Minimize Your Carbon Footprint

Carbon footprint is a term that represents a way of measuring the environmental impact of human activities based on the amount of greenhouse gases produced, defined as units of carbon dioxide.

Click here to calculate your carbon footprint, based on your annual use of electricity, gas, oil, coal, and various modes of transportation.

You Can Reduce Your Carbon Footprint

1.      Use less electricity

Turn off lights and appliances when not in use

Replace your light bulbs with energy-savers

Reduce your home heating and air conditioning

Add home insulation and weatherproofing

Replace old home appliances with energy-savers

2.      Travel less, especially by automobile

Plan your weekly shopping as a single trip

Carpool and ride-share with others

Use public transportation whenever possible

Walk or ride a bicycle on short trips (don’t drive)

3.      Buy local products to reduce the impact of shipping

Buy produce from local farms, and try to buy fruits and vegetables that are in season (out-of-season foods are shipped, trucked or flown from far away)

Better yet, plant a garden and grow some food

Avoid buying clothing and other goods that were made far away and shipped thousands of miles.

Off-Set Your Carbon Footprint

Plant a tree (and donate to tree-planting groups)
Donate energy-efficient technologies to others
Invest in sustainable technology development.

environmental ebook^TMis regularly updated and expanded, based on suggestions sent by readers like you. Send us your suggestions for additional information, facts, news stories, and links. By working together, we can make better information tools available to more people, to help the environment and people everywhere.

Click here to download the PDF version of the entire environmental ebook^TM or click here to download the PDF of this eChapter 15: Carbon Footprint.