About Carbon Footprints
What is a Carbon Footprint? A Step in the Right Direction?
A carbon footprint is the sum of the total of the impact of a person or thing or activity on the environment measured in tones of carbon dioxide (CO2, the major greenhouse gas) released back into the environment. A personal carbon footprint is the total carbon emissions resulting from the activities of one person, again usually measured in terms of tones of CO2 per year.
Why footprint? Well, a footprint is what is left at the back as a result of an individual’s activities. Carbon footprints can measure only direct emissions from energy used in the home and in transport, or can also include indirect emissions as a result of goods and services consumed.
Measure your carbon footprint
You don’t have to measure your carbon footprint in order to start reducing it but go on, admit it – you are curious, aren’t you? You want to know just how much or hopefully how little an impact you are having on the planet. Check our calculator for this!
It’s a case where smaller really is more beautiful.
There are lots of carbon footprint calculators available on the internet which act as a starting point for people wanting to reduce their emissions. You can find plentiful information by searching for ‘carbon footprint calculator’. But you should be aware that different calculators may give different results for the same inputs. We recommend this one developed by Ecolutions’s expert.
So how do you go about calculating your carbon footprint, when virtually everything you do creates carbon? You need to go through every little thing, and be careful and honest, until you reach a final total. That includes what you use up on running the appliances in your home, your car, every facet.
The Future
The future is in our hands – and that means everyone’s, not just the political leaders. We all want to think of a world in the future to be a place where our children and grandkchildren can grow up peaceful and happy. We want them to enjoy the same advantages as us, if not have more of their own. If we want to leave a good world for our kids and their kids, we all need to do as much as we can. The reality could prove to be significantly different. The climate is changing. It needs action soon. Global emissions have to be seriously cut by 2015. Two degrees is generally viewed as the “tipping point,” beyond which the Earth goes into irreversible decline.
The more we know, the more we can do. Many schools teach about climate change – learn from your children, after all, they are the ones who’ll be directly affected by the actions. Sit down with them and make a plan to reduce your family’s carbon footprint. Have everyone share ideas, and make each family member responsible for some part of the plan – have everyone involved. Make sure you keep regular tallies of how you’re reducing that footprint, and keep working to make it still smaller. It’s unlikely you’ll ever be carbon neutral, but you can still make it as small as possible.