One of the most confusing concepts on going green is the carbon footprint. People usually read about low carbon emissions or certain preferred products, but how does low carbon footprint work?
Carbon footprint is actually no different from understanding how money works. If you were to buy a television for USD 200 that lasts one year compared to a USD 500 that lasts 5 years, the monthly cost of the "cheaper television" is actually USD 16.67 compared to the "more expensive television" costing USD 8.34 a month. Carbon footprint works in a similar function.
There are 2 major basic questions asked before purchasing a product.
1. What is the starting carbon footprint and how long will the product last?
2. What is the carbon footprint of maintaining the product?
There are certain products that might have more processing at the start but it may last a lot longer, and have a lower maintenance cost. It is just as important to see what is the operating resource requirement of the product to better understand what will the product maintenance entail.
There are now more and more resources available online on what are the carbon footprints of some very popular products. Do the due diligence to ensure that whatever product that has to be used gets used wisely, and does not cost the earth to keep and use.
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