Today, a tip from our reader Suzanne Michaud, from Quebec, under the magnifying glass of Elliot Muller, analyst at CIRAIG.
Suzanne Michaud’s thing
When her children were young, Suzanne Michaud got into the habit of shopping in thrift stores… and she still goes there today! The items she no longer needs, she gives to the next on Facebook pages like Buy Nothing. And it is a family tradition that at Christmas, the gifts exchanged must be handmade or used. “We wouldn’t change it because everyone really pushes themselves to make it a wow every year,” she says.
Elliot Muller’s comments
“Even if the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions linked to our consumption of objects have much less impact than those linked to our transport, our food or even our heating, they are not necessarily zero. “, Says Elliot Muller straight away.
Buying second hand makes it possible to divide (into as many owners) the impact linked to the production of the object. And this part attributable to production varies from one object to another.
“For objects that, during their use, require very little maintenance or additional resources, such as furniture or decoration, it is the production phase that accounts for almost all of the impact,” says Elliot. Muller. Buying these second-hand items then takes on all its importance. ”
The use of other objects involves electricity, recharging or frequent washing. Consequently, a (very variable) part of the carbon footprint of these objects is linked to their use.
Elliot Muller gives us a few examples, which apply to Quebec. For a television set, the portion related to electricity is minimal: 95% of GHG emissions are due to its production. For a refrigerator, one third of the emissions are due to the use of electricity. And for a t-shirt, emissions are roughly evenly split between production and use (washing and drying), he says.
“In Quebec, our electricity mix is low in carbon due to hydroelectricity: this explains the preponderance of the production phase over the use phase,” explains the analyst. Reducing our consumption of new items is therefore all the more relevant. ”
Finally, Elliot Muller recalls that the longer an object is used, the less it will be necessary to produce a new one. “Thus, using an object for as long as possible, and giving it away rather than throwing it away or leaving it in a cupboard, will help reduce the overall footprint of society,” he concludes.