Our carbon footprint
In the UK, the average person with a typical meat-eating diet, who owns a petrol or diesel car and takes a European flight roughly every year, has a carbon footprint of approximately 12.7 tonnes CO2e per year. To reach our global climate change targets, we should be each be aiming for a carbon footprint of only 5 tonnes CO2e per year.
Most of our personal carbon footprint emissions come from:
- Food (25%) - from the type of food and drink we buy from shops
- Home and accommodation (25%) - primarily from household fuel and electricity
- Travel (27%) - from our car manufacture and fuel, public transport use, cruises and particularly flights
- Everything else (23%) - which includes non-food shopping, leisure and recreation, water waste and sewage, healthcare, education, and public services
The size of your carbon footprint varies depending on your lifestyle. Take the WWF questionnaire to see how your day-to-day activities impact your carbon footprint.
There are many ways you can take individual action to reduce your carbon footprint, which also have the added benefits of improving your diet, health and wellbeing. On the following pages are some top tips for a low-carbon lifestyle.