Understanding Your Carbon Footprint

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What is your carbon footprint?
In basic terms it is a measure of all the greenhouse gases we produce as individuals, businesses and societies.

What are greenhouse gases?
Greenhouse gases are present in the atmosphere and help to retain the earth’s heat. Carbon dioxide (CO2) is the most well known and significant greenhouse gas. Others include methane, nitrous oxide, HFCs, PFCs. Some are naturally occuring, while others are man made.

What is the significance?
Without greenhouse gases the heat from the sun would be re-radiated back into space and the earth would be too cold to live on. However, too high a concentration of greenhouse gas results in a trapping of the heat and an increase in the Earth’s surface temperature. This increase in turn creates climate change – sea level increases, rain patterns and increased storm severity, etc.

What is required is a stabilisation in the level of greenhouse gases so that energy re-radiated back into space equals the energy coming from the sun, at present rates greenhouse gases output are increasing at alarming rates.

What can we do about this?
We as individuals, businesses, regions and countries can all take action to manage and reduce our carbon footprint. In order to do this it is important to understand how to measure this output. There are some useful resources for calculating your carbon footprint available on the internet.

However these calculators are by nature simplistic and cannot respond to individual nuances or circumstances. What this calculator (and others) does not reflect is the emissions as a result of our choices as consumers – the ‘hidden’ consumption element. What is our energy producer doing to reduce their emissions? How environmentally responsible are the companies you buy products from? How many food miles are required to supply your meals on a weekly basis? Are the products we purchase contained in unnecessary moulded plastic packaging?

I aim to address some of these issues in further articles.


Steven Coutts has a keen interest in Environmental issues. His blog can be found at YourEnviro.com