For those of you who believe in reducing your carbon footprint, have you considered how a cosmetic surgery procedure may increase your footprint?

According to some sources, cosmetic surgery procedures where fat is suctioned away – such as in tummy tucks or liposuction – could have a negative effect on the environment. There is little that can be done with the fat removed during these operations and the fat is often incinerated, and it is this burning which releases carbon into the air.

A pound of fat is said to be around 78 per cent carbon. According to the latest figures, around 450,000 liposuction and tummy tuck procedures are done every year in the US alone, and this has released around 1000 tonnes of carbon into the atmosphere. This is the equivalent of driving 2 million miles!