How Big is Your Carbon Footprint?

The forthcoming Climate Change Conference has created a renewed interest in the effects our actions are having on our planet. Whilst some still doubt the link between pollution and Global Warming most of us are in agreement that something needs to change. We are lucky enough to live in a developed country with all of the lifestyle benefits which that entails. Unfortunately we must stop and consider the effects our lifestyles have on the future of the planet.

For live updates about the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference see the #cop15 Twitterwall.

Just making changes to our day to day lives isn’t enough of course, changes need to be made across the board. Despite this we can make changes to our day to day lives which, when repeated and copied by others will have a larger impact than we might first think. The climate change Copenhagen Conference is hoping to achieve world wide change particularly amongst the most polluting countries. It an also have the effect of making us more aware of what we can do as individuals.

The Guardian have created a Carbon Footprint calculator as part of their coverage of the Copenhagen conference. Whilst it is difficult to use and probably wildly inaccurate it does give you an idea of what small changes could reduce your output. You can adjust the sliders and see how your overall total is effected. you can also look at the US average and wonder what exactly they are doing over there!