Rants and Rays - Carbon Footprint Followup

Following up on a previous post. Here's an even better carbon footprint calculator from the US EPA. It is much more informative. What I like about it is that it provides specific actions/options for reducing your personal carbon footprint.

My household of 4 people has a carbon footprint of 27,097 lbs. of CO2 per year. Per person we generate 6,774 lbs. of CO2 per year. (Based on usage without Solar).




Suggested actions to reduce my carbon footprint:

• Perform regular maintenance on vehicles.
• Replace incandescent light bulbs with CFLs.
• Turn up/down the thermostat during summer/winter by a degree or two.
• Use cold water for laundry.

Vehicle emissions are very high so keeping it maintained or replacing with a more fuel-efficient vehicle saves a lot. Replacing ten 75-Watt incandescent light bulbs with 20-Watt CFLs would save $70/year and reduce carbon footprint by 545 lbs./yr.