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Carbon Footprint

A Carbon Footprint is a measure for the amount of Greenhouse Gas being emitted by a particular entity – this could be a household, or a product, or a business, or even a country. It is usually measured on tonnes of ‘CO2 equivalents’.

For an individual or household, a Carbon Footrprint is calculated by considering the various aspects of their way of life that will be generating emissions, (such as Transport, Household Energy and Shopping), and assigning an estimated level of emissions to each aspect. There will also be an element of emissions relating to a household’s estimated use of services provided on their behalf by government (e.g. road and rail infrastructure, health and education services). The results of the assessment are often illustrated in the form of a Carbon Footprint Wheel.

How do I know what my Carbon Footprint Is?

There are many Carbon Footprint Calculators available on the internet, some of them relatively quick and simple to use, but others requiring you to do a certain amount of ‘homework’ before you can complete them (e.g. annual mileage travelled in your car, annual amounts of gas and electricity used). Obviously the more actual data you are asked to input, the more accurate the outcome will be.

A quick and simple Carbon Footprint Calculator you might like to try to star with has been developed by the WWF-UK

Others to try if you are prepared to spend a bit more time on collecting the date are :

A few Key Facts about Carbon Footprints

In the UK, the average person is responsible for producing 13 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions each year
Globally, the average is 5 tonnes
Everyone needs to reduce their carbon footprint significantly by 2030 if we are going to meet the target of reaching Net Zero by 2050

We each need to reduce our own carbon footprint, and should be aiming to halve it by 2030, and reduce it to Net Zero by 2050

Why Should You Measure It?

As well as giving you an overall footprint, your results will be broken down into key categories such as Transport, Food and Drink and Household Energy. This may be illustrated as a Carbon Footprint Wheel, looking something like this.

Once you can see where your emissions are coming from, you will be able to identify where you can make changes in your lifestyle to reduce your carbon footprint.

How Do You Reduce It?

Once you have measured your carbon footprint you can start planning what you can do to reduce it. Whichever calculator you use will probably give you some suggestions, based on the information you have put into the calculator. Harborough Climate Action has also developed a wealth of advice and tips that will help you tackle your emissions in various aspects of your life :

Food and Drink
Transport
Shopping and Services
Household Energy

There are also many websites around that can offer ideas for reducing your carbon footprint. Here are a few you might like to look at :

Energy Saving Trust

Home Carbon Calculator

This is what a Carbon Footprint for a UK person might look like

25% of our greenhouse gas emissions relate to food and drink
25% relate to transport
17% relate to household energy
16% relate to shopping and services
17% relate to public services and other

Click on any of the SEGMENT buttons to find ways of adapting your lifestyle so that you are heading toward Net Zero.

And finally, why not tell us how you got on?

As part of Harborough Big Green Week, SHC are encouraging people to measure their Carbon Footprint.

It would be great if you could then share your experience with us on our social media platforms, or by sending us an email. How easy was it to measure your carbon footprint? Were you surprised at the results?

What steps you will be taking to reduce your footprint? What problems do you anticipate in trying to do so?

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