ClimateCrisis.net Needs A Better Carbon Calculator

One, it doesn't ask enough questions. There are no questions regarding my habits of recycling for instance. And recycling comes in various forms. We often buy used clothing and send our no longer worn clothing to Goodwill. We recycle books and furniture by passing them on or donating them.

It also doesn't ask for your complete vehicle information. That would undoubtedly make mine go up as we own four vehicles. But three of them are rarely used. My husband has a Mercury Cougar that he drives to the airport and home. If he is working locally, he will drive it to work. He owns a restored 1983 Jeep Scrambler that he probably put less than 1000 miles on last year. We also own a 1989 Suburban that we put less than 2000 miles on last year. The Suburban is there for hauling and if we have extra family members with us. We did drive it on vacation last year as it had more room to spread out in. But still, the calculator should ask about all the vehicles.

My second problem is the fact that they ask the wrong questions. They ask how much your average monthly bill is for electric, oil, etc. A better question would be how many kilowatts do I use a month or how many gallons of oil, etc. Price varies across the country for electricity and in Virginia, I am paying the highest amount possible. We get our electricity from a co-operative. They purchase it from an electric company (and they purchase from the higher of two possible companies in our area). The bill for my home is 280.00 a month. The bill for our office (which has one computer and two printers running in it and a refrigerator and heat pump (and that is pretty much it except for some lights), runs us almost 200.00 a month. We aren't using that much electricity up there, it's just our electric company is a known gouger...

So, the calculator is really useless for figuring out our carbon footprints.

Here is a better calculator. It asks about all of my vehicles and my actual KWH use if I want to go the exact route. I don't have that here in IL, but will be checking it when I return home.

And here is the best calculator I have found so far at Conservation International. Well, when I got started on the quiz, it looked the best. It does ask the right quesitons as to what I do to help my planet, but it doesn't ask direct questions about my energy useage.

I will keep looking. If you have found a calculator that does both, please share in a comment!

Okay, I found another one: Carbon Footprint Calculator. I haven't done it yet, but it looks like it has some questions for recycling and some for use.

The bottom line is to think when you are taking these quizzes. Don't just take one and assume it gives you all the information. Think about the questions the quiz is asking and determine if it is thorough. I want to reduce my carbon footprint, and I want my information to be accurate so I can do this correctly. My footprint may be bigger or smaller than the one I found through the link Good Housekeeping provided. I want to know as close as possible to what the truth is so I can make appropriate changes. Don't you?