Carbon footprint happens to be a degree of the impact felt by the environment because of human activities in terms of the quantity of green house gases generated, which is gauged through units of CO2 or carbon dioxide present in the environment. It is a matter of concern at the moment and not only society but corporations and entire countries are trying to come up with ways by which the amount of carbon present in the earth’s atmosphere can be at least checked, if not radically reduced.
Public Facts and Figures
The carbon footprint for every individual in the United Kingdom is almost 15 tons per year. The seriousness of the situation can only be understood when you come to know that even a single tonne of CO2 can prove to be enough to fill a regular three bedroom home.
The overall carbon footprint of a particular county council is over 130,000 tons every year. Out of this, almost 75% carbon is produced by buildings, including educational institutions. The rest is divided between business travel, which accounts for almost 5%, and street lighting which covers the remaining 20%.
Simply taking a shower, lasting for six minutes, wastes enough electricity to emit 0.5 kilograms of CO2. You can cut down this emission by about half if you use a gas-powered combi boiler instead. A proper bath results in more than 1 kilogram of carbon emission.
Half a litre of bottled water creates 1300 times more carbon than an equal amount of water, drawn from a tap, because of the inclusion of transport and packaging.
Effective Measures
Start small. Try having a cup of tea when you go to a café instead of a large latte. The latter emits as much CO2 as six big mugs of tea. In case of transport, you could opt to take the train instead of the car since you are able to cover five times more distance using the same carbon footprint.
Companies and nations should learn to harness the power of nuclear and renewable energy as their production of green house gases and other environmental pollutants is comparatively much less. Biomass fuels, derived indirectly or directly from organic substances, are ideal for small-scale regional production facilities as their energy yield is low. Solar cells, also called photovoltaic cells, help to convert sunlight into electricity which can they be used according to requirement. Natural energy sources like wind and hydro energy have the lowest carbon footprints.
