Carbon Footprint

What is a Carbon Footprint and Why is it Important?

Carbon Dioxide is the major greenhouse gas emissions from our vehicles, from heating our homes and businesses, and from other activities in our lives. It is also the leading greenhouse gas that contributes to global warming.

The term Footprint refers to the impact we are having on the Earth. If the whole world lived like Americans or Canadians, we would need seven Earth size planets to sustain our way of living... yes, seven.

By combining Carbon Dioxide with the term Footprint, we have a Carbon Footprint. This is the impact we are having on the world specific to the amount of Carbon Dioxide we are responsible for creating. Americans and Canadians pollute more per capita than most countries in the world, including China. We have a lot of work to do.

The first step to go green is to understand your carbon footprint. Whether it’s for your workplace or for you, it is important to understand how much Carbon Dioxide you are generating per year so you know what to focus on. It is very difficult to understand the impact of our reduction if we don’t measure our starting point. To use an analogy of a diet, how do you know how much weight you have lost if you don’t know how much your previous weight was?

To calculate your carbon footprint, you can use a carbon footprint calculator on the Internet. There are a lot of calculators available that do not work well and are focussed on selling you their carbon offset products. Zerofootprint is a great example of a carbon calculator. Check out the "Sample Personal Carbon Managers" on their website.

Once you have quantified your carbon footprint, you’re ready to start your Carbon Diet!