Calculate and Offset Your Carbon Footprint
How big is your carbon footprint? According to CarbonCounter.org, the average American is responsible for emitting 16.64 tons of CO2 into the atmosphere each year. This dwarfs the world average of 4.44 tons per person. Are you above or below average the national average? Grab your latest energy bill and your computer mouse and visit these sites to find out.
CarbonCounter.org
Allows you to estimate your carbon emissions based on house size, car size(s) and number of flights, or to give a more accurate estimate by inputting specific information. Pros - Easy to use if you just want a very rough estimate. Cons - To get a more accurate footprint from your driving, you’ll need to know how many mpg your car gets.
An Inconvenient Truth
Determine your carbon footprint from your monthly energy bills, vehicle usage and number of airline flights taken annually. Pros - you don’t need to know your actual energy use in kWhs to use this calculator. Cons - it only allows you to input data for one car.
Carbonfund.org Carbon Calculator
Determines your carbon footprint based on the total number of miles you drive per year per vehicle (up to two) and your energy use, which you must know in kWh/yr for electricity, therms/year for gas, and gallons/year for heating oil. Most people don’t know this off the top of their head, so check your monthly energy bill. Pros - allows you to enter up to two vehicles. Cons - you must know how many miles per gallon your car gets and also know your annual energy use to use it.
TerraPass
Calculates your home carbon emissions based on your monthly energy bill and car use. Pros - automatically guesses your car’s mpg based on year, make and model and you only need to know how much you pay for energy each month, not how many kilowatt hours you use. Cons - Using energy bill to calculate your footprint may not be as accurate an inputting your kilowatt hours.
Safe Climate.net
Safe Climate.net is a project of the World Resources Institute. You’ll need to know how many kWh of electricity, therms of gas, gallons of heating oil or propane you use each month or year. Pros - if you don’t know your car’s gas mileage, you can select a car size to get an estimate. Cons - you need to know your home energy use in kilowatt hours.
And now that you know how big your footprint is, you’ll find tips for reducing it at these sites:
ClimateCrisis.net - What You Can Do
StopGlobalWarming.org - Take Action
DoSomething.org - 27 Small Things You Can Do to Stop Global Warming
NRDC - How to Fight Global Warming
Fight Global Warming.com - What You Can Do
You can also make a daily free donation to offset one pound of carbon with each click at Care2’s Race to Stop Global Warming.
