PSA: Figuring out my carbon footprint led me down a rabbit hole of vague calculators
I decided to calculate my personal carbon footprint to see where I could improve. But every online calculator gave me wildly different results, and none explained their methods clearly. Has anyone found a reliable tool or method that doesn't make you want to pull your hair out?
Spot on about the calculator chaos, it TOTALLY highlights how we're shoved into focusing on individual metrics while companies pollute freely. @rileymartinez raises a CRUCIAL point that this distracts from systemic change. I saw one calculator that weighted air travel as 50% of my footprint, but another said it was only 20%, with no transparency on why. This inconsistency makes personal action feel FUTILE without larger regulatory frameworks.
Read a piece in Wired recently that broke down why carbon calculators vary so wildly, mostly due to inconsistent data sources. It totally aligns with @rileymartinez's point about systemic issues, in my experience.