We all should by now be fully aware of what a carbon footprint is. And no, it is not just for businesses to be cracking down. We all have the ability to influence our countries overall CO2 output.  With the government setting out some clear targets, I have some work to do in order to bring my own footprint down.

Currently I am running at a footprint of around 16 tonnes, with the target for 2020 being 10.5 tonnes.

The unseen footprint

One of the big areas that we seem to be missing is how much of our CO2 emissions come from our digital activities. Viessmann have created this great visualisation that really does hit home to how much additional CO2 we create by our daily digital routines. I think it is a great way to represent that data! Who knew how much coal we would need to burn for 60 seconds of global internet use! I know it has come as quite a shock to me and I plan to make some positive changes.

What can you do?

Going back to my footprint, there are a few big changes I can make to minimise my carbon footprint, such as building an eco-friendly home.

Along with quite a few smaller things.

One of the big things I can do is trade in my diesel car for an electric one. To be fair if the prices of electric vehicles where in line with their fossil counterparts then I would have no issue with swapping over today! Another would be to replace our old oil burning boiler with a newer condensing combi boiler. With energy ratings above 90% I am sure we will burn far less fossil fuels to keep the house and water warm. In fact, for our hot water we still have the old-style tank in the loft system and two (yes two!) hot water tanks. Which for our small family size is quite a waste of fuel to keep hot! If we opted to change as well to a sealed system, I am sure we would see a massive drop in our CO2 output.

Three of the small things we could do as a family:

• Reduce the amount of screen time
• Cycle to work and school
• Buy local

They are small steps that we should be able to pull off without too much fuss. We already limit screen time so perhaps that hints more at the amount of time I spend on the internet! Especially gaming!

If you want to have a look at your own footprint head over to World Wide Fund for Nature’s carbon footprint calculator. Then see if you can make some adjustments at home!