Research on the Carbon Footprint Impact of Using Individual Plastic Bottles in Orienteering Events in China

Abstract

Global warming is nowadays seriously affecting people’s production and life and causing great harm to the natural environment. The main cause of global warming is the greenhouse effect, which is due to the emission of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. As a measure of an activity’s contribution to global warming, the calculation of carbon footprint is essential. In China orienteering events, single-use bottled water is widely used as post-race supplies, which generates a large amount of carbon emissions and carbon footprint. However, although bottled water is convenient, this consumption is still unnecessary, since there are other efficient alternatives. In this paper, the author discusses the possibility of changing the water supply strategy and method for orienteering events in China. Comparing the basic information and carbon footprint results produced by bottled water, barrel water and tap water, the author concludes that plastic materials required for barrel water are much less than bottled water since bottles own larger surface area than barrels when containing same amount of water. The author also summarizes that single-use bottled water system produces much more carbon footprints than municipal tap water system does due to the former one’s more complex and energy consuming process. In conclusion, the author considers that replacing single-use bottled water with barrel water and recycled cups or tap water is promising and has great benefits for the environment.