat and eggs 8% and small ruminant milk and meat 6%. The two main sources of emissions from cattle are feed production and processing (including land-use change) and ruminants’ enteric fermentation, respectively 45% and 39% of total emissions. 10% of the emissions are related to manure storage and processing. Processing and transportation of the animal products account for the remainder.
Carbon dioxide (CO2) represents 27% of the livestock emissions while Methane (CH4) and Nitrous Oxide (N2O) represent 44% and 29% respectively.
- Each year approximately one-third of all food produced for human consumption goes to waste.
From agricultural production to final consumption, food is wasted throughout the supply chain. In high-income countries food is mainly wasted by being thrown away even if it is still suitable for human consumption, while for low income countries food is mostly wasted during the earlier stages of the food production.
*All information is verified by our partners, Carbon Trust
