What Is Carbon Footprint?

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Carbon footprint is the sum total of the impact that a person, organization, or product has on the ecology. For simplicity of calculation this impact is calculated as the amount of carbon dioxide or its equivalent greenhouse gases that are released into the atmosphere. This can be in any form starting from land clearance to fuel used for transportation to even the day to day consumption of electricity.

Every person has a certain carbon footprint. There is no way that we can live in this world without having an impact on the environment. The difference is in how much of an impact we have, and if our lifestyle is able to offset this carbon footprint.

For example, even farmers in the third world do have a carbon footprint, because in many cases they will clear forest land to plant their crops. The only good thing about this is that this is done on a very small scale, and therefore their footprint is not too great. When the same thing is done on a commercial scale as what is happening in the Amazon basin, the consequences are catastrophic.

This is the reason why people have started talking about offsetting this carbon footprint. If therefore the same farmer planted crops or did something that is able to capture an equivalent amount of greenhouse gases that were released by the clearing of the forest, he has been able to offset his carbon footprint.

While people who have a small carbon footprint might find it easier, it is the larger consumers who will find this difficult. For example, an average American will release the equivalent of 20 tons of CO2 per year, and is the highest per capita output in the world. Compare this to the world average of around 3.8 tons per year, and you’ll get the picture. There are many countries where the average carbon footprint is less than 100 kg of CO2 per year.

Just looking at offsetting the carbon footprint alone is very difficult. An average American generates 1 ton of greenhouse gases out of his vehicular output. This alone will take up to one acre of trees to offset. If therefore you need to offset 20 tons, you need 20 acres of forest land for every American, and there’s not enough forest to go around. In the US, there’s only around 2.5 acres of forest land for each American which is why we all need to try to reduce our carbon footprint as much as possible.

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