A Carbon Footprint is an image used to represent the amount of carbon dioxide emitted both directly and indirectly by humans. It is useful in determining the impact one has on the environment as the idea is: the more carbon emitted, the larger the footprint.

The Carbon Footprint derived from and is part of a larger concept known as the ecological footprint, invented in the early 1990s by Canadian ecologist William Rees and Swiss-born regional planner Mathis Wackernagel as a way to determine the total area needed to sustain human activity or population. The size of the Carbon Footprint is calculated by determining from some sources, such as how often a person drives, energy use, or food consumed.

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Other Sources

“What is a Carbon Footprint.” Time for Change. http://timeforchange.org/what-is-a-carbon-footprint-definition. Accessed July 26, 2016.

Dowdey, Sarah. “How Carbon Footprints Work.” How Stuff Works. http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/green-science/carbon-footprint.htm. Accessed July 26, 2016.

Sellen, Noelle Eckley. “Carbon Footprint.” Encyclopaedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/science/carbon-footprint. Accessed July 26, 2016.