What is a Carbon Footprint and How Can I Reduce Mine

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The green movement has come to invade our daily lives in recent years. It’s difficult to make it through a day without hearing about a new shampoo that is kind to the environment, a new condominium community that has been given LEED certification, or a biodegradable soda bottle. It’s common to hear a news story or read an article about how to reduce your own personal carbon footprint. These stories typically involve replacing your incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs, or unplugging televisions when not in use. But light bulbs and computers do not directly create carbon dioxide emissions in the way that a car does. So how do these changes affect an individual’s carbon footprint?

According to www.carbonfootprint.com, a person’s carbon footprint is defined as “a measure of the impact our activities have on the environment, and in particular climate change. It relates to the amount of greenhouse gases produced in our day-to-day lives through burning fossil fuels for electricity, heating and transportation.”

So let’s backtrack. What exactly are greenhouses gases? Again, everyone has a general ‘idea’ of what these gases are. They are bad, right?
Not always.

But they weren’t around until humans began to industrialize and pump toxic fumes into the atmosphere, right?
Also not true.

As defined, greenhouse gases are gases in the atmosphere that absorb and emit radiation. The greenhouse effect goes a little something like this:
1. Solar radiation passes from the sun through the earth’s atmosphere.
2. About half of the radiation is absorbed by the earth’s surface.
3. Some radiation passes through the atmosphere and out into space.
4. Additional radiation is reflected by the atmosphere and the earth’s surface.
5. Some of the infrared radiation passes through the earth’s atmosphere and out into space.
6. Other infrared radiation is absorbed and re-emitted by the greenhouse gas molecules.
7. The remaining radiation is converted to heat energy, causing the emission of infrared radiation back to the atmosphere.

One of the end results of the greenhouse effect is that the Earth is kept warm and habitable. In fact, without the greenhouse effect from greenhouse gases, the Earth would be, on average, about 59 degrees cooler than at present!

The main greenhouse gases in Earth’s atmosphere in order of volume are water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, ozone and chlorofluorocarbons. Water vapor contributes between 36 % and 72%, while carbon dioxide accounts for between 9% and 26%. Methane is responsible for 4% to 9% of greenhouses gases, and ozone contributes between 3% and 7%.

The main sources of greenhouse gases due to human activity include:
1. burning of fossil fuels and deforestation (these land use changes accounted for one third of total human-induced carbon dioxide emissions)
2. deforestation (which leads to higher carbon dioxide concentrations)
3. livestock enteric fermentation and manure management
4. paddy rice farming
5. pipeline losses
6. covered vented landfill emissions, which lead to higher methane atmospheric concentrations

Let’s focus on the carbon dioxide, the second largest contributor of greenhouse gases after water vapor. Keep in mind that the greenhouse effect is a necessary process that has been taking place long before humans came and industrialized the planet. Those that do not believe in global warming often base their arguments on claims that the greenhouse effect has been around for thousands of years and that without it, we would still be living in an ice age. While this is true, the undeniable fact remains that, in the last 250 years, humans have increased carbon dioxide emissions by about 50%.

For 10,000 years, from the end of the last glacial maximum, until 1750, carbon dioxide emissions remained between 260 and 280 parts per million (ppm). Then, between 1750 and 2005, emissions increased to 387 parts per million. This is undeniable evidence that humans are making a huge impact on carbon emissions.

The top sources of carbon dioxide from fossil fuel combustion from 2000 to 2004 were:
1. liquid fuels including gasoline, fuel oil, 36%
2. solid fuels including coal, 35%
3. gaseous fuels including natural gas, 20%
4. cement production, 3%
5. flaring gas from wells, <1%
6. non-fuel hydrocarbons, <1%

The EPA (environmental protection agency) reports that the largest contributors to greenhouse gases (in order) are industrial, transportations, residential, commercial and agricultural sources. On an individual level, humans emit the greatest concentration of carbon emissions from home heating and cooling, electricity consumption and transportation.

So there are the numbers and the facts, and the groundwork for the definition of a carbon footprint. So back to the original question:

What can you do to reduce the amount of carbon that you let loose into the atmosphere on a daily basis?

Here is a quick top 10 list of easy changes you can make in your daily life:

1. Don't print every email you receive at work.

2. Learn which way to place paper into the copy machine at work so that you can print on the unused side of a used piece of paper. Reload often. Designate one of the trays in the machine for everyone to put their used one-sided paper into, and if you are printing something that is for personal use, select the "recycled paper" drawer from the printing preferences menu.

3. Use public transportation or a bicycle when possible

4. Reuse a water bottle and refill often. Do not buy bottled water. Dozens of studies have proven that bottled water is no cleaner or purer than filtered water from the tap or a filtered water pitcher.

5. Turn off power strips at the end of the day. Leaving electronics plugged in, even when not in use, uses energy.

6. Buy local products.

7. Eat fish that has been certified by a body that regulates over farming. Many fish are over harvested or their capture has negative impacts on ocean ecosystems. The MSC (Marine Stewardship Council) is an international, non-profit organization dedicated to creating sustainable fisheries around the world by using market-based incentives. Whole Foods Market certifies their fish with a seal by the MSC.

8. Mulch your gardens with recycled wood chips. In addition to creating pretty landscapes, this practice keeps weeds from growing, prevents erosion and retains moisture for vegetation and trees in the area.

9. Put leaves in a compost heap if you have woods, rather than bagging them and sending them to the landfill. This saves an enormous amount of space in the landfill and saves you the cost of buying those huge paper bags.

10. Visit DMAchoice.org to opt out of all that junk mail that you receive daily. Every little bit helps!
These changes may seem small, and this list could go on for pages. Do some research on your own. You'll be surprised at how easy it is to make small changes on a daily basis to reduce your carbon footprint. The earth will thank you.

Resources

Berkeley Carbon Footprint Study
Green Building Options
Green Carbon Footprint

Resource by A.Evans

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