How do our actions impact the environment?

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How do our actions impact the environment?

  • Post last modified:28/08/2024

Last December, the university launched “Nos gestes climat” challenge to identify how our actions impact the environment. Using the simulator of the ADEME, the French Agency for Ecologic Transition, you were invited to calculate your carbon footprint. A huge thank you to the more than 200 members of the university of Caen Normandie who participated! In average, the participants emit 7,1 tonnes of CO2e*, which is almost 2 tons below the national average of 9,5 tons of CO2e. An encouraging start! Still, with the National Low Carbon Strategy (Stratégie nationale bas carbone · SNBC) aiming at 2 tons of CO2e per person in 2025, there is still room for improvement – so how can we improve our actions for climate?

*Carbon dioxide equivalent: greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are measured in tonnes of CO2 equivalent. This indicator helps quantify the environmental impact of GHG (such as methane or nitrous oxide…), based on that of carbon dioxide.

Details of the results in each category

The results are divided into the following categories:

  • Food: in average, 1,9 tonnes of CO2e, which is 0,2 tonne less than the national average (2,1 tonnes)
  • Transport: in average, 1,7 tonnes of CO2e, which is 1,5 tonnes less than the national average (3,2 tonnes)
  • Various: in average, 1,1 tonnes of CO2e, which is the same as the national average (1,1 tonne)
  • Housing: in average, 1,9 tonnes of CO2e, which is 0,2 tonne less than the national average (1,5 tonnes)

With 1,5 CO2e tonnes less than the national average, the “transport” category reveals an impressive difference. Such a contrast amounts to 5,616 litres of bottled water, 23,431 hours of video streaming, or 6,893 kilometres by fossil fuel vehicle. In other words, this represents a lot of avoided GHG emissions!

If you want to calculate or recalculate your carbon footprint, the simulator is still available on the University of Caen Normandy website.

What is my carbon footprint?

Each month, contributors improve the simulation methods. As such, there may be a slight difference between the simulation you take now, and the simulation you took a few months ago.

What actions can make a difference?

The ADEME presents several actions to reduce your carbon footprint. Each action is more or less effective in reducing GHG emissions. Which one could you put in practice in your daily life? Here a few ideas:

Food
  • Avoid sodas and industrial juices à reduce of 32kg of CO2e
  • Favour local and/or season food à reduce of 54 to 62kg of CO2e
  • Eat meat less than a meal per day or only on weekend à reduce of 356 to 534 kg of CO2e
  • Eat vegetarian à reduce of 766kg of CO2e
Transport
  • Favour low carbon modes of transportation (urban transport, cycles, walk…) for short coursesà reduce of 122kg of CO2e
  • Use train rather than plane à reduce of 247kg of CO2e
Various

  • Reduce time spent on streaming platformsà reduce of 2kg of CO2e

  • Have a “no ad” sticker or applicationà reduce of 13kg of CO2e

  • Take care of reuse electric or electronic devices and furniture à reduce from 21 to 34kg of CO2e
  • Ignore ads and discount offers à reduce from few dozens up to several hundreds of kg of CO2e
Housing 
  • Replace lightbulbs by LED lights à reduce of 3kg of CO2e
  • Turn off devices rather than putting them on sleeping mode à reduce of 5kg of CO2e
  • Use a clothes airer rather than a clothes dryer à reduce of 9kg of CO2e
  • Reduce heating temperature of 1 or 2 degrees à reduce of 331kg of CO2e
  • Renovate your housing à reduce of 1,8kg of CO2e

Need some encouragement? Tackle one or some of these actions for a definite amount of time, and challenge your colleagues or classmates to do the same!

The Campus 30 mission welcomes any feedback! You can contact us at campus30@unicaen.fr

All the actions are detailed on the ADEME website. You can also access the ADEME carbon comparator (in French only) to discover concrete examples corresponding to a given CO2e amount.