Your green promises:

Walk to school twice a week, Katie Doben, Winchester >> Buy food locally to cut down on carbon emissions, Ali Baylis >> Walk home from school, Rachel Carver, Winchester >> Start growing my own herbs and vegetable, Georgie Cave >> Turn lights off when I leave a room, Poppy De Groot >> Recycle everything that should go in the recycle bin, Catriona Brown, Hampshire >> Start growing my own herbs and vegetable, Alice C >> Cycle to work once a week, Jessie Baker >> Turn lights off when I leave a room, Mona Freidin, New York >> Recycle my household waste, Madeleine, Winchester >> Start growing my own herbs and vegetable, Johnny >> Take showers instead of baths. Nevet Basker, Bellevue, WA, USA >> Turn the tap off when I brush my teeth, Sharon Goldstein, Northwood >> Signed up to a renewable energy provider (Good Energy) and encouraging our visitors and members to do likewise, Moishe House London >> Reject opportunities to see the world, when that means taking a plane, Jeremy, London >> Dedicated to leading the way in environmental efforts through local & vegetarian catering, zero waste & reducing carbon emissions by 10% in 2010, Tzedek, London >> Re-use plastic bags when shopping, Lisa, London >> Find something to make with every item in my organic vegetable box, Penny Kustow, Rickmansworth >> Not use the car for short journeys, Jon, Damascus >> I will not leave the tap running while brushing my teeth, Lucy Freeman, 7 >> I will buy more vegetables from the farmers market, Ben, Stanmore >> I will join the 10:10 Campaign, Naomi, 28 >> I will turn off my laptop when I am not using it, Dave, 25, Golders Green >> I will recycle my paper and plastics, Jo, 46 >> I will reduce the temperature of my washing machine cycles, Evelyn, 35 >>

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Food

Agriculture and food production are enormous contributers to global warming. Agriculture contributes to about 10% of the EU greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) and about 20% of world GHG, according to the IPCC. Direct emissions of greenhouse gases occur during agricultural production processes from soils and animals and as a result of meeting demands for heat, electricity, and tractor and transport fuels. Agriculture contributes about 7% of total UK greenhouse gas emissions. However, in the UK, more contribution comes from the rest of the food chain in terms of distribution, manufacturing and consumption; this adds up to about 1/5th of all UK green house gas emissions. Agriculture and food account for nearly 30 per cent of goods trucked around Britain's roads.

The UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation has estimated that meat production accounts for nearly a fifth of GHG emissions. Examples of when these are emitted are in the production of animal feeds, when cows emit methane (which is 23 times more effective as a global warming agent than carbon dioxide) and when land is also cleared to make way for livestock rearing, resulting in culling of forests. The agency has also warned that meat consumption is set to double by the middle of the century.

Food miles, the distance food travels from field to plate, is a way of indicating the environmental impact of the food we eat. Half the vegetables and 95 per cent of the fruit eaten in the UK comes from beyond our shores. Increasingly, it arrives by plane, and air travel gives off more CO2 than any other form of transport.

For more information about food click here.

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