What is Carbon Footprint ?

These days there is a great hooplah about Corbon Footprint. I keep hearing that we should reduce our Carbon Footprint, if possible we should offset it as well. Couple of months back I heard a crazy story that keeping mails in Inbox increases the Carbon Footprint. It has long been long on my agenda to dig this story.

So, what is this Carbon Footprint? As per wiki definition, “A carbon footprint is a "measure of the impact human activities have on the environment in terms of the amount of greenhouse gases produced, measured in units of carbon dioxide"



In simpler terms, every activity that we do, could have some amount of CO2 associated with it. Whether it is driving your vehicle to office or using electrical appliances or it can be as mundane as running your vehicle with low tire pressure. Carbon Footprint is this amount of CO2 (in kilograms or tones) produced directly or indirectly from our activities. It also includes CO2 equivalent for other greenhouse gases (gases which prevent heat from escaping the earth’s atmosphere).



Greenhouse gases are the gases which are essential for our survival. These gases trap the heat in the earth’s atmosphere. It is because of this, earth has a temperature in which we can survive. But the excess of the very same gases is very disastrous as well. “Excess of anything is bad”.


If we think about the activities that generate CO2, it seems that everything we do, produces CO2!!! Right from using paper to write to clocking miles on our flight travel. For paper, it would be the loss of CO2 absorption by the tree cutting plus the energy (thus CO2 produced while producing that energy) used to process the wood and bark to produce the paper in a form, in which we know the paper to be. Just to give a figure, if a tree of 1 foot diameter and 40 feet tall is cut and burnt for any kind of activity, a TON of Carbon is released. A ton is 1000kgs, that aint less.



If we have many ways to harm the environment, then we have equally abundant ways to reduce this destruction. Just by replacing the normal electric bulb with a compact fluorescent one, we can reduce the Carbon Footprint by 50 kilos.

We can not stop our basic activities but we can, for sure, do them in such a way that will consume the smallest amount of energy and thus lesser amount produced CO2 and then we can definitely feel good about reducing our Carbon Footprint.

I believe the best way to reduce the Carbon Footprint is to increase the awareness. If the common man is not aware that by unnecessarily using his car alone every day, he is actually contributing to the destruction of environment, his silly activities will one day cause the temperature of the earth to rise. And because of this, low lying island and coasts will no longer be above the sea level and affecting millions. If we are able to arouse the conscience of common man, he will definitely do whatever he can. Along with this the major initiative should come from the side of Governments of all countries and big corporations.

As a first step, do turnoff the computers/light bulbs/ACs, while leaving for the day today.



Look out for few more day to day techniques later...