British Petroleum posts a nifty Flash-based carbon footprint calculator, which lets you describe basic facts about your house and household, driving patterns, recycling habits, showers vs. baths, etc. The process is quick and painless, and ends with an estimation of the number of tonnes of carbon your family deposits into the atmosphere yearly. Our family: A “respectable” 12 tonnes (compare to the national average of 19). Our biggest savings came from the fact that we drive so little, but the calculator definitely illuminated a lot of places where we could do better (want to look into the possibility of buying energy from green providers). And I’m sure that if the quiz took other environmental factors into account (such as diaper consumption), we’d earn a few demerits. Interesting to see which factors can make huge differences — check what a heated pool (which we ain’t got) will do to your carbon footprint!
Carbon Footprint
Music: Steve Coleman And Five Elements :: Changing Of The Guard