Green Daily

Would you think twice about buying a bag of chips if you knew that the carbon emitted in their production doubled the actual weight of the bag? The UK's Carbon Trust thinks you might, and that's why it has begun a new carbon-labeling program aimed at making consumers aware of the carbon footprint produced by each product they purchase.

So far, the Trust has completed the tedious carbon-tracking process on Britain's favorite potato chips. The Walker's brand chips were guilty of releasing 75g of carbon per 34.5g bag -- over twice the weight of the chips. That wasn't the worst of the few items they've tabulated. In fact, no one's really sure what an acceptable level of carbon is per product.

Will it work? My guess is -- wait for it -- not a chance. Consider for a second the required nutrition labels currently printed on every food item you eat. Since the nutrition facts were mandated in the US, Americans have only grown fatter. Same goes for the British. On a more positive note, it is a symptom of step 1 of the recovery process -- recognizing that we have a problem.

[via Treehugger]