Table of Segment Savings

Segment

Experiment Idea: Average 1-person scenarios during 1 year
ANNUAL GHG SAVINGS (kg): Best Case Scenario: Renewable energy | Worst Case Scenario: Coal, Oil, Gas, Landfll

meat/fish

Reduce beef from 2000 g per week to 300 g per week
830 kg per year

Reduce meat and fsh from 2-3 times per day to 1 time per day
580 kg per year

Reduce meat and fish from 1000 g per week to 300 g or less per week
300 kg per year

dairy

Reduce eating dairy and cheese from 4-6 times per week to 1-3 times per week
170 kg per year

Consume 1 liter of plant milk instead of cow’s milk
2.3 kg per liter / 120 kg per year

produce

Move from less than one fourth (1/4) of seasonal produce to half (1/2) seasonal
290 kg per year

food waste

Eat everything you buy (instead of throwing away 1⁄3)
200–300 kg per year (and even more if most food scraps go to an ill-managed landfll)

Compost 100 kg of unavoidable food scraps (equal to about 2 kg per week)
0 if your trash is municipally incinerated and used for district electricity/heating). Up to 200 kg per year
if you normally landfll your food scraps.

beverages

Drink only tap water
200 kg per year

Swap 1 daily latte with a loose tea
30 g per cup / 11 kg per year

dining out

Reduce your monthly eating out / takeaway budget from 250 USD to 50 USD equivalent
540 kg per year

general

Buy organic certifed food instead of conventionally grown
270 kg per year

Replace buying 1 kg of fresh food weekly that comes by air freight (e.g., herbs, avocados, of-season fruits) by buying or growing local substitutes
520 kg per year

car

Drive 2000 km (1243 mi) per year for next 15 years in an electric car charged with green electricity instead of a gasoline engine
900 kg per year

Sell your car and don’t buy a new one
at least 1,000–2,400 kg per year

Commute 20 km (12 mi) to work by train instead of by car
1,700 kg per year

Switch from using a car to an electric bike
1,700 kg per year

holidays

Vacation within 300 km (186 mi) of your home instead of fying abroad
up to 8,000 kg per trip

flights

Eliminate 1 “long haul” round trip fight (longer than 2,200–2,600+ nmi (4,100–4,800+ km))
1,000 kg and up per trip

Eliminate 1 “medium haul” round trip flight (between 801–2,199 nmi (1,501–4099 km))
between 451–999 kg per trip

Eliminate 1 “short haul” round trip flight (shorter than 600–800 nmi (1,100–1,500 km))
up to 450 kg per trip

Switch from a 1st class flight to Business class flight (621 mi or 1000 km)
169 kg per trip

Switch from a Business class flight to Premium Economy class flight (621 mi or 1000 km)
162 kg per trip

Switch from a Premium Economy class flight to an Econo-my flight (621 mi or 1000 km)
75 kg per trip

boats

Go sailing instead of cruising in a motor boat on full speed
20 kg per hour

pools

Stop heating your personal swimming pool, and go to an indoor swimming pool twice a week instead. 2,000 kg per year (if pool was heated with heat pump)
8,000 kg per year (if it was heated directly with electricity)

clothing

Buy a 2nd hand casual outft instead of new (shirt, jeans, sport shoes)
26 kg per set

Buy a 2nd hand dressy outft instead of new (dress, wool sweater, fabric shoes)
61 kg per set

Extend the life of your garments for 2 years instead of 1 by re-wearing, repairing, and recombining your existing wardrobe
Saves 50% of the original product’s footprint

Buy a 2nd hand textile coat instead of new and wear for 1 year
42.9 kg per coat

Buy 2nd hand or upcycled jeans instead of new and wear 1 year
11.6 kg per jeans

home goods

Reduce monthly home accessories and small appliance purchases from 200 USD to 75 USD (and do not spend thesavings for other CO2-intense Stuff)
890 kg per year

Reduce your monthly spend for hobby items and furniture from 1000 USD to 330 USD (and do not spend the savings for other CO2-intense Stuff)
1,000 kg per year

Keep a piece of wooden furniture twice as long or buy it 2nd hand
50 kg per piece (weight of ~25kg)

laundry

Wash most of your laundry at 40°C, about a third at 60°C, and no washing at 95°C
10 kg per year

Dry half your clothes in the dryer, the other half on the clothesline
10 kg per year

waste

Recycle everything possible and then, for all remaining waste, go Zero Waste (assuming average waste of 705 kg per person, per year)
0 (if trash is municipally incinerated and used for electricity/heating), 668 kg per year (if trash is normally landfilled)

vacationing (hotels)

Spend 5 nights at a campsite instead of on a cruise ship (lodging only, not including journey, activities and food)
550 kg per person, per trip

5 nights at Swiss 5-star hotel instead of a cruise ship (lodging only, not including journey, activities and food)
400 kg per person, per trip

5 nights at a campsite instead of an average European hotel (lodging only, not including journey, activities and food) (HINT: electricity matters most, not the hotel infrastructure)
150 kg per person, per trip

Stay 3 weeks in an average European hotel instead of buying a Trailer or Airstream camper and using it only for 3 weeks every second year (lodging only, not including journey, activities and food)
750 kg per holiday

tech goods

Keep only 180 photos/fles in the cloud per year and delete all others (HINT: smartphone users average 900 photos taken per year)
at least 10 kg per year

Buy new smartphones, tablets, and other technical products only every 6 instead of every 3 years (HINT: The object itself, aka the “hardware,” is more emissions-intensive than the sofware)
50 kg per Smartphone, 100 kg per Tablet, 200 kg per Laptop

1 hour of videoconferencing or streaming with video turned of (HINT: turning of video saves 86%)
40–1000 g per hour

personal care

Convert cosmetics and personal care routine to circular, refllable and reusable products with low-to-no packaging
negligible (sorry folks!)

leisure time

Reduce your monthly spend on leisure and culture activities from 400 USD to 260 USD equivalent
700 kg per year

pets

Do not adopt a small pet
405 kg per animal

Do not adopt a dog
810 kg per animal

Do not adopt a horse
4455 kg per animal

finance

Transition Personal Savings and Pension Fund to 100% ecologically sustainable funds with a transparent climate strategy (HINT: Funds declared “sustainable” are on average 30% less carbon intensive compared to those in conventional funds; up to 55% if they explicitly pursue a climate strategy).
up to 59,000 kg per million USD invested

Divest from 1 kilogram of gold
50,000 kg

Divest from energy intense crypto-currency, e.g., bitcoin
1,000 kg per transaction (similar to 2.3 million Visa transactions)

home energy

Switch energy provider or electricity source from coal, oil or gas (global average) to renewables
2,500 kg per year (for Swiss average consumption of 3000kWh/a)

Improve your home insulation from insulation standard 1980-1990 to passive house / Minergie standard (in European average climate, 50m2/person, apartment building)
250 kg per year, per person (if heater already a heat pump)
1,500 kg per year, per person (if oil heating)

Switch your home heater from oil, gas, or coal to a heat pump (in European average climate, 50m2/person, apartment building)
600 kg per year, per person (if good insulation)
2,000 kg per year, per person (if building standard up to 1990)

Add a solar power installation that produces 3 MWh/year (roughly 6 panels in a sunny climate)
2,250 kg per year

Replace 5 light bulbs with LEDs (each running about 2 hours per day)
30 kg per year

Switch from 5+ minute long warm showers to 2 minute long warm showers with an ef cient shower head
35 kg per year (if heat pump with green electricity)
300 kg per year (if oil heating)

Reduce your average heated living space from 100 m2 to 50 m2/person (or share your space with more people to reduce per person space)
260 kg per year (if well insulated home with heat pump, green electricity)
1,000 kg per year (if oil heating, poor insulation)

work

Reduce working by 1 day (and consume less / don’t travel on that extra day of !)
up to 2,600 kg per year

voting

Vote and choose climate-friendly initiatives
priceless! (effective amount depends on the type of initiative)