Carbon Footprint Calculators For Citizens

In this report, we look into Nordic carbon footprint calculators and selected benchmarks from other countries. We present data on 10 carbon footprint calculators for public use. The focus is on the features, recorded number of users, and experiences on using the calculators in campaigns and research projects. The purpose is to highlight good practices in the design and use of calculators for ordinary citizens which can be used to introduce the role of consumption choices in climate change mitigation. The report provides suggestions for the future development of existing or new calculator initiatives. The study was carried out by the Finnish Environment Institute, financed by the Nordic Council of Ministers, administrated by the Sustainable Consumption and Production Working Group and guided by a steering group consisting of representatives from Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden.

In this report, we look into Nordic carbon footprint calculators and selected benchmarks from other countries. We present data on 10 carbon footprint calculators for public use. The focus is on the features, recorded number of users, and experiences on using the calculators in campaigns and research projects. The purpose is to highlight good practices in the design and use of calculators for ordinary citizens which can be used to introduce the role of consumption choices in climate change mitigation. The report provides suggestions for the future development of existing or new calculator initiatives. The study was carried out by the Finnish Environment Institute, financed by the Nordic Council of Ministers, administrated by the Sustainable Consumption and Production Working Group and guided by a steering group consisting of representatives from Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden.

Shows readers how we can all help solve the climate crisis by focusing on a few key, achievable actions.

"Vast amounts of complex raw data, which can be overwhelming and difficult to understand, surrounds us. Processing and transforming this data into meaningful information increases its usefulness and subsequently deepens our knowledge. Computer graphics designers explore thoughtful design solutions using methods for organizing, prioritizing, structuring and interacting with content, making it accessible, understandable and eliminating ambiguity. Carbon Footprint Calculator visually represents the quantity of greenhouse gases individuals generate and quantifies each state's carbon usage. It collects data regarding people's carbon usage as far as transportation and electricity. This project's goal involves using data visualization to make important and complex information more accessible and less boring, resulting in an informed user and consequently, a more responsible citizen."--Abstract.

Any realistic response to climate change will require reducing carbon emissions to a sustainable level. Yet even people who already recognize that the climate is the most urgent issue facing the planet struggle to understand their individual responsibilities. Is it even possible to live with a sustainable carbon footprint in modern American society—much less to live well? What are the options for those who would like to make climate awareness part of their daily lives but don’t want to go off the grid or become a hermit? In Live Sustainably Now, Karl Coplan shares his personal journey of attempting to cut back on carbon without giving up the amenities of a suburban middle-class lifestyle. Coplan chronicles the joys and challenges of a year on a carbon budget—kayaking to work, hunting down electric-car charging stations, eating a Mediterranean-style diet, and enjoying plenty of travel on weekends and vacations while avoiding long-distance flights. He explains how to set a personal carbon cap and measure your actual footprint, with his own results detailed in monthly diary entries. Presenting the pros and cons of different energy, transportation, and lifestyle options, Live Sustainably Now shows that there does not have to be a trade-off between the ethical obligation to maintain a sustainable carbon footprint and the belief that life should be fulfilling and fun. This powerful and persuasive book provides an individual-level blueprint for a carbon-sustainable tweak to the American dream.

Part green-lifestyle guide, part popular science, How Bad Are Bananas? is the first book to provide the information we need to make carbon-savvy purchases and informed lifestyle choices and to build carbon considerations into our everyday thinking. The book puts our decisions into perspective with entries for the big things (the World Cup, volcanic eruptions, the Iraq war) as well as the small (email, ironing, a glass of beer). And it covers the range from birth (the carbon footprint of having a child) to death (the carbon impact of cremation). Packed full of surprises — a plastic bag has the smallest footprint of any item listed, while a block of cheese is bad news — the book continuously informs, delights, and engages the reader. Solidly researched and referenced, the easily digestible figures, statistics, charts, and graphs (including a section on the carbon footprint of various foods) will encourage discussion and help people to make up their own minds about their consumer choices.

Shows you how to reduce your carbon footprint and help protect the environment. Measuring your carbon footprint, from food shopping to work, holidays and clothes. The handy carbon calculator takes you through each aspect of everyday living, helping you to assess the impact you are having on the environment.

One of the most heartening developments in climate change mitigation in recent years has been the increasing attention paid to the principle of ‘thinking globally and acting locally’. The failure of the international community to reach significant global agreements on the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions has led local governments, environmental organisations and citizens themselves to focus increasingly on the local possibilities for action on climate change. This book analyses the strengths and weaknesses of the co-production of climate policies that take place where citizen engagement and local initiatives converge with public agencies. Case studies from Northern Europe, Australia/New Zealand and the USA reveal that traditional individualist approaches to promoting environmental behaviour epitomised by information campaigns and economic incentives cannot trigger the deep behavioural changes required to materially improve our response to climate change. Only by marshalling the forces of thousands, and eventually millions of citizens, can we manage to reach environmental sceptics, reinforce political action and create the new social norms that are sorely needed in our local, and global, response to climate change. This book will be of great relevance to scholars and policy makers with an interest in climate change politics and governance, community engagement and sustainable development.

"Today, about 98 percent of scientists affirm that climate change is human made, and about 2 percent still question it. Despite that overwhelming majority, though, about half the population of rich countries, like ours, choose to believe the 2 percent. And, paradoxically, this large camp of deniers grows even larger as more and more alarming proof of climate change has cropped up over the last decades. This disconnect has both climate scientists and activists scratching their heads, growing anxious, and responding, usually, by repeating more facts to 'win' the argument. But, the more climate facts pile up, the greater the resistance to them grows, and the harder it becomes to enact measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and prepare communities for the inevitable change ahead. Is humanity up to the task? It is a catch-22 that starts, says psychologist and climate expert Per Espen Stoknes, from an inadequate understanding of the way most humans think, act, and live in the world around them. With dozens of examples, he shows how to retell the story of climate change and apply communication strategies more fit for the task."--Publisher's description.

Our Ecological Footprint presents an internationally-acclaimed tool for measuring and visualizing the resources required to sustain our households, communities, regions and nations, converting the seemingly complex concepts of carrying capacity, resource-use, waste-disposal and the like into a graphic form that everyone can grasp and use. An excellent handbook for community activists, planners, teachers, students and policy makers.