What is a carbon footprint?
A carbon footprint is the total amount of greenhouse gas emissions that come from the production, use and end-of-life of a product or service. It includes carbon dioxide — the gas most commonly emitted by humans — and others, including methane, nitrous oxide, and fluorinated gases, which trap heat in the atmosphere, causing global warming. Usually, the bulk of an individual’s carbon footprint will come from transportation, housing and food.
How to limit your carbon footprint?
Understanding your carbon footprint can help limit the impact of your consumption on the environment. There are different online solutions to help you estimate your carbon footprint.
Small changes can make a big difference in the long run, for example when it comes to transportation, food, clothing, waste, etc. Here are some tips:
Food
- Consume local and seasonal products (forget strawberries in winter)
- Limit meat consumption, especially beef
- Select fish from sustainable fishing
- Bring reusable shopping bags and avoid products with excessive plastic packaging
- Make sure to buy only what you need, to avoid waste
Clothing
- Take good care of your clothes
- Try swapping, borrowing, renting or buying second-hand
- Buy responsibly-made clothes, e.g. made from recycled material or with an eco-label
Transport
- Cycle or use public transport
- Be smart about when and how you drive
- Try the train for your next holiday
Energy and waste
- Turn down the heating by 1°, it will already make a difference
- Take short showers
- Turn off the water while you brush your teeth or clean the dishes
- Unplug your electronic equipment and don’t leave your phone on charge when the battery is already full
- Don’t store unnecessary data in the cloud (learn more about your digital footprint!)
- Select energy efficient products with an “A” label (EU Energy Label)
- Limit and recycle your waste
https://www.nytimes.com/guides/year-of-living-better/how-to-reduce-your-carbon-footprint
https://youth.europa.eu/get-involved/sustainable-development/how-reduce-my-carbon-footprint_en
https://www.nature.org/en-us/get-involved/how-to-help/carbon-footprint-calculator/
