More and more people worldwide are thinking about ways to reduce their personal or business carbon footprints. Your carbon footprint is basically how much CO2 you are putting into the atmosphere. There are so many ways that we contribute that CO2, ranging from home energy use (heating, cooling, lighting, cooking) to transportation (car, train, bus, plane) and consumption (manufacturing use, how far goods — including food — travel) and it’s hard to calculate your personal share. If you look online, you’ll find many different carbon calculators. Two that are frequently recommended are the EPA Carbon Calculator and the “Inconvenient Truth” Carbon Calculator .
Once you figure out your carbon footprint, you can begin to work on ways to reduce it, whether by using more renewable energy sources such as wind and solar, or by cutting your energy use. You can also find eco-footprint calculators, which rate your impact on the global ecosystem in other areas, such as pollutants and toxic chemicals.