How to Work Out Your Personal Carbon Footprint

15 May 2023

Alice Lawless from the West London Green Skills Hub takes a look at how to measure your personal carbon footprint

HAVE YOU ever wondered how your everyday actions impact the world’s carbon emissions? As the UK attempts

to achieve Net Zero by 2050, checking your own personal impact on CO2 levels has never been more important

– or easier.

CO2 is a greenhouse gas and a primary cause of global warming. When you think of who the biggest contributors to

carbon emissions are, you might think of industries that burn fossil fuels or the emissions from large industrial processes.

How much do you know about your own personal contribution to carbon emissions? Your carbon footprint is a measure

of the total amount of greenhouse gases released into the earth’s atmosphere due to the choices you make in your

day-to-day life.

Checking out the level of greenhouse gases you are personally responsible for is quick and simple to do. There are lots of

places where you can do this. Here are just three:

Carbon Footprint calculators are invaluable for raising awareness of carbon emissions and discovering easy ways to reduce

them. They are also a great resource for teaching in schools and colleges. One thing is clear; we can all make a big difference

to climate change by taking action ourselves. Using a Carbon Footprint Calculator helps reveal the impact of the choices we

can make. For example, moving to more plant-based diets, switching away from petrol-driven vehicles and reducing air

travel can add up to have a significant influence. We can also improve our quality of life by using bikes and walking more

often, better insulating our homes, buying sustainable food and products, and having a better understanding of our

personal carbon footprint and what we can do as individuals to reduce it.

Have a go at finding out what you can do to help make the world a greener place and pass along the calculators to

others – reaching Net Zero by 2050 has to be a team effort!