The term ‘carbon footprint’ refers to the total amount of greenhouse gas emissions, primarily carbon dioxide (CO₂), produced directly or indirectly by an individual, organisation, activity or product. Your individual carbon footprint reflects the environmental impact of your lifestyle and choices, in terms of their contribution to the release of greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere.
Measuring your carbon footprint is a really useful way to start conceptualising the effect that human behaviour has on the planet.
What Contributes to Your Carbon Footprint?
Energy Consumption
This includes the energy you use to power your home (heating, electricity, water, fuel). It will be affected by the size of your residence, location, insulation, lighting, heating and general energy efficiency.
Diet
The food you eat has a huge impact on your carbon footprint. Animal products have much higher emissions associated with them than meat-free and dairy-free alternatives. How your food is packaged, where it’s sourced from, and how it gets to you – its ‘food miles’ also contribute to your footprint.
Consumer Habits
The types of products you buy will have emissions associated with their production, transportation and disposal. The fast fashion industry has a heavy carbon footprint. You can often find popular, high-quality brands in charity shops, or attend clothes swap events to reduce your consumption habits.
We must also recognize the significance of our plastic footprint within the broader context of our carbon footprint. Despite its versatility and convenience, plastic presents a grave menace to our ecosystems and plays a significant role in global pollution. Your plastic footprint represents the volume of plastic waste generated from your daily consumption patterns, encompassing activities such as purchasing items with plastic packaging or disposing of plastic products after minimal use. Astonishingly, it is estimated that up to 50% of all plastic on Earth is designed for single-use purposes!
Waste
Anything you throw away (food, clothes, packaging) will contribute to your carbon footprint – particularly how you dispose of it.
What happens to it once you dispose of it will very much depend on local and national waste policies and may be out of your control – landfill, EfW (energy from waste, ie incineration), anaerobic digester, recycling - but always try to keep in mind the ‘Reduce, Reuse, Repair, Recycle’ mantra. Instead of replacing items, can they be repaired? If you no longer want something, can it be donated to a charity/thrift shop and given a second lease of life?
Travel Habits
Your modes of transportation, distance of travel and frequency of trips all contribute to your footprint. In the UK, the average petrol car produces the equivalent of 164g of CO₂e per kilometre in 2023, while diesel cars average roughly 170 grams.¹ EVs have much lower emissions and, reassuringly, the number of newly licensed battery electric vehicles has been dramatically increasing year on year.² The carbon footprint of passengers travelling by local bus is 100g CO₂e per km, and by train 40g.¹
Figures for other countries will vary greatly, but the general principles would be the same – moving away from travel routines involving solo car commuting or opting for train journeys instead of flights when feasible would serve as excellent initial steps.
Geography
Geography plays a significant role in determining the carbon footprint of different regions around the world. Areas relying on emissions-intensive energy sources or less efficient transport systems will typically have higher carbon emissions. For instance, regions heavily dependent on coal or oil for their current energy needs will have a much larger carbon footprint compared to those harnessing cleaner and renewable energy sources like wind or solar power.
Places with lower population densities and better urban planning will also have reduced transportation-related emissions. But, whilst things like geography you probably can’t control (unless you decide to move) you could consider car-pooling (lift-sharing) with colleagues for work commutes or if both you and your partner have a car, consider the possibility of cutting down to one - this will also save you money too!
Overall
These categories are certainly not clearcut and many will have a crossover. For example, energy consumption impacts both housing and travel. Waste is a big part of both your diet and retail-consumption habits.
The key takeaway is that your carbon footprint is multifaceted, so consider focusing on the areas where you can start to make changes, however small, straightaway.
How Do You Measure Your Carbon Footprint?
Switch2Zero will be launching a personal carbon footprint calculator in the near future. This will provide valuable insights into your environmental impact and the steps you can take to reduce it.
In the meantime, WWF has created this straightforward questionnaire, assessing your food, travel, home life and purchasing behavior to work out your personal carbon footprint. You may be shocked at the results!
If you’re in the US, you can measure the carbon footprint of your household with the Environmental Protection Agency calculator. Note that the EPA suggests gathering your utility bills for a more accurate estimate.
At times, we might believe that our actions won't have a meaningful impact due to the substantial carbon emissions produced by manufacturers and major industries. Nonetheless, it's important to recognize that households and individual behaviours play a SIGNIFICANT role in shaping the global carbon footprint.
You can reduce your carbon footprint even by making small changes in a few areas of your life, such as reducing energy consumption at home, perhaps using public transport or cycling instead of driving, choosing more sustainable foods, and reducing waste.
For simple and affordable, yet impactful, ways that you can reduce your carbon footprint, check out our Switch2Zero articles.
¹ https://www.statista.com/statistics/1233337/carbon-footprint-of-travel-per-kilometer-by-mode-of-transport-uk/
² https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/environmentalaccounts/articles/climatechangeinsightsuk/february2023
