Emissions While Flying and Not

The airline SAS has an online emission calculator that allows you to “estimate your share of aircraft emissions when you travel with us.” Very neat.

If you’re not flying, but you want to calculate your own contribution to greenhouse gas emissions, the Government of Canada can help. Thanks to the PEI Climate Change Hub for this link.

My personal calculation: 6.65 Tonnes/year. That places me above the national average (5 Tonnes) and below the provincial average (7 Tonnes). My biggest contribution, 4 Tonnes, comes from home heating. If I did the following things, I could reduce my contribution to 3.88 Tonnes:

• Caulk, weatherstrip and professionally air seal your home throughout.
• Upgrade attic insulation to R-51 where possible.
• Upgrade basement wall insulation to R-20 where possible.
• Upgrade wooden doors to steel, foam core doors.
• Install a programmable thermostat and set it to automatically reduce temperatures in your home in winter.
• Replace your refrigerator with an Energy Star rated high-efficiency refrigerator.
• Use a cold water wash and rinse instead of warm or hot water to wash your clothes.
• Use a push mower instead of a gas-powered mower.
• Use 50% green electricity in your home.