How do you decide what you can do to reduce your carbon footprint? The first step is to know what your carbon footprint is. A carbon footprint is the total amount of greenhouse gases including methane and carbon dioxide that are generated by our actions. Once you know what your footprint is, you can plan on steps you can take to make changes. Knowing more about what contributes to carbon footprint can also help you to influence others by talking about what you are doing.

To calculate your household’s carbon footprint, go to Cool Climate Berkeley. Answer a few questions about where you live, the number of people in your household, and household income. Next, refine your footprint by answering questions about size of your residence, vehicles, transit, the number of flights you take per year, cycling, energy consumption, food, and spending on goods and services. The results will allow you to compare how you stack up against others. The final part shows you how to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and the impact that these choices will have. You can pledge to make changes on a variety of items such as switching to public transit, riding your bike, purchasing an electric vehicle, eating less meat, and more. I did this calculation initially in 2023 and here are the results:

My calculation showed that in 2023, our household’s CO2 emissions were 45 tons/year, about 11% better than average for our household and income, but our home electricity and natural gas usage put us 34% worse. Of the 45 tons, 16 are related to travel (car fuel, manufacturing, and air travel). Switching to an electric vehicle would save 6.7 tons. Home energy accounts for 9 tons, while switching to green electricity would save 6.5 tons. Food consumption was 6 tons, which can be reduced by eating a lower carbon diet by 1 ton. Purchase of goods is 8 tons, and all services is 6.

Although we have 2 small cars that get good gas mileage and are selective how much we use the car, we are planning to purchase a hybrid vehicle in the next year or so. The gas furnace will soon need to be replaced, so there will be a careful decision about a heat pump, and the type of energy.

Fast-forward to 2024, after having an Energy Audit and Heat Pump installed. I have also switched to a mainly plant based diet. Our footprint has been reduced from 45 tons CO2 eq/year to 30. This is so rewarding to see! The next step will be to purchase a hybrid or electric vehicle, but this may take some time. In the meantime, I am walking and biking whenever I can, and combining trips and taking public transit whenever I can.

A Few Steps You Can Take

• Go car free or drive an electric vehicle. This is the number 1 largest impact an individual can make.
• Switch to renewable energy (solar, wind, bio-energy, geothermal). Pricing on solar and wind has come down recently and in the UK, onshore wind and solar are competitive with gas pricing.
• Eat less meat and dairy. By reducing your animal protein consumption, you can cut your diet’s footprint by 40 per cent. For more information about eating less meat, see How to Eat Less Meat and Why It Matters.
• Fly less. A regular round trip transatlantic flight uses 1.68 tonnes.
• Consume less. Everything we buy has a carbon footprint. For example clothing contributes 3 per cent of the world’s CO2 emissions. See How to Have a Sustainable Wardrobe for tips on what you can do.
• Eat local in season. Consider the journey that your food takes to arrive on your plate. Try to buy local food in season rather than food that has been flown half-way around the world. Your tastebuds will thank you too!
• Talk to your friends about what you are doing. You can get support to help make changes, and by talking about what you are doing, you can influence others to make changes. Knowing someone who had reduced the number of flights they take actually made a difference in the other’s behaviors.

We hope that knowledge is powerful! What are some steps that you are taking to reduce your carbon footprint?

---