Calculate Your Carbon Footprint

November 11, 2021

Climate change is affecting our planet’s ecosystem and weather patterns making a widespread impact across the globe. Rising sea levels, changing weather patterns and the rise of natural disasters are becoming more and more frequent as a result. Carbon emissions created as a by-product of burning coal, oil and gas is a key driver for climate change, this paired with the changes in agriculture, manufacturing and deforestation scale up the so-called greenhouse effect: trapping heat in the atmosphere leading to global warming [1]. These changes happening to our planet is something we cannot ignore.

Just like a mark left by a footprint in the sand, the term “carbon footprint” describes the total amount of greenhouse gases emitted by an individual, organization, place, or product leaving a mark on the environment. The majority of individual’s carbon footprint usually stems from food, mobility, and housing, but also encompasses societal impacts and services, such as infrastructure, public services, or hospitals.

While long-term and impactful measures to reduce the carbon footprint require solutions on a worldwide scale, there are decisions you can make in your daily life to reduce your carbon footprint.

Whilst the overall responsibility of reducing our carbon footprint lies within a global effort, there are decision you can make in your daily life to reduce your carbon footprint thus the impact this has on our planet.

The first step is to calculate your current footprint, considering the miles you travel (by car, plane or public transport), the energy source and usage in your home, your diet or shopping behaviour. The following resources will help you to calculate your individual carbon emissions and identify simple steps you can take to living a more sustainable lifestyle, suggestions include:

https://www.footprintcalculator.org/

https://www.nature.org/en-us/get-involved/how-to-help/carbon-footprint-calculator/

• Energy: Can you switch to renewable energy for the power and heating in your home
• Transportation: Can you take your bike or walk instead of using a vehicle?
• Food: Can you reduce food waste and the consumption of meat and dairy products?
• Electronics: Can you keep using old appliances instead of exchanging them regularly

As a global manufacturer with more than 30 facilities in 14 countries worldwide it is important to us to monitor and reduce our carbon emissions where possible. Kautex is committed to reducing 80% of carbon emissions in Scope 1 & 2 and 30% in Scope 3 by 2030, with the ambition to achieve carbon neutrality in all Scopes by 2050.

At Kautex we have developed a sustainability roadmap covering actions on different scopes which are defined by the Greenhouse Gas Protocol and which are listed below:

• Scope 1: Reducing in-house emissions through energy efficiency and low carbon solutions
• Scope 2: Powering operations activities with renewable energy
• Scope 3: Reducing carbon emissions in the supply chain by working with strategic suppliers, sourcing low-carbon material and focusing on a circular economy

To learn more about Kautex's sustainable mission, click here.

[1] https://ourworldindata.org/co2-emissions