Environment | Reduce your carbon footprint at home

After the publication of a file on the fight against climate change, many of you wanted to read and exchange concrete tips to limit greenhouse gas emissions in your household. Every Sunday, we present one to you which will then be analyzed by the International Reference Center on the Life Cycle of Products, Processes and Services (CIRAIG).

Catherine handfield
Press

Today, a tip from our reader Maxime Vaillancourt under the magnifying glass of Maxime Agez, analyst at CIRAIG.

Maxime Vaillancourt’s tip: Travel better… and less far

At the critical point of the forest fires in British Columbia, Maxime Vaillancourt and his wife canceled the Caribbean cruise they were planning to do in 2022. “No way to make the situation worse,” says Mr. Vaillancourt, who is thinking of do the same with this trip to the Netherlands scheduled for 2023. And last summer, instead of taking a camping road trip by car, the couple got on their bikes to go directly to camp in a park of the Société des outdoor establishments in Quebec (SEPAQ).

Maxime Agez’s analysis

“Travel represents on average 6% of the annual carbon budget of Quebecers, or about 700 kg-eq CO₂ [équivalent CO₂], says Maxime Agez. It is therefore a significant part on which it is often easy to act. “And, yes, cruises are particularly emitting greenhouse gases (GHG):” For a 1,500 km cruise on the coast of Norway, we will emit around 2.7 tonnes of CO equivalent.₂ per passenger, not counting the trip to get to the starting point of the cruise and to return home, ”illustrates Mr. Agez. The passenger of a return flight Montreal-Amsterdam, for its part, will emit approximately 1.5 tonnes of CO equivalent.₂, and members of a couple taking a road trip by car from Montreal to Miami will each emit approximately 850 kg-eq CO₂, notes Maxime Agez. A person who walks and cycles around his home all summer long will emit less than ten kilograms of CO equivalent.₂. “It is therefore preferable to avoid means of transport which contribute more significantly to GHG emissions and to favor destinations close to his place of residence”, concludes Maxime Agez, who recalls that, if one wishes to remain under the 2 ° C increase bar by 2050, the total annual carbon budget is estimated at 2 tonnes of CO equivalent₂ per person.