Mar 28, 2007

Exactly how big is your eco footprint? Online calculators can help you figure it out.

  • Fueleconomy.gov  - U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency tells you everything you need to know about your car and its impact on the environment. The "Find and Compare Cars" tool allows you to input any car model and year and returns a score for energy impact, greenhouse gas emissions, and air pollution, with thorough explanations about what all these terms mean.
  • Personal Emissions Calculator  - Created by the EPA, this online calculator allows you to estimate you or your family's personal greenhouse gas emissions. If you want to learn about actions you can take to lower your emissions while reducing your energy and waste disposal costs. For each action you choose to take, you'll see the amount of emissions you could avoid and how that amount relates to your total emissions.
  • Paper Calculator  - This calculator, produced by Environmental Defense, a nonprofit environmental organization, allows you to input the amount and type of paper you (or your company) uses, and then provides figures for wood use, total energy, greenhouse gases, wastewater, and solid waste.
  • Water Use Calculator - Enter how many people live in your home and how often you shower, flush, and perform other activities that require water into this calculator designed by the city of Tampa, Florida. Might be surprised to find out how much water your family is using.
  • Calculate Your Personal Impact - Another calculator created by Environmental Defense.  Key in facts about your home and travel habits, and get back a figure for how much carbon pollution you produce. The calculator then equates the figure to how many trees in the Amazon rainforest would have to be cut and burned to produce the same amount of pollution.
  • Commute Calculator - How much does your commute impact the environment? Input the miles of your daily trip and the calculator returns figures for how much pollution your produce.

Hooked on calculators? More are available on the EPA website. (From: plentymag.com)