What is Your Carbon Footprint?

A trend has been emerging in the UK in which talk of energy conservation inevitably turns to an individual's "carbon footprint." The news, radio, television, magazines and internet have all been sources of "carbon footprint" mania.

What does "carbon footprint" mean? A carbon footprint refers to the level of impact that a person has on the environment. That impact takes into account all of a person's activities and then measures that impact by the amount of greenhouse gases that those activities produce. The amount of greenhouse gas is then measured out in units of carbon dioxide. The level of emissions resulting from the amount of energy used by an action and the Life Cycle Assessment are the two most popular methods used to determine a person's exact "carbon footprint."

Almost every single thing that you do during the day will contribute to your carbon footprint. Even the act of merely breathing in and out will increase your carbon footprint since exhaling creates carbon dioxide.

Obviously people are not going to try and do less breathing, so it is important to remember that your carbon footprint is measured mostly by the actions you do: driving your car, making dinner, how much energy you consume on your person, at home, at work, etc. Breaking down just how much carbon you produce each day can be startling.

The reason your carbon footprint has become so important in recent years is, simply, the climate of the world is changing drastically and environmental experts claim that the amount of carbon and other greenhouse gasses humans produce is directly responsible for that change. The globe has risen by around .6 degrees Celsius over the last one hundred years. That does not sound like a lot, but it has proven to have quite an impact! The polar ice caps are fractions of what they once were, droughts are happening in places that are known for being wet (the United Kingdom, for example) and the transitional changes of fall and spring are getting much shorter.

Reducing your carbon footprint is easy. The simplest way to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide you produce is to use less electricity. Turn off lights when you leave a room and unplug your electronic devices when you are not using them. Pile on extra blankets instead of turning up the electric heater in your bedroom. Reduce the amount of driving you do.

The good news is that there are many things you can do to lower your carbon footprint. Your carbon footprint can be drastically reduced simply by reducing the amount of energy you use each day! Don't leave your appliances or chargers plugged in when you are not using them. Only turn on the lights you actually need and turn them off when you leave the room. Recycle everything that can be recycled!

Tal Potishman, editor of Heating Central, writes articles about boilers, central heating, plumber Guildford, underfloor heating and solar thermal. He specializes in helping save money by advising on efficient heating.