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What is your carbon footprint?
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'Carbon emission' is used as a shorthand for all different greenhouse gases which are released into the atmosphere (carbon dioxide is the big one, but these also include methane and nitrous oxide). Convention is to convert the impact from these different gases into an amount equivalent to the impact from carbon dioxide, so the impact of all greenhouse gases is expressed in terms of 'carbon dioxide equivalent' (COâ‚‚e). So your carbon footprint is usually expressed in metric tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent.
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Understanding your own carbon footprint is a good place to begin if you want to start living more sustainably, so here are some tools to get started:-
How bad are bananas?
Mike Berners-Lee's book - How Bad are Bananas? The Carbon Footprint of Everything - aims to give readers a sense of the carbon impact (and climate change impact) of everything we do. The book focuses on just under 100 items, but with the aim of giving you a 'carbon instinct' so that you can then make a reasonable estimate of the carbon footprint of other things you come across. There are so many possible ways that we can all help save the planet that it can be completely overwhelming knowing where to start. This book will give you a sense of scale and will help you pick your battles!
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Carbon calculators
Here are some links to some useful online calculators which will tell you the size of your environmental footprint. The more information you give, the more accurate a calculation you will get.
The WWF environmental footprint calculator will tell you the size of your carbon emissions compared to other people and to other countries.
https://footprint.wwf.org.uk
What is your ecological footprint?
How many planets do we need if everyone lives like you? The Global Footprint Network's footprint calculator will tell you.
How dirty is your closet?
ThredUp's Fashion Footprint Calculator aims to educate consumers about the carbon impact of their clothing habits, and how they can do better.