Global Warming is already having an impact on us all. I wanted to know how to work out my carbon footprint and what I could do to change it. This is what I found.
Our carbon footprint is the accumulation of all the greenhouse gases generated by the things we do and buy on a daily basis. Measuring your carbon emissions offers an approximate but transparent look at the amount of carbon your actions and habits create. You can measure your emissions by calculating your carbon footprint using an online calculator tool. The total output of greenhouse gas emissions caused by every action we take, event we attend, flights we take and products we buy or use.
This does not need to be an onerous task though. There are good quality footprint calculators that will show you where your actions are making a difference and where you can make some changes. In this article, we will look at using the calculator and applying some self-regulation to reduce our environmental impacts.
Calculating your Carbon Footprint
Calculating your carbon footprint means collecting figures for your home’s annual energy, water, and waste use and dividing it by the number of people in your home, to get your individual share. Having gathered this information, you then multiply your personal usage by an emissions factor (EF) to calculate your home footprint. The linked carbon footprint calculator will do all this for you or you can attempt to do it manually.
Our personal carbon footprint is the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) released into the atmosphere as a result of all our individual activities. It includes greenhouse gasses emitted by the transportation you use, emissions from farming practices used to grow your food, and the CO2 released to generate the energy you use to wash your clothes, watch TV or use a computer like the one you are reading this article on.
We cannot begin to understand or address our carbon emissions if we can’t measure them, right? Here is that link again. Carbon Footprint Calculator
What is a Good Carbon Footprint Score?
The World Bank Group has been tracking global greenhouse gas emissions by country for many years. There is a general consensus amongst scientists and governments that we need to keep global warming to under 2 degrees Celsius. In the last 10 years, we have already increased our global average temperature by as much as 1 degree.
In Australia, as a result of warmer temperatures we have seen extended droughts, unprecedented fires and flooding rains all in the last 12 – 18 months. It would seem that the changing climate has already had some profound impacts.
In 2014 the average person was using or burning 15 Tonnes of greenhouse gases each per annum. That is massive. The accepted level is 2.6 Tonnes of greenhouse gas emission per person per annum. We are exceeding this by a long way. So how do we reduce our footprint and maintain or improve our lifestyles.
Simple Ways to Reduce Your Household Carbon Footprint
Below is a infographic from carbonfootprint.com to show you the costs involved in simple everyday usage of general household items. While it is calculated in pounds being from a British site, it does give you a really good idea of just how much energy is being used by each appliance.
There are literally hundreds of ways in which we can reduce our carbon footprint. Here are just a handful to get you started. Remember, the goal here is to be sustainable, so don’t feel overwhelmed. Rather find 2 -3 things that you can comfortably do right now to reduce your carbon footprint and add them to your life. Practice them faithfully for a few months and then revisit this list and find something else you can add or change. By doing this you will be committed to reducing your use of fossil fuels and helping to save the planet but also doing it in a way that is both sustainable and non-confronting.
- Change out old incandescent light bulbs for energy-efficient LED globes.
- Turn off appliances at the wall when not in use. This simple little tip will save you money from the standby mode a lot of appliances now use.
- Actively manage your home’s temperature. Open curtains and blinds to allow the sun to heat your home in winter and close them when the sun goes down to retain that heat. Before you reach for the heater remote or reverse cycle air conditioning – are you dressed for the temperature – reach for sweater or jumper first. In warmer climates, open windows and doors to allow more air flow. Again are you dressed for the temperature. Cotton breathes better than synthetic fibres – so reach for a cotton shirt and pants or dress.
- Reduce your use of cars. Can you cycle to work or school? Can you ride public transport instead? Again this will put coins back in your pocket if done regularly.
- Reduce your reliance on regular shopping. Now this one may not sound like much but if you are going to the grocery store every day, you will be spending far more on other items than you would if you did a weekly or fortnightly shop that was actively planned around your menu for the period. This action will also reduce your fuel bill.
- Turn off lights when you are not in the room. This is a big one. So many of us go from room to room and leave the lights on. Turn them off to reduce the energy being consumed.
- Reduce your waste – we have all become accustomed to bringing our shopping bags to the store but what if we also took reusable bags or containers for those items we normally would load into plastic to carry home. Ask you butcher to put your meat into freezer containers rather than plastic bags. Take reuseable fabric bags to the green grocer to load up on your fresh produce. Try not to buy anything in packaging that you can get in another way. For example – many supermarkets now have bulk dispensers. Take your container and fill up on your cereals, rice and flour. Just ask the attendant to weigh your empty container first. Buy as much in bulk containers as possible to reduce your packaging waste.
- Grow your own greens and herbs to further reduce waste. Even a small window box of herbs will further reduce your reliance on store bought items and reduce your carbon footprint.
- Ask your energy provider about green power. There are now several options in terms of carbon offset grid power. If your energy provider doesn’t have a way to do this – look for a new provider who does.
- Avoid Air Travel – The world is so much more accessible by us being able to fly just about anywhere but should we really. Remember air travel is 177 times less efficient than ships. Rather than taking that overseas holiday why not explore your own country by train or take a cruise and disembark for a few days to explore.
- Unplug the clothes dryer or better yet get rid of it altogether. Fresh air and sunshine is all that is needed for keeping our clothes smelling fresh and dry. This means you will need to monitor the weather and arrange your laundry around the sunny times. But it will also make you go outside and hang out the clothing. Breathe the fresh air and learn to enjoy the process. Oh, it will reduce your energy bill too.
- Install solar. Now there is a caveat that goes with this one. If you are going to install solar to offset your energy and/or produce your own, you must consider the embodied energy it has taken to make and install this on your home. If you are able to generate enough solar to reduce your energy consumption to zero then great. Better still if you are intending to take your home off the grid and manage your energy yourself with batteries – then I applaud you. Just a word of caution make sure you know what you are buying and how long it will last. I have been living 100% off the grid for 5 years now and we have learned some hard lessons – so make sure you get good advice from a specialist in the field.
- Eat Local – you may have read our Locavore Article but if not the more locally you can source your food the better. Our food does not need to come from the other side of the planet to land on our plates. Seek out locally grown and owned food sources or find alternatives to what you are seeking. Either way, you will be doing yourself and the planet a favour. So jump over to the article by clicking the link above and find out more.
- Look for ethically based banking and investments. A few years ago there was a lot of talk about clothing made in Bangladesh and the low incomes of their paid workers. As a result, certain large companies had to rethink their supply chain. Ethically based Banking and Investments are based on building up the environment and its people not the capitalist model.
Please let us know how you go with this list or if you find another way to reduce your carbon footprint and would like to share it.
