Everyone has heard of a carbon footprint. It has become a very well worn phrase over the past decade, and a very important one too. But do we truly know what it means, what it refers too, and what our own one is? We take a deep dive into deciding. What is a carbon footprint?
Carbon Footprint Definition
Going by the dictionary definition of what the phrase is, we get the following. It is “the amount of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere as a result of the activities of a particular individual, organisation or community.” While that gives you a basic idea of what the footprint refers to, it it not all-encompassing. The description does not lay out to us why it matters and our own responsibilities to that footprint.
The Importance of Your Carbon Footprint
Handling environmental change isn’t something that should be possible all alone. Indeed, we need everybody to have an influence in lessening their effect on this planet. The most ideal approach to do this is to lessen your carbon impression. you can start by taking your regular fossil fuel by-products into thought.
Consider it like this. Almost all that you do delivers some measure of carbon into the environment. Yet what amount relies upon an immense number of elements. This implies that you can increment or reduction your carbon impression with your regular decisions.
Examples
A good place to start is everything you eat. Because everything that goes in your mouth comes with a carbon footprint. This is on the grounds that it requires hardware and assets to develop, collect, bundle and transport it to where you pick it up and purchase it At that point, more energy is consumed when you cook that food. This adds considerably more to its carbon impression. By procuring items locally, you can cut down on this footprint. If you must use supermarkets, there are steps taken by them all to cut down on packaging. You can simply print out barcodes and carry fruit and veg loose. And bring your own bags of course. Including a bag for life.
What you eat too is relevant. Meat consumption is proving to be very bad for the environment. You can bring down the carbon impression you make on your planet by eating less meat and moving towards a vegetarian lifestyle. If you cannot comprehend not eating meat, simply try to put aside a day or two a week when you do not eat it.
It might appear to be simple, yet considering these contemplations for each supper can have an immense effect. If everybody began to apply this intuition to all that they did, the effect could be massive.
What is carbon offsetting?
Being ‘carbon neutral’ is the ultimate goal towards preventing climate change. It’s where your carbon output is effectively reduced to zero.
However, some things aren’t quite as straight forward as choosing different foods. For example, it would likely be difficult for you to decide to decide to replace the fuel you use with a renewable alternative. That is not logistically viable. And what’s more, the supply chain may simply not exist. This is where carbon off-setting can make a big difference.
Carbon offsetting schemes do not exist to make you remove your carbon footprint, they simply intend to do something separate that helps negate that footprint. This may involve planting trees or a host of schemes globally with sustainable projects that improve the planet’s lot.
How do you work out carbon dioxide emissions?
The initial step to diminishing your carbon impression is working out what it is currently, at that point you can see how to shrivel it. There are a ton of things that make up your own carbon impression, however the principle things that you have control of include:
- Food and drink
- Your property and energy usage
- Transport and travel
- Your assets – your possessions and their effect
The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) have handily collated a carbon footprint calculator to give you a general idea of how you individual footprint compares with targets set by governments. Unfortunately, working out your carbon footprint is not a simple process, and takes some calculations.
Factors
Certain things contribute greatly towards your personal carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, such as if your home uses electricity created by fossil fuels, how often you drive a petrol or diesel car, and whether or not you’ve been on a flight recently (and how far it went!). For example, by using 100% renewable electricity and a carbon neutral gas supplier, you can halve your footprint. After all, the average property produces eight tonnes of CO2 emissions annually.
