The carbon footprint is a measure of the amount of greenhouse gas emissions associated with any activity or event.
The word “carbon” in the phrase refers to the carbon dioxide (CO2) emitted during any commercial and domestic activity that uses energy such as burning fossil fuels or generating electricity. You also have a carbon footprint from the activities you do each day.
Why is it important to reduce it?
The main reason why it is important to reduce your personal carbon footprint is because climate change is affecting the entire planet, and we are all responsible for beating this global problem.
If we don’t take action now, our children and future generations will suffer its effects, such as extended hot spells with extreme cold and intense heat waves.
What affects my carbon footprint?
The type of diet you eat greatly affects your carbon footprint. Meat-based diets have a greater impact than vegetarian ones because animals produce more greenhouse gases than plants.
For example, producing 1 kg of beef generates 60 kg of greenhouse gas emissions, almost 2.5 times the next similar type of food, lamb, and mutton. By contrast, the same weight of apples produces less than a kilogram of greenhouse gas emissions.
Furthermore, if you live in an urban area where there are fewer farms and less space to grow crops, your food will have traveled further before reaching your table. This increases its impact on climate change.
If you want to reduce your carbon footprint, there are many ways to do it.
You can start by watching what you eat. It’s not just what’s on the plate that matters, but also how it got there.
A study published in Nature Climate Change found that if we all ate less beef, we could reduce our food emissions by around 2%.
It is also important to look at what we don’t eat. According to a study carried out by the Food Market Observatory Corporation (CODEMA) and the Chilean Association of Free Fair Organizations (ASOF), it is estimated that up to 30% of food products are lost at fairs. Food waste means a lot of pollution that could have been avoided, not only in terms of the resources used in food production but also in its transportation, distribution, and waste management.
The carbon footprint is important because it helps us understand how our daily activities affect the environment and contribute to climate change.
It can also help us find ways to reduce our impact on the planet, by making informed decisions about how we live our lives.
