Brighter Planet

What is a carbon footprint?

A carbon footprint is an estimated total amount of greenhouse gases produced by a person’s daily activities, such as driving and heating a home, plus shared services (e.g., street lights).

It is expressed in Carbon Dioxide-equivalent units (CO₂e), because there is more than one type of greenhouse gas and each greenhouse gas has a different climate impact relative to carbon dioxide.

What to do about your carbon footprint…

1. Reduce your carbon footprint as much as you can. This means carpooling to work, installing Compact Fluorescent light bulbs, and doing other things that conserve energy.
2. Offset what you can’t reduce. Brighter Planet’s practical solutions provide an easy way to help build renewable energy projects that “offset” your carbon footprint, which effectively reduces your impact on the environment.
3. Track your progress. Your Brighter Planet profile (log in or create one now if you don’t have one) will show you how lifestyle choices affect your carbon footprint.