A carbon footprint calculator typically takes into account the greenhouse gases you produce at home and while traveling. It can also include the greenhouse gases produced to transport and make the food you eat and the things you buy. Check out the carbon footprint calculators listed below and use one to calculate your carbon footprint:. Once you have calculated your carbon footprint, think about how you could make it smaller. We add greenhouse gases to the atmosphere as we go about our daily lives, but often we can make choices that reduce these emissions.
For example, you might choose to ride a bike to the store rather than driving a car. Fly often? Taking one fewer long round-trip flight could shrink your personal carbon footprint significantly. Think about it this way: If you use public transportation often, and fly home to visit family just occasionally, your carbon footprint might still be relatively sustainable, but if you drive and fly a lot, your emissions will be higher.
Sometimes airlines will give you this option themselves, or you can use a third-party like Atmosfair or Terrapass. You can calculate the emissions per flight here. While food systems are complicated, and research is still evolving on what the most environmentally-friendly diet is, experts mostly agree that cutting down on meat , and red meat in particular, is a better choice for the environment.
This is because the production of red meat uses a lot of feed, water and land. Cows themselves also give off methane emissions a harmful greenhouse gas. For that reason, eating a vegan diet is likely to be best for the environment, say experts. According to a study published in in the journal Environmental Research Letters, red meat can have up to times the environmental impact of plant based food.
According to some estimates, beef gives off more than six pounds of carbon dioxide per serving; the amount created per serving by rice, legumes carrots, apples or potatoes is less than half a pound. Eating a vegetarian or pescetarian diet are also likely to be better for the environment than a diet which includes a lot of meat. Each of these, however, depend on exactly what you are eating, and how much of it.
If you replace that meat with dairy, for example, your emissions could rise again. Following national health guidelines, with further reductions in meat, fish and dairy this is similar to a Mediterranean diet is a good option too, Dr.
Springmann said. These diets can also have health benefits. Overall, eating low down the food chain as often as you can is a probably a good way to reduce your carbon footprint and stay healthy , say experts. That means filling your plate with vegetables, fruits, grains and beans. For meat-lovers, even swapping carbon-intensive meats like beef and lamb with chicken can make a difference. Better still, swap a few meals per-week to vegan or vegetarian.
This protein card can help you make climate and wallet friendly choices at the grocery store. When it comes to food, most greenhouse gas emissions happen during production, rather than transportation : What you eat is more important than where it comes from. But eating local can still make a difference. Fewer food-miles can mean fewer emissions.
The complicating factor in eating locally happens when you start to consider how the food got to you, not just from how far away it came. Tomatoes brought a short distance to a farmers market by truck, or shipped further to the grocery store by a train, could release similar emissions. The transportation you take to get your tomatoes, and bring them home, also matters. What about local meat versus imported vegetables? Eating only locally grown food for one year would save the greenhouse gas equivalent of driving 1, miles, but eating just one vegetarian meal a week for a year saves miles more than that , according to one study from researchers at Carnegie Mellon.
How about organic? The study found that organic systems use less energy than conventional ones, but they often require more land and, therefore, emit similar greenhouse gas emissions.
This is a big one : on average, Americans waste around 40 percent of the food they buy. Luckily, there are simple solutions to lower your food waste and these tips will save you money, too. What to Eat On. Skip the disposable dishes and wash your dinnerware instead. Washing dishes, whether it is by hand or in a dishwasher, is likely to be more environmentally friendly than using disposable ones assuming your dishwasher is energy efficient.
If you do need to use disposable plates, bowls and cutlery, there are climate-friendly options look for compostable or biodegradable options. If you order takeout, wash and reuse the plastic containers that food often comes in. In the average American home, 25 percent of energy is used to heat spaces, 13 percent is used to heat water, 11 percent is used for cooling and the remainder is spent on appliances, according to estimates from the Natural Resources Defense Council.
Making even small changes to these can make a big difference, said Noah Horowitz, a senior scientist and director of the N. This calculator can help you work out your energy usage before and after you make these changes. Americans generate about roughly million tons of trash a year , million tons of which ends up in landfills and incinerators, according to a report from the E.
But much of the waste that can be recycled still ends up in landfills. Small changes to the insulation and design of your home — from do-it-yourself hacks to building changes — can help you reduce your carbon footprint at home.
Buying less is the first step. Beyond that, there are simple ways to reduce the impact from your purchases. According to the World Resources Institute, 20 items of clothing are manufactured per person, per year.
As the price of our clothes drops, the environmental and human costs increase. Household Carbon Footprint Calculator. For example: The quantity of greenhouse gas emissions from your home electricity use depends on the types of fuel your power plant uses to generate the electricity and the amount you use. The quantity of greenhouse gases emitted from your furnace and boiler depends on the efficiency of these items, the size and insulation of your house, and the amount and type of fuel used.
The quantity of emissions from your car or truck depends on how much you drive, what your vehicle's fuel efficiency is, and how you drive e. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks - Heller, M. Mars C. Journal of Industrial Ecology, 19 3 : Pero, F. Replacement policy of residential lighting optimized for cost, energy, and greenhouse gas emissions. Environmental Research Letters, 12 11 , Levinson, R.
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