Carbon calculator

Increasing greenhouse gases may melt glaciers

Watching Your Figure - a user-friendly way of determining your personal contribution to climate change.

View Environment Poll results

This questionnaire has been devised by Environmental activist Mayer Hillman.

How much carbon dioxide is emitted from your personal use of energy

The aim is to get your total for the year in kilogrammes (kgs).

This can then be compared with your fair share of what the earth's atmosphere can absorb without serious damage to the world climate.

Where any of the questions does not apply to you, just move on to the next question.

IN THE HOME

8 How many kilowatt hours (kWhs) are shown on your 4 quarterly electricity bills?

• Divide your total by 2 and then divide again by the number of people (adults and children) usually living in your home. Put your answer here ______kgs

9 How many kilowatt hours (kWhs) are shown on your 4 quarterly gas bills?

• Divide your total by 5 and then divide again by the number of people (adults and children) usually living in your home. Put your answer here ______kgs

10 How many litres of heating oil do you buy each year?

• Multiply your total by 3 and then divide by the number of people (adults and children) usually living with you home. Put your answer here ______kgs

Compare your TOTAL with average annual UK emissions for personal use of about 5 tonnes

Mayer Hillman writes:

"If we are to share responsibility for preventing emissions contributing to highly-damaging climate change, we must reduce them to less than 1 tonne".

Mayer Hillman is the author with Tina Fawcett of How we can save the planet. This does not represent the views of the BBC.

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The Politics Show returns on Sunday 23 April 2006 at 13.50pm.