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A32 FEATURE
Wednesday 12 december 2018

Carbon conscious: how one man is shrinking his footprint

By FRANK JORDANS 1,180 tons of CO2.
DANIEL NIEMANN Scientists believe an annu-
Associated Press al budget of about 2 tons
STOLLBERG, Germany (AP) per person is sustainable,
— Some people count their meaning Gratzel is way
calories. Dirk Gratzel counts over budget.
his carbon emissions “I’ve got a lot to make up
The software entrepreneur for,” he said. Planting trees
from Germany is among a — a common means of off-
small but growing number setting emissions — would
of people looking for ways require Gratzel to grow
to cut their personal green- enough oaks and beeches
house gas emissions from to cover 100 hectares (al-
levels that scientists say most 250 acres) of land.
are unsustainable if global He and the researchers are
warming is to be curbed. trying to find more realistic
A keen hunter, Gratzel options and also lower his
says the time he spends current emissions further.
outdoors has sharpened Fritz Reusswig, a sociologist
his senses to the fact that at the Potsdam Institute for
something was wrong. Climate Impact Research,
“I see that nature has says efforts such as Grat-
changed a lot compared In this Dec. 7, 2018 photo Dirk Gratzel walks with his dog at his hunting ground in Stollberg, western zel’s are “important and in-
to how it used to be,” he Germany. Gratzel counts his carbon emissions. teresting” but perhaps too
said. Associated Press elaborate.
After a day in the woods for companies and inter- Gratzel, who spent three a lot of environmental Reusswig has spent the
collecting bags of rubbish national organizations try- months entering the data damage.” With the help last year monitoring the ef-
two years ago, Gratzel de- ing to calculate carbon into vast spreadsheets. “In of Finkbeiner and two en- forts of 100 Berlin families
cided to take drastic ac- footprints at a much larger parallel to that I made an vironmental groups, Grat- to shrink their carbon foot-
tion. But when he looked scale. He had never as- inventory of all my material zel set about shrinking that print.
for ways to shrink his envi- sessed a single individual belongings.” footprint. This included im- “We give them advice
ronmental footprint, the before, but after accept- Gratzel was shocked to find proving the insulation on his on how to save energy or
50-year-old found few ing that Gratzel was serious, his annual emissions were 18th-century house, getting reduce CO2” such as by
practical instructions. Finkbeiner agreed to help the equivalent of 27 metric rid of his SUV and traveling adjusting their refrigerator,
“It’s one thing for us to him calculate his footprint tons of carbon dioxide — mostly by train and bike. switching electricity suppli-
cause so much damage as precisely as possible, in- more than twice the Ger- “I don’t fly at all anymore. er or changing their eating
and leave the place look- cluding emissions he had man average of 11 tons. I’ve reduced my consump- habits, he said.
ing like a pig sty,” he said. been responsible for since “We found that his footprint tion to an absolute mini- “Many of the participants
“But the fact we don’t birth. was pretty enormous,” said mum and changed my have average footprints,
even have the slightest First, Gratzel documented Finkbeiner, who attributed eating habits,” he said. His about 11.5 tons of CO2 per
clue how to clear it all up his life in minute detail. a substantial share of emis- current annual emissions year, or higher, Reusswig
again, that’s a lot more “Everything I eat, drink, and sions to Gratzel’s extensive are about six or seven tons said. “They have two cars,
dramatic.” how long I shower. How business travel. per year. two kids, but worry about
The issue of carbon foot- much I drive, where to, “There were many insights The final stage is the most the climate and are won-
prints is one that negotia- what means of transport I that may not have been daunting: Finkbeiner and dering what they can do.”
tors at the U.N. climate talks use, what I consume, how new to us, but they were his team have calculated So far, the families have cut
in Katowice, Poland, this much garbage I produce to him,” he added. “For that Gratzel’s lifetime emis- their emissions by about 20
week are also debating, al- and what types,” said example, cheese causes sions amount to almost percent, he said. “Some
beit on a global scale. things hurt, others don’t hurt
Experts say top-down a lot. After two weeks, cy-
measures by governments cling doesn’t hurt as much
won’t be enough. Individu- as people thought it would
als will need to change the at the start, for example.”
way they consume, travel Gratzel says he has no re-
and work if carbon emis- grets, even if it means no
sions are to fall enough to more flights, no more car
keep the world from warm- commutes, showering for
ing by more than the 1.5 less than a minute, con-
degrees Celsius (2.7 Fahr- suming no more milk and
enheit) that’s considered almost no meat.
safe. “Overall the changes in my
After much searching, life have been a great im-
Gratzel found Matthias provement,” he said. “The
Finkbeiner, who heads the only thing I wanted to do
Institute of Environmen- that hasn’t worked is giving
tal Technology at Berlin’s up coffee. I simply can’t
Technical University. cope without any coffee.”
Finkbeiner is a leading fig- While train journeys take
ure in the field of environ- longer than driving, Gratzel
mental accounting, but In this Dec. 7, 2018 photo Dirk Gratzel, left, and neighbor kid Elias feed their chicken in Stollberg, says he can work on board
much of his work has been western Germany. and arrives refreshed.q
Associated Press