A carbon footprint is the total amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions caused directly and indirectly by an individual, organization, event or product.

The average carbon footprint in Scotland is 12.7 tonnes. To avoid the worst effects of climate change we need to reduce the average footprint to 1 tonne.

CO₂ emissions can be broken down into two main areas; direct and indirect. Direct emissions come from actions that individuals have done themselves. Included within this category is transport, heating and electricity use at home and water use (the CO2 comes from pumping and cleaning the water that eventually makes it to your home). Indirect emissions are those that are a little less obvious. For example, when you buy something from a shop such as food, clothing or a fridge; CO2 was released when its raw materials were dug out of the ground or grown, when it was made in a factory, when it was packaged and when it was transported to the shop. Indirect emissions also include services like the NHS and schools or leisure facilities and infrastructure we use such as Gym and road building.

The One Planet Living calculator is easy to use and allows you to measure your footprint across more than one area e.g food, transport and energy.