F*ck Your Carbon Footprint

When you see a map of the rising global temperature, it’s hard to think of anything other than “fuck.” Here at ShopTYT, we decided to put that feeling on a shirt. 

According to the University of Michigan’s Center for Sustainable Systems:

“A carbon footprint is the total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions caused directly and indirectly by an individual, organization, event, or product. It is calculated by summing the emissions resulting from every stage of a product or service’s lifetime (material production, manufacturing, use, and end-of-life).” 

The notion of a carbon footprint is seductive to those genuinely concerned about the state of the world. Its very existence suggests that we can make minor adjustments to our habits to combat global warming. We all want to see progress on this issue and most of us are willing to make sacrifices in service of that goal. But personal carbon footprints aren’t all they’re cracked up to be.

So, here’s the big question, what’s your carbon footprint? Do you know? I bet if you typed that into your web browser, the internet would gladly give you all the tools you need to feel guilty about how you, as an individual, are responsible for the destruction of the planet. 

Essentially, a carbon footprint is used to measure how everything you do contributes to climate change. Have you used any kind of transportation? Shame on you. Did you use any water or electricity today? Disgusting. 

The term has its roots in the 1996 book Our Ecological Footprint: Reducing Human Impact on the Earth. The carbon footprint as we know it was created as a part of British Petroleum’s (BP) successful 2004 advertising campaign. During this campaign, BP launched their own carbon footprint calculator, and millions of concerned citizens across the globe ventured over to see their impact on the climate. 

That said, this carbon footprint message was coming from the second-largest non-state-owned fossil fuel company. If a fossil fuel company attempting to place any level of blame on you for climate change doesn’t set off an alarm in your head, then nothing ever will. 

The problem with the carbon footprint is that it places artificial limits on climate action. Let’s use transportation as an example. The best way to lower your transportation carbon footprint is to walk or ride a bike everywhere. Depending on where you live or your level of mobility, this might be impossible. The next best thing would be to use public transportation. Once again, the availability and reliability of public transportation differ greatly based on where you live. There is no subway or light rail in most rural and suburban communities. From there you might consider getting an electric car. Unfortunately according to The US Department of Transportation, these cars are costly and there is not enough charging infrastructure in place for them. Your carbon footprint creates pressure for you to make better choices. But for many people, these choices are not feasible. Ultimately, the problem with the carbon footprint is that it asks everything of the individual and nothing of the governments and corporations who provide the individual with sub-optimal options. 

Not to say that we can’t do things in our own lives that can ease the climate crisis. Rather the climate crisis can only successfully be addressed with changes on the societal level. Laws need to change. Policies need to change. How the world functions as a series of interconnected systems needs to change. 

Don’t buy into the fossil fuel industry’s propaganda. F*ck your carbon footprint. We want to see real change. If you feel the same, stop by and check out our Arctic Amplification Shirt.