by I. LeJens

Created on: April 24, 2009   Last Updated: April 26, 2009

An ecological footprint, more commonly refered to as a carbon footprint, measures personal or household output of carbon dioxide (CO2) in pounds; the larger the number, the greater your carbon footprint and the greater your impact on the Earth's ecology.

Carbon dioxide contributes to global warming by accumulating in our atmosphere like a thick, insulating blanket, resulting in rapid climate changes. Fluctuations in global temperature occur naturally and have been reoccurring for millions of years. In the past, changes in Earth's temperature, both cooling and warming cycles, spanned thousands of years each time, allowing all living creatures to slowly adjust. The difference today is that this temperature change, in this case global warming, is occurring at lightening speed.

But how do you measure what you can't see? The carbon footprint for an average U.S. household is approximately 150 pounds of carbon dioxide (CO2) per day, more than twice the European average and nearly five times the global average. Experts suggest we need to reduce our carbon footprint by as much as 80 percent to effectively reverse global warming. Follow these steps to discover some of the factors that contribute to your carbon footprint and learn to measure and reduce your personal and household CO2 emissions.

Step #1: Track your mileage. Driving your car is the largest portion of your carbon footprint - about the size of your heel and arch put together. Log your daily mileage for a week and calculate how many gallons of fuel you use each day, on average. For each gallon of gasoline consumed, add 19.6 pounds of CO2. Lower your CO2 emissions by walking, bicycling, carpooling, riding public transportation, and planning errands around other necessary trips to town. Maintaining your vehicle keeps it running cleaner and also helps reduce your carbon footprint.

Step #2: Read your electric meter. For one week, record your daily kilowatt-hours (kWh) used. Every kilowatt-hour produces 1.5 pounds of CO2. But for every kilowatt-hour used, 2.2 are wasted, or lost, during transmission over electrical lines. Therefore, small changes can have a big impact. Reduce your usage by replacing standard light bulbs to compact fluorescents. Keep in mind, fluorescent light bulbs contain mercury so proper disposal at your local recycling center is a must. Turning off computers when not in use can reduce their carbon footprint by 50 percent.

Step #3: Track your natural gas or propane meter. Again, record your daily

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