Your ‘Climate Shadow’ And 5 More Insightful Ways to Think About Your Carbon Footprint
Understand as many parts as possible of this multifaceted issue.
Your ‘Carbon Footprint’ isn’t always the best way to think about your personal impact on the planet. Yes, the concept has an intuitive appeal, as well as an emotional resonance — who wants to trample nature?
But ‘carbon footprint’ also comes with some baggage. The phrase was popularised by none other than oil giant BP. Without going too much into that story, it somewhat stains the phrase with an oil-black smear.
So it’s not surprising that a few alternatives to “carbon footprint” have been suggested.
One of the best I’ve come across is “carbon shadow”.
Your Carbon Shadow Can Be Much More Enlightening Than Your Carbon Footprint
Explained in full by Emma Pattee in this wonderful article, the idea of a ‘carbon shadow’ is an attempt to draw more attention to the myriad ways our individual actions have an effect on the environment.
In Pattee’s words:
“We need something that truly encompasses the total impact each of us has on our climate crisis.”
