The UK Carbon Footprint

Overview

A carbon footprint is a measure of how much carbon is used by a particular entity. In the case of the UK carbon footprint, the actual quantity that is being measured is the amount of carbon that is utilized by the total population and economy of the United Kingdom.

According to the best analysis, the UK carbon footprint is over 500 million tonnes annually, which is also equivalent to the amount of carbon dioxide that is released into the atmosphere every single year as a result of the United Kingdoms existence. While this number is extremely high (especially compared to most of the other nations in the world), at the same time it is also important to remember that the number can be brought down by the actions of entities and individuals.

Specifically, individuals contribute about 45% of the total amount of the UK carbon footprint, which means that individuals taking responsibility on themselves to reduce their carbon footprint can actually have a very big effect on the overall carbon footprint of the country. That, in turn, can positively affect the way the UK interacts with the environment which in turn can help stop some of the dangers of climate change from ever being realized.

Using the Carbon Footprint Project

The UK Carbon Footprint Project is a three-step project that was designed by Google, and it is an excellent method that you can use if you are really serious about reducing your individual carbon footprint.

The first step of the carbon footprint project is the calculation step, where you actually calculate your carbon footprint and see how you measure up in the current lifestyle that you have. Once that is complete, you then choose a number of actions to take that will reduce your carbon footprint. Lastly, you are added to the UK carbon footprint map, with actions that can be tracked over the course of time. The goal is to get everyone to lower their individual carbon footprint and in doing so positively affect the 45% of emissions that come from individual actions within the United Kingdom.

Ultimately, the UK Carbon Footprint Project has some lofty goals to accomplish, but it is definitely possible if people unite in order to do it. All of the advice on living green that this website gives you can help you in choosing your carbon reducing actions. If everyone did just one thing to reduce their carbon footprint, the benefits would be enormous.

For Further Reading

The UK Carbon Footprint Project: The projects main webpage is here. Youll have to sign up for a Google UK account (free to do), and then you can start using all the services. Its actually quite fun once you get into it, which is perhaps why it is so effective in producing results.