My first thought was that I could simply find a carbon calculator that would do the hard work or me. That wasn’t to be the case. What follows are the carbon predictions that 4 calculators provided me with:

Google CO2 Calculator: 5.4 tonnes CO2e
Carbon Footprints: 13.8 tonnes CO2e
UK Government: 8.22 tonnes CO2e
Earth Lab: 13.2 tonnes CO2e

In the end I took the easy way out and went for the highest figures that I had for each emissions type. So without further ado here it is:

Consumption Tonnes CO2e
House Elect 2.98
House Gas 0.048

Bus Travel 0.315
Train Travel 0.523
Subway Travel 0.03

6 round trips to Europe 2.232
2 Round Trips to Australia 7.612

Secondary Footprint 2.769

TOTAL = 16.509 Tonnes

That seams quite high considering we don’t generally drive and the UKs average is between 9 and 12 tonnes of CO2e per person. The reason for this is quite simple! We have at least 1 long distance return flight per year (each). Flying adds about 9.8 Tonnes of CO2e to our footprint!

If you ignore flight and our secondary footprint (which calculators ignore) we account for less then 4 Tonnes of CO2 per year (for both of us).

Additionally we have started to buy only free range and organic products from the super market. I think is even more important in a country like the uk where so much of the meat is from high intensity farming (feed lots etc).

Maybe we should even start growing our own….. Now that’s food for thought.

As a result I have updated this site quite a bit. Hopefully the design is a little cleaner. I am slowly customising the theme from nitrogendesigns.com and gotchance.com, these guys have done an excellent job with the theme…. which is making my job even easier!

He has posted an excellent blog entry on completing the upgrade. I highly recommend you check it out….. follow this link…….

Actually next weekend I am planning on doing the same. Hopefully it goes as smoothly has Cams.

The followling links provide additional information:

The suntimes

Forbes

Washingtonport

Generally the criticism follows along the same line: what is it about? look at all the carbon they are producing! etc etc.

So without further ado here is what the organizers want people to do:

1. To demand that my country join an international treaty within the next 2 years that cuts global warming pollution by 90% in developed countries and by more than half worldwide in time for the next generation to inherit a healthy earth;
2. To take personal action to help solve the climate crisis by reducing my own CO2 pollution as much as I can and offsetting the rest to become “carbon neutral;
3. To fight for a moratorium on the construction of any new generating facility that burns coal without the capacity to safely trap and store the CO2;
4. To work for a dramatic increase in the energy efficiency of my home, workplace, school, place of worship, and means of transportation;
5. To fight for laws and policies that expand the use of renewable energy sources and reduce dependence on oil and coal;
6. To plant new trees and to join with others in preserving and protecting forests; and,
7. To buy from businesses and support leaders who share my commitment to solving the climate crisis and building a sustainable, just, and prosperous world for the 21st century.

Basically live earth is an event designed to kick-off and strengthen existing grass roots groups, and individuals to take action on climate change. With the goal of reducing CO2 emissions by 90% within a generation.

Nico’s 18000 km trip around Australia

Sharons Blog

Cindy and Michales vego food blog