Carbon Footprint Calculator

The University of California - Berkeley has developed a handy "calculator" that helps you to determine how much Carbon in the Earth's atmosphere that you (and your family) are responsible for. The questions it asks especially deal with how much you and the people you live with spend on food, travel, heating, etc. (For example, the calculator asks you how much you spend on fruit because it often has to be driven across the country, and that burns gasoline.)

Check out the calculator: here. These are my results:


My household (2 people) creates 16 tons of Carbon Dioxide per year, which is the equivalent of cutting down 3 acres of forest. I do my best to conserve energy -- and I only use about 60% less than the average 2 person household -- but what makes my footprint really big is the Transportation. I don't have a car (I ride my bike and take BART often), but my family lives all the way in New Jersey, so I've flown out to see them twice per year. That means that I fly way more miles than the average American.

On the other hand, my carbon footprint is twice the average of people around the world. Maybe in the interest of my carbon footprint, I'll start using Skype with my family, instead of traveling.