Carbon Footprint
The total amount of greenhouse gas emissions caused directly or indirectly by an individual, organization, product, or event.
Definition
A carbon footprint measures the total greenhouse gas emissions associated with an activity, typically expressed in tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e). It includes direct emissions, such as those from driving a car or heating a home, as well as indirect emissions embedded in the products and services someone consumes.
Carbon footprints are calculated at every scale, from an individual person's annual emissions to a multinational company's entire supply chain, and are increasingly used as a standard metric for climate reporting and goal-setting.
In Practice
A household's carbon footprint includes emissions from electricity use, heating, transportation, and the manufacturing and shipping of everything it purchases -- not just the tailpipe emissions from a car in the driveway.