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A User-Friendly Tool to Increase Awareness about Impacts of Human Daily Life Activities on Carbon Footprint

Author

Listed:
  • Antonella Senese

    (Department of Environmental Science and Policy (ESP), Università degli Studi di Milano, Via Celoria 10, 20133 Milan, Italy)

  • Anna Claudia Caspani

    (Department of Economics, University of Insubria, Via Monte Generoso 71, 21100 Varese, Italy)

  • Lorenzo Lombardo

    (Department of Environmental Science and Policy (ESP), Università degli Studi di Milano, Via Celoria 10, 20133 Milan, Italy)

  • Veronica Manara

    (Department of Environmental Science and Policy (ESP), Università degli Studi di Milano, Via Celoria 10, 20133 Milan, Italy)

  • Guglielmina Adele Diolaiuti

    (Department of Environmental Science and Policy (ESP), Università degli Studi di Milano, Via Celoria 10, 20133 Milan, Italy)

  • Maurizio Maugeri

    (Department of Environmental Science and Policy (ESP), Università degli Studi di Milano, Via Celoria 10, 20133 Milan, Italy)

Abstract

In recent decades, climate change has demanded more and more attention. Consumers have the power to influence the carbon footprint of goods and services through their purchasing decisions, but to do this they need to learn more. To address this need, it is necessary to develop online questionnaires able to make people aware of which activities have a greater environmental impact in their daily lives. Focusing on this goal, we formulated two tools for quantifying an individual’s carbon footprint over a year. The innovativeness of these tools lies in being user-friendly and providing online open access to compilers, as well as using specific emission factors for the reference context. Specifically, we focused on the main emission sources: gas and electricity consumption, mobility, food, and waste. During these last years, the tools have been proposed to Italian students at different levels of education and to employees of Italian and international companies. The responses from 3260 users revealed an average annual direct carbon footprint per capita of about 5600 kg CO 2-eq , which, integrated with the estimate of indirect emissions, provides an estimate in good agreement with the value provided by the Italian National Inventory of greenhouse gases. With the developed tools, people are able to observe which sectors have the greatest impact and consequently are stimulated to emit less by adopting more sustainable behaviors.

Suggested Citation

  • Antonella Senese & Anna Claudia Caspani & Lorenzo Lombardo & Veronica Manara & Guglielmina Adele Diolaiuti & Maurizio Maugeri, 2024. "A User-Friendly Tool to Increase Awareness about Impacts of Human Daily Life Activities on Carbon Footprint," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(5), pages 1-20, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:5:p:1976-:d:1347345
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Antonella Senese & Massimo Pecci & Roberto Ambrosini & Guglielmina Adele Diolaiuti, 2023. "MOUNTAINPLAST: A New Italian Plastic Footprint with a Focus on Mountain Activities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(8), pages 1-16, April.
    2. Paul Jarvis, 2007. "Never mind the footprint, get the mass right," Nature, Nature, vol. 446(7131), pages 24-24, March.
    3. Browne, David & O’Regan, Bernadette & Moles, Richard, 2009. "Use of carbon footprinting to explore alternative household waste policy scenarios in an Irish city-region," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 54(2), pages 113-122.
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