Super Eco

Photo credit: net_efekt, flickr

It's the year 2020 and along with your usual electricity, heating, and gas station credit card bills you now also receive an update on your personal carbon budget, and uh-oh, it looks like the family is a little over this month. Unless everyone in the family starts remembering to turn off lights, you're going to have to buy some carbon credits from your neighbors—and how embarrassing will that be?

No, this isn't the beginning of a near-future science fiction novel. It's the possible outcome of a recent trial run by the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce in the UK. The trial showed that giving people a limited personal carbon budget caused a 5% reduction in carbon footprints with a potential savings of up to 20%.

While some might see this as privacy invasion, I love the idea. Recycling has been around for years and yet if you look into the garbage of many households, few families fully comply. If we're going to get serious about reducing carbon (and other greenhouse gas emissions), someone is going to have to force us all onto strict carbon diets. 

There are a few challenges to solve before such a scheme could be put in place, including:

• Prohibitive costs t to set up and maintain the monitoring system.
• Lack of access to higher-cost green alternatives for lower income families
• Demand for carbon trading only works if the market value is steep enough to stop people from simply buying what they need without changing their actions. 

What do you think? Do you see personal carbon budgets as an invasion of privacy? Or would you welcome the idea with open arms?