Carbon Footprint Calculators

Calculate your own carbon footprint and take actions to reduce it!

Did you know that 40% of U.S. emissions, according to the EPA 2017 Emissions Inventory, are from basic household activities - electricity use, home heating, transportation, food, and waste generation? If everyone took actions in these 5 ways: choosing 100% green electricity; buying an EV or bike, walking or using public transit; electrifying their home (efficient electric heating and appliances); reducing or offsetting 100% of air travel, and stopping eating red meat, it would wipe out nearly 40% of US emissions.

There are many calculators available online that show you what your carbon footprint is and suggest ways to reduce it. Below are three that we recommend:

What is a carbon footprint?

“A carbon footprint is the total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions caused directly and indirectly by an individual, organization, event or product.” (1) It is calculated by summing the emissions resulting from every stage of a product or service’s lifetime (material production, manufacturing, use phase, and end-of-life disposal). Throughout a product’s lifetime, or lifecycle, different greenhouse gases (GHGs) may be emitted, such as methane and nitrous oxide, each with a greater or lesser ability to trap heat in the atmosphere. These differences are accounted for by calculating the global warming potential (GWP) of each gas in units of carbon dioxide equivalents (CO2e), giving carbon footprints a single unit for easy comparison. See the Center for Sustainable Systems' "Greenhouse Gases Factsheet" for more information on GWP. A typical U.S. household has a carbon footprint of 48 t CO2e/yr. (2)

Ways to reduce your carbon footprint?

• Reduce meat in your diet and avoid wasting food.

• Walk, bike, carpool, use mass transit, or drive a best-in-class vehicle.

• Make sure your car’s tires are properly inflated, fuel efficiency decreases by 0.3% for each 1 PSI decrease. (21)

• Smaller homes use less energy. Average household energy use is highest in houses (82.3 million BTU), followed by mobile homes (59.8 million BTU), apartments with 2-4 units (53.5 million BTU), and apartments with 5+ units in the building (34.2 million BTU). (11)

• If you have a dishwasher, use it! Hand washing uses more energy and water than a machine dishwasher. (22)

• Energy consumed by devices in standby mode accounts for 5-10% of residential energy use, adding up to $100 per year for the average American household. Unplug electronic devices when not in use, or plug them into a power strip and turn the power strip off. (23)

• Choose energy-efficient lighting and transition away from using incandescent light bulbs. (24)

• Reduce what you send to a landfill by recycling, composting, and buying products with minimal packaging.

• Shop smart and purchase items with a comparatively low carbon footprint when possible. Some manufacturers have begun assessing and publishing their products’ carbon footprints.

Read more: http://css.umich.edu/factsheets/carbon-footprint-factsheet

References:

1. The Carbon Trust (2012) Carbon Footprinting.

2. Jones C., Kammen D. (2011) “Quantifying Carbon Footprint Reduction Opportunities for U.S. Households and Communities.”

3. Heller, M.C., et al. (2018). Greenhouse gas emissions and energy use associated with production of individual self-selected US diets. Environmental Research Letters, 13(4), 044004.

4. Boehm R., et al. (2018) “A Comprehensive Life Cycle Assessment of Greenhouse Gas Emissions from U.S. Household Food Choices.”

5. Weber, C. and H. Matthews (2008) “Food miles and the Relative Climate Impacts of Food Choices in the United States.” Environmental Science & Technology, 42(10): 3508-3513.

6. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) (2019) Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks: 1990 - 2017.

7. Fiala, N. (2009) How Meat Contributes to Global Warming. Scientific American.

8. U.S. EPA (2018) “Emissions & Generation Resource Integrated Database (eGRID).”

9. U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) (2019) Electric Power Monthly with Data from July 2019.

10. U.S. EIA Annual Energy Outlook 2019.

11. U.S. EIA (2018) Residential Energy Consumption Survey 2015.

12. Mars C., (2016) Benefits of Using Cold Water for Everyday Laundry in the U.S.

13. Heller, M. and G. Keoleian. (2014) Greenhouse gas emissions estimates of U.S. dietary choices and food loss. Journal of Industrial Ecology, 19 (3): 391-401.

14. U.S. EPA (2019) The 2018 EPA Automotive Trends Report: GHG, Fuel Econ & Technology since 1975.

15. U.S. DOE, Oak Ridge National Lab (2019) Transportation Energy Data Book: Edition 37.1.

16. Pero, F. et al. (2018) Life Cycle Assessment in the automotive sector: a comparative case study of Internal Combustion Engine and electric car.

17. U.S. EIA (2016) “How Much Carbon Dioxide is Produced by Burning Gasoline and Diesel Fuel.”

18. U.S. DOE, Alternative Fuels Data Center (2015) “Fuel Properties Comparison Chart.”

19. U.S. DOE, EERE (2019) “Driving More Efficiently.”

20. U.S. Department of Transportation Bureau of Transportation Statistics (2019) National Transportation Statistics 2019.

21. U.S. DOE, EERE (2009) “Gas Mileage Tips: Keeping Your Car In Shape.”

22. Porras, G. (2019) Life Cycle Comparison of Manual and Machine Dishwashing in Households.

23. U.S. DOE (2012) “3 Easy Tips to Reduce Your Standby Power Loads.”

24. Liu, L., Keoleian, G. A., & Saitou, K. (2017). Replacement policy of residential lighting optimized for cost, energy, and greenhouse gas emissions. Environmental Research Letters, 12(11), 114034.

25. Levinson, R. (2012) The Case for Cool Roofs. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Heat Island Group.

26. U.S. EPA (2017) “Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator.”

27. Buchanan, C., et al (2018) “Lightweighting shipping containers: Life cycle impacts on multimodal freight transportation.” Transportation Research Part D 62:418-432.

28. U.S. EPA (2013) Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks: 1990-2012. CRF Tables.

Center for Sustainable Systems, University of Michigan. 2019. "Carbon Footprint Factsheet." Pub. No. CSS09-05 http://css.umich.edu/factsheets/carbon-footprint-factsheet