Friday, April 17, 2009

Tracking your carbon footprint

Jennifer Davies (Contact)

You've heard all this talk about carbon footprints, but you're still not sure whether you have one more like an elephant or a sparrow. If you want to figure out how much greenhouse gas you are on the hook for, here are some things to consider:

The most rudimentary way to calculate your carbon foot print is to look at three main areas: your utility bills, your car use and how many flights you take, says Andrea C. Cook, the program manager for climate change at the California Center for Sustainable Energy. When looking at your car, you need to consider the make and model as well as the mileage.

But beyond those basic considerations, there are behaviors that can push your carbon footprint up or down. For instance, if you eat lots of frozen food, that can pump up your footprint because it takes about 10 times more energy to produce and store than fresh foods. If you are a vegetarian, that reduces your carbon footprint, as does buying more local produce. If you drink bottled water from Fiji, that's going to increase your carbon footprint, too. If you want to see how you stack up, Cook suggests checking out coolcalifornia.org/calculator.html.

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Jennifer Davies (Contact)