The billion-dollar businesses’ drawback

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Picture this: lush green trees, the nightingale humming a sweet lullaby and the flowers leaving their scent in the wind. Then a gloomy overshadow of dust and pollution slowly spreading and taking over.

The world as we know it is slowly deteriorating with each tree chopped and each factory built in its place. Inefficient resource utilization and overproduction is leading to a vast amount of emissions being released into the atmosphere.

“Global warming isn’t a prediction. It’s happening.”  -James Hansen

A carbon footprint measures such greenhouse gasses emitted by an individual, organization, place or product. They give an account of carbon emitted in the process of living according to our lifestyle, putting companies that support such a lifestyle in the limelight.

Let us explore the carbon footprint of some of the world’s most popular billion-dollar businesses and the actions taken by them to reduce their environmental impact.

 

NETFLIX

Netflix’s carbon dioxide emission in 2020 was about 1.1 million metric tons. According to research conducted by climate group Carbon Trust, watching an hour of your favorite show is equivalent to yearly emissions of 240,000 passenger cars, boiling a kettle for six minutes or popping four bags of popcorn in the microwave. Production of Netflix originals were responsible for half of these numbers.

Realizing this very impact, they have come up with a plan ‘Net zero + Nature’. This entails reducing their emissions by 45% by 2030 and restoring at-risk natural ecosystems like tropical rainforests that retain carbon.

 

 COCA COLA

It comes with no surprise that the world’s most popular soft drink that produces 1.9 billion servings of their drink each day is one of the worst plastic polluters. They produced 5.24 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions in 2020. Manufacturing approximately three million metric tons of plastic packaging annually around the world, it has won the worst plastic polluter award three times in a row and produces 100 million plastic bottles every year.

They are converting their coolers to be 100% HFC-free to reduce their carbon footprint by 25%. It has also switched to led lighting to conserve energy in their stores and factories and are actively switching to greener technology for production.

 

BITCOIN

A single bitcoin transaction has a footprint of 801.83 kg of carbon dioxide. This equals the carbon footprint of 1,777,137 visa transactions or 133,639 hours of watching YouTube. This huge footprint is a result of high-powered computers that run on coal to generate coins.

Climate change policies around the world are forcing bitcoin mining to hydropower. Alex de Vries, a digital currency economist who authored the Joule article, exclaims that the only way to be environment-friendly is to make the community realize its importance. Bitcoin company, Square, started the “Bitcoin Clean Energy Investment Initiative” in an effort to support green bitcoin companies.

 

 TESLA

Tesla cars are considered to be a greener alternative compared to cars running on fossil fuels. However, building a tesla generates 65% more emission due to its lithium battery. These metals used have to be mined out of the earth and processed in less-than-green ways.

On the plus side, they emit about 88 grams of carbon dioxide per kilometer, compared to 284 grams for a petrol-powered equivalent. Total carbon emissions saved by tesla’s vehicles are approximately 18,690,905 tons and this number keeps increasing every day. Moreover, they’ve devised their lithium batteries to be 100% recyclable. Additionally, their vehicles are the most energy efficient electric car in the market, reducing the carbon footprint per mile driven.

 

 UNILEVER

With its huge range of products and wide reach around the globe, Unilever’s footprint is 100 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalents. Production and transportation of the products in their portfolio is to be blamed.

For this reason, it plans on decarbonizing its business by 2030. Furthermore, it plans on rolling out carbon labels on its products by 2026, disclosing their carbon footprint to all consumers at the time of purchase of their product. At the moment, it powers all its factories, offices, and distribution centers through 100% renewable energy. Additionally, they are using freezers that have HCS instead of HFCs to keep their ice-creams cold.

 

With each passing day it is becoming more and more crucial to support businesses that are eco-friendly. This will reduce your individual carbon footprint, taking us a step closer to functioning as a zero-emission society. It’s such small changes that can have a great impact over a period of time.

Comments

  1. Unknown19:04

    So informative!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous19:25

    Insightful

    ReplyDelete
  3. Knock Knock19:27

    👍🏾

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anshika19:41

    Very informative 👍🏻👍🏻

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous20:08

    So informative ��

    ReplyDelete
  6. Unknown21:06

    So informative

    ReplyDelete
  7. Nandni21:28

    Insightful !!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Sagar23:49

    It's a good thing that these companies are taking responsibilities for their actions!

    ReplyDelete

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