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Emissions Calculator
Your Home
Your Home
How does my home effect my carbon footprint?
Our homes consume energy in a lot of different ways. The best way to measure this is from your utility bills. Every appliance you use and light that you leave on will be reflected in your bill. If multiple people live in your house, your individual emissions will be lower because the total bill is shared among everyone that lives there.
The emissions from your home aren't directly visible at your home. Most of the emissions are released from the power plant that generates your power and through transmitting the energy to your house.
How many people live in your home?
Average monthly electric bill ($US)
@
(Price per kWh)
0
Pounds of CO
2
/year
Average monthly natural gas bill ($US)
@
(Price per
therm (hundred cubic feet)
)
0
Pounds of CO
2
/year
Average monthly fuel oil bill ($US)
@
(Price per
gallon
)
0
Pounds of CO
2
/year
Total at Home -
0
Pounds of CO
2
/year
Eating
Your Eating Habits
How do my eating habits effect my carbon footprint?
Researchers Gidon Eshel and Pamela Martin at the University of Chicago concluded that the average American diet (including all food processing steps) results in the annual release of an extra 1.5 tons of CO
2
-equivalent greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.
University of Chicago research paper
There was also a similar report published by the
United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization
.
According to the
U.S. Department of Agriculture's Economic Research Service
, in 2005, total meat consumption (red meat, poultry, and fish) amounted to 200 pounds per person.
How much meat do you eat?
None (
0 lb
s/day per person)
Much less than average (~
1/8 lb
s/day per person)
Less than average (~
1/4 lb
s/day per person)
Average (~
1/2 lb
s/day per person)
More than average (~
1 lb
s/day per person)
Much more than average (over
1 1/4 lb
s/day per person)
Meat -
0
Pounds of CO
2
/year
Recycling
Recycling
How does my waste effect my carbon footprint?
The garbage that we throw away usually goes to a landfill to sit and rot or it may be incenerated. This process releases CO
2
emissions into the air as well as other chemicals and toxins into the ground, air, and water. The average American generates 4.5lbs of garbage a day. The CO
2
emissions based on typical American consumption levels are considered in these calculations.
Recycling can cut your garbage emissions by almost 40%. There are still some CO
2
emissions related to recycling, but this is much less that going to a landfill. Plus, the recycled material will be reused to create new products instead of having to be created from new raw materials.
How much total waste do you produce?
None (
0 lbs
/week per person)
Much less than average (~
7.5 lb
s/week per person)
Less than average (~
15 lb
s/week per person)
Average (~
30 lb
s/week per person)
More than average (~
60 lb
s/week per person)
Much more than average (over
75 lb
s/week per person)
0
Pounds of CO
2
/year
from waste
Do you recycle material that is recyclable?
Always
Most of the time
About half the time
Occasionally
Never
0
Pounds of CO
2
/year
saved by recycling
Total after Recycling -
0
Pounds of CO
2
/year
Driving
In Your Car
How does my car effect my carbon footprint?
Your actual fuel efficiency depends on many factors including the size of your car, how your car is maintained, and your driving habits. The amount of miles that you drive along with the fuel efficiency of your car determines how much emissions you produce.
All other factors being the same, you can technically drive 10,000 miles in a car that gets 50 MPG and produce the same CO
2
emissions as driving 5,000 in a car that gets 25 MPG. This obviously doesn't include other factors that can effect the pollution from your car. Driving a hybrid will pollute a lot less than driving a non-hybrid vehicle, and driving a well maintained car (with all the emissions equipment working properly) should pollute less than a poorly kept vehicle.
How many
miles
do you drive in a year?
Average is about 12,000
miles
/year
Average fuel economy
Look up your fuel economy at
FuelEconomy.gov
Car Travel -
0
Pounds of CO
2
/year
Air Travel
In The Air
How does my air travel effect my carbon footprint?
Air travel produces almost as much CO
2
emissions per passenger per mile as one passenger driving the same distance alone in a car. The overall effect of air travel may be much worse than a car, though. Besides the CO
2
emissions, the planes also emit nitrogen oxide, sulfur dioxide, soot, and water vapor (contrails) directly into the atmosphere at high altitudes, which may double the overall warming effect on the climate.
How many
miles
do you fly in a year?
Air Travel -
0
Pounds of CO
2
/year
Your Total Carbon Footprint
Measure
Units:
Metric
Standard