Green Daily

I am one sad, sorry sack of carbon. According to website ZeroFootprint Toronto, my planetary ecological impact is embarassingly high, to a point where I'm probably personally responsible for the imminent extinction of several endangered species.

Built in partnership of the City of Toronto and a number of corporate sponsors, Zerofootprint Toronto allows residents to complete a short quiz and find out how their personal CO2 emissions compare with their fellow citizens down the street and across the country.

The questionnaire asks about things like how you travel, what you eat, and how diligent you are about recycling, before spitting out your carbon footprint in annual metric tonnes of CO2. Once you've gotten your results and realized how disgusting you are, you can move on to the next section, which gives tips on actions you can take to improve your performance and asks you to pledge to actually do them.

The site also includes forums to chat and exchange ideas with like-minded folks, as well as a marketplace to find local green businesses.

So how'd I do? Well, my number was just north of 15 tonnes per year (versus the national average of 10.1 tonnes and the Toronto average of 8.6 tonnes), mostly because I got on a few planes last year. However, if I don't fly, I'll be back in average territory, and if I stop heating the house, I'll be a carbon superstar.