Carbon Supermarket
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The Boiler House
9 Wilcock Street
Manchester
M16 7DA
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0161 465 6954
Sow the City invented the
carbon supermarket in 2021
for the sustainable food area at
Manchester Science Festival.
We have used it as an
engagement tool at a variety
of events and workshops ever
since
The carbon supermarket consists of a specially
adapted shopping till that provides a cost in carbon
instead of pounds. Shoppers are challenged to get a
daily shop in under a set number of ‘points’ or grams of
CO2).
The carbon supermarket was developed using the idea
of personal carbon budgets. In the UK our average
carbon budget is 11 tonnes CO2 per year.
Meat, cheese and eggs have the highest carbon
footprint. Fruit, vegetables, beans and nuts have much
lower carbon footprints. (including emissions from
growing, transport, packaging, processing, retail)
Some of the products in the ‘supermarket’ are local,
some from abroad. Some have a much higher carbon
footprint (e.g. grown in heated glasshouses) other
much lower.
Everyone that uses the till is handed a receipt with the
calculated carbon footprint of their shop. If this amount
is bigger than your carbon budget, have another go!
Copyright Sow the City 2020
Sow the City is a CIC
registered in England
company no. 6872177
Participant at the Carbon Supermarket
Contact us to find out more.
I am suprised at how high the
carbon foot print of dairy
products are - particularly that
cheese has a larger carbon
footprint than meat or fish!
0161 465 6954
