Seriously Though, What Does “Carbon Footprint” Even Mean?

As the topics of climate change and taking “climate action” become more and more common in our daily conversations, we hear the term “carbon footprint” all the time.

But what does it even mean?

Cognitively, I know it has something to do with how my actions impact the planet, however every time I hear this phrase, the snarky part of my brain looks at my shoes and thinks, “but my shoes are made of canvas and rubber, not carbon.”

Maybe you don’t have the same snarky response as me, however, you may still be wondering what it really means, how daily activity impacts this supposed “carbon footprint,” and if it’s truly so harmful to the planet, what can be done to reduce it.

So, I decided to dig into the research, and this is what I discovered.

What does “carbon footprint” mean?

The first definition I found from the World Health Organization (WHO) says, “Your “carbon footprint” is a measure of the impact your activities have on the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) produced through the burning of fossil fuels and is expressed as a weight of CO2 emissions produced in tonnes.”

Wait. What?

That definition didn’t really help my brain at all so I went searching for a simplified version and found this one, written to help parents explain the concept to children. (Much more my speed.)

“The generally accepted definition of carbon footprint is the amount of carbon dioxide, or greenhouse gases, produced as a result of our daily living. In other words, many things we do create carbon dioxide or greenhouse gases. If you add up the amount of emissions our daily activity produces, you have an idea of the size of the impact we have on the environment.”

“Hmmm…interesting,” I thought.

But this had me wondering which of my activities produces my carbon footprint and how much it added up to each year.

How to calculate your carbon footprint

At first, I had no idea where to start in trying to calculate my personal carbon footprint.

Luckily, someone out there much smarter than me created a calculator to help the rest of us figure it out.

After answering a few questions about the car I drive, annual mileage, air travel, my home energy usage, and gasoline each month, here are my results:

I think it’s interesting that the calculator doesn’t seem to calculate the impact of food waste anywhere. Through other research I’ve been doing on composting I know that food waste also impacts the environment, however, I found a general stat that says about every 2.2lbs of food waste equals about 5.5 pounds of CO2. Yikes.

There are of course a lot of additional variables to consider when calculating your personal carbon footprint, however having a general idea of what yours looks like can help you better understand areas in which you can reduce your future impact on the environment.

What actions can you take to reduce your carbon footprint?

From my very basic understanding of carbon footprint (please chime in with additional details if you have them) the activities that impact our carbon footprint the most are:

• The type of car we drive (including mileage each year),
• The power we use in our homes, and
• The food we throw away

The Car You Drive Makes a Big Impact

I currently drive a gas-powered sedan that is five years old, however, my previous car was a hybrid. Out of curiosity, I went back to the carbon footprint calculator and re-did it using my hybrid car instead and it reduced my yearly carbon emissions by over 2,000 pounds.

Then, I re-did the calculator and plugged in the details of the electric car I’ve got my heart set on buying next and the carbon impact was significantly less:

The car we drive makes a huge impact. And while obviously very few of us are in the position to go out and buy a new car, this is still important information to hold onto for the next time you’re in the market for a car.

The Power We Use in Our Homes

The amount of energy you use as well as the type of power that is powering your home makes an impact on your carbon footprint. Here are a few key changes you can make:

• Choose a power company that utilizes green energy resources such as wind-power
• Switch to energy-efficient light bulbs (which use 70–90% less energy)
• Look for Energy Star-certified appliances when shopping.

If you live in Texas, take advantage of Enerwisely’s energy-efficiency calculator to better understand your home's exact energy-usage impact on the environment (based on details from your home’s energy meter) and identify ways you can lessen your impact. (The company happens to be Energy Star Certified, too.)

The Food You’re Throwing Away Makes a Difference

I touch on this briefly in another article I wrote, however throwing food away in plastic trashbags causes a big impact on the environment. Why?

Because when organic matter decomposes, it needs oxygen to decompose properly. However when organic material (food) is put in plastic bags which are then surrounded by more plastic and buried in the earth — not only does this slow down decomposition, but it causes anaerobic decomposition due to the lack of oxygen, which in turn creates methane gas. Lots and lots of methane gas.

One stat I read said it can take a head of lettuce wrapped in plastic 25 years to decompose. This means it’s slowly releasing methane gas for 25 years. I don’t know about you, but when I do a quick mental calculation of how much food I’ve thrown away over the years, my head hurts.

It’s a lot. And it’s all out there wrapped in plastic garbage bags slowly releasing methane. Ew.

The quickest way to cut down on the impact of food waste is to consider composting. And while it’s come to my attention that in many areas people cannot compost year round, there are services popping up around the country that are making this option more viable.

— In Houston, you can join Happy Earth Compost service. They’ll provide you with everything you need to get started and come pick up your food scraps 1 to 4 times a month depending on which service you sign up for. Plus, they’ll give you free compost if you want it.

There may be similar services in your area. You can do a quick internet search to find out.

There is also a new product coming onto the market that turns your food scraps to compost with the touch of a button. Lomi is a new product by the company, Pela, and may revolutionize how we treat food waste in the future.

If Happy Earth Compost wasn’t an option in my area, I would 100% be investing in this product (and might still do so after I buy a house later this year.)

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So — that’s my high-level understanding of carbon footprint, what creates it and how we can all do our part to mindfully make a difference.

Let’s learn to live more sustainably together and start the conversation with the people around us.

Originally published on Medium.