What Does Carbon Footprint Mean?

One small step for Man, One giant leap for Mankind…

Carbon footprint is the amount of energy, greenhouse gases and waste that is generated to support the lifestyle of a country, group or individual. You have your own carbon footprint.

If you live in a small cottage in the countryside, for example, you have a smaller carbon footprint than someone who lives in the city and drives their own vehicle. They have less impact on the environment.

Your carbon footprint is not supposed to make you feel guilty. It is there so you can measure the amount of energy you use and the waste you generate. It is a given that consumption is necessary! We need to eat and drink and live. What is not necessary is wastage – and degrading the environment just to sustain our lifestyle.

More: What is an Eco Footprint?

What does carbon footprint mean to us and the current environmental issues we are facing? Our small actions and daily choices apparently affect things on a bigger scale. When everyone is doing and choosing the same, then it has a big impact. We weren’t conscious about this before, but now we are, and this is a good thing.

The concept of carbon footprint is that everything you do, consume and use requires energy to grow, produce, manufacture, ship, etc. From the fuel used on your vehicles, to your food choices, to the products you use on your hair. Even the waste you generate is calculated in your carbon footprint. If you use a certain product that has a large carbon footprint, meaning it takes a lot of energy to produce it, this counts as your carbon footprint too.

More: Current World Energy Consumption

More: Average Daily Water Usage

How to reduce your personal footprint

To reduce your carbon footprint, you can practice conservation by:

• Limiting the use of your private vehicles and utilizing public transportation
• Recycling materials that can be recycled
• Buying only what you need
• Choosing products that are environment friendly
• Buying local foods and supporting your local farmers
• Reducing waste
• Conserving electricity and water
• Use renewable energy whenever available
• Choose products that are not overly packaged. This is waste and manufacturers should be discouraged
• Limit the use of plastics. When shopping, bring your own bag
• Limit your meat intake
• Embrace Fair Trade goods

More: Ecological Footprint Definition

Our civilization’s excessive lifestyles has done much damage to our environment and we have come to a point where awareness of the issue is growing – because we are now seeing its negative effects. Just this year, the amount of CO2 that we have emitted into the atmosphere is around 14 million tons and growing.

Do your best to lower your carbon footprint in your own small ways. Help us spread the word and make as many people aware of the importance of their carbon footprints.

Know more about current environmental issues at The World Counts: Stories

Visit FirmHugger for Green Products and Ethical Companies. Businesses that care about the environment should be rewarded, don’t you think?

References

1. Green Headquarters: Carbon Footprint
2. Wikipedia: Carbon Footprint