Carbon Footprint

One of first assignments was to complete a form online from the Nature Conservancy that estimates our personal carbon footprint. It asked questions about the size and location of your home, what kind of car you drive, how often you fly, what kinds of foods you eat etc.

Here's the link:
http://www.nature.org/greenliving/carboncalculator/index.htm

What is your total estimated greenhouse gas emission per year?
My total estimate was 28 tons/yr.



What is your individual % breakdown for the four sections (Home Energy, Driving & Flying, Food & Diet and Recycling and Waste)?

20% Home Energy

60% Driving & Flying

2% Recycling & Waste

18% Food & Diet


How do your total and % breakdown compare to the average US person?
My total and % breakdown were pretty typical for a US person. I had larger contributions from Driving & Flying because I fly more often than the average person, but less than average emissions from Home Energy, so my total was similar to the 27 tons/yr individual U.S. average.



How does your total compare to the world average?
The world average was only 5.5 tons/yr. So I was about 5 times higher than that.



How do you think you could decrease your carbon emissions for each of these categories?

Having a smaller car or having a job where I took public transportation to work would help. Some of the other things asked about were like if you've switched to high efficiency light bulbs and looked into a more efficient water heater. Or eating less meat, which leaves the biggest carbon footprint, or switching to more organic foods.