One of the first questions we can ask ourselves is Why. Why should we use carbon footprints? Why should we nowadays, with all the things that we can do, with all the information that’s out there, why on earth should we pay attention to carbon footprint?
As you may have noticed, we human beings need several things to develop ourselves. We need food, shelter, transport, and we consume many different goods and experiences to fulfill our desires.
Of course, to be able to access all of those desires, we are going to have to pay for them. So the first problem we have, when we want to do any of these things, is to be able to afford them.
But let’s say, let’s assume, that we have plenty of money, and we can access and pay for all of these. Which, if you think about it, it’s what’s happening on a global scale. It is even more obvious if you realize that we even print our own money, and many governments (wealthy ones more than any) are going to be able to pay for any resource they need.
Ok, great. So let’s say we get all the minerals we need, all the wood, the stone, labor, technology, water, energy, everything we need to build, create, exploit, expand and do whatever we want on this beautiful planet. That’s great… But, wait a moment… Is anyone checking how many resources we have left? Or how these resources are affecting our environment?
Well… Not really, we have just become aware of this some decades ago. That’s when environmental accounting kicks in. How can we take into account the impacts that our actions are having on the environment on a global scale? After all, remember it’s almost 8 billion of us right now here.
As you can imagine the environment and nature are far more complex than any article can explain, but there is something that we all have in common. Something that all of us are made of, and that most of us consume on a daily basis. And that’s… Carbon.
Carbon is one of the most abundant elements on our planet. It is used to build most of the organic structures, and it is so malleable and abundant that we can even find it in our fossil fuels.
To be able to build, create, exploit and expand, we need energy. And where does most energy come from? Carbon. It is carbon bonded like methane in gas, it is carbon bonded in long strings in petroleum, and it is 3d structures of strings of carbon in coal. Carbon is everywhere, it has been the result of hundreds of billions of previous life forms that have bonded these atoms together using the sun’s energy… for what? For us to be able to use that energy to fulfill our desires. Isn’t nature a real giver?
The thing is.. Here it comes… that it took our planet millions of years to stabilize into the ecosystems, lifeforms, shapes and climates we enjoy nowadays. And all of this was possible because most of this carbon was buried underground. Nevertheless, as we like to have fun, and enroll ourselves into chaos (or whichever explanation you´d like), we decided to start using these buried elements, this energy stock the planet had created, and exploit the embedded energy these fossil fuels have.
Believe it or not, we are all part of this process nowadays, as most of us use some kind of technology, or engine or buy products, that were made using energy that comes directly or indirectly from fossil fuels.
Ok, all good for now. Then.. What’s the problem you might be asking?
Ok, here it is… As carbon gets to the atmosphere, after being released by combustion, part of the sun rays keep trapped in the planet, increasing its temperature creating a global climate change. So now, right now, we are all somehow contributing to this huge change in our planet’s environment setting up a chain reaction that we have no idea where it is going to lead.
So… What can each of us do? Well… we could start by looking ourselves into the mirror. How much am I contributing to this problem? How much should I give back to nature, or donate, or contribute, to be able to be part of the solution? That’s where environmental accounting can help us.