Measuring your carbon footprint
Your Carbon Footprint is a measure of how your domestic and social activities are affecting the environment in terms of the amount of green house gases you produce per year, measured in tonnes of carbon dioxide.
Measuring your own carbon footprint using an online tool can give you an insight into which areas of your life generates the most carbon dioxide (CO2). The best web sites then offer you tips for the most effective ways to reduce your carbon footprint, based on the replies you gave to the questions.
Members of Transition Larkhall have used the web site at:
and found the advice given very useful. There are other good ones. Here are our tips for using a carbon calculator.
- Have your energy bills handy.
- Use the html version if you have a slower computer – this version also gives you a printable table.
- Do an individual rather than household profile – the household gives you a result multiplied by the number of people in your house.
- Most questions are straightforward, though you may need to calculate things like your annual car mileage.
- At the end the calculator gives a target for reducing your figure by 20%.
- Save the data, so you can make a comparison once you’ve taken some energy-saving steps.
- Help someone else you know do the calculation too.
