Now more than ever we are all aware of the impact our life choices can have on the fragile environment around us and are taking steps to minimalise our individual footprint from reducing our meat consumption to use of plastic.
A recent study has now turned the spotlight on the tobacco industry and systemically outlines the detrimental impact of tobacco production which ranges from the use of scarce arable land and water for tobacco cultivation, use of harmful chemicals on tobacco farms, deforestation, and carbon emissions from manufacture and distribution processes, to the production of toxic waste and non-biodegradable litter. Quite a list.
Over a lifetime, a person smoking a pack a day for 50 years has a carbon footprint of 5.1 tCO2 equivalent, which would require 132 tree seedlings grown for 10 years to offset.
Currently, 5.3 million hectares of fertile land is used to grow tobacco. That land had to be cleared of trees – and more trees will be cleared in the future as thousands of hectares become unsuitable for tobacco manufacture. Trees are also cut for the purpose of curing tobacco. Curing is a process of drying out tobacco leaves and it is estimated that close to 50 million trees are cut down every year for that purpose.
Those 5.3 million hectares of land could produce enough food to feed up to 20 million people. This is startling when you consider almost 90% of all tobacco production is concentrated in the developing world – of the top ten tobacco producing countries, nine are developing and four are low-income food-deficit countries (LIFDCs), including India, Zimbabwe, Pakistan, and Malawi.
As an example, in Zimbabwe a hectare of land could produce 19 times more potatoes than the 1–1.2 tonnes of tobacco currently cultivated. The evidence also suggests that growing alternative crops is better for farmers and their families, as child labour remains a major issue in tobacco production. Unsurprisingly most cigarette consumption takes place in the developed world.
Smokers in the developed world are literally and metaphorically burning the resources of poorer countries.
Dr Nicholas Hopkinson, National Heart & Lung Institute, Imperial College London
In one year a smoker, smoking one pack a day, contributes almost 5 times more to water depletion, nearly 2 and 10 times more to fossil fuel depletion than an average consumer of red meat and sugar, respectively, and 4 times more to climate change than a sugar consumer.
There is free help and advice to help you quit smoking, you can create your own personal quit plan or attend a free stop smoking clinic at multiple locations across Greenwich.
If you would be interested in attending a free stop smoking clinic on campus please email Marianne Boyle for more information.
Please note: Smoking is not allowed in public access, teaching or working areas in any of the university's buildings. Nor is it permitted within 5 metres of academic buildings across any of our campuses. For more information please see the university's policy on smoking.
