Generally, a carbon footprint is the total amount of greenhouse gasses, where these gasses include carbon dioxide and methane that are generated by our actions. These greenhouse gasses produced directly and indirectly support human activities usually expressed in comparable tons of carbon dioxide (CO2). Your is the sum of all emissions of CO2, which were induced by your activities. This carbon footprint is also called greenhouse gas causing global warming.
The GHGs, whose sum results in the carbon footprint can be produced from the production and utilization of fossil fuels, food, materials, roads, transportation, and manufactured goods. Despite its essential factors it is more hard and difficult to calculate exactly due to poor knowledge and only the minimal data available regarding the complex interactions between contribution processes. And that includes the influence of natural processes that store or deliver carbon dioxide. In this discussion, we are going to see about the carbon footprint essential Factors and how to reduce them.
How to measure my carbon footprint:
Here carbon footprint is an essential factor to understand the impact of a person’s behavior on global warming. To reduce global warming everyone should know how to measure their personal carbon footprint. Everyone should effectively contribute to stopping global warming to give a better future to our generation. Not as a group resolution, at least as individuals everyone should take a small measure to control global warming. So, hence keep track of your personal carbon footprint.
This can be achieved by online calculators. For example, with the help of carbon footprint calculators from Terrapass, and WWF, where these online calculators include the calculation for companies and events. When you induce these apps, it will prompt you to provide some general information like how you commute to work, what your usual diet routine is, how much you drive or fly, the size of your household, or what type of electricity the grid provides you for your house or commercial usage.
Moreover, it will be the approximate result of your carbon footprint, but do not expect the accurate result and there are several reasons for that. Because, there are many factors behind this, and the most considerable factor is these online calculators use standard values that aren’t always right for multiple possible situations. For example, when you type how many miles you drive on average a specific reference value for the CO2/mile/emission will be multiplied by your distance or mile and then by 12 months.
However, the result will be accurate as we said already, here both numbers are estimated like sometimes you drive more than you actually told the calculator. This impact can happen in your diet plan, eating meat is on average carbon polluting, but it also depends on where you buy it, so it includes the transportation emission. Another reason is that these estimations often forget to calculate for goods and services purchased, moreover, it is very hard to figure out the numbers. Next, we can see the reduction steps for the personal carbon footprint.
How to reduce my personal carbon footprint?
As we know, the calculation of personal carbon footprint can be obtained exactly. Besides this, to obtain an accurate reduction of CO2 emissions, it is also essential to use an amount that approximately mirrors someone’s local reality. For calculating personal carbon footprint, these online calculators should assume that you have an American SUV brand A car being driven in New Zealand or a brand B car from a Japanese company. Whereas both have the same amount of emission.
To reduce our personal carbon footprint, we should take c=same measures to control global warming. So, here are a few measures to reduce the carbon footprint produced by an individual. Do follow the guidelines to reduce global warming, to make a global warming-free planet.
Transportation- It is a great example of food and sustainable behaviors. So avoid taking your own car or motorbike to a nearby shop for buying something like groceries, veggies, or meat. Where each liter of fuel burnt in a car engine emits over 2.5kg of CO2 approximately. So, it is advised to take a walk, cycle or use public transport.
Food– You can reduce the amount of animal-based products and consume them, it is better to take seasonal foods and local foods. Because it has two major factors, first is short trips of purchase result in fewer transportation emissions and it is a better way to avoid canned food. It also implies the transportation carbon footprint. Recycling/composting organic waste is the better solution to avoid artificial pesticides. Otherwise, it will emit methane by decomposing biodegradable waste in landfills.
Water use- Use your household appliance like the washing machine and dishwasher only when you have more work to do with them. By doing this, you can save both water and electricity energy simultaneously. And redirect your kitchen water and shower water to the garden. Another essential thing is the installation of rainwater harvesting, if you have a rooftop house it is easy to collect the rainwater. It will act as an alternative way of taking water from the ground.
Energy use– Keeping your home at a lower temperature can save emissions (and your energy expenditure) by 5% to 10%; Reduce the temperature of the air conditioning because it uses a lot of energy, instead, you can use a fan. Set your energy-consuming appliances to only turn on when you are approaching home.
Final Thoughts:
To summarize, the ecological footprint focuses on assessing the usage of bio-productive space, whereas the carbon footprint measures the release of gasses that commit to global warming. The reality is that the world’s resources and ecosystems are being depleted by our society’s existing consumption model.
Moreover, global warming is mainly caused by the emission of CO2 from transportation emission. Where an individual owns many cars, motorbikes, and many vehicles. Even for shorter distance travel, they took their own vehicle. To avoid global warming, take a small measure of using public transport.