About carbon footprinting: a blog by our supporter Carbon Savvy
Carbon Savvy’s founder, Mukti Mitchell, had been reducing his own carbon footprint for a few years before he noticed to his great surprise that it seemed to be improving his quality of life. He began to create materials to help people make lifestyle choices that are both “good for the planet and good for me.” Whether it is eating seasonal, organic food, spending more time with friends and family, or taking the time to travel slowly, low-carbon options offer many rewards. To help him reduce his footprint he wrote one of the first on-line calculators in 2002. Since then the Carbon Savvy calculators have come to be seen as some of the most accurate and user-friendly on line.
Why use a carbon footprint calculator?
If you want to reduce your own carbon footprint, calculating it first can help you to:
- Get a baseline before you start, to make reducing it more satisfying.
- See which lifestyle areas have higher and lower CO2 emissions.
- Make the connection between a lower carbon footprint and a higher quality of life, by using it together with our Quality of Life calculators.
Are footprint calculators ethical?
There are two prevailing views about carbon footprint calculators. The first is that the national footprint is the sum of our individual footprints, so if we all reduce our footprints, the national footprint will reduce. The second puts the responsibility for carbon reductions onto industry and says footprint calculators are a tool to shift the blame onto consumers. At Carbon Savvy we favour the first approach because we believe it is more empowering. We think that lasting change comes from the grass roots and is bottom up rather than top down.
Who uses Carbon Savvy footprint calculators?
A wide-variety of people are using these tools, from individuals, to sustainability groups, transition towns to councils, and business to universities. They are for anyone who wants to get on a steady pathway to net zero as an individual or group. Understanding your personal carbon footprint is also a great first step to understanding how to reduce the footprint of your business or organisation.
Feeling empowered to avert climate change
We know that as a nation the UK needs to reduce its carbon footprint drastically. If governments take action but individuals don’t, we will only reduce our footprints a little because the government only controls 10% of the national footprint. If all individuals take action we can reduce the national footprint almost entirely, because our buying choices drive all industry activity. The good news is it’s already happening. Studies show that consumer buying choices are driving industry towards sustainability. On an experiential level, when we feel our own lives changing, we believe that the whole world can change. And more than words, it is our actions that inspire others.
Uplifting Courses
To make carbon saving easy and fun, the Carbon Savers Course comes in bite size chunks with its 15-minute modules. It tells you everything you need to get to reduce your own carbon footprint while raising your quality of life.
For those who want a deeper understanding and to communicate about carbon saving to others, the Carbon Ambassadors Course is for you. This definitive course covering all aspects of carbon reductions is enhanced by an exciting list of nationally known guest speakers from Mike Berners Lee to Jane Davidson and Satish Kumar. In 8 sessions of 2 hours each it equips you to be a Carbon Ambassador.
Visit us
If you’re interested in our carbon footprint and quality of life calculators, courses, uplifting tips on saving CO2 via our e-news, or just to browse our website, we love you to visit us on-line. We have a reputation for being positive, uplifting, guilt free, and for making carbon saving fun.
WhatsApp
