Our “Indirect Carbon emissions” are harder to measure and often hidden from view but they are probably as significant as those that make up our direct footprint and so cannot go ignored. They include emissions associated with finances, services and consumption; this includes the goods and services we import from elsewhere. Everything we buy or do online, the shops, schools and other public services that we use; they all have a carbon footprint. What we choose to buy, what services we choose to use and how we choose to use them all influence our “Indirect Carbon Footprint”.
When I set out on my Climate Journey I was less aware of these indirect aspects of my carbon footprint. In 2017 the only thing I was really paying attention to was recycling waste packaging. As already mentioned an indirect carbon footprint is harder to quantify; I estimated mine to be around 2.2 tonnes of CO2 per year but this is likely to be an underestimate. The first thing I did was to reduce the amount of single use plastic I used and to recycle as much as possible. I then started to look at my pension and other finances and switched to “greener” options. Currently I am looking at what I buy and where it comes from; trying to buy less imported goods and more from local suppliers where I can.
Find out more…
To learn more about how I have started to tackle my “Indirect Carbon Footprint” see my journal post “Hidden footprints”
Notes:-
Carbon footprint calculations shown here represent an estimate of my Indirect footprint as calculated using the CarbonIndependent Calculator
Indirect Emissions are sometimes referred to by carbon accounting specialists as Scope 3 emissions.
Climate Concepts 