To put it simply, a carbon footprint is the total amount of greenhouse gases that are generated by our actions.
As of 2021 the average carbon footprint was circa 10 tonnes of CO2 per person, per year. There are many sources of emissions such as food, household emissions and personal transportation.
But why should you want to limit your carbon footprint?
The seven billion people in the world consume varying amounts of the planet’s resources, every day. According to the United Nations’ predictions, global population could reach 9.7 billion people by 2050, and over 11 billion by 2100. Due to the quickly growing population, emissions will soon drive up and deplete the planet’s remaining resources. Increased GHG emissions have a direct impact on global warming, accelerating climate change, and causing detrimental effects to our planet.
There are many ways you can work towards limiting your carbon footprint such as:
Drive an electric vehicle
Sell / buy second hand clothes
Use public transport
Turn lights off in the daylight
Eat less red meat
If you fly to a holiday destination you could also offset your emissions by buying carbon credits.
You can find out what your carbon footprint looks like here:
