Habits of a wasteful life

The typical Londoner drives 3,650 miles a year, drinks 78 pints of alcohol but just 12 litres of mineral water, eats 7lbs of sweets and throws away nearly half a ton of waste.

The fascinating insight into daily life comes in a report aimed to calculate the impact London has on the environment. It shows the habits of the average Londoner, from what they eat to how they travel, and works out how much of the earth's resources is used in the process.

And this week, an expert warned the way the capital lives, and the amount it consumes, is unsustainable.

The research reveals that Londoners buy almost as much pet food as meat, and use almost twice as much tea as coffee. Each person drinks almost 200 pints of milk and 340 cans of soft drinks a year, and eats their way through 113lb of meat, 98lb of potatoes, 135lb of other vegetables, 75 loaves and 16 dozen eggs.

Annually, a London resident will drive 3,648 miles, but, in doing so, they will contribute to the total of 10.9 million tons of carbon dioxide - the greenhouse gas - spewed into the atmosphere each year. Londoners also travel 548 miles on the Tube, walk 218 miles (equal to hiking to York), and cycle for 37 miles.

They produce 26 million tonnes of rubbish, much of it from building and demolition, use 876 billion litres of water, 28 per cent of which leaks away before it reaches the tap.

The research was used to calculate London's "ecological footprint": a team of ecologists used complex mathematical formulas to calculate how large a piece of land we each need to produce various goods and services.

For example, how much rubbish we produce can be measured in hectares by the amount of land needed to bury it. Eating a steak can be measured by how many hectares the cow needed to graze to produce the requisite amount of meat before it was slaughtered.

The research reveals that, annually, each person in London uses up 5.8 hectares of the earth's resources. The earth is estimated to have a capacity of 11.99 billion giga hectares. One giga hectare is equivalent to one million hectares.

Researchers asked householders a series of questions to calculate their environmental impact.

If everyone in the world used resources at the same rate as Londoners, it would take four planet earths to sustain them, said Professor Jacquie McGlade, the University College, London professor of mathematics whose system was used to calculate the ecological footprint. She warns such consumption is unsustainable, despite Londoners' footprint being dwarfed by Americans, who use 10.3 hectares of resources each year. "We live in a shrinking world," she said. "We must learn to live with less because, at the current rate, there will be nothing left."

Professor McGlade said the key was recycling and the hope that progress would enable us to live more efficiently on the same area of land. The research was prepared by ecological consultancy Best Foot Forward, for the City Limits project, which is funded by a consortium including the Greater London Authority.

The Evening Standard asked Prof McGlade to work out the ecological footprint of two typical Londoners and give her assessment.

The family

Journalist Paul Clark, 31, lives in a fourbedroom flat in Brownswood Park, north London, with his girlfriend Michelle Langan and their 13-month-old son, Sol.

< Accommodation: three people, 100-149 sq metres, terraced house with double glazing and a blocked-up chimney.

Household appliances: 10, including two televisions, video, washing machine, dishwasher, hob and oven, microwave and two stereos - with televisions on standby.

Food: rarely eat meat or dairy products as Michelle is vegetarian. Seventy-five per cent is processed, packaged or imported.

Waste: four bags a week, much of it disposable nappies and DIY rubbish.

Travel: 62-124 miles per week by public transport, 15-62 miles by car, usually walk or cycle, 25 flying hours per year.

Lifestyle cost: 6.2 hectares a year.

Professor McGlade's verdict: "Paul is in a lifestyle which is having quite a heavy impact on the environment. He could easily get below the UK average by recycling more, cutting down on disposable nappies, and not leaving appliances on standby."

Paul says: "I was surprised as I drive very little and try to recycle. We tried re-usable nappies, but they just weren't practical."

The single person

Actress Anna Goodere, 28, lives in a one-bedroom flat in Crouch End.

Accommodation: one person, 30-60 square metres, terrace house.

Household appliances: six including washing machine, cooker, microwave, stereo and TV, which is on standby.

Food: eats animalbased products often; 75 per cent of food processed, packaged or imported.

Waste: produces less waste than neighbours, recycles glass and paper - but has to walk 15 minutes to recycling centre.

Travel: 1-15 miles per week by public transport, zero miles by car, walks most of the time, 10 flying hours per year.

Lifestyle cost: 4.3 hectares a year.

Professor McGlade's verdict: "Anna is below the average because she does not drive and mostly walks. She could cut down by recycling more and eating less processed food."

Anna says: "I think I do my bit for the environment and walk most places. I think people should be able to recycle plastic."