Friday, February 27, 2009

The Carbon Footprint Explained

By Tal Potishman

There has been a lot of attention paid recently to a person's "carbon footprint" when people talk about using and saving energy. This popular buzz word has been all over popular media outlets.

What does it mean exactly? The term "carbon footprint" is best defined as the amount of impact that a person and his/her activities have on the environment when that impact is based on the level of greenhouse gases that are produced. That level is measured in carbon dioxide units. There are a number of methods by which a person can calculate his or her carbon footprint: the Life Cycle Assessment, and by the amount of emissions caused by the energy a system uses are the most popular.

The truth is that just about everything a person does can contribute to his or her carbon footprint. The real truth is that even breathing can increase a person's carbon footprint as the act of human respiration puts more carbon dioxide into the environment!

Obviously people are not going to try and do less breathing, so it is important to remember that your carbon footprint is measured mostly by the actions you do: driving your car, making dinner, how much energy you consume on your person, at home, at work, etc. Breaking down just how much carbon you produce each day can be startling.

Carbon footprints have become more important over the last few years because the globe's climate has changed quite dramatically. Environmental experts have released reports that state that human beings are directly responsible for the increase in carbon emissions and other greenhouse gases that have helped to raise the world's temperature. The world's temperature rose by .6 degrees Celsius in the last one hundred years. .6 does not sound like a huge amount but it has had a large impact. The North Pole is breaking apart as you read this. Syria has more freshwater available than the United Kingdom

Reducing your carbon footprint is easy. The simplest way to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide you produce is to use less electricity. Turn off lights when you leave a room and unplug your electronic devices when you are not using them. Pile on extra blankets instead of turning up the electric heater in your bedroom. Reduce the amount of driving you do.

The good news is that there are many things you can do to lower your carbon footprint. Your carbon footprint can be drastically reduced simply by reducing the amount of energy you use each day! Don't leave your appliances or chargers plugged in when you are not using them. Only turn on the lights you actually need and turn them off when you leave the room. Recycle everything that can be recycled!

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