It is one of the decade’s most fashionable phrases: 'Carbon Footprint'.

What does it mean, and how we play our part?

The term 'carbon footprint' refers to the emission of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Generally speaking, the term 'carbon emission' is used for corporations and companies - large bodies - and the term 'carbon footprint' is used for individual people.

In essence, then, the concept is this:

Each person on the planet has their own carbon footprint. And it is a measure of how much carbon we each release into the world as individuals.

So our carbon footprint relates to us the amount of damage we are doing to the earth's atmosphere through the release of harmful gases.

They come from a number of everyday sources; car exhausts, kettles and computers, to name just some. Effectively, the things that affect your carbon footprint are those things that require the use of non-renewable energy; things that use energy made from fossil fuels.

On a national and global scale, this means governments looking to make a switch from non-renewable and non-sustainable energy initiatives, to renewable and sustainable ones; the introduction of solar power stations, wind farms and biogas power stations to name some of the major types.

On an individual level, it can mean these things too - having solar panels installed in your house, or sourcing power from wind farms, if you happen to have one locally - but these are major steps.

Indeed, there are much simple ones.

Here are a few ways, then, to reduce your carbon footprint:

1) Try turning down the central heating. Even if it is only by 1 degrees C, these will greatly reduce your personal carbon emissions level annually.

2) Do the same for water heating. Again, a change of 1 or 2 degrees C will reduce your carbon footprint significantly, over a whole year.

3) Each time you boil the kettle, fill it up with only the amount of water you're going to need. That way, you're not using unnecessary amounts of energy.

4) Turn electrically powered items off when you're not using them. Instead of leaving TV's and stereos on standby, switch them off at the mains. This can once again save a substantial amount of electricity annually.

5) Hang you’re washing out on the line instead of loading it into the tumble drier.

6) Always wash a full load in the washing machine. Like the kettle, it means you are only using as much energy as you need; there is no excess waste.

All of these measures are simple, cheap and effective ways of reducing your personal carbon footprint.

There are more long-term measures that can be taken, like changing from your existing energy supplier to a green energy supplier, who will source you with sustainable energy only.

This may be more costly, but it is also an investment; over several years, powering your household will get cheaper as the energy is renewed and re-used.

Outside the house, too, there are ways to reduce your carbon emissions:

1) Car-share. Whether this is on the way to work, going out, or taking children to school, sharing one car between many people reduces the amount of the cars on the road, and release less carbon into the atmosphere.

2) If you are thinking of flying domestically, get a train instead. Aeroplanes release more carbon than trains, and each train can fit more people, so that it works in much the same as car sharing.

3) For short distance journey's, walk or cycle. That way, there are fewer cars on the road, and trains on the tracks.

Listed above are just some of the ways to reduce your carbon footprint and help prevent climate change. There are many more. But these are a good place to start

Posted under Articles, Climate, How To's & Guides