Is your footprint above or below average? And do you care?

[Cam77]

Is your carbon footprint above or below the national average - and if it’s above do you feel bad about it? There are some good calculators online which quiz you on every aspect of you lifestyle. For what it’s worth I’m below average on most metrics - food consumption, energy usage (average sized home with good rating), don’t drive (work from home), only one kid, etc. However, I do fly a fair bit including one long haul every couple of years (12 hour return flight to visit family) - and that alone bumps me right back up to around the national average. I feel kind of bad about it, but there you go.

Mine was above average, but seemed to be because of ‘home’. We have a 3 bed detached but can’t afford a lot of the energy saving measures.

We have one small car that is only used for shopping or leisure (so once-twice weekly), and I bus to work and walk home. We do eat meat, but only half our meals. No flights in the past 18 months.

We have made several small changes over the years but I am also not bothered to do much more.

I did the calculator and scored 7.6 tonnes, well below the 2020 target of 10.5 tonnes.

The WWF & other calculators are not nuanced enough & I think they put people off more than they help.

I got 120% mainly because we live in a detached house and keep it very warm in winter maybe if I cycled to work the increased activity would generally speed up my metabolism and keep me warmer?!

I’m well above average I assume because I fly a lot. I wasn’t able to retake the test without including the flights.

I agree with the poster who said the way the test was worded was a bit frustrating - we have a big car but only one in our family for example and that is not accounted for.

The how much do you spend is also a blunt instrument. I spend a lot on clothes but that doesn’t mean I buy a lot of cheap “disposable clothes”.

Am horrified to see that I'm far above average according to that wwf calculator.

We're vegan and have an electric car, no kids (climate was a big factor in deciding). Yes, we fly a lot but carbon offset. Clearly we need to do a lot more! Thanks for this.

Less than average and I do care. It really surprises me that some people don't, even with the news of Australia how can you not try and reduce your impact? This world will collapse because of greed. Everyone wants everything and bugger every one else. Just makes me sad.

I got 68%.

No washing machine, no dishwasher, no tumble dryer.
Never fly. No food waste. 1 child.

Don't understand the mentality of those who say they don't care. Numpties

I did the quiz. I have a slightly larger footprint than the target but most of it came from driving rather than using public transport, and the fact that my house is heated by oil. But I can't magic up trains and buses that don't exist where I live, and I can't magic up alternative central heating options either. I haven't been on a plane in over 10 years and have only flown four or five times in my entire life.

Mine was 96% on the WWF quiz, very simplistic though. Had to include flights in the last year which was annoying as we went on our first trip abroad in 12 years last summer.

Think it was lower as we live in a 2 bed flat? Don't think the quiz asked about number of children?

I was above average because of home section. I find this calculator a bit ridiculous really.
I have 2 children, they weren’t counted. That means I live in too big flat, but in reality only my older one has separate bedroom. The 5 year old still sleeps in our bedroom, as we can’t afford to move.
Our heating is electric, which is literally something I cannot change, as it’s a block of flats. I cannot compost food as flats don’t get bins for food and gardening waste in my area.
DH drives to work and we do shopping trip once a week. I use public transport for less than 1 hour a week and haven’t flown in 7 years.
We have meat in maybe 4 meals a week.
I even reuse stuff like cereal bags In the freezer for couple of times before binning.

I did the UN calculator and my carbon footprint came to about 70% on it. It was much more in depth too.

So which one I should trust then?

Calculators can do more harm than good, I agree. But if they create a talking point that must be positive.
I'd be interested to know why those who rally don't care feel that way. I guess they don't live in Jakarta (horrendous floods ATM and sinking) or in Oz.

www.resurgence.org/resources/carbon-calculator.html

The above is possibly the most detailed calculator I've seen. They seem to think they're the best anyway!

I’m above average according to the wwf site linked to , but that’s because I live in a large house , keep it heated well and drive my car . I don’t fly , we only eat chicken a couple of times a week ( choice) and I try to buy locally sourced food . I have no intention of downsizing and have a good reason for the amount of car use and heating so there is very little I can do to change things .

Way above but don't really care, as it's industry and LEDCs who'll have the major ability to change things - not this billion drops in a vast ocean malarkey

UN calculator here for anyone interested!

offset.climateneutralnow.org/footprintcalc

Enough for today....

I just did the basic questionnaire and got 128%. Quite shocked really.

Well - no. It's too far to cycle

Why does it have to be all or nothing?

Why can’t we have park and ride initiatives, where people can park up and ride the last 2 miles or 3 miles into a town center or business area

It would cover two fold as both exercise and reduce carbon footprint, often the last two miles of a journey are the most congested and time consuming

The survey isn't particularly well thought out. It asks how long you spend in a car every week, but fails to ask if you share the journey with others.

Seeing as sharing with just one other person will cut your footprint in half, that is a significant error.

It also asks how many pets you have, but not how many children.

I'm not sure of the footprint of a cat or dog, but each child is supposed to add nearly 60 tonnes of carbon every year. Again a significant error.

Mine is below as I don't drive and haven't been on a plane for at least 16 years. I walk everywhere as live near work/school etc and use public transport if going further afield.

I recycle what I can at home although am constantly annoyed that my council don't collect glass recycling, carrying it to the nearest glass bin on foot is a pain in the arse!

I think my home could be greener, I have no idea what my energy use/tariff etc is like!

I generally only buy second hand clothes and always have done, any brand new clothes (rare) are generally from ethical/green brands.

I do care that my footprint is low but feel the same as many PP that until there is large scale systemic change then individual habits and changes aren't really going to have the impact that is desperately needed.

Below. Fully electric car charged with renewable energy and don’t fly unless essential (did a short haul 7 years ago-nothing since).
We do care. Next step is a home battery so we can pull even less from the grid.

Apparantly I'm at 166% which seems excessive considering that I don't have children, drive less than 2 hours per week, heat the house to less than 17c, recycle and rarely buy new things

I thought the linked calculator was rubbish. Like others it said mine was high, but I fly once to Europe, walk to work, and it never asked how many dc I had.

Steamfan

It told me to cycle too. I can't, due to disability.

I don't have children but apparently that's not taken into account, it's a fairly shit calculator IMHO.

I did the WWF quiz, which seemed like a very blunt instrument. I rent the ground floor flat of a two storey block - I can’t simply install loft installation or solar panels.

Came out as above average, despite the fact:

• I don’t drive
• haven’t flown in over a year and have had only one sun holiday in 20 years
• don’t have kids (admittedly quiz didn’t ask that)
• try to buy local produce

🤷‍♀️

I don't have children but apparently that's not taken into account, it's a fairly shit calculator IMHO

Agreed. We’re often told they’re one of the biggest drains on planetary resources and yet the question wasn’t asked. 🤔