Whats your carbon footprint?

[ajs88]

i got 1.97

however 0.82 was for heating but don't actualy heat our home for 10 months of the year and then its either short bursts of the gas fire or keeping one of the hobs on

you guys are right though it misses a lot out, a did one a while ago which included if and how often you eat meat and as a meat eater i got quite a high result.

[lazyspice]

Mine came out as 1.28 but I did the individual one and I'm the pedestrian half of the household

Most of our appliances are fairly new but that's because after 20 years things started to pack up and needed to be replaced. At some point in the not too distant future our boiler is going to have to be replaced (we've been here 10 years and it was a long way from new then) but while it's working we won't throw money at a new one. In the time we've been here we've installed double glazing and cavity wall insulation (the loft was already insulated) and where possible we've switched to low energy light bulbs.

It was interesting to see what my result was but unless you have unlimited funds it's not something you can improve overnight, is it? I'm sure it's a better result than I would have got a few years ago so I'll quietly carry on doing "my bit".

[Andy Hamilton]

1.62 ... I should turn off my printer that I found in a skip. I should also buy a dishwasher and a new tv and get underfloor heating installed.

It is pretty oversimplified but I guess you would be typing in data for months to work out your real carbon footprint. Working out all your food, clothing etc etc. I read somewhere that one supertanker traveling from china produces more co2 than all of our cars. So should this not at least have a shopping section and perhaps not be telling us to buy things. Not like a government initiative to be economy driven rather than environmentally driven.

[mrsflibble]

whole family 10.27 tonnes; but that does include jim's commute to and from work.

2.01 from light and heat
1.03 from entertainment
7.22 travel

their tips are total crap though, i told them i rent my home but their tips to reduce costs are buy underfloor heating
get cavity wall insulation. 1. my floors are concrete. 2. my walls are solid, no cavities. 3. IT'S NOT MY FRICKING HOUSE!!!

"replace old appliances
consider buying a dishwasher" and when did I start crapping cash mr government?!

"buy a laptop into reaplace desktop" sorry, no can do. You can't properly calibrate a laptop monitor so if i got a laptop, I'd be unable to do one of the things i love most and that's process photographs.

"when possible use public transport" no sh1t sherlock.

humpf.

[mrsflibble]

the cynic in my has been wondering about something... all this advice to go out and buy new products; is this just to shore up the economy perhaps?!

[Flo]

Probably and thereby increase your carbon footprint.

[ina]

What a load of cr*p. Reading all your comments, I had to go and do it myself... OK, I've got 6.85. Now I'm supposed to save energy by going and buying a new fridge (I don't use one anyway); by buying a dishwasher (what - for one person? - and go and buy all those dishes to fill it, too, I suppose - and where am I supposed to stick it, as there isn't even room in the kitchen for a fridge!); by buying a new telly (I don't have one); oh yes, of course, underfloor heating - well, as it's a council house, maybe the Government could do something about it?; reduce my number of flights - well, as I don't fly any more, it's difficult to reduce that... Oh, why do we bother. How do they know how much electricity I spend on hot water, btw - when they don't even ask what kind of water heater I have, or how often I have a bath etc?

Another thing: I put in "no local transport" - I'd love to use the bus, but local transport around here is either non-existent, or only affordable for pensioners on their free bus pass. But the calculator doesn't accept that. I had to put in local bus, one journey, no miles - it does accept that nonsense!

Obviously, somebody in Government had too much time on their hands, and needed to show something for their salary. (And how much are they getting from industry in subsidies?)

[thesunflowergal]

There was me feeling a little bit proud of myself as we have reduced ours from 17. something tonnes to 5.something in 14 months.

[MuddyWitch]

Sunflowergal,

You should feel pleased that you've made such a huge reduction! That is a testimony to your commitment, far more than a silly score on a useless calculator.

To paraphrase: Don't let the stats get you down!

MW

[ina]

Exactly - take it all with more than a pinch of salt!

Actually, they do invite feedback - maybe I'll get back to them when I have a little time. I suppose it's ok for people who've never thought about it before; I know that I already do all I can in my situation - I'd love to change the situation, but there's more to it than just saying I'll get rid of the car!

[mrsflibble]

I'd like to tell them to pay for all my new equipment, contact my landlord, get them to pay for all the insulation they say we need and THEN tell me how to change my carbon footprint lol!!

[ina]

I'd like to tell them to pay for all my new equipment, contact my landlord, get them to pay for all the insulation they say we need and THEN tell me how to change my carbon footprint lol!!

Yep - and I'll tell them they should include the option "council housing"... Because then they can basically forget most of those tips they are giving me!

And why do they ask about the digital radio? Of course I don't have one - uses far too much energy - I have a wind-up radio - and of course I don't leave than on standby...

[mrsflibble]

lol, why have a DAB when you can have a bbc iplayer download program (totally legal) and an ipod?! ipod can charge whilst connected to the PC, doesnt up the PC's electricity load as it's sucking spare power from it...ok so i can't listen directly, but I can get my fave programs downloaded to listen at my leisure.

[Pixie]

Here is a carbon footprint calculator that takes into account if you grow your own veggies etc. The only thing I had to do was figure out my KWH for electricity as my bill is included in rent right now so I had to look on the net to see typical usages. I didn't have to worry about anything else because my water heater and furnace are all electric but there are spaces for gas etc.

http://www.carbonfootprint.com/calculator.aspx

[Doc]

Must admit, I have a chuckle when I read/hear about carbon footprints.

There was a comedian quoted as saying that he does not have a carbon footprint since he drives or flies everywhere

Unfortunately that is probably the level of understanding so many ignorant people have out there

Doc