Sustainability Score Calculator

Your carbon footprint is the sum of greenhouse gas emissions — measured in CO2 equivalent tonnes — directly or indirectly caused by your activities over a year. The global average is around 4 tonnes of CO2 per person per year; in the US it runs closer to 14-16 tonnes.

Diet is one of the biggest levers. Beef alone produces roughly 60 kg of CO2 equivalent per kilogram of food, compared to 2-3 kg for chicken and under 1 kg for legumes. Switching from a heavy meat diet to a plant-based one cuts diet-related emissions by roughly 75%.

Transportation’s share depends heavily on flight frequency. A single round-trip transatlantic flight can add 1.5-3 tonnes to your footprint. Daily driving in a gasoline car contributes 2-4 tonnes annually depending on distance. Electric vehicles cut this by 50-70% on average US grid electricity, more so on renewable power.

Home energy use — heating, cooling, appliances — accounts for roughly 20-30% of household emissions. Switching to renewable electricity eliminates most of this. Upgrading to a heat pump from gas heat cuts heating emissions by 60-70%.

Consumer goods and services typically add 2-4 tonnes annually for an average American. New electronics, fast fashion, and frequent purchases all have embedded carbon from manufacturing and shipping.

This calculator produces a rough estimate using published emission factors. Your actual footprint depends on specifics (what grid your electricity comes from, how far you drive, what you buy) that a full lifecycle assessment would capture. Use this as a direction guide, not a precise figure.