Energy Efficiency: Compute Your Carbon Footprint

The first step in attempting to reduce your overall energy use is to assess your current usage and the resulting amount of greenhouse gas emissions that are emitted or your carbon footprint. Major factors that affect your overall carbon footprint include home energy and water use, transportation preferences, and waste. You can assess your footprint by using the Carbon Footprint Calculator, which is a free tool provided by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA): https://www3.epa.gov/carbon-footprint-calculator/.

The first tab of the Carbon Footprint Calculator allows you to enter information on natural gas, propane, electricity, and fuel oil in terms of your average monthly usage or cost; the tool will then calculate your estimated annual emissions from each energy/fuel type. You can then explore different ways to reduce your overall usage (i.e., cost and emissions) through the various options given further down on the page related to:

• heating and cooling

• lighting

• power sources and settings

• washing and drying clothes

• using Energy Star products

The second tab allows you to enter information on the number of vehicles you own and the maintenance activity, average miles driven, and gas mileage for each vehicle. You can see how the effect of altering any of these activities saves you money and reduces your carbon footprint. There is even an option that allows you to assess how purchasing a more fuel-efficient vehicle (e.g., hybrid or electric vehicle) will affect your carbon footprint.

The final tab allows you to estimate how recycling may help reduce your carbon footprint. It should be noted that the numbers provided in this tab are estimated based on an average household, but it still provides a general idea of what you can do to reduce your overall environmental impact through waste reduction. Note: The first priority of course is to reduce waste (especially plastic waste) followed by recycling.

---

Helpful Hint

Fill out the information requested in each of the three tabs of the EPA's Carbon Footprint Calculator, and create a household carbon footprint report. Then experiment with some of the options that are provided to help lower your carbon footprint. Select one or two of these options to work on over the next few weeks. Once they become a habit and a part of your budget (if they are not free), move on to another option. Re-assess your carbon footprint after one year to see the positive impact of everything you have done. Good luck!