Carbon footprint—it’s a term that comes up a lot in sustainability circles. You can even find it in my About section. The idea of footprints is in my logo and in expressions like “tread lightly on the earth.”
It’s a nice visual. But what does it even mean? Is a carbon footprint the same as an ecological footprint? And how useful a tool is it for sustainability and climate action?
I’ll answer those questions and more in this blog post!
What is a carbon footprint?
In basic terms, a carbon footprint is the total amount of greenhouse gases generated by one person’s activities and the products they consume. Carbon footprints are measured over a set period of time, typically a year. They include gases like carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide, which all contribute to climate change. Because these gases have varying abilities to trap heat in the atmosphere, we express the results in carbon dioxide equivalents—for example, 5 metric tonnes of CO2e.
Carbon footprints include both direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions. If you consider driving a car, the carbon footprint includes both direct emissions from driving the car and the emissions generated by producing that car. Although carbon footprints are most often used for individuals, you can also calculate the carbon footprint of an organization or product.
What contributes to a carbon footprint?
The main categories that make up an individual’s carbon footprint are food, household energy use, transportation (including travel) and consumption of products. Depending on your diet, food likely accounts for 10 to 30% of your carbon footprint. Meat products, especially beef, tend to have larger carbon footprints than grains and vegetables.
In the U.S., residential electricity use contributed 9.1% of all CO2e emissions in 2021. The portion of your carbon footprint taken up by electricity use will depend on the source of energy. Some of the largest contributors to household energy use are heating and cooling, as well as refrigerators and laundry.
When it comes to transportation, cars and light trucks emitted 1.05 billion metric tonnes of CO2e, or 16.5% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, in 2021. Commercial flights are also a significant source of greenhouse gas emissions, emitting 120 metric tonnes of CO2e in the U.S. in 2021.
Last but not least, the purchase and disposal of items like clothes, footwear, technology and household items contributes a significant portion of your carbon footprint. Learn the carbon footprint of common items here.
What’s the average carbon footprint?
According to Conservation International, globally, the average carbon footprint is 4.8 metric tonnes per person per year. Here in Canada, our average footprint is a whopping 15.6 metric tonnes per person. In the U.S., the average is even bigger at 16.2 metric tonnes.
Average values for other countries include 9.7 metric tonnes in Germany, 7.0 metric tonnes in China, 5.8 metric tonnes in the U.K. and 1.8 metric tonnes in India.
The Nature Conservancy estimates that, to have the best chance of keeping global temperature rise below 2°C, the average global carbon footprint needs to drop to under 2 tons by 2050.
What’s the difference between a carbon footprint and an ecological footprint?
There can be some confusion about similar-sounding terms like carbon footprint and ecological footprint. Carbon footprint focuses on greenhouse gas emissions and climate change. Ecological footprint is broader, measuring our consumption and use of natural resources.
Ecological footprint compares the amount of nature that we need to survive to the amount of nature that is available. There are two components. First, the hectares of productive land and sea that humans need to produce natural resources, absorb our waste and greenhouse gas emissions, and house our buildings and roads. Second, the productive land that is available to generate those goods and services (the biocapacity).
Our collective ecological footprint first surpassed Earth’s biocapacity in the 1960s. This overshoot has grown every year since. Earth Overshoot Day marks the date every year that we’ve taken more from nature than nature can regenerate in one year (in 2023, Overshoot Day occurred on Aug. 2).
Tools to calculate your carbon footprint
There are several free online tools for calculating your carbon footprint:
- Carbon Footprint Ltd
- WWF-UK (U.K. focus)
- The Nature Conservancy (U.S. focus)
- United States Environmental Protection Agency (only works for U.S. residents)
- Clever Carbon
- Project Neutral
Calculating my carbon footprint
I tried using a couple different carbon footprint calculators, with wildly different results. I first tried Carbon Footprint Ltd’s calculator, which demanded detailed information about the amount of different types of energy I consume, the number of kilometres I’ve travelled on different forms of transportation and the amount of money that I spend on different categories of products (thankfully, I track my expenses). Because the questions were more detailed, I expect the results are more accurate.
Surprisingly, the calculator told me that my footprint is only 3.2 metric tonnes, less than the averages for Canada, the European Union and the whole world. My largest sources of emissions were what it called “secondary” (spending on food and other products) and flights.
I also tried using WWF-UK’s calculator. This one was easier to fill out since it asked a series of questions, online quiz-style. Because of that, I expect the results are less accurate. WWF-UK’s calculator told me that my carbon footprint is 9.5 tonnes—just over what it stated to be the U.K. average for 2023, 9.3 tonnes. This value included a “government allowance” of 2.4 tonnes to account for government expenses on things like construction and education.
My area of largest consumption was home at 42% of emissions. This category included questions about the size of your residence, the source of energy and energy efficiency measures. That makes sense since I’m living in a house and, as a tenant, have less control over energy matters.
The different approaches and focuses of the two calculators did make me question the results’ validity. Nonetheless, the calculators suggested a couple areas for me to focus on (energy use and flights).
How can you reduce your carbon footprint?
The best way to reduce your carbon footprint will vary depending on your current lifestyle and where you live. Nonetheless, here are a few actions that are helpful for reducing your carbon footprint:
- Reduce your consumption of meat and other animal products
- Avoid food waste where possible
- Switch to energy-efficient LED light bulbs
- Unplug electronic devices when they’re not in use
- Choose sustainable forms of transportation like walking, biking and public transit
- Fly less often and fly direct when possible
- Reduce, reuse, recycle and compost
Critiques of the carbon footprint
The term “carbon footprint” is controversial because it was first popularized by British Petroleum in the early 2000s, as part of the oil company’s “Beyond Petroleum” ad campaign. The critique is that the concept of carbon footprint shifts the focus onto individual consumers instead of corporations or governments, which pollute the most and have the capacity to make the largest changes.
The recommended actions to reduce your carbon footprint may also not be accessible to everyone. For example, because of where they live, a person may need to drive to get to work or may not have access to fresh local foods. We need government policies and measures by companies to be able to take certain actions to reduce our carbon footprint, like own an electric car or install solar panels.
Carbon footprint also focuses on carbon emissions as opposed to your broader impact on the environment. It’s narrower than the so-called “climate shadow,” which also considers other life choices like where you invest your money, who you vote for, how many children you have and which company you work for.
My take is that the carbon footprint is still a useful tool for getting an overview of the carbon emissions that you generate, so that you know which areas of your life to focus on—as long as you don’t become hung up on the little details. Especially given that online carbon footprint calculators can be less than accurate.
I want to know: Do you think the carbon footprint is a useful tool? And what’s your carbon footprint (if you feel comfortable sharing)?
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