Learn to calculate your CO2
We all are worried about climate change and whether this is linked to the pollution we produce. People are now more sensitive about how many carbon emissions their lifestyle produces. It is difficult though to have an idea about how green our choices are and what we can allow ourselves per year in terms of air travel, for example.
Top Recommended Alternative
With The Carbon Footprint Calculator you can actually calculate your impact on the environment. You can roughly insert the total distance you drive and you travel by air, bus or train in one year. Swap between the metric and the English unit measurement system if you prefer. In the Energy Section you can specify the Electricity, the natural gas and the fuel oil used monthly, together with the State (US) where you live and the number of people who live with you. Then comes the recycling and activities section where you have to select the type of recreation you do, the buying habits and the percentage of trash you recycle. Finally, you will have to specify the percentage of food or items you buy that are grown or produced locally. I found it difficult to quantify the amount of food I eat each day in Kg. I've never thought about it and I was astonished to know that we eat between 25 to 75kg per day.
A detailed Footprint Result is shown after pressing the black footprint icon on top of the main form. It shows the amount of Co2 we produce in a coloured cake chart. You can compare it with the information provided underneath it, in which it states the average emission per person in US, which is about 20tons of Co2 per year, while the for EU citizens it's around 11 tons. Whether your personalised results will make you feel a bit guilty or proud of your lifestyle, remember you can always offset the emission you produce by supporting specific schemes. A selection of those, found on the Tufts Climate Initiative web site is: Carbonfund, The CarbonNeutral Company, Cleanairpass, Climate Care, Solar Electric Light Fund and TerraPass.
This basic application allows you to keep a track of your energy consumption and calculate your carbon emissions. Unfortunately, it doesn't allow you to create graphs comparing the results of different years and it doesn't give you any advice on how you can have a greener lifestyle based on your lifestyle.
