What is a carbon footprint?

Carbon footprint is a simple way to calculate the climate pollution caused by your lifestyle over a year.

It is based on how you heat or cool your home, how you move from one place to another, what you eat and what products you buy and use.

It is measured in tonnes of carbon dioxide - your annual greenhouse gas emissions released into the atmosphere due to your activities.

Learn more (Wikipedia)

Watch a video (2 min)

How big is a 'typical' footprint?

The number depends a lot on where you live and how you live.

The global average carbon footprint is around 5 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent per person per year. The aim is to get to under 2 tons per person globally to stop further global warming.

Here are some average annual footprints in different parts of the world:

15-20 tons in North America
6-10 tons in Europe
7-9 tons in China
2-3 tons in India
1-2 tons in Sub-Saharan Africa

These are averages. If you fly a lot, drive a petrol or diesel car, or use fossil fuels to heat or cool your home, your number might be higher. If you fly rarely, use an electric car or public transport, buy clean energy, and eat mostly plant-based food, it might be lower.

What adds up to the footprint?

  • Home

    heating, cooling, electricity, hot water

  • Travel

    flights, car, public transport

  • Food

    meat and dairy, and ways of production

  • Stuff

    clothes, electronics, furniture, and more

Where can I calculate my footprint?

What does this mean in practice?

  • 10 kg CO₂ roughly equals to:

    • Driving a petrol car 40–60 km
    • Eating 1-2 beef or 3–4 chicken meals
    • Producing a cotton t-shirt
    • Sending 12,000 emails
    • 1 spa or sauna visit

  • 100 kg of CO₂ roughly equals to:

    • Month of typical European/US diet
    • Heating a home for 2–4 cold days
    • Producing a new pair of jeans
    • Streaming video for 200–300 hours
    • 2–3 uber trips of 20–25 km each

  • 1 ton of CO₂ roughly equals to:

    • 1–2 months of modern living
    • Short-haul return flight (3-5 hours)
    • Producing new laptop + smartphone
    • Year of laundry in a large household
    • 25–30 hotel nights

  • 10 tons of CO2 roughly equal to:

    • Average annual footprint in Europe
    • Half of annual footprint in the US
    • Long-haul return flight for two
    • Producing 2.5 tonnes of plastic
    • Producing 1,000 kg of beef
    • Producing 2,000–2,500 kg of rice

So how much should I remove?

There’s no single “right” answer. You can remove any amount of your choice - you decide!

Here is a simple way to think about it:

  1. Reduce what you can.
    Choose lower-carbon options where it’s realistic for you, for example cleaner energy and transportation, more plant-based meals.
  2. Remove what you can't avoid.
    For the emissions that are hard to cut, invest in immediate and proven carbon removals at our store to neutralise your carbon footprint.
  3. Start with a realistic amount.
    You can start small, by removing a portion of your footprint today. Or you can go big and remove your life-time footprint. Or anything in between.

Any step is better than no step. Our store makes it easy for you to do something real today – and come back later to do more. There is no time to wait.

Every kilogram counts. Start here.

Combine products to match the exact amount of your carbon footprint you want to remove - one-time or monthly. Your carbon will be removed and durably stored by our certified partners and we'll send you proof of completion within a month.

Got a question? Send it to us.