This Carbon Footprint Calculator has been adapted to South African conditions for Ecopreneur by Lisl Lain of Green Door Consulting

Input your own  figures. Scroll to the bottom of the calculator to find your carbon footprint and the number of trees to offset your yearly carbon emissions.

This calculator quantifies your household’s carbon emissions from the three most important sources: electricity consumption, car travel and air travel. The Eskom emissions factor used is from Eskom’s 2008 report (the figure is updated annually). Motor vehicle calculations are based on a medium sized petrol car, using an emissions factor of
0.21 kg/km as advised by the GHG Reporting Protocol for UK vehicles.
Air travel emissions vary widely according to the length of the flight
- due to the largest quantities of fuel being used during takeoff and landing. The three examples here are representative of an average in each category of short, medium and long-haul flights.

The uptake of carbon dioxide by actively growing trees presents an opportunity to mitigate the effects of climate change by increasing available biomass for this purpose, and this is why the tree equivalent figure is provided. The amount of CO2 that is sequestered by individual trees is not easily established and estimates vary widely. Following the example of Food and Trees for Africa, this calculator assumes that each tree planted will sink 500 kg of carbon dioxide in about 15 years. This is in accordance with studies undertaken in urban South Africa, and while certainly a conservative figure it acknowledges the uncertainty inherent in tree planting activities such as the survival of the tree into maturity and its fate at the end of its life.

Offsetting your carbon emissions with tree planting should be done through an accredited project to ensure that care is taken both of your trees and of the host environment. Local accredited projects uplift communities by planting trees in denuded areas which provide fruit, shade and valuable recreational spaces.”