Comparing Carbon Footprints

You might like to start by thinking about which items/activities might have very large, or very small, carbon footprints.


The list below, showing the amount of carbon used by different items/activities, may provide a useful guide:

10 grams to 100 grams - a pint of tap water

100 grams to 500 grams - travelling a mile by bus

500 grams to 1 kg - a portion of fish

1 kg to 10 kg - washing and drying a load of laundry

10 kg to 100 kg - using a smartphone for a year

100 kg to 1000 kg - a 50 litre tank of petrol

1 tonne to 10 tonnes - a tonne of nitrogen fertilizer

10 tonnes to 1000 tonnes - building a new house

Millions of tonnes - annual emissions for the UK

Billions of tonnes - global deforestation per year