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Carbon Footprints (deeper)

🟦🌍 Technique Card: Understanding Carbon Footprints (deeper)

🦶 What is a Carbon Footprint?

Your carbon footprint is the total amount of greenhouse gases (like carbon dioxide and methane) that are released into the air because of your actions.

It’s measured in kilograms (kg) or tonnes of CO₂ equivalent (CO₂e) — which means all gases are turned into the same unit to make things easier to compare.

🧮 How Is It Calculated?

Think of your carbon footprint like a big total made from many smaller parts.

Here are some of the main areas that add up:

Activity What’s Measured Example
🚗 Transport Fuel used & distance Driving to school, flying on holiday
⚡ Energy Use Electricity & heating Turning lights on, hot showers
🍔 Food How it’s grown & transported Eating meat vs vegetables
🛍️ Shopping Materials & delivery Buying clothes, toys, phones
🗑️ Waste What gets thrown away Plastic, food waste, recycling

These are added together using average values or actual data (if available), to give a total footprint.

💡 A Simple Example

Let’s say:

  • You drive 5km to school every day
  • You eat mostly local fruit and veg
  • You buy a new pair of trainers every 6 months

A carbon footprint calculator could use average emissions from each activity to give you an estimate, like:

  • 🚗 Driving: 500kg CO₂e/year
  • 🍎 Food: 200kg CO₂e/year
  • 👟 Shopping: 150kg CO₂e/year

➡️ Total: 850kg CO₂e/year

🔍 Why Is It Useful?

Knowing your carbon footprint helps you:

  • Understand how your choices affect the planet
  • Find ways to reduce your impact
  • Compare the impact of different lifestyles or products

This is super helpful for:

  • Campaigns
  • Data projects
  • Making change happen

🛠️ Common Tools

You can use:

  • Online calculators (e.g. WWF, Giki Zero, CoolClimate)
  • Surveys and spreadsheets to collect and compare data
  • Scratch or Python projects to create your own carbon trackers

🌱 Ideas for Digital Changemakers

  • Compare food miles of local vs imported meals
  • Survey your school’s travel choices and total carbon output
  • Make a Scratch game about reducing your home energy use
  • Create your own carbon footprint calculator - it could use just one idea such as food eaten or distance travelled in different vehicles

🔗 Linked Cards