Unnecessary shopping trips emit as much carbon as more than half a million transatlantic flights every year, claims a new report from retailer Somerfield which turns the food miles debate back on to its customers.
Although 67 per cent of shoppers have a grocer within walking distance of their home, the average shopper with a car still drives 2.4 miles a week to buy basics like bread and milk.
This adds up to 2.94 million unnecessary ‘shopping miles’ every year, emitting 972.3 kilotonnes of carbon dioxide - or the same amount that would be generated if half of the UK’s population jetted off to the US.
Somerfield stated in its survey that shopping miles could be reduced if Brits were more careful with their shopping, and that top-up shopping, where consumers make several trips to local stores on a need-to-buy basis, could reduce emissions by as much as half.
People in Yorkshire came out as those most likely to make wasteful journeys, and the least likely to think about the environment whilst shopping.
Londoners were deemed the most likely to walk to the supermarket, with 74 per cent walking to supermarkets or food stores.
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