In the UK we produce, consume and throw away much more than we should. Some of the mass balance studies have found that if everyone in the world lived, and consumed, how we do in the UK then we would need three planets to support us all!. This is unacceptable and the longer we continue to consume in this way, the harder it will become to protect the environment, the planet and eventually our health and well being . Some symptoms of this unsustainable consumption are already common place and include:
- Climate Change or Global Warming occurring as a result of us all emitting too many harmful gases such as CO2 and methane. The effects of climate change are the melting of the polar ice caps, more extreme weather patterns, not to mention the loss of important habitats and species
- Fridge mountains. Our 'over consumption' and 'throw-away' way of life has lead to a disposal problem. European legislation has meant that electrical goods and items containing harmful gases, such as fridges, have to be disposed of in a special way, with as much as possible being recycled. It is estimated that approximately 6,500 fridges (Telegraph.co.uk) are 'thrown away' every week in the UK, and while local authorities wait for technology to catch up with the demand, the fridge mountains grow
- Depletion of natural resources. Extracting natural resources disturbs the surface of the land and gives rise to damage and loss of natural habitats. In addition, some of these resources will ultimately be depleted. For example, the production of North Sea Gas is forecast to peak in the next two years and is likely to be fully depleted in the next two or three decades. This will lead to dramatic increase in prices in the lead up to full depletion levels, which in turn will have knock on effects for the economy
A detailed set of data on the resource flows can help to identify areas for reduction and set accurate and realistic targets for change. It will also help to inform Government and European legislation - the fridge mountains is just one example where the UK has signed up to regulations when not fully aware of the tonnage flows involved. At the moment we know we consume too much and that it is roughly three times too much but this programme will help to identify exactly where this excess is coming from and where our efforts need to be concentrated.
The mass balance methodology also allows the development of "what if" scenarios where the impact of changes on resource flow can be estimated.