Reduce your carbon footprint
Your carbon footprint is the total amount of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases released due to your activities.
Why is your carbon footprint so important?
Nearly everything we all do releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. This increases the greenhouse effect which traps energy from the sun in the earth’s atmosphere, warming it up. Having more greenhouse gases in the atmosphere is causing Earth to become warmer than it would be naturally. This increase in the earth's temperature is called global warming and it is causing the climate to change.
By measuring and then reducing the carbon footprint of your everyday activities, you can reduce your greenhouse gas emissions and your contribution to climate change.
Why CO₂ matters for climate change (BBC News)
3 mins
Carbon footprint
A carbon footprint is the total amount of greenhouse gases (including carbon dioxide and methane) generated by our actions. It's a measure of the impact our activities have on the amount of greenhouse gases produced through the burning of fossil fuels and is expressed as a weight of greenhouse gas emissions produced in tonnes. It can be calculated for individuals, organisations and communities
The first step to reducing your personal carbon footprint is working out what it is now, then you can look at how to reduce it. There are a lot of things that make up your personal carbon footprint, but the main things that you have control of include:
- food and drink
- your home and energy
- transport and travel
- things you buy.