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Reducing Your Carbon Output

written by: Summer Banks•edited by: Donna Cosmato•updated: 6/22/2010

With all the recent talk of global warming and how everyone can affect the fate of the environment it has led consumers to the question, of how they can reduce their carbon footprint.

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    The Carbon Footprint

    What is the carbon footprint? How can the general consumer find out how much carbon they are contributing to the environment? How can we find out how to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases we are releasing into the environment daily? Here are some tips on how we can reduce our carbon footprint by making small changes in our daily life.

    Using the tools at allows users to generate the amount of carbon being put into the environment in the way that they live in their current lifestyle. The user is prompted to choose the country in which they reside, and once the survey is complete, the option is given to compare the standards within the country. Using the calculations to submit general household information like the electricity and type used, as well as the vehicles driven, persons within the household as well as other lifestyle choices brings the user to a final calculation of the carbon footprint their lifestyle produces and emits into the environment.

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    Reducing Your Footprint

    How can we reduce the carbon footprint by making small changes? Often, something as simple as changing the amount that we drive a vehicle in contrast to taking public transportation can drastically reduces the number. Other options, like changing the light bulbs within the home to compact fluorescents, can reduce the output as well.

    Other ideas for decreasing your carbon footprint include finishing errands in one day rather than stretching over the entire week. Websites such as help users find other commuters within the area and arrange transportation to and from work. This not only saves the environment, but can help cut down expenses due to the rising costs of fuel.

    Many carbon offsetting websites insist on reducing the temperature within the home a mere two degrees, something that many of us would not notice – this decreases the energy costs within the home as well as reducing carbon output.

    These are all great ways to reduce your carbon footprint, and save the environment and valuable consumer income in the meantime! Implement some of these policies in your home, and they will become second nature in no time. Small changes make a large difference in the scheme of things.

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