What is a carbon footprint? Is it a good or bad thing?

A carbon footprint is the total amount of greenhouse gases that are generated by our everyday actions. Greenhouse gases are the gases that trap heat in the atmosphere and that cause climate change and global warming. The gases included are carbon dioxide, along with methane, nitrous oxide and various fluorinated gases.

To answer the question stated in the title: yes, having a high carbon footprint is indeed a 'bad thing'. This is because it severely deteriorates, damages and pollutes the planet. Some of the consequences of having a high carbon footprint is ecosystem loss, the extinction of species, extreme weather temperatures, rise in sea level, massive migration, among others.

Usually, the emission of these gases and the increase of our carbon footprint comes from transportation, housing and food. Transportation because cars, planes, trains and almost every means of transportation are a huge CO2 emitter since they burn most of the world’s petroleum. Housing because homes with inefficient appliances waste significant amounts of energy and water. Foods because livestock emits a significant amount of ammonia and methane. It also contributes to land degradation, causing biodiversity loss.

The goal is to reduce as much as possible our carbon footprint, and by doing that, we would actually be helping the environment and contributing to stop climate change. If you want to know what specific actions to take, make sure to follow our instagram @disclimate and stay tuned, because every single day a new action to reduce your carbon footprint will be posted. If we all take these everyday actions, climate change will indeed be stopped. There's not much time left. Please act NOW!

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References:

What is a carbon footprint?. (n.d.). The Nature Conservancy. Retrieved from https://www.nature.org/en-us/get-involved/how-to-help/carbon-footprint-calculator/

Carbon Footprint Definition. (2020). youmatter. Retrieved from https://youmatter.world/en/definition/definitions-carbon-footprint/