Ruining the planet? Maybe it's because I'm a Londoner

Londoners are harming the environment by leading indulgent lifestyles that use up too many of the Earth's resources, a scientific study suggests.

The rate at which residents of the capital ate, drank, drove and produced rubbish was deemed "unsustainable" by a team of experts at London University.

Researchers who questioned householders discovered that on average an individual in London uses up to 5.8 hectares of the Earth's resources each year.

The typical American uses even more – 10.3 hectares – but Londoners have nothing to be proud of, says the environmental audit produced for the Greater London Authority.

Using complex mathematics, researchers calculated that if everyone on the globe exploited the Earth at the same rate as Londoners, four planets would be needed to sustain them. Metropolitan residents travel on average 3,648 miles by car and 548 miles by Tube every year compared with an annual 218 miles of walking and a mere 37 miles of cycling.

Meanwhile, they consume 78 pints of alcohol, 200 pints of milk and 340 cans of soft drinks. And the environmentally unfriendly Londoner guzzles an estimated 7lb of sweets and 113lb of meat each year.

Only 12 litres of mineral water a year are drunk by each person. But 28 per cent of the 876 billion litres of water London uses each year leaks away before it reaches the tap.

People in the capital dispose of nearly half a ton of waste a year each. Taking into account detritus from building and demolition works, that amounts to a total of 26 million tons of rubbish.

Jacquie McGlade, the professor at University College London who devised the mathematical system to evaluate the "ecological footprint" left by Londoners, said consumption had to be curbed for the sake of the planet. "We live in a shrinking world. We must learn to live with less because, at this current rate, there will be nothing left," said Professor McGlade, whose work was commissioned by the City Limits project, financed by a consortium including the Greater London Authority.

She urged Londoners to recycle more goods in an effort to help the world to live more efficiently on its resources.