The Climate WebPreview
Open in TheBrain

Module 7 Learning Activity

Let's recap this module. It's a big module because it is the topic that most commonly gets discussed in the context of individuals and climate change -- mistakenly, as you've heard me talk about. But it's still important, and I wanted to make sure we covered it in some depth.

The idea is that yes, you can influence your carbon footprint. Yes, it's a good idea to try and reduce your carbon footprint. If you literally don't care about your carbon footprint, that makes it somewhat unlikely that you're going to do other things to help tackle climate change. So psychologically, if for no other reason, it makes sense for you to think about your carbon footprint and to try and reduce your carbon footprint.

But that should not mislead you into thinking that that is actually the way that you most effectively leverage your money, your time, your resources for tackling climate change. That's what we're going to be getting into in the next few modules.

In the learning activity for this module, I'm going to point you to a couple of places where you can calculate your carbon footprint. I would recommend that you do that -- not because it's a huge issue, but it makes sense to have some understanding of what it is. I think you'll find that interesting. In the Ebook you can dig deeper into some of the subtleties of this question of your carbon footprint versus the other things that you can be doing.

In the next module we're going to get into using your voice and using your time, which turn out to probably be two of the most important ways that you can influence climate change outcomes.

Additional Materials

Again, we’ve covered enormous topics in this Module, topics you could spend months exploring based on Climate Web content alone! If you’re interested in learning more about carbon offsets, take a look at our offset-related courses on the same platform we’re using for this course.

To explore some of the different perspectives that characterize conversations surrounding carbon footprints, take a look at:

There are lots of places you can explore and calculate your carbon footprint, and we’ve included some here. Note that many of these sites are hoping you’ll purchase carbon offsets to go along with calculating your carbon footprint. I’m not specifically endorsing any of the carbon offsets being sold through these websites. The closest I would come to such an endorsement is COTAP offsets.

In one of the lessons I mentioned carbon contribution claims as an alternative to carbon offsets. Here’s a good reference and the most relevant website relating to carbon contribution claims:

Want to explore the relationship of your diet to climate change?

Want to explore the carbon footprint of your pets?