What’s a carbon footprint?
A carbon footprint is the total amount of greenhouse gases (the cause of climate change) that are generated by what we do. The carbon footprint will differ among individuals depending on their location, behaviour, and personal choices. Differences in carbon footprint between two people could come from, for example:
- The way they travel - there are no emissions when riding a bike, but a bus will have some associated emissions.
- Their location – a person using electricity in Tasmania (mostly from hydroelectric plants) will have lower emissions than someone living in Victoria (where much of the electricity is produced from coal).
- Their diet - vegetables have lower embodied emissions (emissions from production) than meat, although vegetables brought from overseas would have more emissions associated with their transport than meat produced locally.
When calculating a carbon footprint, it is important to include both direct and indirect emissions. For example, driving a non-electric car produces direct emissions from the use of fuel by the car, while using a computer produces indirect emissions from the use of electricity generated at a power station that uses fossil fuel. Similarly, a piece of paper or an apple (or anything we buy/consume) will likely have associated indirect emissions from the production and transport of the product.
Calculating your carbon footprint can be challenging but there are several online calculators that may help you to calculate emissions from various sources. Some examples are the Carbon Footprint Calculator For Individuals And Households or the ClimateHero Carbon Calculator.
