Wednesday 30 January 2008

Carbon Footprint

Just done mine (again) for a proposal someone was making to a green organisation. I have to say it was a much better experience than last time (when it felt like filling in a tax return). I did it here
http://actonco2.direct.gov.uk/index.html


It's a very static picture though. I do like their giving recommendations, although the ones that involve me persuading my landlord to spend money on eco-improvements have got to be a slight longshot.

I really want to take part in a carbon progress monitor that tells me that over the last few years switching to ecotricity, finding a farmers market, buying (and then barely driving) a prius, refusing lots and lots of long haul conferences, getting occasional trains half way across europe & so on mean that I am 80% less crap than I could have been if I had an eco lobotomy.

Anyway because of my carbon disclosure thread I'll have to show you mine (feel free to add yours to the comments if the mood takes you!)

CARBON FOOTPRINT (3 person household):

home heating 3.79 tonnes
appliances 1.26 tonnes per year
emissions from transport 4.48 tonnes per year

If that was our total footprint it wouldnt be too bad (UK average is 12 tonnes per person) but given the lack of questions about food, imported & manufactured goods and so on you've got to suspect that its only the stuff that's actually using energy in your immediate surroundings that gets counted here...

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

The more positive people declare we have about ten years left to try and slow down the whole climate change issue. But to even slow down seems a task too impossible. Industries in the first-world countries would have to reduce their carbon emissions by 80%. Developed countries-- 20%. But maybe if ordinary households join together and reduce their own emissions, perhaps this whole thing can work.

Anonymous said...

My carbon footprint 5.05 tonnes per year - just doing it for our proposal ;)

Home: 2.73 tonnes
Electrical appliances: 0.73 tonnes
Travel: 1.73 tonnes

I was quite surprised by my travel footprint - I thought it would be much higher although i excluded business flights...

John Grant said...

I wish we could exclude business flying ;J