Know your footprint. Then shrink it.
It is hard to know where your carbon really comes from, or which changes are worth the effort. Find your number in two minutes, then get the swaps that make a real difference.
Take the 2-minute quiz Free, no account, nothing saved. Your answers stay on your device.Where your footprint comes from
For a typical US household, a few areas do most of the damage. That is good news, because it means a handful of changes matter far more than all the rest combined.
Breakdown from the UC Berkeley CoolClimate research. Your own mix depends on how you live, which is what the quiz shows you.
How to shrink it
Real solutions, roughly ordered by impact. Start at the top.
The biggest levers, if you only do a few things
- Fly less, especially long haul. A single overseas round trip can outweigh months of your other efforts, so when you do fly, choose direct routes and economy seats.
- Cut beef and lamb first. Beef is roughly ten times chicken per pound, so swapping a few beef meals a week for chicken, fish or plants is the single biggest food win.
- Put your home on clean power. A green electricity plan, or rooftop solar if you own your home, can wipe out most of your electricity emissions in one move.
- Drive less, and go electric next time. Combine your errands, walk or bike the short trips, and make your next car a hybrid or an EV.
Home energy
About a fifth of your footprint
- Switch to a renewable electricity plan, or add solar hard
- Replace heating and cooling with a heat pump, 2 to 3 times more efficient hard
- Seal drafts, add insulation, and use a smart thermostat moderate
- LEDs, wash in cold, line dry, and kill phantom plug loads easy
Getting around
The single biggest category
- Take fewer flights, and fly economy and direct when you do hard
- Make your next car a hybrid or electric hard
- Combine trips, and walk, bike or transit the short ones moderate
- Keep tires inflated and ease off the gas easy
Food
Small plate changes, big effect
- Trade a few beef and lamb meals a week for chicken, fish or plants hard
- Waste less, plan meals and use leftovers moderate
- Lean more on plants, keep dairy in check moderate
- Buy loose and seasonal to cut packaging easy
Stuff you buy
Where the plastic swaps live
- Buy less, and buy secondhand when you can hard
- Repair before you replace moderate
- Skip fast fashion, choose fewer better pieces moderate
- Explore our plastic-free swaps for everyday items easy
Ready to see your number?
Take the quiz, then come back here for the swaps that fit your biggest categories.
Take the 2-minute quizSources: footprint breakdown from UC Berkeley CoolClimate; US (~16 t) and global (~4 t) averages from Our World in Data; food impacts from Poore & Nemecek, Science 2018; food waste from USDA; flight figures UK DEFRA. Effort labels (hard, moderate, easy) are directional, not exact.