Friday, November 9, 2007

Calculating Your Carbon Footprints.

Small lifestyle changes can go a long way in saving Earth from the effects of global warming and the easiest way is to reduce your carbon footprints - the amount of carbon dioxide that you emit from everyday activities.

From the moment you wake up each day, everything you do - eat, drink, shop to driving a car consumes energy that produces carbon dioxide and has an impact on the environment. Your carbon footprint represents the impact that you and your lifestyle have on our planet in terms of the amount of greenhouse gases produced, measured in units of carbon dioxide.

In line with global target, aim to limit your carbon dioxide emissions to no more than 2.5 tonnes a year. As a guide, the average American has a footprint of 20 tonnes while the average Briton produces about 5 tonnes. Less energy consumed means less fossil fuels being burned which means less carbon dioxide emissions. You can calculate your carbon footprint at resurgence.org which provides calculators that can convert your utility bills and transport use into CO2 emissions. This should give you some idea of where you stand and you can then take steps to try and reduce it.

Other than reducing your carbon footprint, you can also offset your emissions. Many companies, example airlines and travel agencies, allows you to compensate for unavoidable emissions by contributing to projects that remove an equivalent amount of greenhouse gases from the environment. These include re-forestation and energy-savings initiatives. For example, you can offset your carbon emissions from your holiday to Japan by planting some trees in Indonesia. Some airlines even offer carbon offsetting when you are purchasing your tickets.

Genuine carbon offset companies are endorsed by organisations like the United Nations and include carbonfootprint.com, carbonfund.org and climatecare.org.

*Related post : Reducing Your Carbon Footprints - Going Green At Home


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4 comments:

Meghna said...

Hi my den,
This is a great post about increasing awareness among us of the pollution created by us.The tips you've given are quite useful too. After reading this post I'll try to lessen my carbon footprints!

My Den said...

Hi megna,
Thanks. There will be articles on going green and reducing our carbon footprints further down the line.

I am very glad that after reading, you intend to reduce your carbon footprints as i would have achieved my goal - to raise awareness of environmental degradation and global warming.

Once again, thanks for dropping by. Take care.

Mark Dykeman said...

Didn't Rick Mercer promote a "one-tonne" challenge for the Canadian government a couple of years ago?

My Den said...

Hi Mark,
Sorry for the late reply as i had missed this comment. As for the "one-tonne" challenge, the program was not well-received by the public and have been scrapped with the election of Harper's Conservative Government.

Thanks for dropping by and happy holidays.