The Truth About Your Carbon Footprint, and How to Reduce It

If you’re at all familiar with the environmental movement and sustainability, you’ve probably heard the term carbon footprint. Carbon footprints are a way of measuring your impact on the environment, stated in how much carbon your daily activities release into the atmosphere (typically stated on an annual basis).

There are plenty of calculators available to estimate your carbon footprint, including this one from Nature.org, the Footprint Network’s calculator, or the EPA’s emissions calculator. Each one calculates its results differently, and they all ask different questions.

So just how accurate are these estimators?

The Devil’s in the Details: The Problem of Accuracy

That’s a complicated question. Ultimately, these are really just guesses based on some general answers. The EPA’s calculator is the most detailed, but you have to know quite a bit about your expenses.

How much you drive, how much you carpool, how much you fly, how well you maintain your car, how well you insulate your home, how much food you buy from local sources, how much clothing and furniture you buy..all of these factor into your carbon footprint, and not all calculators address every aspect. Plus, where you live and where you get your energy from play an important role, too.

Calculating carbon footprints is complicated. However, if you are really committed to reducing your impact on the environment, one of these calculators can be an eye-opener and a good baseline for where changes need to be made.

3 Easy Ways You Can Reduce Your Carbon Footprint

Some of the most obvious ways you can reduce your carbon emissions are by better insulating your home, upgrading to ENERGY STAR rated appliances, and reducing your energy use. You can also improve your vehicle’s fuel efficiency (or upgrade to a more efficient vehicle), carpool, or use public transportation. And don’t forget recycling! Some of those changes are massive investments — for example, upgrading windows or buying new home appliances, or a new car. You can start smaller with some of these solutions:

1. Cut back on Junk Mail

The average American receives an estimated 41 pounds of junk mail each year, and paper takes up about 40 percent of landfill space. Start unsubscribing from catalogs and mailing lists, and recycle as much as you can. You can even sign up for services like 41 Pounds, which will work to take you off bulk mailing lists for 5 years, for a fee. For free options, check out the FTC’s site.

2. Modify Your Diet

You can make small changes to your diet that will reduce your carbon footprint.There are carbon costs associated with raising livestock and growing produce, as well as transporting it.

Even if you don’t buy organic, you can help the environment just by choosing local produce (ideally products brought in from less than 200 miles away). Get to know your local brands at the supermarket, or head out to the farmer’s market. You can search for farmers markets on the USDA website.

In the average American diet, meat products accounted for more than half of all carbon emissions. Beef is the worst offender, so switching to fish or pork or poultry can have a significant impact.

3. Get Smart About Electronics and Electricity

Vampire electronics are ones that continue to draw power even when they’re not actually operating. Think your microwave, with its little clock and built-in timer. That also includes computer printers, coffee pots, and more. Unplug any devices you’re not using. In addition to helping the planet, you’ll save a little bit on your energy bills.

Switching to CFL (compact fluorescent) bulbs will also reduce your energy impact in your home. They’re more expensive, but they also last much longer (sometimes 10 years or more).

Offsetting Your Carbon Footprint

Where you can’t reduce your carbon footprint, you can offset it to achieve zero-impact (or, as close to it as possible when working off imprecise estimates). Several institutions allow you to make contributions that offset your carbon footprint. However, if you really want to make a difference, Carbon Xprint bonds go toward projects that reduce greenhouse gases (including carbon) while still returning interest to the bondholders.