What's your carbon footprint?

[Galen.Iksnudnard]

Here's an interesting site to estimate your carbon footprint:

Free Carbon Footprint Calculator | The Nature Conservancy

My carbon footprint is about 13 tons per year, while the average is 27 tons. The breakdown:

Home Energy (28.5%)
Driving & Flying (45.8%)
Recycling & Waste (4.0%)
Food & Diet (21.6%)

I live in a small apartment, and it doesn't take much to heat it in the winter. My heater is electric though so I try to save energy when possible, so that I can save money.

Most of my Carbon Footprint comes from driving, since I drive 5 miles to and from work every day, and that's a short distance compared to other people. I've known people that drive 20-30 miles every day to get to work.

What's your carbon footprint?

 

[MysticSang'ha]

Our household of 4 people has a carbon footprint is 52 tons of CO2 per year, which is less than half of the national average. Most of it for us is driving to our work, since husband drives 20 miles to and from work 5 days a week, and I drive 25 miles to and from work every day 6 days a week, sometimes 7.

We don't fly. Nowhere to go yet. We're too busy driving to and from work.

 

[The Sum of Awe]

Your estimated greenhouse gas emissions are 17 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalent per year, which is below the U.S. national average.

 

[YmirGF]

Your estimated greenhouse gas emissions are 25 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalent per year, which is below the U.S. national average. (I had to fake it and say I lived in Washington state, which is close enough.) The amusing thing is that I don't do a damn thing to consciously lower my so-called "carbon" footprint.

 

[Galen.Iksnudnard]

Our household of 4 people has a carbon footprint is 52 tons of CO2 per year, which is less than half of the national average. Most of it for us is driving to our work, since husband drives 20 miles to and from work 5 days a week, and I drive 25 miles to and from work every day 6 days a week, sometimes 7.

We don't fly. Nowhere to go yet. We're too busy driving to and from work.

I don't drive nearly as much as you, which is why my carbon footprint is relatively low. I know it's common for us Americans to drive long distances to work, but fortunately I live in the city. I guess I could take public transportation more often, but sometimes the buses can be a bit unreliable. And it's always torture for me waiting for a bus in the cold weather.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

It says mine is 35, but I have no table scraps or yard thingies to throw into compost, I never need the option to fly so that is not relevant, and I think they should look more into "organic" foods before telling people their carbon footprint is less if you take the time to seek out these foods that often times really do not make a difference environmentally, but usually end up hurting the other "non"-organic neighboring farmers that are by-default organic farmers. And then there is the question of meat consumption; I rarely buy beef or pork from the store but typically use deer meat provided from family or friends that hunt and have the extra. Same goes for fish. I also noticed they did not ask if your fruits and vegetables come from local sources or where harvested at large farms with large machines.

 

[Galen.Iksnudnard]

It says mine is 35, but I have no table scraps or yard thingies to throw into compost, I never need the option to fly so that is not relevant, and I think they should look more into "organic" foods before telling people their carbon footprint is less if you take the time to seek out these foods that often times really do not make a difference environmentally, but usually end up hurting the other "non"-organic neighboring farmers that are by-default organic farmers. And then there is the question of meat consumption; I rarely buy beef or pork from the store but typically use deer meat provided from family or friends that hunt and have the extra. Same goes for fish. I also noticed they did not ask if your fruits and vegetables come from local sources or where harvested at large farms with large machines.

Yeah, I did think that it was a bit simplistic. What's the use of having an Organic product if you have to drive a truck across the country to have it delivered to the store?

 

[MysticSang'ha]

Yeah, I did think that it was a bit simplistic. What's the use of having an Organic product if you have to drive a truck across the country to have it delivered to the store?

True. We source a lot of our food from a local farm. Eggs, milk, cream, chicken, pork, and turkey in addition to seasonal vegetables.

 

[Knight of Albion]

Good post!

I took the test. I had to put Washington state as it had no option for the UK!

My result...14

 

[Kilgore Trout]

Mine's 100 tons a year. I'm going to try to double that in the next year. Practice makes perfect!

 

[Ablaze]

Total Greenhouse Gas Emissions: 5.9 Tons of CO2 eq/year
U.S. Average per Person: 27 Tons of CO2 eq/year
World Average per Person: 5.5 Tons of CO2 eq/year

Home Energy: 4.4
Driving & Flying: 0.4
Food & Diet: 0.6
Recycling & Waste: 0.5

 

[dyanaprajna2011]

87 with a national average of 130. That sucks, we have to get that number smaller.

 

[illykitty]

Good post!

I took the test. I had to put Washington state as it had no option for the UK!

My result...14

I did the same, my reasoning being a similar kind of climate.

Ours is 15 tons, maybe a bit more, I suspect. Areas to improve are more composting, better electronics/appliances, better car (small car but we want a hybrid someday) and usage of less hot water, something I do for washing clothes but not for cleaning, baths and showers. I'm not ready to give up my steaming hot baths! But another area that is bad is travelling but with my family being in Canada it's unavoidable.

We eat organic fruits and veg now. I hardly eat any meat and my husband is just happy to go along with it at home (he eats meat at work sometimes). We recycle everything we can.

I'm quite glad about the results, though! It's quite low comparatively.

 

[Penumbra]

Mine is 10 tons, compared to national average 27 tons.

Worldwide, the average is 5.5 tons.

Interestingly, if I did not fly the one time I did this year, and did not have a car, the result would have been as low as 4.6. So, if I live in a city to use public transportation and do not fly, I could get fairly low. That car is a big one, and that flight was big too.

 

[dust1n]

I won't tell what my mine was (I did it for a 6-person house), but I'll let you know I could offset it for $1245.

 

[crossfire]

OK folks, don't use Washington state as your area unless you have a lot of hydroelectric power in your area. If your electricity is obtained from hydrocarbons, choose another state with a similar climate as yours.

My household carbon footprint is below the world average--15 tons CO2 for 3 people, as compared to world average of 17 tons CO2 for 3 people.