Your Carbon Footprint

First of all, what is a carbon footprint? A carbon footprint is a measure of the impact our activities have on the environment, and in particular climate change. It relates to the amount of greenhouse gases produced in our day-to-day lives through burning fossil fuels for electricity, heating and transportation etc. The carbon footprint is a measurement of all greenhouse gases we individually produce and has units of tonnes (or kg) of carbon dioxide equivalent.

A carbon footprint is made up of the sum of two parts, the primary footprint and the secondary footprint:
1. The primary footprint is a measure of our direct emissions of CO2 from the burning of fossil fuels including domestic energy consumption and transportation (e.g. car and plane). We have direct control of these.
2. The secondary footprint is a measure of the indirect CO2 emissions from the whole lifecycle of products we use - those associated with their manufacture and eventual breakdown. To put it very simply – the more we buy the more emissions will be caused on our behalf.

The average American's yearly carbon footprint is just about 20 tons, according to the United Nations; the global average is just a shade under 4 tons each year. This is not something we can be proud of for being first -- America is way, way out in front here, and that's a huge problem. Want to reduce your carbon footprint? The best place to start is with the heating and cooling systems, which account for 44 percent of the average home's energy use. Cut the energy used to cool and heat your home by 10 percent and you will have reduced your overall household energy use by 4.4 percent. (For the sake of comparison, a corresponding improvement in lighting efficiency will cut your energy use by 1.1 percent.)

What is your carbon footprint? Find out here: http://www.nature.org/initiatives/climatechange/calculator/