Hearing about carbon footprint and the affects of climate change and I don’t know why I’ve never thought about it more. I loved this challenge working on ways that I can lower my carbon footprint.
One of the clauses of the challenge was to look at the origins of the term Carbon Footprint and how and why it came into public use. There is so much out there about Carbon Footprint but I’m not going to lie so much of it went completely over my head. I went searching for a definition and the best I found for me to understand was by imagine5.
A carbon footprint is the total amount of greenhouse gasses, primarily carbon dioxide and methane, emitted into the atmosphere by our actions and lifestyles. From the food we eat and the electricity used in our homes to the journeys we take, every choice contributes directly or indirectly to our carbon footprint.
–Imagine5
And whilst the idea of CO2 changing the atmosphere was discovered in 1800’s BP launched a campaign in 2003 encouraging individuals to check their carbon footprint, and looking at ways to reduce it. Pushing the blame away from the oil giants saying that it was individuals who were at fault (Mark Kaufman, The Guardian)
In addition I could either look at my own individual footprint or that of companies. I opted to look at my own and how I can improve. I did two carbon footprint calculators – WWF and ClimateHero.
According to WWF my climate footprint is equal to 18 tonnes, which is 204% of the UK average.
Compared to ClimateHero where my footprint was 8.5 tonnes.
There is a huge difference between the two and it has left me wondering why there is 10 tonnes difference between the two calendars, and why such a huge difference.
What I did like about both were they gave tips on how to reduce and here are somethings I will be working towards in 2024
- Walk or bike more
- Eat more vegetarian food
- Try to shop for seasonal goods
- Fight food waste
- Reduce your use of plastic
- Shop less
- Change shopping habits (more second hand)
- Maximise recycling
- When next purchasing a car look at electric/hybrid car
- Change energy supplier.
This month I have made a start on a few of these.
- Maximise recycling
- Reduce plastic
- Fight food waste
- Researching energy suppliers (including green energy)
- Walking more, and the next few months will be looking at how I can walk to work on the days where I come straight home from work.
Monthly challenge complete!