Our Top 5 Carbon Calculators
1. carbonfootprint.com
A simple but powerful interface that allows you to enter granular data about your behavior. This calculator will take you more time to use that those below because it requires that you pull real data from your utility bills, research the energy source and estimate how much money you spend on food, clothing, travel, etc. However, that time will be well spent because it will give you a genuine picture of your energy and resource usage. You can also create an account and save these values to view next time as well as creating multiple emission profiles for comparison. Overall, this tool is highly configurable and our #1 pick for people who don't mind spending a little extra time running calculations. If you want to go even further, they also have a plastic calculator.
Pros
- Highest fidelity manual data entry creates most accurate picture of emissions
- Account creation to save values for later
- Create multiple emissions profiles to compare
- Highly configurable
- Offsets program available
Cons
- Time intensive
- Research required
- Less focus on ease of use
2. footprintcalculator.org
Created by the non-profit Footprint Network. This visual, illustrated step by step guide is similar to WWF guide below, but with more granularity over your selections. This quiz shows a single slider for each question which makes it easy to stay focused.
Pros
- Focused flow
- Immersive illustrations
- Results shown from a creative perspective
- Offsets programs available
- Some granularity over selections
Cons
- Lack of high fidelity manual data input produces less accurate values
3. wren.co
Wren is a for profit startup that has designed a beautiful and usable carbon calculator to go alongside their carbon offsets program. They appear to be one of the few calculators that has taken private funding to accelerate growth.
Pros:
- Ease of use, beautiful and simple
- Speed from start to finish
- Interesting statistics upon completion
- Offsets programs with extensive details
- Subscription offsets program
Cons:
- Lack of high fidelity manual data input produces less accurate values
4. WWF Footprint Calculator
From the well known World Wildlife Fund, this step by step guide asks questions in an easy to answer format instead of asking about exact details. While this calculator asks questions specific to the UK, it's still useful for those living elsewhere. The results spit out a number in tonnes CO2e and show a comparison against the current year's target.
Cons
- Some questions are specific to UK
5. calculator.carbonpositiveaustralia.org.au
This is a government sponsored project in Australia. It may not be the best estimate for those living outside of Australia because it requires that you select the grid from locations specific to Australia. We'd love to see this project expand to international locations because it combines a really beautiful and usable flow with highly granular data entry. It also pairs directly with an offsetting program in Australia, which we like.
Pros
- Beautifully designed flow
- Easy to use granular data entry
- Comprehensive results by category
- Offsets programs available
Cons
- Several questions are specific to Australia
Love another calculator that we missed? Have questions? Drop us a line at hello@lazycoconuts.com.
Interested in other ways to reduce your footprint? Check out our unusual tips on reducing your carbon footprint.