I have just calculated my carbon footprint.
Over the past 2 summers I have been a tree planter in British Columbia. I have planted about 150,000 trees; the actual total might be a bit more, but for easy calculations I am leaving the number at 150,000. This is by no means that much compared to other planters who I have planted with. I know many planters that are at the quarter million mark and some people have planted over a million trees over their career.
Here are my calculations:
An average fully grown pine tree weights about 500kg. 44% of that is carbon in the cellulose molecule.
44% x 500kg = 220kg of carbon/tree
That 220kg of carbon in each tree is produced from 1 tonne of atmospheric CO2.
The average CO2 emissions of a person living in the west is around 20 tonnes/year.
Assuming that I life until 75, I will emit 1500 tonnes of CO2 in that time. In 50 years, the pine trees that I planted will be fully grown and will have removed 150,000 tonnes of CO2 and store it as cellulose. That is enough trees to cover 100 people’s carbon footprints.
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4 Comments on this post
Leave a CommentWow! You must be a real tree hugger!!
Comment left on 10.17.2007 by balletsnoopy
Has been a tree-lugger…
I hope that I am on the list for your contribution…How many do I personally have to plant?
Comment left on 10.19.2007 by cinzanopaws
I figure you need to plant around 20 trees a year to remain carbon neutral.
Comment left on 10.20.2007 by admin
Hi Adrian,
Very interesting calculations – congratulations and I’m sure it feels good to find new “value-positive” elements to your career choices…
I have been thinking about what it might take a person to go 100% completely carbon-neutral, and how far would they go to live in harmony with the earth (thank g-d we have technology so I wouldn’t have to live in the forest, eating berries in order to live entirely carbon-neutral!)…
When you were calculating your life’s carbon footprint, I was wondering if you included the carbon footprint of your consumer choices – an example would be to switch to 100% LOCAL organic produce in groceries, so that the carbon footprint from transportation from Mexico, or the USA (I’m in Toronto, Ontario) is reduced & even further we’re supporting Ontario farmers & our local economic strength…..
It can get a little bit overwhelming I guess when you begin to consider everything – I just switched from a PC to an iMac in February and am sure that simple change significantly reduces the carbon footprint with less electricity requirements. On the other hand, when I bought my iPod & went online to track it’s shipping progress, I saw it was coming to me from CHINA! Not that I’m fundamentally against worldwide economies, but really, is it necessary to have the carbon footprint caused by my iPod to be so HUGE just in shipping it to me from China? It came by FedEX, so perhaps FedEx is one of those global brand trailblazers who are moving to carbon-neutral business activities and advertising… There’s certainly a lot to consider…
Comment left on 5.16.2008 by Yoga For Golfers- Debbie Horovitch