We compared our carbon footprint across different lifestyles. Here is what we learnt about the pros and cons of carbon footprint calculators.

1. TRANSPORTATION IS THE LARGEST CAUSE OF
CARBON EMISSIONS - NO MATTER THE
LIFESTYLE
Whether it be corporate life in Sydney with a holiday or business
travel, and a daily commute on public transport, or backpacking
around the world, or even vanlife in New Zealand, transportation
shows up as the biggest carbon emitter. Carbon footprint
calculators don't consider the vanlife lifestyle.
SHARED ECONOMIES ARE NOT CONSIDERED
Apart from cost savings, the sharing economy has a huge
environmental benefit. Embodied and energy-use related carbon
emissions reduce significantly when we share assets like
accommodation, appliances, vehicles, tools etc.
CARBON FOOTPRINT
CALCULATOR
PROS AND CONS
In 2022, the team from Minimalist
Journeys learnt more about our
carbon footprint and found out how
our lifestyle choices impact carbon
emissions.
CARBON FOOTPRINT CALCULATORS DO NOT
(YET) CATER FOR NOMADIC/ALTERNATIVE
LIFESTYLES
The smallest house is still larger than a tiny house, and even car
sharing is a concept they don’t accommodate. Carbon footprint
calculators don't consider the alternatives.
THE UN PER CAPITA AVERAGE IS HARD TO
ACHIEVE
None of our lifestyles meets the UN per capita average
targets of 2.1t per person per annum by 2030. The closest
we’ve gotten to that target was during our year of van life in
New Zealand with just over 3t per person per annum. Are our
calculations or those of the UN wrong?
WORKING A CORPORATE ROLE IS MORE
IMPACTFUL
Our corporate life (with overseas holidays) was more carbon-
intensive overall than our alternative/nomadic lifestyles. But
Carbon Calculators don't consider nomadic lifestyles.
CALCULATORS ONLY CONSIDER CARBON
FOOTPRINT, BUT OTHER RESOURCES IMPORTANT
TOO
Beyond our carbon footprint, we gained deep insight into our
water consumption. We consumed 263 litres pp per day in Sydney
but only 32 litres pp per day during our year of van life in New
Zealand.
RESULTS FROM CALCULATORS CAN PROVIDE
VALUABLE INSIGHTS
Agricultureisahugecontributortocarbonemissions,morethanwe
realised.Aviationisoftencalledoutasthemainculpritofcarbon
emissions.Butairtravel(only)accountsfor2.5%ofglobalCO2
emissions.
How our lifestyle choices impact our carbon footprint, First Published: 11 January 2022,
https://www.minimalistjourneys.com/lifestyle-choices-carbon-footprint/.
https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/overview-greenhouse-gases
https://www.unep.org/emissions-gap-report-2020
Reference: