Recently we road-tested four Australian carbon calculators to see which ones deliver the best user experience. If you’re looking to understand and reduce your personal carbon footprint, a carbon calculator is a great place to start. These tools collect data across a range of categories (transport, energy, water and waste) and some go further to include travel, food and drink, and even how many purchases you make in a year.
For this road-test we concentrated on Australian calculators. All had their merits, all were free, and all are only as good as the data you put in. Here they are, listed in order of preference.
You’ll need to create an account to use their calculator, but it’s worth it. A handy two-minute introductory video walks you through how everything works before you begin. One of the most useful features is the ability to choose your time period (past month, three months or a full year) which makes it a really flexible tool. There are six categories to work through: travel, energy, water, transport, food and drink and waste. You can use your own personal data or default to state averages, and there are helpful tips throughout to guide you along the way. At the end, you receive an itemised summary with practical suggestions to help you reduce your impact over time. Lovely graphics, and a great resource for anyone wanting to take climate action without necessarily purchasing carbon credits.
Once again, you’ll need to create an account as this calculator is designed to track your carbon footprint over time. As you work through categories including vehicles, electricity, gas, waste, water, food and drink and air travel, your emissions build up in real time. All calculations are based on a 12-month period, and some categories require a bit of background homework – for example, knowing how many tonnes of waste you generate per year. It’s worth saving your progress and coming back to it. A standout feature is the events and conferences category, which is simple and practical: how many attendees, how much was spent on food and drinks, and so on. A great option for small businesses wanting to understand and reduce their carbon emissions.
This calculator uses sliding scales to determine your position on things like waste, car usage, housing and food habits. The trade-off is accuracy – it is easy to over or under-estimate. The waste question, for example, asks how much waste you generate compared to your neighbours. Unless you’re sneaking a look in their bins on collection night, it’s a bit of a guess. To be fair, there is an option to add details and improve accuracy. Results are delivered in the number of Earths we would need if everyone lived like you, and there’s a personal ‘overshoot day’ i.e. the date you effectively use up all of the planet’s resources for the year. Engaging, thought-provoking. Graphics are good.
A clean and simple interactive calculator covering the usual categories – travel, home, food and shopping, with shopping split into goods and services. Once you’ve worked out your footprint, the Take Action tab is genuinely useful, linking practical suggestions directly to the categories where your footprint is largest. A good starting point for anyone new to thinking about their personal carbon footprint.
As mentioned, these calculators are only as good as the data you put in. Most aren’t sophisticated enough to pinpoint your carbon footprint with precision, but they do give a solid baseline figure. Whichever one you choose, they’re a helpful first step toward a more sustainable lifestyle.
Where does Australia sit on the world stage?
The news isn’t great. Australia’s carbon footprint is significantly higher per capita than the global average, making us one of the highest emitters in the world. While our total contribution to global emissions sits at around 1.2%, our per capita emissions are approximately 15.4 tonnes of CO2 per year which is roughly three times the global average! [1].
So what can we do about it?
This is where Fifteen Trees can come in. On average, each of us generates around 15.5 tonnes of carbon annually. Over a lifetime, a tree can collect and store approximately 268kg of carbon. That means each of us needs to plant around 58 trees per year to bring our individual carbon footprint down. Here’s the maths – 58 trees X 268kg = 15.5 tonnes. Planting 58 trees annually can be a little tricky to manage in the average backyard.
Our Subscription for the Planet plants 60 native trees (we’ve rounded up) annually on your behalf. The trees are planted across Australia by community groups, and through seasonal updates you can find exactly where your trees are growing. It’s one of the simplest ways to take meaningful climate action and reduce your carbon footprint. You can subscribe monthly ($27), quarterly ($81) or yearly ($324).
Sixty trees. One year. A genuine difference.
If you would like to know more about sponsoring community tree planting projects and how we can assist your sustainable journey, please contact Colleen at <[email protected]>.
Writer: Colleen Filippa
With a background in Environmental Science, Colleen is the Founding Director of Fifteen Trees. In 2009, after 20 years in primary, secondary and tertiary education institutions, Colleen left the classroom to start the company. Fifteen Trees is a social enterprise assisting individuals and companies to reduce their carbon footprint by supporting community groups such as Landcare, schools and environmental networks.
Reference. [1] SBS News Article.
