FEATURE

Check Your Carbon Footprint

What is a Carbon Footprint?

The Carbon Footprint is the representation of the effect of an entity or organization on the Earth's climate in terms of the total amount of greenhouse gases produced (expressed in units of carbon dioxide, CO2).

Why is the Earth's Climate Changing?

Greenhouse gases trap (water vapor, carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, methane, etc) the radiant energy from the sun and prevent it from escaping back to space. Without these gases, surface temperature would be about 60°F colder. Excessive amounts of gases trap more radiant energy, causing a rise in surface temperatures to levels we now experience.

How do we contribute to Climate Change?

Anthropogenic GHG contribution comes from our many day-to-day activities: transportation, cooking, electricity consumption, burning, material processing, etc.

What can we do to mitigate Climate Change?

Shrinking our carbon footprint means altering our daily routines to promote a more responsible lifestyle. There are many practical ways to do this, and to list a few:

- Use resources (such as electricity) wisely

- Support cleaner technologies

- Optimize travels (carpool, prefer public transport)

- Switch to available renewable energy sources

- Sign up for the Renewable Energy Campaign.

- Be more conscious of your carbon footprint - download the Carbon Footprinting Exercise file and decrease your carbon footprint today


Did you know

- that each Filipino emits about 0.9 metric tons of CO2 annually (UNDP Based on 2002 data)?

- that each 11 kg-LPG tank releases 32.5 kgs of CO2?

- that each kWh you consume is equivalent to 0.59 kg of CO2 released into the atmosphere?

- that when your car emits 2.3 kg CO2/ L of gasoline and 2.7 kg CO2/L of diesel?